Tips on Getting Employers to Customize a Job

Some Tips on Getting Employers to Customize a Job for Individuals on the Autism Spectrum

All young adults, not just those on the autism spectrum, come to a point in life where they need to ask themselves how to find a job, where to find it and what should it be? These days, finding employment needs a bit of creativity and perseverance. Autistic individuals are presented with extra challenges and helping one find a suitable job requires some lateral thinking. Jobs need to fit the needs of the autistic worker and not the other round. Jobs have to be flexible and tailor to the needs and capacities of each individual's abilities. Photoscanman(ANCHOR TEXT), the photo scanning service devoted to promoting employment of those on the Autism Spectrum, would like to present some guidelines from the employment experts at Griggin-Hammis.

As mentioned earlier, in developing a job search plan, you need to tailor your approach to the autistic individual's needs and abilities. This is called customized employment and it relies on much negotiation between the employee and the employer to ultimately reach a mutual agreement that benefits both parties. Matching is more easily achieved when approaching employers who have job tasks that match the job seeker's talents.

The experts at Griggin-Hammis further exert that employers are mostcertainly always in the market to hire. Employers are always on the lookout for suitable people who've have the skills that can help their businesses grow. This is the mindset you need to apply in the hunt for customized jobs. Keep looking and if the shoe fits, you're free to wear it. (You never know what can be accomplished. Who would have thought The College of New Jersey would have promoted video transfer, slide scanning and photo scans for the Photoscanman Project?)

When screening for customized employment, avoid anything that involves traditional processes that are sure to screen out people with disabilities. If the process is merely customary and aims only to make the people in Human Resources happy, then move on to the next one. People with disabilities are mostly, if not always, screened out without second thought in this type of job application. Besides, customized employment is about negotiation and finding job tasks that suit the autistic's special abilities, not the opposite.

Keeping in mind the above tips, Griggin-Hammis suggests creating a list of places in the community where unique jobs may be suitable and accessible to the individual. Tapping into existing networks may also assist in finding unique jobs. Remember to assess the list of places in relation to the person's special skills and abilities.

When you've reached a definitive list of places for employment, the next step is to approach them and request for informational interviews. This allows you to gather practical information and may reveal the possibility of matched tasks. If a match is possible, then job development can be introduced. Negotiations can begin to create an agreement whereby a mutually beneficial task-to-ability match is reached.

Cross out any places that are retail based. The Griggin-Hammis experts strongly suggest steering away from retail as there is no stability in jobs of this nature. As the tasks involved in retail are not complicated, the earning potential are poor.

Small businesses are a better bet than large organizations to seek employment in. People are sometimes surprised to learn that there are significantly more numbers of small businesses in the United States with an average of less than 4 employees than there are large corporations. Most of which, small businesses usually have no Human Resources Division. This presents less hurdles and easier negotiations.

That said, negotiations with small businesses are often directly with the manager or owner. The opportunity to discuss shared interests of the job seeker provides more relaxed grounds for negotiations; though of course, there must also be a match in tasks and skills. This is a great way to build rapport.

With the support and encouragement of family, job specialists and others, young adult can look, experiment and experience different jobs.

At times jobs can present themselves earlier on, and other times it takes perseverance. Don't be discouraged to try again and again until the job, the employer and the employee fit one another.