A comprehensive 30-hour, 14-module FDIC authored curriculum designed to assist individuals in accessing and interacting with the financial system.  Building credit, setting up bank accounts, managing debt, saving money, protecting one’s identity, and credit recovery strategies are some of the topics covered.  Recommended for individuals who need to develop or refine their money management skills – before it’s too late. 

Well, there are a number of reasons actually, but to keep you from Googling dancing hamsters, we’ll limit this discussion to four.

REASON 1

Whether our clients are entering the job market for the first time, or are making a career change mid-stream, the tested occupational exploration components of VAT can be an invaluable tool for ensuring they set forth on the right path.  Accordingly, The River City Group has partnered withKeneXa Prove It! an IBM company that provides an array of skills and personality testing instruments for many Fortune 500 companies and government agencies.  The KeneXa testing batteries are commonly used during the employer’s prescreening phase to determine whether or not an applicant possesses the skills and personality traits necessary for success in a particular position or role within the hiring company.  At RCG, we use these validated instruments to explore the viability of our client’s employment goals, establish competency baselines for specific job functions, e.g. Microsoft Word, and to assess an individual’s suitability for specific positions within a cross-section of the local economy.  As a component of our goal setting seminars, occupational exploration encompasses identifying our clients’ skills, personal attributes, and previously developed worker traits as part of what can best be described as a profile-building endeavor.  Emphasis is not only placed on identifying skills developed through traditional means such as work experience, post-secondary education, and high school based work programs, but also on recognizing the value of additional skills cultivated through nontraditional learning venues such as volunteer work and home-based learning.

REASON 2

Communication in the workplace or perhaps a lack thereof, is frequently the root cause of problems that can result in lack of job satisfaction, resignation, or worse: termination from employment.  RCG devotes a significant amount of time to seminars and activities designed to help our clients understand how fundamentally important the art of listening can be to their long-term success.  Clients participate in group communication exercises intended to foster an appreciation for the value of collaboration and transparency in workplace exchanges, whether written or verbal.

REASON 3

An individual’s confidence is often the first part of their self-image to take the plunge when they lose a job or have difficulty obtaining a job, especially if this experience has been disability related.  We understand this because as individuals with disabilities, we have lived it.  Consequently, time is invested in helping our clients to understand that their experiences are not necessarily unique, and that many others have successfully navigated these waters before them.  By helping our clients to realize this, we can assist them in regaining that feeling of possibility and promise.

REASON 4

Ironically, whether an individual has never worked, or has worked for twenty years they may share the same lack of appreciation for what an employer truly wants from an employee.  Our personal favorite line of the disgruntled worker, the “it’s not my job” syndrome, is addressed as a part of our series of interactive lectures on workplace behaviors and worker attributes.  Things like taking initiative, working as part of a team, and working with integrity are all discussed in this part of the training.