[rehab] Job ads requirements

[Bonnie Mosen]

HI David and all. I'm a former vr counselor--having worked for Tenessee and
Massachusetts, and now counselors must have or be close to getting an
mrc--masters in rehabilitation counseling if they are in state or Federal
government or funded agencies. I think sometimes there may be a substitution
with social work or related fields, but they still may have to work towards
that qualification. This hasn't always been true. I remember when I got my
first job, straight out of grad school, most of the counselors had degrees
in everything from social work to art history with most not having anything
past a BA. Every vr posting I've seen over the past few years has had the
mrc qualification as an essential requirement. I'm sure there are some
counselors who have been grandfathered in, but all new hires have to have
the degree. I now live in NZ where vocational rehab doesn't exist as it does
in the US. Our equivalent are called employment consultants, and they are
much like what we saw years ago with no degree or experience. Employment
isn't a high priority for our blind services agency and it is extremely
discouraging for me to see coming from a voc rehab background. I've
interviewed for several of these employment consultant jobs and have
basically been told I'm "overqualified".
Cheers
Bonnie Mosen     -----
From: rehab [mailto:rehab-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Andrews, David B
(DEED) via rehab
Sent: Friday, September 22, 2017 2:41 AM
To: Rehabilitation Counselor Mailing List <rehab at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Andrews, David B (DEED) <david.b.andrews at state.mn.us>
Subject: Re: [rehab] Job ads requirements

I am not a Rehab Counselor -- but work for a state rehab agency.  I could be
wrong here -- please anyone correct me -- but in the Federal/State rehab
system, Counselors are required to have Masters degrees in rehabilitation or
related fields.  I think we sometimes hire people who are close, but have a
bit remaining to complete, but they have to do it in a certain amount of
time.  Other entities hire rehab counselors, and may have other
requirements.  We also hire "rehab technicians" some of whom just have high
school degrees. They are more involved with coordination, paperwork,
orientation, etc., not actual counseling.

Dave



David Andrews | Chief Technology Officer Minnesota Department of Employment
and Economic Development State Services for the Blind
2200 University Ave West, Suite 240, St. Paul MN 55114
Direct: 651-539-2294
Web | Twitter | Facebook



-----Original Message-----
From: rehab [mailto:rehab-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of adrijana
prokopenko via rehab
Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2017 9:26 AM
To: rehab <rehab at nfbnet.org>
Cc: adrijana prokopenko <adrijana.prokopenko at gmail.com>
Subject: [rehab] Job ads requirements

 Hi all,

 I am not in the rehab counseling field, but there are some things that I
have heard and come across that puzzle me greatly, so I hope that someone
can help me understand this puzzle better. Most of the time, when it comes
to job ads, most of them require someone to have the degree necessary for
the kind of work they do, but I also keep hearing from other people who work
as rehab counselors or are hired to do so that it happens more and more that
this requirement is not needed. I personally know of a few people in the US
that work as rehab counselors with a high school diploma or holding other
degrees, mostly in the computer field. I have never read a job ad that
states they would be flexible about who they employ, but hope someone can
help me understand this a bit better.

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