Job seekers focus their efforts on finding their future job. AtWork! Employment Consultants, using their knowledge of the job applicant and the information developed during the Discovery Step (see 9/1/09 Blog), approach employers on behalf of the individual being served.

A customized job is a set of tasks that differ from the employer’s standard job descriptions but are based on tasks that are found within that workplace. A customized proposal unties the tasks that exist in a workplace and makes them available to be rearranged in a customized job description. For example, the customized job may include only a subset of the tasks from one of the employer’s job descriptions or a mix of tasks taken from several existing job descriptions. It may include new tasks that are not currently being performed but that fill a need for the employer. The customizing process often causes the employer to think of existing tasks in a new way.


A carved job is based on tasks derived from a single traditional job in an employment setting. The carved job description contains one or more, but not all, of the tasks from the original job description. Example: The individual assessment showed that the individual has skills to do filing and he has a strong desire to be a police officer. To meet both the individual's needs and employer's needs a carved job was negotiated within a county sheriff's department that incorporates tasks of organizing and filing misdemeanor arrest reports and traffic citations.


A negotiated job is one in which all the tasks of the work setting (tasks contained in more than one job description) are available for selection to form a new, individualized job description.


Example: After working in a crew doing evening janitorial work, a worker told his crew director that he wanted a job where he could wear nice clothes, didn't have to clean after other people, and could work around other people. He liked people but never got to see them in his current job. A job working in a department store was negotiated for the individual that combined duties from several departments. Only one part of the job involves maintenance and support activities. Additional duties involve helping the advertising department put up and take down the huge number of weekly ads, helping the furniture department manager rearrange the furniture department, uncrating merchandise in the electronics department and loading merchandise in cars for people at the stock room pick up.



Sometimes a job is created from unmet needs in the employer’s workplace. This leads to a new job description based on unmet needs of the employment setting. Example: An individual who is a wheelchair user enjoys people and wants to perform delivery tasks. A branch office manager of an insurance company was receiving frequent complaints that faxes were not being delivered to agents in a timely manner by the fax room clerk. Agents needed the faxes pulled from the fax machine and hand delivered promptly. The job description for the clerk in the fax room involved copying, mailroom responsibilities, and handling the fax machine. Carrying out those responsibilities did not leave time to hand deliver the faxes. The individual was able to meet this genuine employer need through a created job description for delivering the faxes.

Labels: carved, customized, negotiated