ACC Supplemental Employment Services Volunteer Guide

About Employment Services

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with ACC Supplemental Employment Services (SES). By giving so generously of your time, skills, and effort, you contribute to our continuing mission of ACC Employment Services: supporting client efforts to become self-sufficient and productive members of the Denver community through acquiring gainful employment.

Our goal is to train clients so they are prepared to seek, locate, and keep a job. We are dedicated to helping clients develop the skills and attitude that are key to succeeding in the American workplace. We also assist local employers identify and hire individuals who are skilled, hard working and creative.

Contact Info

Please feel free to contact Kirsten Logan, SES Coordinatoror Carrie Thiele, SES Trainerwith any questions or schedule changes. Note: contact information was removed by Higher

Key Traits

We ask that you keep in mind these key traits in working with our community members:

  • Mutual Respect: Clients, teachers, interns and volunteers are asked to show a common attitude of fairness and support for our common goal. It is important to maintain a willingness to understand that even when there is a difference of opinion or thought, each person is a valuable participant.
  • Patience: Please maintain an ability to endure an unexpected disruption or delay, and tolerate difficulties or frustrations in communications without getting angry, aggressive, or disrespectful.
  • Cognizant Communication: Speak clearly (enunciate words). Speak at a slightly slower speed than you normally would. Make a conscientious effort to ask or make concise questions and statements. Refrain from using slang, jargon, excessive pronouns or colloquial idioms and making sarcastic comments with clients.
  • Willingness to Help: That’s the true nature of volunteerism! Thank you for agreeing to serve others.

Job Club

Job Club meets four days a week, Mondays – Thursdays, 12:30pm—3pm. We focus on five different units:

  1. The Job Search
  2. Resumes
  3. Applications
  4. Interview Skills
  5. Workplace Culture

Because we train our clients to obtain and retain jobs, we ask that you help reinforce a sense of professionalism during Job Club. We ask that our Job Club participants and volunteers:

  • Come dressed professionally. If any Job Club participants need assistance in purchasing professionally clothing, we can assist with Safari Seconds gift certificates.
  • Turn off cell phones.
  • Be on time.

You will also be asked to assist with the teaching/training process, which might include one-on-one training with Job Club participants, or possibly at some point, leading a Job Club session. Please refer to the Adult Learning and Retention Factors and Strategies in the following pages to review tried and true adult training approaches we strive to incorporate.

Key Messages

  1. Be early for interviews and work.
  2. You MUST call in if you are going to be late or absent, at least 24 hours in advance unless it is an emergency (for Job Club or work).
  3. Stay with your job for at least 6 months.

Drop-In Visits

You might also be asked to assist community members who “drop in” to get help with applications or practice interviews. Please feel free to use the computers along the wall with the international pictures in the large back room for assisting community members with job applications.

Job Application Assistance

You will also find guidelines for completing applications enclosed; please refer to these when assisting a community member. If time allows, you might also help them complete a Personal Fact Sheet they can use to transfer information onto applications.

Interview Preparation

When helping with interview preparation, you can refer to the 10 Most Common Interview Questions worksheet as well as the Interview Checklist to track their progress as they practice.

Please note: Some of our participants are not able to shake hands with the opposite gender because of their faith. If that is the case, please help them memorize, “I’m sorry, I’m not able to able to shake hands because of my faith.”

Creating a Resume

If you are asked to create a resume for a community member, please use the Resume Template file found in the Volunteer Info folder. (Note: Specific server location was removed by Higher) Please fill the resume out with experience and education as best as possible to fill the sheet. Please save it in: Employment, 2015, resumes by community member’s name. If you are working from an Employment Plan or Personal Information Sheet that only lists simple job-related duties (i.e. for housekeeping experience, “Cleaned rooms”), please expand the duties to include more information (such as “Cleaned rooms daily and provided excellent customer service”).

If you are working together with a community member to create their resume, please encourage them to tell you about ALL of their work experience, even from the refugee camp and/or their home country, as well as any volunteer experience. If they worked at home, they have experience as a homemaker.

Logging into a Computer/Intern Email

Note: Specific usernames and passwords were removed by Higher

Tracking client attendance/efforts in ETO

You may occasionally be asked to track attendance or one-on-one training sessions in the ETO program. Attendance should be recorded each session in a small black binder. You will use the day’s attendance form to record additional details in ETO.

Go to web18. you must use Internet Explorer for accessing ETO) and use the following login information:

Note: Specific usernames and passwords were removed by Higher

Once logged in, follow these steps for tracking Job Club attendance:

  • Look for the top line that says “Welcome…” On the welcome line, next to “Case Management,” click the link that reads “Change Program.”
  • Then select “Employment” from the drop-down menu.
  • Click “Record Multiple Efforts” on the large menu at the right.
  • Select “Participant.”
  • Select the names of all those who were in attendance that day. Then scroll back to the top or bottom of list and click “submit.”
  • When it asks to “Select a Participant Outcome/Activity,” choose Supplemental Employment Services from the drop-down menu.
  • Then you will reach the screen where you can record what topics/skill sets each participant focused on. You should also record the location (typically office), time (recorded only in minutes) and any additional comments you wish to make. Then save/submit the form, and you’re done!

2 things to remember in writing case notes:

Do NOT use participant names in a “group” case note – this is to protect our CM’s confidentiality. Their names should not show up in another participant’s case note log.

When referencing a staff member please use their full name and title such as “Lisa MacClure, Job Developer”. If you don’t know them, just ask Kirsten or Carrie and we’ll help figure it out. When referencing a volunteer or intern please say volunteer Susan and use their last name if you know it.

Keeping track of your volunteer hours

Please keep track of your volunteer hours by getting a time sheetkept in the white volunteer handbook binder kept by Surya at the front desk. There are also blank timesheets in this manual.