The vocational assessment interview is usually the first time an injured worker sits down with a vocational counselor. People arrive expecting a test. It is not a test. It is an interview about your working life.
What to bring
- A list of every job you have held, with dates, employers and what you actually did day to day.
- Any certificates, licenses or training, including anything from outside the United States.
- Your physician's most recent report describing your restrictions.
- Pay information if you have it.
- A note of anything that has changed since the injury: sleep, driving, standing, lifting, concentration.
What you will be asked
What your old job actually required, in detail. Not the title, the demands. How much did you lift, how often, from what height. How long did you stand. Did you climb, kneel, drive, use vibrating tools, work nights.
What education and training you have. What languages you read and write, not just speak. What you did before this job, and before that.
What you can do now, honestly. Overstating your limits damages your credibility. Understating them puts you in a plan you cannot complete.
Say it in your own language
If Spanish is the language you think in, ask to be interviewed in Spanish. This is not a courtesy, it is accuracy. Details get lost through interpretation, and the details are what the assessment is built on. Every counselor and plan monitor in our office works in both English and Spanish.
Read the document
You should receive the written assessment. Read it. Check that your job history is right, that your restrictions are quoted correctly, and that the description of your old job matches what you actually did.
If something is wrong, put the correction in writing and say specifically what is wrong and what the correct fact is. "The assessment says I lifted 20 pounds occasionally. I lifted 50 pound linen bags roughly forty times a shift" is a useful correction. "I disagree with the assessment" is not.
It is not adversarial
A vocational counselor is not the insurance adjuster and is not deciding your benefits. The job is to produce an accurate picture of what you can do and find the shortest honest route back to earning. An accurate assessment serves you. It is worth the time to make it accurate.
General information, not legal advice. For advice about your own claim, speak with an attorney.
Questions about your own claim? Call us. We answer in English and Spanish.
Keep reading
For injured workersHurt at Work in Las Vegas: What Happens NextA plain-language walk through the Nevada workers' compensation process, from the injury to the point where vocational rehabilitation enters the picture.Read → 7 min
For injured workersWho Qualifies for Vocational Rehabilitation in NevadaEligibility in plain language: what has to be true about your injury, your restrictions and your old job.Read → 5 min
For injured workersRetraining or a Lump Sum? How to Think About the ChoiceNevada lets you take money instead of a program. Here is what you are actually trading.Read → 6 min