About Job Club
The Job Club is a one-stop centre, located at the Institute of Mental Health, and is staffed by a multidisciplinary team of Medical Social Workers, Occupational Therapists and Job Placement Officers. There is also a Psychiatrist who is consulted on a needs basis.
Referrals to the Job Club can be made for any person who has been diagnosed with mental illness and is certified fit to work by his or her attending psychiatrist. Upon referral, an appointment will be given to the client to attend an initial interview with one of the staff. During this first interview, a Job Readiness Assessment will be conducted to assess the client’s readiness for work before further steps are taken to find a suitable job.
The Job Club maintains a database of clients and employers who are prepared to cater to the needs of its members. This database is highly useful for job matching clients to the right job and expectations.
Our Services
The Job Preparation and Matching process entails several steps to ensure clients are ready by the time they are job placed in the open market. To facilitate this process, the Job Club provides the following programmes and services:
Individually-tailored Rehabilitation Counselling
Counselling is an important process as it helps to engage clients so that they are motivated and are assisted to persevere with their efforts to achieve employment in the job of their choice. The Job Club adopts the “Choose-Get-Keep” model in its counselling approach. This is a model developed by the Centre for Psychiatric Rehabilitation in Boston, USA and works on helping clients to identify their interests and strengths for a better job match.
Job Preparation Classes
Regular classes are conducted to equip individuals with the knowledge required to prepare them for employment. These classes cover topics like career exploration, job seeking, resume writing and job interview techniques. The contents in these classes are The Career Planning Curriculum developed by the Centre of Psychiatric Rehabilitation which is adapted to help people with psychiatric disabilities to specify and to plan for attainment of vocational goals that reflect both reality and hope.
To view class schedules and registration, click here.
Support Groups
The Job Club runs monthly support group sessions to enable clients to sustain employment in open market. During these sessions, clients who have successfully stayed on their jobs share their ideas and experiences in the recovery process. In the process, they are enabled to be a role model for others who are contemplating vocational rehabilitation. Clients are also identified to take up leadership roles to facilitate the running of their groups. Over time, the support group grows towards peer support amongst clients in the group.
Job Placement and Support (Clients & Employers)
Ongoing assistance is provided to clients in their job search as soon as they are assessed to be job-ready. The actual job placement may be done directly by the Job Club staff who matches the client to available jobs in the employment database. For clients who are able to search for their own jobs, staff will also guide and prepare them for interviews. Job matching is based on the individual’s interest and strength. Upon a successful job placement, onsite support and practical help will be provided to our clients to help them to adapt better to the new work environment.
Once a job match is established, the Job Club provides support to both the client and the employer through regular site visits and phone calls. Staff also provides crisis intervention whenever difficulties arise, particularly at the initial phase where there is often the need for adjustments to be made by both parties.