Job Tip: Try It Before You Buy It

 

Have you ever thought about how many decisions you make in a day?  

Hundreds if not thousands.  

What am I going to wear? What am I going to eat for breakfast?  What shampoo am I going to use?    

We spend a good majority of our day moving from one decision to another.  

Fair warning.  I am going to get a little deep.  

Have you ever thought about how you got to where you are today? Not like,  I took Route 288 to I-95.  But the big and little decisions you’ve made that’s lead you to where you are right now.

There have been good and bad things that have shaped who I am, where I live, where I work, and my overall outlook on life.  

I see it almost as jumping rocks across a river.

In high school I decided to go to Longwood University.

I met my best friend there.  

When we graduated, we decided to move to Richmond, Va together.  

In Richmond I taught at 2 different schools.  Wendi, Traci, and I taught together at one of them, Matoaca High.  The three of us wanted to support adults who experience disabilities after high school.  So, we opened Branches of Life.

& here I am.

Who knows where I would be living now had I not gone to Longwood University and met my best friend or not taught with Traci & Wendi?  

See, life IS all about decisions.

If you have a full-time job you spend 30% of your life working.  That’s a huge chunk of your life.  

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could try a job before you decided it’s the one you wanted to dedicated 30% of your life to?  How many times have you heard disgruntled friends say “if I only knew” when talking about a job that absolutely hate.  Unfortunately there’s no “money back guarantee” on the choices we make.  

For some people who experience disabilities and their supporters life choices can feel overwhelming–especially when talking about work.

Maybe the person who experiences a disability has never had a job and they are unsure what working is like.  Maybe their supporters are uncertain that work will be successful for the person they support.  Maybe a team is unsure what kind of job the job-seeker is interested in.  

Wouldn’t it be great to try out a job with no string attached to get hands on experience in that particular field and decide if that’s really a job you’d like to have?

That’s exactly what Situational Assessments are.  

We help job-seekers try-out jobs they are interested in.  It’s not a pre-set program or program of predetermined trials.  Each Situational Assessment is different based on the job-seeker’s interests.  

Check out some of our most recent photos from Situational Assessments–operating a laundry press and advertising for a Hot & Ready Now Pizza.   

With fear of sounding like a light-night television information —   Situational Assessments are the “Try it before you buy it” piece of Customized Employment. 

Are you or someone that you support interested in giving work a try before you commit? Contact Branches of Life Customized Employment Services at [email protected] to get the process started!