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Vocational rehabilitation counselor skills for your resume and career

15 vocational rehabilitation counselor skills for your resume and career
1. Rehabilitation
- Provided independent professional vocational rehabilitation counseling to individuals with disabilities.
- Determined eligibility for services and developed individualized rehabilitation programs.
2. Substance Abuse
- Provided individual and group therapy to individuals with mental and substance abuse disorders utilizing an integrated counseling model as appropriate
- Provided vocational rehabilitation services to help people recover from a physical or mental impairment or substance abuse problem.
3. Transferable
- Analyzed and applied transferable skills.
- Administered residual functional capacities assessments, interest tests, aptitude tests, transferable skills analysis and other vocational assessment tests.
4. Plan Development
- Facilitate comprehensive vocational rehabilitation plan development with job candidates that reflect their interests, skills, abilities, and relevant limitations.
- Counseled handicapped individuals to provide vocational rehabilitation services (interviews, evaluations, plan development /follow up/ closure).
5. Vocational Assessments
- Review medical documentation and conducted informal vocational assessments and career exploration in order to determine and coordinate vocational needs.
- Provided career counseling, resume compilation, development of job analysis, interpreted vocational assessments for those with disabilities.
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Vocational rehabilitation stands for a set of services that aim to restore individuals with disabilities to their optimal mental, physical, vocational, economic, and social ability. Some of the programs include refresher courses, vocational assessment and evaluation, career counseling, on-the-job training, etc.
- Transferred with vocational rehabilitation to counselor position
- Determined eligibility for vocational rehabilitation services.
8. Mental Health
Mental health is the state of wellbeing in which an individual can cope with the regular stresses and tensions of life, and can work productively without having any emotional or psychological breakdown. Mental health is essential for a person of any age and helps them make the right decisions in their life.
- Screened for presence of mental health and developmental disabilities in absence of diagnosis(es) substantiated through medical/psychological/educational records.
- Case management of 119 applicants with moderate to severe mental health and physical disabilities to determine eligibility of services.
9. Veterans
- Developed vocational and educational goals with participants with physical and mental disabilities both general and veterans pursuing employment and/or self sufficient.
- Provided Vocational counseling and guidance to veterans with service connected disabilities, administered academic and interest inventories to veterans.
10. Competitive Employment
Competitive employment is a job that is performed on a full/ part-time basis in which entities are paid for their work, according to the job. However, the compensation must be at par or above the standard of the minimum wage. The cost of compensated benefits by the employer should be at the same level for similar work performed by abled people.
- Assisted individuals with disabilities by providing vocational guidance and counseling to help overcome functional limitations to gain competitive employment.
- Advocated for individuals with disabilities in effort to obtain and/or retain competitive employment using a Supported Employment approach.
11. Labor Market Surveys
- Research and conduct Labor Market Surveys to determine local vocational trends and individualized job opportunities.
- Performed career interest and abilities assessments, labor market surveys and salary requirement assessments.
12. Independent Living
- Assessed and reviewed vocational, medical, and educational records to determine appropriate employment and/or independent living goals for clients.
- Facilitated independent living skills through authorization and coordination of assisted living devices.
13. Rehabilitation Programs
- Determine eligibility for rehabilitation programs.
- Prepared and monitored the implementation of Individualized Written Rehabilitation Programs (IWRP) for each individual assigned to the caseload.
14. Community Resources
Community resources are a set of resources that are used in the day to day life of people which improves their lifestyle in some way. People, sites or houses, and population assistance can come under the services offered by community resources.
- Worked with individuals with varying disabilities in need of community resources as well as educational and employment opportunities.
- Assessed and evaluated medical/psycho-social information to determine eligibility; conferred with families, significant others and community resources.
15. Employment Services
- Provided comprehensive employment and post-employment services which include assessing employ-ability and assisting in the development of employment assistance plans.
- Perform initial evaluations, entitlement determinations, rehabilitation planning, case documentation, employment services and interpretation of testing.
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What skills help Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors find jobs?
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What skills stand out on vocational rehabilitation counselor resumes?
Dr. Robert Cantu
Associate Professor, Brenau University
Clear objective statement in the resume that matches the needs of the clinic. This shows a focus on job seeking and career path.
Clinical education experiences that match the needs of the clinic.
Skills gained in their clinical training that matches the clinic's needs: Examples: Strong manual therapy training in a clinic that emphasizes one-on-one care of patients. Strong exercise training in sports medicine clinics.
For those with some career experience:
Job stability--i.e., how long is the candidate at one place of employment. At least 18-24 months in a job or longer is good. This means they were perceptive and chose wisely. Six jobs in the first 5 years will raise red flags.
Current and frequent continuing education attendance in the area in which the clinic specializes. This shows a focus on growing and staying current in clinical skills.
What soft skills should all vocational rehabilitation counselors possess?
Dr. Robert Cantu
Associate Professor, Brenau University
People skills: For patient management: Empathy, the warmth of personality, a caring demeanor, and express kindness. And absolutely, a willingness to always put the patient first. Good eye contact, firm but kind, reassuring handshake (or a kind elbow bump). The understanding is that even though they work for a company, ultimately, the clinician works for the patient.
What hard/technical skills are most important for vocational rehabilitation counselors?
Dr. Robert Cantu
Associate Professor, Brenau University
Ability to adapt to changes in insurance reimbursement policies while not compromising patient care.
What vocational rehabilitation counselor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Visiting Professor, Saint Xavier University
increasing focus on neuroscience and the advent of telehealth, incorporating science and
technology in counseling is increasingly relevant.
The use of technology is on the rise. As more people become familiar with telehealth, counselors
must become comfortable providing virtual care. Telehealth practices are also critical to
expanding our reach and improving the accessibility of our services.
Undeniable links between science and counseling continue to emerge. Findings in neuroscience
are shaping how we understand counseling and informing best practices (Cammisuli &
Castelnuovo, 2023). Furthermore, this supports incorporating knowledge and skills from other
disciplines to broaden the counseling field's horizons.
Mastering essential attending behaviors and the basic listening sequence (Ivey et al., 2018) is not
enough if we cannot successfully and accurately position our clients against a backdrop of broad
and complex contextual factors. Embracing diverse perspectives is crucial to supporting holistic
counseling practices. Integrating new information will be the key to achieving a more complete
and inclusive understanding of our clients and our work as we move forward.
What type of skills will young vocational rehabilitation counselors need?
Assistant Professor of Health and Human Kinetics, Ohio Wesleyan University
What technical skills for a vocational rehabilitation counselor stand out to employers?
Associate Director of Faculty Development, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
List of vocational rehabilitation counselor skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a vocational rehabilitation counselor resume and required skills for a vocational rehabilitation counselor to have include:
- Rehabilitation
- Substance Abuse
- Transferable
- Plan Development
- Vocational Assessments
- Social Work
- Vocational Rehabilitation
- Mental Health
- Veterans
- Competitive Employment
- Labor Market Surveys
- Independent Living
- Rehabilitation Programs
- Community Resources
- Employment Services
- Federal Regulations
- Social Services
- Physical Disabilities
- IPE
- Eligibility Determination
- Vocational Guidance
- Rehabilitation Plans
- Rehabilitation Process
- Management System
- Assistive Devices
- Local Employers
- Assistive Technology
- Diagnostic Evaluations
- Suitable Employment
- Vocational Evaluations
- Vocational Training
- Intake Interviews
- Community Agencies
- Crisis Intervention
- Mental Illness
- Functional Limitations
- Gainful Employment
- Mental Disabilities
- Community Organizations
- Assess Client
- Developmental Disabilities
- Training Programs
- Client Employment
- Transportation Problems
- IEP
- Agency Liaison
- Psychological Evaluations
Updated January 8, 2025
6. Social Work