Vocational Rehabilitation

School and Work
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Had a busy day yesterday. Went to Voc Rehab and then went Christmas and Grocery shopping on the military base in New Orleans.

I saw my vocational rehabilitation counselor and told her about all the things I have applied for and interviewed for in the last few months. I have been working with her for more than a year. I told her about the job I applied for at the airport and if she could get me a nonpaid work experience there to see if I can hack it and she said she would look into it.

She said they won’t pay to send me to law school because I already have an MBA and a lot of qualifications and experience. It was worth a shot. LSUs law school is more than $20,000 per semester. I figured it was worth asking. I probably would have become a disability lawyer part time.

She sent me an email last night and has set me up to see her counter part on December 7 and she is going to try to get me a nonpaid work experience with the IRS. I told her I had a work review with Social Security and I am deemed still disabled and get SSDI.

If I get the nonpaid work experience I won’t lose my SSDI and I would get a monthly stipend. That will help out with bills and if I do a good job they may hire me and I will see if I am able to handle it. I really want a federal job so this would be a good deal.

I have an assessment to take for a job I applied to with the IRS on my own so I need to take it I guess.

I wonder how long the NPWE will be for. I hope it’s long enough to get some experience and get hired. I will update the thread on December 7th if I have any luck with it.

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So you’re going to work with the irs? Is it going to involve doing taxes or something?

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I don’t know yet. I just took 3 assessments to be a revenue officer. That is collecting taxes. I don’t know what the NPWE would be for.

When I finished the tests it didn’t tell me whether I passed or not.

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Are you sure you can have a stipend and still get SSDI they want to know about any income even if you like walk cats or something small I think the stipend would count?

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Ya. A nonpaid work experience doesn’t count as income. It’s like the GI Bill

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Here is the link to the job announcement. It is still open if anyone else wants to apply and has the experience or the education.

They have openings all over the US.

I have an MBA so I think I can qualify at the GS 9 level. It’s a good job.

If the nonpaid work experience gets me into this field that would be a good deal. I am doing this through the VA.

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This must be the week for jobs. I have 3 other interviews next week. Two are for really good jobs but they are out of town.

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Voc Rehab is a great program

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Wishing you success @Tomcat. If you get the tax collector gig we can compare notes about what it’s like to work for Satan (people love paying for insurance almost as much as they love paying taxes).

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@TomCat I lived in Baton Rouge back in the late 70’s. Been shopping at the base in New Orleans.

It has been quite a few years, but the last time I went to the V.A. voc rehab. They told me I was unrehabilitatable.

My sister works for the IRS. When people call in for information on the tax laws she answer there questions. She now works out of her home.

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Small world. Baton Rouge is my hometown. I was born in 70 and joined the military in 1987. I moved back here in 2013. The VA told me that too (unrehabilitatable) the first time I applied in 2014 or 2015. They told me I couldn’t work or go to school and I went back to school and got a 3rd degree with the GI Bill so I showed them I could do something.

I applied for Voc Rehab again last September. This is the first time they are recommending me for a program. More than a year later. My psychologist put a bug in their ear and got me another appointment.

The IRS thing sounds kind of boring and out of my lane but it is a federal job and the NPWE lets me test my ability to do it before I get hired. So that’s a good thing. I like the test it out first option.

I have two interviews with aviation companies next week which is more aligned with my skill set and would pay much more but I would have to relocate and separate myself from my family and I would immediately lose my SSDI so I am inclined to test the waters with the IRS as a safety net. If I can’t hack it I don’t lose anything.

I prefer shopping at the bases in Biloxi but since I was in Nee Orleans I was more than halfway to naval air station.

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When I shop on a base now. I go to Fort Leonard Wood Missouri.

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My nephew is going to boot camp there in January. He joined the Army. Going to be in CBRN.

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The nonpaid work experience with the IRS is more of a clerical position. I would be working in the lobby and directing the flow of traffic coming in the door. I am fairly overqualified for that and it is definitely not up to par with the position I applied for but I am going to consider it.

It may be a foot in the door and I have nothing to lose by doing it.

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I had a phone interview yesterday for a really good job and I backed out of it. My wife said we weren’t moving to Washington. It was the safety officer for an aircraft firefighting company.

I should have just taken the call.

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Good old “Fort lost in the woods” :grinning::grinning::grinning:

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I don’t know about lost in the woods. I always can find it. Of course I have been lost in the wood my whole life.

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I am about to leave to go to the Voc rehab counselor appointment. Have to drop the dogs off at camp on the way. The cable guy is coming this afternoon and he is going to be in the yard and in the house.

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I went to the Voc Rehab counselor today. Didn’t learn very much. She asked me if I had heard from the IRS and I said no. She said she would follow up. So no news yet.

I signed up to take a test for some state jobs with the local VA rep from the state workforce commission.

The VA counselor is pregnant so she said she is probably not coming back to my town until after the baby is born. From the looks of her that will still be a few months but she said we could video conference if we need to. She said she wants to work one lead at a time so we will wait and see what the IRS says.

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Good luck @TomCat!!!

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