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Assessment, Skills Training and Long Term Work

Assessment, Skills Training and Long Term Work are all parts of Goodwill based Employment Training and Employment.

Assessment
Goodwill uses several assessment techniques or instruments to provide a comprehensive picture of your preferences, abilities, strengths and needs. These techniques/instruments may include:

  • Referral information your Case Manager or Counselor provides
  • Information we discuss during the introductory meeting
    Completing an Initial Assessment together
  • Standardized vocational assessment tools such as the "Choices" computerized interest inventory
  • Initial observations from your counselor, supervisor or trainer
  • Ongoing productivity measurements such wage evaluations

Ongoing assessment is part of your services, to help you find out areas that are strengths, areas where you can still improve, and to help you make job match decisions and meet your goals. Ongoing assessment measures may include:

  • Counselor, trainer or supervisor observations
  • Completion of monthly and quarterly progress reviews
  • Ongoing wage evaluations
Skills Training
Skills training is designed to help you develop lasting skills, increase independence and gain access to local employment opportunities. Goodwill assists with these goals by providing specific training for jobs available in our communities, including janitorial, retail and clerical.

Janitorial
Goodwill provides janitorial skills training at our Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Centers, Iowa City Employment Services office, our stores and at some contract sites.

Retail
Goodwill stores provide an excellent opportunity for working on retail skills in a real work setting. You can work with a trainer on cash register and customer service skills. Goodwill also partners with community businesses to provide opportunities for training in other settings.

Clerical and Computer
Basic clerical training is available at the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Centers, Iowa City Employment Services office. A trainer will work with you on basic office skills such as filing, collating, photocopying and scanning, mail distribution and preparation.

Participants in the computer training programs at the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Centers work to enhance basic computer skills, and community placement is usually the desired outcome. With instruction, you will follow a self-guided curriculum with basic data entry and software that are compatible with an entry-level position in the community.

 

 

Long Term Work
It may meet your long term career goal to work on-going in one of Goodwill's facilities, including a store, administrative center or warehouse.

Kinds of work that are typically available are:

  • Iowa City Center industrial sub-contract work, some clerical, janitorial
  • Cedar Rapids Center industrial sub-contract work, some clerical, janitorial
  • Iowa City Employment Services clerical
  • Goodwill stores and Retail Support Center (RSC), involving all aspects of the donations process, sorting, tagging, and hanging

When you are working long-term at a Goodwill facility, you continue to work on meeting your goals, increasing your independence, improving your skills and earning better wages. Even if you have worked at a Goodwill facility for a long time you can always talk with your Counselor about trying community employment.

Benefits
After working one year and 500 hours on Goodwill's payroll, you are eligible to receive benefits of paid time off (PTO), holiday pay, retirement pension and FICA (Social Security).

 

 
 

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