Job Development

Brenda is a woman in her 30s who has been working at the Fitness Plus gym for about two years. She works there twice a week, completing a list of tasks to keep the gym clean and organized, including putting away equipment. To obtain this job, Brenda’s job developer assessed the employer's needs and showed Brenda's ability to meet those needs. Together Brenda, the job developer and the employer carved out a new position.

Zachary lives in Hammond, Indiana and says he has been programming computers since he was eleven years old. For the last two and a half years, he has worked part-time for Alkon Consulting, a local web design studio. His boss met Zachary through his job developer, reviewed his work to see if he was ready to work in the web design field, and decided to hire him.

Cindy has always expressed an interest in working with children. With the help of a job developer, a formal employment proposal was developed and presented to an employer, which outlined potential job responsibilities and how they would meet a business need. Through an effective and persistent job negotiation process, Cindy now works as a day care assistant in a child-care center close to her home.

Becca started with the Work Independence Network (WIN)* pilot project in 2004, and now works as an office clerk at Harrison Hospital in Washington 20 hours per week. Becca performs a wide range of tasks at the hospital. She tears down patient charts, prepares intake packets, and supports staff on clerical projects. She also makes copies and faxes documents to doctors in various departments. This job match is successful because of Becca's commitment and energy, and also because her job developer was able to engage Harrison Hospital, showing how creating a position for Becca would help to make one of its departments more efficient. Watch Becca's story here.

Through a thorough planning process, Brian's team explored the people in Brian's personal network. They realized that the owner of a local liquor store had gotten to know Brian well, since he regularly visits to redeem cans and bottles. Together with the store's owner, Brian's job developer created a position at the liquor store doing custodial and maintenance work. Brian is just about to celebrate his first year on the job, which is his first long-term success.

Ryan has been interested in nature since he was a small child, and once asked only for plants for his birthday. He lives in Reno, Nevada, likes math and science, and describes himself as a positive person. With his teacher as his job coach, Ryan transitioned from high school into the perfect job.

Judy's job developer spends a significant amount of time maintaining relationships with employers in his local community and has often relied on these relationships to create new opportunities for the individuals he supports. Taking into account Judy’s interest in working with people who are elderly, he got in touch with his contact at the Council on Aging and helped Judy secure a job preparing and distributing meals for the local Meals on Wheels program.

Eddie Alley has worked at Little Caesars, the pizza restaurant chain, since last summer. Several factors helped Eddie to find a position that was a good fit. First, he participated in a job tryout before he started to work. Also, he and his employer were flexible and willing to try new things. Finally, the employer had a long and positive connection with Eddie's job developer.

Maggie likes being busy. She lives near Boston, MA, and has had several successful jobs in the community. Currently, she works as an office manager's assistant at AMP Agency.

Cody is a young man who wanted to work with children in the field of sports and recreation. Cody has reported challenges to obtaining such a position, including no prior experience, use of a motorized wheelchair for mobility, and limited speech. To overcome these barriers, Cody and his employment support staff developed, marketed, and adapted a new position as a greeter at a local YMCA. Watch Cody's story here.