The goal of the One-Stop centers should be to empower each job seeker to manage his or her own job search campaign. Previous sections provided guidelines for how One-Stop centers can provide job search preparation services including:
The next step is to “Slay the Dragons!” -- implement the Career Plan by taking action to obtain a job in the target career field. Following are action steps that the job seeker and One-Stop staff can take to market the person to prospective employers:
Employment Proposals
One of the most effective job placement strategies for persons with disabilities is the employment proposal. It is an innovative approach for taking people who have disabilities out of competition with other job seekers and creating new opportunities. This approach is not meant to replace other job development methods; it is simply another method that will increase chances of success in helping a person with a disability obtain a good job.
What is an employment proposal?
The most traditional form of job development is to present a candidate for an advertised position an employer is trying to fill; in most cases your candidate will be one of many applying for the same job. By contrast, the employment proposal approach is to identify an employer’s needs (which the employer may not be aware of), and offer a solution to meet those needs which is to create a new position, and fill that position with your applicant.
Here’s a very simple example:
1) You regularly use a dry cleaning business and notice these needs/problems:
- Parking lot has limited spaces –it’s always hard to find a parking space
- Trash accumulates in parking lot, presenting poor appearance
- Service is slow: business owner works alone, serves one customer at a time while others wait in line to drop off or pick up cleaning.
2) You approach the business owner with a proposal: Hire Daniel (a man with mental retardation), who has the ability to:
- Monitor parking lot to make sure only customers park there
- Pick up trash, keep lot clean
- Greet customers, receive & tag clothing
- Assist with customer pick-up by placing plastic covers over clothing on hangers
- Daniel could also deliver dry cleaning to customers who live in the immediate area – a great marketing idea that decrease need for parking and increase revenues!
3) Daniel is hired, not for a position that was advertised, but to fill a need that was identified by an alert Job Developer. The result was a “win-win” for Daniel and the employer:
- Daniel found a job he likes and can do very well.
- The dry cleaner was able to improve the level of customer service to retain existing customers and attract new customers – thus increasing profits!
Advantages of Employment Proposals in Job Development
- The main advantage of the employment proposal approach is that it often produces better results than more traditional methods. Many professional job developers state that employment proposals produce job offers for their clients an average of 4 to 5 times more often than by applying for advertised positions!
- The focus is on the person’s ability to meet a need, not to fill a specific position. This approach helps to identify a need an employer either didn’t know existed, or didn’t have a cost-effective solution for meeting the need.
- Businesses look at this approach as a more “value added” service, provided by professional consultants who first focus on their needs, and then match those needs with abilities of applicants. This is in direct contrast with typical employment agency practice of presenting their applicants to as many employers as possible in hopes of finding a need/match (and a commission!)
Writing Employment Proposals
After identifying how an applicant can meet the needs of a potential employer, the next steps are to prepare the proposal and then present it to the employer. The proposal can be presented either in the form of a letter, a formal proposal, a memo, or even verbally. Regardless of the format, the proposal should include four things:
1) Why the proposed service will benefit the employer
2) How the service will be provided
3) Qualifications of the person who will provide the service
4) Desired salary, hours and other conditions
Why the Proposed Service will Benefit the Employer
The creation of a new position can benefit a business in a number of ways:
Saves employer money -- an employer can cut costs by:
- hiring a person to do low-priority tasks at $8/hour, freeing up the time of $12/hour employees to focus their time on higher priorities.
- reduce production time, streamline operations
- replace outsourced services with lower-cost in-house employees
Makes employer money – the proposed service could make money by:
- expanding the employer’s services, such as providing valet parking or delivery
- attracting new customers due to added level of customer convenience and service.
- Improving the company’s image and appeal to prospective customers
- Gaining and keeping a competitive edge by offering services competitors don’t
- Taking advantage of natural extension of existing business (for example, a pet store could provide pet obedience classes)
How the Service will be Provided
Before submitting a final proposal, it’s advisable to discuss the employer’s needs to ensure the proposal accurately and completely addresses those needs. If may be a good idea to approach other employers in the same type of business to get a better idea of specific business needs, and how other businesses may have met those same needs. Once the employer’s needs are clearly understood, tailor the solution to match the skills and abilities of each applicant.
Qualifications of the Person Providing the Service
The persons’ qualifications should be presented in a positive manner, but with less information than is usually presented on a resume. The employer is just interested in those particular qualifications that relate to the service being proposed, not the person’s background or non-related experiences.
It’s usually not advisable to include any information about a person’s disability, employment gaps, or other information that could be perceived negatively by the employer. This information is not relevant, except in cases where it will affect the person’s ability to perform the job.
Remember these points:
- Highlight the person’s abilities and strengths
- Relate the person’s abilities directly to the service being provided
- Don’t provide too much detail, leaving a reason to have a personal interview to fill in gaps
Desired Employment Conditions
In cases where the position didn’t previously exist, there is no wage precedent, so it’s generally possible to propose (and justify) a wage rate that’s higher than could be achieved in a similar position. The Job Developer should conduct research to determine what the “going rate” is for the work being performed, as the basis for the proposed wage.
When proposing specific working hours, consider the needs of both the employer and the applicant. The employer’s hours of operation may or may not allow for a flexible work schedule, so take that into account first. In situations where specific hours would help accommodate an applicant’s disability, and would still meet the employer’s needs, propose that schedule up front instead of having to draw attention to the disability by requesting a modified work schedule after the person starts work.
