Answering Your Questions
How is Job Quest different from other employment services?
We work with the person
Working with the person, we identify the supports that they are
missing, assist them to access those resources and provide follow-up
- because if an individual’s personal life isn’t stable, (s)he won’t
be able to succeed at work.
Beyond just assisting our clientele to “find a job”, we help them to
prepare in every aspect of their lives - from basic life skills
development (for example, developing social skills) to employment
preparation and training. We provide job coaching, on-the-job
training and follow-up support to our clientele and their employers
for up to three years.
We support employers
Job Quest supports employers by offering a diversity of services
both around supporting people from Job Quest (for example, job
coaching) and with a focus to improve the overall workplace
environment for all employees.
We create opportunities for all people to succeed in employment by
proactively identifying and addressing workplace issues that
contribute to employment barriers.
We educate the public
We strive to educate the public and to remove the stigma and myths
surrounding disability and work.
We identify and address emerging community needs
Job Quest identifies emerging employment needs in the community and
develops services, strategies and partnerships to address those
needs. For example, we are in the process of developing partnerships
in the education system so that we may reach out to isolated, rural
youth and adults who are experiencing difficulty in school and the
community.
The young people we are targeting are at risk of dropping out and
requiring social assistance. By proactively and assertively working
to address the needs of these students today, we can help them to
succeed at work so that they won’t have to turn to public
assistance.
We have also joined into a partnership with CMHA and the hospital to
address the very special needs of the seriously mentally ill – the
highest unemployed group in our country.