A vocational training scheme is a formalized step-by-step plan developed between a vocational rehabilitation counselor and a client seeking new employment. In the US, this vocational training scheme and job search services may be mandated by legislation if a large employer leaves a community taking jobs to another country, or made available to welfare recipients and other low-income individuals. States also provide vocational rehabilitation under state-specific workers compensation laws to citizens injured on-the-job if they are unable to return to their previous occupations. Additionally, states provide vocational training to disabled members of their populations. Any of these vocational training, retraining or rehabilitation programs — public or private — require an individualized vocational training scheme prior to implementation.
New job seekers are not simply placed into positions in which they feel interested. A great deal of data is collected in order to develop a reasonable job placement plan with a good chance of placement and success. Different types of assessments and tests may be administered to the job seeker, depending upon the position or positions sought, to help guide the process. These evaluations may include aptitude tests, personality evaluations, tests to confirm written and numeric literacy, tests to measure eye-hand coordination and even some hands-on problem-solving evaluations. The results of any or all these tests are included in and help to guide the vocational training scheme.
In addition to a complete educational performance history, a detailed job history is included as part of the vocational training scheme development. A job history is not only helpful in showing the types of positions previously favored by or available to the job seeker, it is necessary to generate a transferable skills analysis. This type of report lists those skills transferable from job to job and may include concrete skills such as the ability to operate an electronic cash register or a skill less tangible such as the ability to multitask. Similar transferable skills may be required by markedly disparate jobs, allowing individuals to change careers without the necessity of learning as many new skills as one would expect.
Sometimes a vocational training scheme will allow a job "tryout." This period of time — from anywhere to a couple of hours to a couple of weeks — gives an individual the opportunity to determine whether or not the particular career he might have in mind meets his expectations. A vocational training scheme must also contain a labor market survey or some information as to job availability in the individual's chosen field. This information is necessary to justify the time, expense and resources utilized to complete it.