Job Search Skills Research Articles

The relationship between job search skills and employability for persons with mild mental retardation

Persons with mental retardation who possess applicable adaptive skills are usually able to obtain jobs in labor markets. However, some persons who show high scores with social and prevocational skills are unable to obtain jobs and the reasons for their unemployability are unknown. Twelve subjects with mild retardation who failed to obtain jobs were evaluated for their social and prevocational skills at the Tokyo Metropolitan Rehabilitation Center for the Physically and Mentally Handicapped. The evaluation was performed using the Social and Prevocational Information Battery-Revised which was developed by Halpen and Irvin. The results showed 12 subjects presented lower scores either in the Job Search Skills area or in other areas in spite of their high scores on the Total Battery. Moreover, these subjects also showed behavior problems. The study suggests that those with high scores on the Total Battery, but low scores in Job Search Skills, show a tendency to fail to obtain a job in competitive job placement. It seems that these persons have adjustment problems and need special support services to secure their employability.

Teaching Job Search Skills to Advertising Majors

Teaching Job Search Skills to Advertising Majors

Validation of the Vocational Assessment Protocol

Objective: To report the psychometric properties of the Vocational Assessment Protocol (VAP), including estimates of its internal consistency reliability and construct and criterion-related validity. Design: VAPs were completed on consecutive referrals of persons with a brain injury as they entered vocational evaluation programs at 20 nationally distributed sites funded by state vocational rehabilitation agencies. Follow-up data on employment status and earnings were obtained 6 months after the completion of a VAP using a follow-up instrument designed for this purpose. Subjects: VAPs were completed for 149 subjects, with complete follow-up data obtained on 116. Subjects were typically male, single, white, injured in their late teens to early 20s, and had experienced closed head injuries with extended coma and/or amnesia durations reported. At the time of referral, subjects were on average 6 years postinjury. Instrumentation: The VAP was used to obtain ratings of functional skills and vocational related behaviors using eight of the nine profiles that constitute the entire instrument. These profiles included a structured interview (personal demographics interview), three clinical profiles (physical, social-emotional, and neuropsychological), and four vocational profiles (job-search skills, interviewing skills, critical work behavior, and social adaptive behavior). A one-page, 13-item questionnaire was used to collect employment data in a follow-up conducted 6 months after VAPs were completed. Results: All VAP profiles had high internal consistency reliability, and each profile was composed of a small number of factors that accounted for the majority of the response variability, indicating factors that imply both high reliability and construct validity. Criterion validity was found to be high for several of the profiles in terms of ability to predict employment status at an acceptable level of significance. A number of the skills and behaviors included on the four vocational profiles (job-search skills, interviewing skills, critical work behavior, and social adaptive behavior) and one clinical profile (social-emotional) were significantly correlated with employment at the 6-month follow-up. Conclusions: The VAP exhibited psychometric properties that suggest it to be both reliable and valid as a means of examining many of the basic vocational-related skills and functional behaviors related to employment for persons with a brain injury.

The Role of Sector‐Specific Skills in Post displacement Earnings

This article examines how one form of transferable skills, those valued within an industry or sector, may influence reemployment and earnings following permanent job loss. The empirical analysis finds limited evidence of a sector‐specific component to the returns to job tenure. The importance of these skills varies across sectors, with the strongest evidence found for sectors with sustained labor demand and growing employment. There is stronger evidence, particularly in reemployment, for a broader form of sector specificity that is not related to tenure, such as job search skills and vocational training. There is also sectoral evidence that is consistent with the role of individual ability in the returns to tenure.

THE LABOUR MARKET EXPERIENCE OF CAMBODIANS: POLICY IMPLICATIONS FOR SETTLEMENT SERVICES

A proportion of the annual migrant intake now comprises persons accepted under the Refugee and Special Humanitarian Program entry categories, for reasons other than the direct contribution their skills can make to economic growth. This paper examines the labour market experience of Cambodians, and considers the policy implications for resettlement services for refugees. Cambodians experience high rates of unemployment, and have low levels of English language proficiency, low levels of educational attainment, and few possess post‐school qualifications. Reluctance to develop settlement services for refugees, to make special provisions for access within existing services, or even to ensure equitable access to existing services has contributed to the long term economic dependency of a sizeable proportion of this group. It is recommended that they be given greater access to basic, advanced and job related English language tuition. They, and other refugees with similar disadvantages also require special access to job search skills programs, vocational training, and wage subsidy and special employment programs.

Economic perceptions and expectations of out-of-treatment drug users.

The effect on mainstream behavior of current economic conditions and expectations for the future is frequently the subject of public opinion polls. However, economic perceptions may also influence the behaviors of those in "hidden" populations, such as drug users. An Economic Perceptions Index (EPI) was developed and administered to 261 out-of-treatment drug users in Houston, Texas. Results suggest that drug users' general perceptions of the economy are based on their own economic situation, and that there is a relation between a pessimistic view of the economy and drug use. They also suggest that lack of municipal infrastructure may pose more of a barrier to users' seeking employment than job search skills.

Using video resumes to teach deaf college students job search skills and improve their communication.

For several years the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) at the Rochester Institute of Technology has offered a course that focuses on preparing video resumes. Professionals from the Instructional Television Department and the National Center of Employment for the Deaf have collaborated with communication instructors to develop this option for NTID students. This paper describes the instruction and evaluation process from the perspective of NTID instructors, students, and other technical professionals. Employers who have hired NTID students and those who have no familiarity with deaf employees also participated in the evaluation. Their comments give valuable insights into the often different perspectives of deafness between those who have worked with deaf employees and those who lack such experience. Video resumes were found to be a viable tool in the job search, and the process of preparing the video was found to be a stimulating and rewarding experience for the participating students.

Group Counseling Program for Unemployed Black Teenagers

This article discusses the impact of unemploy- ment on the independence striving of Black youth. A group counseling rogram is described for helping Black teenagers identify an 1 cope with somc of these separation issues, while also helping them to increase their qualificat~ons for employ- ment and their job search skills. Group rncmbers increased their awareness of alternative ways for gaining some emotional and functional independence from parents when opportunities for financial independence were unavailable or limited. Spe- cific group counseling strategies which wcre found to be effec- tive with the youth in thls program are presented.

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN SUCCESSFUL JOB SEARCHES FOLLOWING LAY-OFF

A field study was conducted to examine attitudinal and behavioral variables associated with reemployment following job termination. Thirty-five employees were surveyed within two days following termination. Of those surveyed, 23 were contacted one month later regarding employment status. Analyses revealed that reemployed persons were significantly more confident of job search skills and had engaged in a greater number of search behaviors than had individuals who had remained unemployed. No significant differences between the reemployed and still unemployed groups were obtained in affective responses to termination or nonwork-related variables. The findings suggest that reemployment success is related to individual differences in expectations of successful job search. Implications for future research on job loss and reemployment are discussed.

Training the Economically Disadvantaged via Computer-Assisted Instruction: An Experiment by Chrysler Learning, Inc.

Computer-assisted instruction was utilized by Chrysler Learning, Inc. to study its impact on economically and educationally disadvantaged youth subjects in basic but specific academic areas within a given time period. The program took the form of an experiment that involved two groups: 1) an experimental group that participated in an educational training sequence with an interactive computerized learning system coupled with traditional classroom instruction and work experience; and 2) a control group that received no structured instruction in basic skills but was exposed to counseling, hands-on industrial experience and job search skills. Comparison of the pre- and post-test scores indicated that the experimental group had made significantly higher gains than the control group in reading and mathematics. Reading in general was more indicative of growth but math was also positively affected.

ASSESSMENT OF RETARDED STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT WITH STANDARDIZED TRUE/FALSE AND MULTIPLE‐CHOICE TESTS

For the past 15 years, work/study programs have been provided by many public secondary schools to mildly mentally retarded adolescents (IQ = 55-80). Though the merits of such an approach are generally acknowledged, one critical element has been conspicuously lacking: standardized test evaluation of retarded student achievement (Brolin, 1975). The problem in acquiring such measures is twofold: (1) existing standarized tests typically focus on academic skills rather than the daily living and prevocational skills that are emphasized in work/study programs; and (2) retarded students have reduced ability to respond appropriately to paper and pencil tests because of reading and memory skill deficits (Prehm, 1968). Some recent research and development efforts have focused on assessment that is psychometrically adequate and contentand format-appropriate for retarded adolescents. The Social and Prevocational Information Battery (SPIB) (Halpern, Raffeld, Irvin, & Link, 1975b) has been developed using competencies stressed in training programs as guides for item content. The SPIB consists of nine tests designed to measure knowledge in the areas of job search skills, job related behavior, banking, budgeting, purchasing, home management, physical health care, personal hygiene, and functional signs (survival reading). Most of the SPIB items are presented in a true/false format, and each of the nine tests is orally administered in a group setting. Because reading skills are quite variable within groups of retarded adolescents, oral administration is used in order to minimize the impact of reading ability. Research evidence concerning both the reliability and validity of the SPIB is extremely encouraging (Halpern, Raffeld, Irvin, & Link, 1975a; Irvin & Halpern, 1977). Even though the SPIB is certainly adequate on a number of important dimensions of content and measurement, it would be premature to adopt the true/false SPIB model as a paradigm for the construction of all future standardized tests to be used in measuring the school achievement of retarded adolescents. During the SPIB's development, Prehm's (1968) and other evidence led to the presumption that a verbally presented multiplechoice item would be too difficult for retarded students, due to the large amount of information that would need to be remembered and analyzed in order for the examinee to choose and mark the correct symbol on an answer sheet. This presumption should be empirically examined, since it is possible to construct multiple-choice items with short stems and short alternatives, which will reduce the effects of limited auditory retention on test performance. Such an effort would appear to have substantial merit, given the