Ray >> Welcome everybody. Let's talk about working outside of an office setting. We will have lots of opportunities. I think the pandemic has shown everybody that work can be done at home, and there are more and more opportunities to work outside of the office. So, let's talk about how we can start looking at those as a route for returning to work. 

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Derek >> Thank you so much. This is Derek speaking. Appreciate, Ray, you setting the stage for us and getting everyone acclimated to our platform, and it's really been a pleasure to be with you all, and appreciate your time to walk through some content together about discovering non office jobs. Today we are going to look at really the intersection of discovering non-office jobs, really considering jobs that are outside of the traditional office space. And we'll look at that intersection with how Social Security's Ticket to Work Program can help you and can answer some questions today relating to non-office jobs, the Ticket Program, and your employment team. Those program service providers. So with that, I'm going to start, as Ray said, to talk to you about really what are non office jobs, and bring this forward, and then we'll pause for some questions, and then Ray is going to come back and go through the Social Security benefit programs, the Ticket Program, and your employment team that can help you, if this seems to be a direction that you want to go in. 


So, it’s really good to be with you and focus on this topic of exploring jobs that take place outside of and office setting. In describing these types of jobs though, people can categorize them and sometimes it happens with the phrase or term collared colors. So you may be very familiar with white collared jobs. And these are commonly referred to as desk jobs and in fact some 80 percent of jobs that people hold are desk jobs. The other types of jobs we hear about are blue collared jobs. This is where you might have a physical requirement to perform a duty. And often is associated with so-called using your hands to perform that duty. Those can frequently be skilled positions. Sometimes they are unskilled positions, and those jobs come in either hourly or salaried positions, as well. And when we think about blue-collar positions, we frequently think about blue-collar positions like construction workers, machine operators. But it goes into those other areas, too, like plumbers, electricians, mechanic, mechanics, landscaping industry as well, and we have this massive workforce now with delivery drivers, as we shifted kind of a retail model to delivery. What's important to know when you think about white-collar and blue-collar positions, we are going to get into some other nonoffice job descriptions, as well, is that we roughly have around 158 or 159 million jobs in the United States. So I’ll say that again. There is around 158 million jobs in the United States. And somewhere around 126 million of those are desk jobs. Right, those are that 80% of Americans working inside of your traditional desk job environment. But then there's the other 20%, and of that other 20% of workers, doing nonoffice jobs, about 14% of those folks are in those blue-collar positions. That's roughly 22 million Americans performing blue-collar positions. That leaves another 10 million positions in the country that are other types of work, and that's what we want to also explore with you, in case you have an interest in that type of work. 

So, you might be surprised to learn about these other color positions if you haven't talked about it before. For example, yellow color workers are people that work in the creative fields. They might spend time doing both kinda white-collar and blue-collar tasks. Some folks behind a desk doing administrative or project like position, where other blue-collar tasks in yellow collar space will be things where you are using your hands or it's a physical activity. This can be work like photographers, filmmakers, or directors and editors. So we think of the yellow color spaces that creative field. 

There's also the growing green economy. You may have heard of the green collar workers who are employed really in a lot of sectors, working in environmental spaces. This could be folks working on alternate energy sources such as the solar panel industry or the wind industry. 

And then there's a last group we'll talk about today is the pink collar workforce. These are folks that are really looking at personal service oriented work. This includes things like the retail sector, but also includes a lot of other areas like nursing and teaching. Again, personal service oriented work. You can include in that the veterinary assistant workforce, hairdressers and barbers, flight attendants, and it expands into childcare workforce, along with dental hygienists and assistants. These are all part of a service sector, and they're actually becoming more of a common occupation in the country. 

Remember we are talking about 10 million or more workers that are in yellow, green, and pink collar positions. So one of the things that we have to decide is how do I consider what path to pursue with an interesting one of these positions, one of these yellow or green or pink collar positions, or blue-collar, for that matter. When considering the different types of paths, you really need to start asking yourself a few questions to get a better idea of what's important to you, and what are you going to be motivated to do. I think, in this regard, it's getting to know yourself and your motivations. Think about that. You can do an inventory about what are my skills and experiences, what are my motivations and passions, and when I think about my work goals, then I can attach to -- well, if I got to that work goal, I know I would be satisfied, because these are things I really enjoy doing. And with that in mind, we want to explore some specific questions that would help you build that inventory. 

How do I decide what path to pursue? So, I mentioned, what are you passionate about, what do I like to do. Sometimes people get into jobs and it's not necessarily what you prefer to do or want to do, but it was the job that was available. And if you're exploring right now an opportunity to return to work or to begin work for the first time, we have a chance to kind of paint that picture. What is it that you like to do? What do you enjoy doing? And if you're not sure how to do that, I would refer to the last bullet on the screen, is do I have a hobby that I enjoy doing, that I really like, that I can imagine myself doing for a job and getting paid to do? For some people that might be, well my hobbies are sports. For others it could be, I really enjoy gardening or knitting, or reading, and how is it that I could turn those ideas or hobbies into paid work. So, in order to pursue that thought a little bit more, we ask some other questions. 

Do I prefer a sedentary job, or do I need a sedentary job, where I'm not necessarily in a mobile environment, or am I the type of person that if I sat behind a desk or in a retail station, I wouldn't be happy, I need to be mobile. And do I want to be inside or outside? This starts to frame, like who I am as a person, and where I want to be, which would allow you to say, could I do that hobby or passion of mine? 

Next, do you like working in a team or do you prefer work on your own, or many of us prefer to have the opportunity to do both. Well, that's really important to know. If you're going to be successful in a nonoffice job, do I want to be on a team or do I prefer individual tasks? 

And if you are into this hobby space, let's take that idea, if you enjoy gardening. You might be able to pursue a job in a sector that was related to gardening, perhaps landscaping work, or maybe you can work at like a home improvement store, that had a garden section, of a retail store. But to actually do that, you might need some training to become credentialed, meaning to take that hobby, but then learn more about perhaps an element of gardening. Maybe that's about chemicals used in fertilizer. So then if you were at that store, you could talk to customers about that. Well, you would need to know what training was needed in order to get that position. 

Next, do I like to repair or build things? There are so many folks out there that enjoy using their hands. If that's you, then what are those types of things and do you like working with bicycles, or do you like working with engines, and, um, what training could you use that would build upon that, that would get you a credential, that would make you an attractive employee? 

And of course, at the end, work is meant to lead to income and you need to have a ballpark idea of how much money you want to earn, what is it the amount that I need to be in the position I want to be in. And so with this, you start to put together a story line of who you are and would be able to convey that to somebody else that would suggest I'm motivated for these reasons, to go in this direction, and it would help them in understanding why you're considering work, and in fact, perhaps why you are considering a nonoffice job. 

So moving into this next section, I want to talk to you a little bit about the specific advantages of non-office jobs, and why these positions, around 20% of them in the United States, might be the right thing for you to consider. So, by examining these advantages, you might say, well that's me, and I align with these ideas and ideals and I want to figure out how to work with the employment team to pursue them. 

So, the first area we are going to cover our advantage number one, is this topic of starting to work without a four-year degree. So a college degree isn't the only option to get the skills that is needed for work. As we know, earning a college degree takes a lot of time, and it can be quite expensive. 

So, if you're one of these people that are joining us today, and you're thinking about nonoffice jobs, and an advantage of that is it requires a shorter period of time to acquire the training and potentially the formal education that is needed for those positions. So, in order to examine that in more detail, we recommend contacting a State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency, and they will help you to explore specific training programs. Remember if we go back to the questions that we just asked, and we frame, well what are my skills and experiences, what are my passions and aspirations, and we bring those to our state vocational rehabilitation agency, then they can say, from where you are coming, to get to where you want to go in that nonoffice job, there could be some training, and they would be able to assist with looking at those from a cost perspective and exploring perhaps some financial assistance that would be available to acquire that training. 

Now Ray is going to talk about the state VR agencies a little bit later, but they are available in every state and they provide a variety of services for people with disabilities to return to work or work for the first time. And that includes, to this point, education, rehabilitation, career counseling, and job placement assistance. So, these are critical partners when you think about accessing these pink, yellow, and green collar jobs that we talked about. Pink being service sector, yellow being creative, and green be in the environmental sector. But also the blue-collar work. Those individuals working with their hands or physical positions. Training programs can help you be competitive for those positions. Like if you wanted to be a hairdresser or barber, or how about a film editor, you could get training through your state VR program, and that would position you to be competitive for those jobs. We recommend considering reaching out to your State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency, and they would help you take advantage of --take advantage number one and put it into play. That is, it's a shorter pathway as opposed to a traditional four-year educational process. 

Well let's now turn to advantage number two, gaining experience that could lead to more advanced positions. This is a really important one. When you think about this, maybe you have goals towards a job and it seems far away, and you might have to have, you know, advanced skills, or it might require more experience to be in that position. But an entry level job in that industry is a way to get in and get started. We think about that, and you'll get the on-the-job experience that you need, and you learn from others that are more experienced about what you could call a collinear career ladder, or a career pathway that you would like to take to get from the job you have, to that more experienced position you prefer. And in doing so, you could pick up some other things that we call in-demand skills. And these become very attractive to the employer,  because the only place that you can really capture those is from being inside of that workforce. That makes you more attractive for future career advancement, either with that employer, and in that industry, or perhaps you can transfer them to another employer and into another industry. 

I heard it a number of years ago, and I always remembered it: your first job will lead you to your next job. So, if you're considering work, you just might want to consider, where is that first position, and how do I get into that in order to get to the next position? We know that work is available for those that want it, and we have different types of positions, and today we encourage you to think about that with non-office jobs. 

So, what's an example of this advantage playing out? I think the great one is we think about the industry of restaurants, and we think about chefs and cooks. So, if you have an aspiration to be a head chef, it's hard to start out in that position. But if we think about, how do we get to become the head chef at a large restaurant or perhaps a banquet hall, well it's a great place to start in that pipeline by working in a local restaurant or perhaps a smaller bakery, where you learn the basics and you gain experience as you go. Working in a commercial-type kitchen can teach a lot about food preparation, yes, but importantly, all of the other elements that are needed for a successful chef. So, yes, there's cooking that occurs. But there's also procurement of the materials, the food plus all the other support tools that are used in the kitchen. We have to hire the staff, and we have to think about the training, and then the division of labor. Who is going to do what in the kitchen? That's a lot of project management skills. So, by working inside of a restaurant where we have access to a chef, we can in fact learn from that senior person, and perhaps in a way gain those skills through shadowing. And that could lead to that advanced position. So, understanding operations and logistics of an industry starts by being inside of it, and sometimes you might have to start in a position that isn't the immediate goal, but it's going to help you reach that goal. 

So, summarizing advantage number two, gain experience that can lead to more advanced positions. Just remember, our first job can lead to our next job, and it's getting into that pathway that will put you on the road to the position that you desire. 

Okay. Now we are at advantage number three. Remember we are going through five advantages. This next advantage is a fantastic one, and we hope that if you haven't experienced or learned about apprenticeships, that you become more familiar with it through this content today, and check it out. 

Apprenticeship programs allow you to get paid while you gain that work experience. They also offer classroom instruction and the credentials that will make you a more competitive candidate to the employer that you want to work for. You can also get that hands-on experience that leads to the future employment. Again, one job leads to the next job, so as the apprentice, you might be doing skills, or, or using skills, and learning the trade, and providing an assistant position level work. After you get the credential, though, you could be promoted to a higher level. It's a great option, especially if you're just starting out an employment journey, or you decided you want to try a new field entirely. It's really a wonderful option to go in two different directions. 

I'm not really sure about your familiarity with apprenticeships, but it's really important to understand the first reality, that these are not talking about internships or they are not talking about fellowships, we are talking about actual employment positions. So apprenticeships, our jobs, and if you're looking at fields like manufacturing or healthcare, information technology, and hospitality, there are a lot of apprenticeship options out there that are jobs that put you in a pipeline to a credential and a career. 

Now if you remember, Ray pointed out we have the web links pod. That's in the bottom right corner of your screen. I really encourage you to visit Apprenticeship.gov, and you can find that link in number eight in the web links box. When you go there you can learn a lot. One of the things they'll tell you is that 92% of apprentices retain employment after completion of their apprenticeship. There is a 92% success rate to employment when you go through an apprenticeship pipeline. 

Now there's a lot more information at Apprenticeship.gov. I was just on there today. I was exploring it and you could, as a job seeker, you can explore the information. Was an apprenticeship? What would I have to do? How would I apply? And importantly, you can search by your job interest or by an apprenticeship program, kind of like by an industry sector. And that allows you to explore all of these opportunities that are available out there. I wanted to share two of them today so you can really get a sense of what's available through Apprenticeship.gov today. 

I live in the state of Maryland and I put in two searches. My first search was editor. So if I wanted to be some type of “editor,” I wanted to see what was out there, and I put in editor, and I didn't put a location in. I just put in blank for location. And I found 16 positions that had the word editor in them. Then I cleared that out, and in the search, I put in “repair,” and the state of Maryland. I found 24 apprenticeship positions in the state of Maryland that were open. They included many positions around elevator service repair and electrician repair. Those apprenticeship positions would lead to a credential in those sectors, obviously, elevator or electrician in those cases. And we had 24 of them in the state of Maryland. Think about that, if that represents one state, what's happening inside of this database. It's a great resource. 

If I haven't convinced you by my description, we also have a blog post that's available called “Why should I consider an apprenticeship?” It contains a lot more information. It's in the web links pod under number nine. Really encourage you to check it out. As a side note for the team that I work with, they're really involved with the mentoring sector. When you go to Apprenticeship.gov today, the first thing you will find on their homepage is a message about how apprenticeship includes mentorship, and the message says, mentoring is a key component of apprenticeship, which is just fantastic, because mentoring offers things like shadowing --apprenticeship offers shadowing. You have access to a senior-level sounding board to help you think through where you are in your career, and that person is there to of eyes and support you as you move towards permanent placement in that organization, in a more senior position. Apprenticeship.gov, celebrating national mentoring month, which is January, every year. 

Okay. That was benefit or advantage number four, or number three, so now let's move on to the next item, advantage number four out of five. Start working sooner, which is always important to us. How long is it going to take me to begin work? 

Well non-office jobs often have a much shorter application process, and that helps you on your journey, really to economic security and financial independence. If we reduce the amount of time it takes to apply and to interview, and two on board, then we have an opportunity to be working and earning faster. And it is clear there's a lot of people looking for workers right now across the country, and a lot of these are in the service sector industry. Places like retail or grocery sectors have openings. And you can find them by walking in stores, kind of like the old model where there's the help wanted sign, like this image says in the window. And you can get an on-the-spot interview. 

You can also find, of course, online job boards, and they have frequent postings. One example is career one-stop.org site has posted jobs in a lot of industries that need applications submitted now. And one of the things that the Ticket to Work Program does is provides a Find a Job page that has a real extensive job boards list. So, if you're unsure about what's out there, or where to go for a central listing, that job boards page at find a job has 21 different job boards listed. So that's a pretty important resource for you. You could find that in the web links pod at item number 10. Just go down there, select that one and it will take you to the page, and you can look at the 21 job boards and select the link you like, and go check out those postings. You could also go to choose work.SSA.gov. That's choosework.SSA.gov, and we have Find a Job, right in the middle of the page. Primary navigation. Select that and check it out. It's a great way to cut down the front end of the job search process. Okay, that was number four. 

Number five we are looking at, again this is number five out of five, our last advantage of nonoffice jobs that we want to highlight today is Earn Good Wages. Which sounds important. And there really are good paying nonoffice jobs and great pathways, career pathways in nonoffice jobs. If we haven't explored them before, then we might be listening to what you could say is just some gossip or hearsay about, oh no, there's not good career pathways out there. But that's not true. In fact, according to data coming out of the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, many of the nonoffice jobs that are listed are the fastest growing wages of all jobs. So we've included in the web links pod, item number 11 link, if you want to go export that a little bit further, that's really important. The nonoffice jobs include some of the fastest-growing wages in the country. And this can include these fields we have listed here. Agriculture. We talked about kind of the green industry, but also agriculture in general. Transit and ground transportation. We have a lot of products moving around the country. We have a lot of people moving around the country. There's massive workforce needs behind those sectors. Amusement and recreation industries growing, and of course we have the motor vehicle manufacturing industry. And there's a lot more to choose from. But all of these positions have good wages, and they have good career pathways to some of the fastest-growing wages in the country. 

So now I have reviewed the five advantages that we wanted to share with you today. The first one, start working without a four-year degree. The second one, gain experience that can lead to advanced positions in that career pathway. One job leads to the next. Number three, learn why while you earn, and one fantastic way of doing that is through the apprenticeship programs. Number four, start working sooner. Reduce the application to interview to job offer timeframe by looking at the nonoffice job sector, and number five, which I just reviewed, earn good wages. Look up the data and know that these are the fastest-growing wage positions in the country, and if they connect back to your aspirations, and your motivations, then perhaps nonoffice positions are the right pathway for you. 

If I mentioned a lot of different positions, just to cover a couple others as we sum up this part, what are some examples of nonoffice jobs? I talked about the cooks and the chefs. I talked about the hairdressers and the barbers. We mentioned drivers as part of the pink sector or pink collar. I talked about the tour guides as the pink service sector, as well. Electricians, they fall inside of the blue-collar area, kind of like the construction workers and the plumbers workforce that we mentioned. We'll add painters to that list along with welders. Those industries are part of the apprenticeship world, to explore those at apprenticeship.gov. And then there's a lot more in the creative sector, or that yellow industry that we mentioned a few times, but really a sector to consider further expiration for media opportunities and creative in general, and expending area. Those aren't all people. Like you don't have to be the direct or of a film. There's a whole industry that's behind that, that needs nonoffice positions. But there's also remote positions and there are traditional office positions, as well, supporting that sector. So a lot of things to consider when you're thinking about examples of nonoffice jobs. 

Now I know I've covered a lot of content here and some of this might've been content that you've heard for the first time. What we want to do is to make sure that you know when you leave us today, there's places to reconnect to help you get started. So we are going to mention this now and we'll mention a couple times when Ray comes on, but it's really important that you understand the Ticket to Work Program has a variety of service providers and a lot of resources ready to help you get started. Potentially on your path to a non-office position. We encourage you to always call our ticket to work help line and the ticket to work helpline is at 1866-968-7842. And we provide a TTY line at 1-866-833-2967. You can call either one of those numbers. They have customer service representatives available, Monday through Friday. They're there from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time. Please consider calling them to ask your questions about how to get started. Another great option is to visit us online. I mentioned our website before. Choosework.SSA.gov. There you are going to find a lot of details regarding the topics covered in today's webinar, but also you could tap those tools we talked about, the Find a Job and the job boards page was there. I mentioned that. You can also go to the Find Help Tool. This is where you can use two search features, a guided search or start a direct search, and this will explore all of the employment team members that Ray is going to be talking about in just a little bit. And last, you can also find us on social media, Facebook and Twitter, or subscribe to our blog or email updates by visiting us at choosework.SSA.gov/contact. That link is in the web links pod under the Ticket to Work contact information, and if you're at that website, it's on the far right side, choosework.SSA.gov. One link gives you a lot of contact information. 

All right, Ray. I've gone through a lot of contact, em, a lot of details there. I'm going to pause and ask you to come back in. I think we're going to take some questions now.  

Ray >> We certainly are, Derek. 

Before we get to those questions, I just wanted to let everybody know that we are looking today to pick the broadest questions that apply to the most people that they can . It's not a place for us to respond to your personal needs. However, if we do not respond to your question, I'm going to send you to that ticket to work helpline, as well. Just to give you those numbers again, it's 1-866-968-7842 or that TTY line at 1-866-833-2967. And, Derek, we have somebody who's not sure if they want to work in an office or outside of an office. Is there somebody that can help this person decide what's best for them?  

Derek >> Thanks, Ray. This is Derek speaking. Yeah, you know, I get it. And a lot of people are the same. So, it is important to realize that if you're struggling trying to figure out, well, these sound of interest but am I really going to succeed? Are these types of positions right for me? I think it's important that you know that there is an employment team that you can talk to, to get into the details, and to be used as a sounding board, to make sure the questions you are having right now can be responded to. 

But I want to go back and talk a little bit about the homework part of this. Like in order to take advantage of the employment team as a sounding board, to help you on your path to employment and economic security, the one thing we really want to think about is what is it that I want to do. Remember the questions that I asked about, do I want a position that I'm sedentary, or do I want to work with a team, or by myself? That really helps frame some of the characteristics that the employment service provider team members could then say, well I understand you want a job in the creative sector. Those yellow collar positions. But from your homework here, you've provided some characteristics that won't align. So, let's look at those characteristics and say, well maybe they better align with the pink sector positions that we talk about. Then they could put some of those ideas in front of you. So really going back and thinking about what are my motivations, what do I like, what are my previous skills or experiences, and how do they align? Those are kind of your hobbies. A lot of our skills don't necessarily come just from education. They're the things that I do a lot, and if I enjoy doing them, could they be transferred over to one of these nonoffice job positions? And with that in mind, taking that content, that homework over to that employment service provider will help you to determine if nonoffice jobs are right for you. 

Ray >> Thank you, Derek. That's good information. What about someone who doesn't have any nonwork experience. Is a nonoffice job a good place to start? 

Derek >> This is Derek. It's a good question. I think we hear the question a lot. I don't have work experience or I don't have related work experience, so I think for nonoffice jobs or office jobs, you don't need that experience. In fact, right now we have many employers in the country that just need talent. They need people to perform the work duties. So, if you can get involved, then through that on-the-job learning, you could actually gain that work experience, which would put you on a pathway. So, because nonoffice jobs have that shorter waiting list, if you apply for those, you find out you get in, you're going to actually acquire the work experience quite thickly. So when we think about this being January and we look six months down the road, nonoffice jobs that you can start now, in six months you're going to have had work experience, and you'll be much more competitive in that industry. So, it's certainly a great way to go. It also leads me to think about, what kind of training can get you some experience, so the second part, Ray as you know, is state VR agencies for vocational rehabilitation could help you gain some experience through a training program, which then could be placed inside of that nonoffice position and you would have two forms of experience once you start then. So, a couple different ways to think about that, but I would encourage anyone listening out there, just because you don't have related work experience doesn't make you a quality candidate, and I encourage you to explore training options and also nonoffice jobs allow you to gain quick experience, and that would give you more confidence right away. 

Ray >> Okay. Once again, thank you for that. Last question we have for you for this session is a lot of the examples that you share require you to be physically active. Are there any jobs that are going to be more suitable to some older folks like me, that might require sitting down every once in a while? 

Derek >> Thanks, Ray. <chuckling> This is Derek again. There's really a job out there for everyone, so I think it's an important consideration when we think about that homework. Like some of that is what you like to do, and for others, it's what is needed to be done. So, if we need a position that isn't mobile, for whatever reason, then we need to frame that, and these are the characteristics of the position. And there are a lot of nonoffice jobs that do have those characteristics. So, an example would be if I meant if I'm interested in a green industry and I have a hobby of gardening, and I want to explore that, it doesn't mean that I have to be perhaps a laborer for a landscaping crew. There's landscaping companies that have associated positions that could be more sales related. They could be more administrative related. And it blends the sectors. Not every position is just one collar, in some cases. So you might work in a green industry, and you might have elements of an office position, where you have administrative or project tasks, because that sedentary position is what's required. So, what I would encourage you to do is not make any assumptions on your own, but bring those questions in and ask folks on the employment team those questions, too. You've heard my opinion today, but use your employment team of those service providers that Ray is going to cover, to really inform your decision-making, and sometimes the characteristics of employment become more local or regional, and they would actually have relationships with employers to give specific examples of the types of positions that would be available. Nonoffice sector positions that would have perhaps sedentary jobs. So I know some hairdressers and barbers, there's not a lot of movement there. That's a sector, you can go in that direction, there's a lot of different areas to explore.  

Ray >> Okay, Derek. Thank you so much. I really enjoyed your comment that there is a job for everybody out there. So, we just need to use some of those web pod links, some of that information Derek give you, a start to looking for that job that's just for you. That means I'm going to take you through connecting to a nonoffice job and Social Security's Ticket to Work Program. We're going to start out with our overview again, because this is very important again to beginning your search for a job. 

Social Security does administer two disability benefits programs. One is the Social Security Disability Insurance program, otherwise known as SSDI. This is a program for former workers who have had worked enough to become insured for the Social Security program, and want to go and return to work. We are going to be using those benefits as a steppingstone to return to work. Remembering this program, everybody's benefits are different. And a good way to find out which benefit you receive, if you're not sure, is to register for my Social Security account, and you can find that link in Google by putting in my Social Security account or on the Social Security website, SSA.gov. 

The other program is Supplemental Security Income program, otherwise known as SSI. This is for somebody who hasn't quite worked enough to meet that insurance status or SSDI, and for people who have no work history. This is a disability program. The standard for disability is the same for both programs, however, all of the work incentives in Ticket to Work programs may differ a bit for each one of these programs. Again, check that my Social Security account to determine what type of benefit you have. Some of your employment team are going to need that. To help you a little quicker than they otherwise would be able to. And there it is, my Social Security account. We were just talking before we came on today, about checking our accounts. Check them quite often. I'm in there several times a year, looking at how much I might receive if I retire today. What would happen if I wait until I'm 70? Who in my family would receive benefits from my account? There's a lot of good information, very helpful information, that your team, your employment team members are going to need to provide you with the best assistance they can. Again here, you can get your work history. My work history goes back to the moment I turned 16. That information about how much I earned when I was 16 years old, working at the school, is in my report. You can get a proof of income letter or a proof of benefits letter. You can estimate your benefits, as I told you. When are you going to retire or who is going to receive money? And most certainly apply for benefits if you don't have benefits right now. I don't receive benefits. I'm waiting to retire and that's what I'm looking at right now. But always, everybody should have one of these, to go along with the job that's for everybody, there's a Social Security account for everybody, as well. 

Now starting the journey to work, this is your decision. Only you can decide if work is the right choice for you, and when work is the right choice for you. I'm hoping that most of you are thinking about work, and that's what drew you here. And hopefully you'll use this as a first steppingstone to get into the return to work system. And remember, this is your choice, and if you choose after today, that this is not really the right minute for me, that's fine. Keep the website. Listen to us again next month and maybe that's when you'll be ready. 

Why choose work? Earning a living through employment is not something everybody can do, but it might be the right decision for you. I like to say that you are a success story if you return to work and work at your maximum capacity. Again, everybody can fit into this system. Once people understand the many free services and supports that are available to them, they often realize that the rewards of work, including the money that comes from work, far outweigh the risk of those urban myths that say I'm going to work and I'm going to lose everything. It's just not the case. 

What is the Ticket to Work program? The Ticket to Work Program has been with us for -- it's 2023. This is the 23rd year that the ticket has been with us. It's free. It's voluntary. You can choose to return to work by using other help or you can choose to return to work on your own. But the Ticket Program can offer career development for people ages 18 through 64, who receive a Social Security disability benefit based on disability, and who want to work. But that's the only requirement. You have a Social Security benefit, are between the ages of 18 and 64, and want to work. That's all we need. The Ticket to Work program will connect you with free employment services to help you decide if working is right for you. What if you're just not sure? Well talk to a member of your employment team and determine whether or not it's right for you now, or whether it will be right for you in the future. Help you prepare for work. 

Derek mentioned those apprenticeships. Those apprenticeships in the electrical industry that are going to get you a credential to be an electrician, is a really good preparation tool for a very, very good paying job. What about finding a job? There are agencies. Some of the Employment Networks that might be part of your employment team can help you find a job, as well. And just to let you know that we are not going to find you a job and say good night, good luck, we want to help you succeed at work. And members of your employment team will be able to provide you with on-the-job support to make sure this is the right fit for you, and you will succeed. 

So what is this Ticket Program? We want you to learn as much as you can about the Ticket Program and who your employment team members may be, and there is a web links pod. Link to What is Social Security's Ticket to Work Program? It may help to get your account set up, so that you will be sure of what benefit you have. If you have a notice floating around from Social Security, that will also let you know. Just so you won't be listening or reading things, or be redirected to things that you aren't going to be able to take advantage of. 

So who could help you a choose your work goals? I keep mentioning your employment team and now here are the players who may be part of your employment team. Through the Ticket to Work program, interested jobseekers can connect with a service provider, like an employment network or a state VR office, to receive work related services and supports. With supports and resources, you can find a path to reach your goals. Both career-wise and to financial independence through work. And there are Employment Networks. There are workforce Employment Networks. The VA agencies, the benefits planning programs. Those are the legal resources that you're using in the Ticket to Work. Let's learn more about each of those? 

The Employment Networks, we call them ENs, are private or public organizations that have an agreement with Social Security to provide you with free employment services. If you're eligible for a Ticket. We told you what that was. Ages 18 through 64. You have a disability benefit from Social Security and you want to work. That's all we require. That's all that makes you eligible for a Ticket to Work. 

Many state public workforce systems such as the Americans jobs centers are workforce ENs who provide you the same type of assistance, and maybe a bit more. I know the American Jobs Centers can provide you with time at a computer so you can begin to set up your account if you don't have access to the Internet at home. It can give you their own job ban, what's available in your neck of the woods, and help you prepare that first resume or update your old resume. Those are all great services and if that American Jobs Center in your area happens to be a work for CN, you can continue working with that person while you begin to prepare and search for work. So how can the EN help you? 

We mentioned this stuff, this is all very important stuff. Some ENs offer job placements. That include nonoffice work. You can also get help building or rewriting your resume. I always like to remind people that this form, just the form of a resume changes over time, and my resume right now is 20 years old. I'm going to need help if I decide to get a new job today, in rewriting and preparing that resume. Preparing for interviews. This is also a critical, critical service. If you are going to be new to a job search or if it's been a while since you interviewed with people. What kind of questions can be asked? What kind of answers should you be providing? All kinds of things like that. At the end of the interview, when that potential employer says, do you have any questions for us, it's always a good idea to have some questions prepared so that you can ask them something about their business, about their industry. And the Employment Networks can help with that. Lots of other job preparation services are going to be available from ENs as well. Some ENs, especially the workforce EN like those American job centers, offer on-the-job training. 

What about requiring a reasonable accommodation due to your disability? A service provider could also help you determine what additional resources there are and supports that are there to help you succeed in the workplace. They're also going to be able to help you decide how and when to approach your employer about that reasonable accommodation. Sometimes it's not so comfortable, but with a little assistance and preparation, it's going to be more comfortable than it was. And we have the state vocational rehabilitation agencies. These are big players. They provide a lot of assistance to a lot of people. A wide variety of services to help people with disabilities return to work, enter new lines of work, or enter the workforce for the first time. State VR agency can offer benefits planning assistance. Not all of them do but lots of them do and they may also be able to help with vocational rehabilitation, training and education. Remember that some states have a separate agency that served individuals who are blind and visually impaired. However, if you call the wrong agency, by all means, for where you need to be. That's just one example of there being no wrong door, contacting any type of provider will get you to where you need to be. All right. This is my favorite part of these presentations. 

I love the success stories. Every success story. Ever since he could remember, and he has had to work harder than his peers for the outcomes he wanted due to his intellectual and developmental disability. And he did it know how his symptoms might interfere with his job prospects and independence over time. One year before his high school graduation, and he learned about the Ticket to Work program and project search. Andy's path to employment, he connected with service providers in his areas to learn how work would affect his benefits. He participated in project search, school to work program, and landed a job after his internship, just like Derek said would likely happen. Andy now helps maintain the fleet at the Maryland Parks Department and enjoys his job. In your web links pod, if you want to read more about Andy's journey, please click on Andy's story. That's a great story. And we love to hear success stories. 

So how do you find a service provider? You can visit the find help tool. That link is also in the web links pod. And that might --this is pretty good. I'm on a quite a bit when I'm helping folks do some searches. You can search by your ZIP Code. You can search by services offered. And I think the VR situation we just discussed is a good example. If you are a person with blindness, you don't want to go to the general VR agency. If there's a separate agency in your state that provides services to blind and visually impaired people, that's where you want to be. You'll be able to get the contact information. What about your visibility type? Andy had an intellectual disability. Andy probably doesn't want a service provider that only deals with physical disabilities. So let's narrow the playing field and only be with people who can provide services to people who are like you. Languages spoken. If you're more comfortable speaking in Spanish with somebody, by all means, use a help tool and you'll see what services can be provided in what languages. And you can do a basic search by provider type, if you're interested in talking to an EN. Just click ENs and you're going to get a list of all of the ENs. The workforce ENs sound better to you, you'll get a list of those. What about if you're only interested in benefits planning? What if your first question is, how will this job and the income I'm going to receive affect my Social Security benefits and my snap benefits or my subsidized housing benefits? Click on the logo and you'll get a list of programs that serve your area. Same with PABBS. If you have a question, now I need that reasonable accommodation. How do I ask my provider, or is it somebody else that can help me ask my employer for a combination? Click on the PABBS and that will limit your search to the PABBS program. 

Once again, you could always call the Ticket to Work Help Line and that is the all purpose door, if you're not sure where to begin. You should get a list of service providers in your area. Again, that number is 1-866-968-7842, or for TTY users, 1-866-833- 2967. And that number is available Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time. Derek, that gets to some more question and answer time.  

Derek >> Excellent, Ray. This is Derek speaking again. Thank you so much for the overview and the details on the program and the employment team . So important when we are considering exploring nonoffice jobs, of how to tap all these folks that are out there, that can help. We have, as a reminder, we are answering the more general questions today. So thank you for submitting those. If you have the specific questions, we encourage you to go to the help line. We have had a couple questions that are general, that are about the program and as you know, we get them all the time, so let's start out. Let's clarify. Is there any cost associated with the Ticket Program and tapping those employment service providers you just talked about?  

Ray >> Absolutely not. These services are provided to you as a recipient of Social Security benefits, free of charge, and it's your decision to take advantage of them or not. 

Derek >> Thank you. This is Derek again. Appreciate you making sure that's clear. Second, this is an important one. Who are eligible to receive these services that are available through the Ticket Program?  

Ray >> The requirements are pretty basic. You have to receive an SSDI benefit or an SSI benefit. You need to be between ages 18 through 64, and you want to work. That's all it takes. 

Derek >> Love it. Thanks for clarifying. I think when we are getting a lot of information out there, it looked like a couple people just wanted that repeated to make sure they were catching it. We have a specific question around someone that has an interest in a nonoffice job. The question specifically is around the person being concerned around needing extra breaks because of taking medication. Can an EN or one of our Employment Networks help that individual figure it out with an employer?  

Ray >> Absolutely. This is --would be in the reasonable accommodation category. And as I said earlier, it can be a bit uncomfortable. How do you ask for an accommodation, particularly one that says I need more breaks? How do you assure that your employer is not going to react badly to that? What kind of language do you want to use? What kind of language do you have to use? An Employment Network. And I'm going to toss in VR and the benefits planners, and the PABBS. So anyone of those providers could sit down and talk to you about when the time is to ask. You don't need to ask for an accommodation during your interview. You can ask for that after you've been offered a job. How much information do you have to give? It's not all that much. You don't have to reveal the name of your disability. You just need extra breaks because of a medical condition. Explain how long those breaks need to be, and know that your employment network or your benefits plan or is there if your boss puts up resistance. And if they do, they'll get you over to the P ABS program, which can again either begin to help you with this process of requesting that accommodation, or can help you should your employer say no. You either work with your basic 15 minutes every four hours or you don't work here. That's not a good answer to your question, and we do have members of your employment team who can help you figure that out. 

Derek >> Thanks, Ray. This is Derek again. Just to reinforce, Ray mentioned PABBS. That acronym is Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security. And that's where you get, as Ray said, that extra support around protection that allows you to access equal employment opportunities. So your EN or Employment Network could loop them in. I've got a follow-up question on that one. We talked earlier when I was providing my comments around the opportunity to do some homework or pre-work. If somebody wanted to take that a little further and say, well I could talk to my employment team members about my reasonable accommodation preferences or needs around those medication related breaks. What's the recommendation? Where would somebody go to do that pre-work or the homework to get a little bit more educated around some ideas for reasonable accommodations. 

Ray >> You know the Job Accommodation Network, JAN, is a great place. JAN will allow you to write in a question if you want to, or if you don't have a question yet, and just want to know what is available for somebody who needs extra breaks due to medication, that JAN and website is loaded with information. Now my guess is if you are comfortable enough relying on your own research skills, you could go to that website and find out what accommodations are available for somebody who needs more breaks because of medication. How long those breaks should be, how many there should be, and remember this is reasonable accommodations for both you , and it's reasonable for the employer. You know, so we have that little world to work in. And again, Jan is a great resource. Again, free answers to your questions. The access to the computer is free. And by all means, it's a good, safe place to start. 

Derek >> Thanks, Ray. This is Derek speaking again. I love the job accommodation network and I've actually gone online there, and also called them. They have human factors consultants that you can talk to. I think it's a great place we can do some pre-work or homework and it's not like we are getting all the right decisions made but we are just gathering ideas and that will help your employment team support you.  

Ray >> I was going to say some of those homework answers that you get may very well allow you to have a much more productive discussion with your employment team members. So anything you can do to start that all rolling before you contact folks is a wonderful thing. 

Derek >> Thanks, Ray. Derek speaking again here. So we talk about the pre-work and we talked about some of the advantages today of nonoffice jobs. And one of them was accessing work sooner and gaining experience. Some of that experience comes through a training program, though. So if I reach out to my state VR agency to get the training that takes me into the nonoffice job, what's the relationship between the state vocational rehabilitation agency that helps me with that training, perhaps, and an employment network? Can I work with both of them?  

Ray >> Well you can work with both of them. There's a little trick to that. The state VR agency is the likely suspect to request training from. Whether it's a months’ worth of training, whether it's six months of training, whether it's a two-year degree, that's where you are likely to get more of those services. Now once you finish with the VR agency, and you've been placed in a job, and are performing well in that job, and earning what Social Security considers substantial gainful activity, your case will be closed after three months of successful work. At that point, because VR isn't necessarily assigning the Ticket to themselves, you can take your ticket and move to an EN who may be able to provide you with more on the job support. So we are not only getting that training and locating the job, but then we are taking it to a different provider who will assign your ticket and make sure you're successful. And as Derek said, one job, that first job leads to another, and during that time, you realize that you want a different job , or you want an upgraded job , that Employment Network will be there to help you. So you can't work with both at the same time, but you can work the two agencies in tandem.  

Derek >> Thanks, Ray. This is Derek again. They have this idea of consecutive services, one supporting the other after the other. I've heard about that. It's a fabulous thing and it's really putting together all of the employment team members that are out there, to work for you. And I love that, and appreciated your description of all of them. I'm going to switch gears a little bit. We had a question come in and it's one that people can get nervous when they are considering starting this process, because of the idea of loss of benefits. When we think about nonoffice jobs today, or just any job in general, as long as somebody goes back to work, the question is, when do I lose my benefits, I heard I'll lose them right away and I'm afraid I can't work full-time. So if I lose my benefits and I'm not working full time, I shouldn't have ever done this. So is Ticket to Work right for that person?  

Ray >> The Ticket to Work will become right for that person. Once you start dispelling those myths that you are going to lose everything once you take a job, that's not true . You might want to talk about a benefits planner as your first contact with your employment team. The two programs, SSDI and SSI work differently. But I can assure you that if you are an SSI recipients, as your SSI gradually decreases, you're going to have more money because you're working. Are you worried about losing your Medicaid benefits? You've got to work real hard and be very well paid before you are going to lose your Medicaid benefits. There are a lot of good programs, section 1619 B. You work enough to lose all of your cash benefits, we are going to move into a protected Medicaid category. On the SSDI side, you have nine months to attempt to work. Maybe you don't know your capacity right now. But during that work experience that you're going to have for nine months, not necessarily consecutive months, you have time to determine, maybe I can only work part-time, because I'm acting up more now that I'm working. Let's reduce hours and play with the capacity to work until you are comfortable and you find what your capacity is. You're not going to lose those benefits right away, either. We go through trial work. We go through an extended period of disability, and it's up to your employment team, particularly your benefits planning, to make sure that work pays, and that you end up in a better situation when you become independent of those benefits. If you do want to take a look at the archive sessions, there is one that talks about dispelling the myths, and a lot of those messages that you get from the street can be dispelled quite easily. And know that there are protections out there for you. This is not get a job and get off. This is a gradual situation to be planning your own comfort level.  

Derek >> Thanks, Ray. This is Derek again. I really appreciate that, and the concept of exploring your capacity for work and using the team that's available to you to do that, to dispel myths, but also to help you figure out what's right for you. Ray, it's always a pleasure to work with you. We've come to that time where I got to say thank you, and we're going to turn the corner to wrap up today's webinar, but we really appreciate you.  

Ray >> Always a pleasure.  

Derek >> Fantastic. As Ray said, you can explore our WISE on-demand webinars, and in the web links pod, if you are interested in doing that, you can access those through number seven there. Select that. Go to WISE on-demand and you find the very recording of dispelling myths. There's three great myths out there and that's a great recording for you. Now we want to help you find ways to stay connected with us and to get some updates. We encourage you to explore a variety of ways. If you want to know more about our monthly WISE webinars, you can always subscribe to our email list or sign up to receive text messages. There's a link here to subscribe to our emails. You can find the contact page to do a variety of these, as well, through the web links pod number 12. Our webinars are usually held on the fourth Wednesday of each month, and by subscribing you'll know what the topic is for each month, and shortly I'll talk to you about what we're going to do on February 22nd. Next, to learn more about the Ticket Program and other topics relevant to employment, you can subscribe to the choose work blog. These are really weekly updates that are sent directly to your email box that explores different program offerings, different services that the service providers can offer, and in some cases, the very impact that has through our success stories, as we learned about with Eddie today. Both of these links can be found in the web links pod under the WISE webinar subscription, and also that choose work blog subscription option, as well. So check those out. I mentioned text messages. We encourage you to get through another way, get connected, to get advice and encouragement, and read stories about people who achieved financial independence with help from the Ticket Program. You can opt in to receive these text messages, and if you're interested in receiving them, text the word ticket to 474747. Standard messaging rates may apply. And we'd like you to know that you can choose to opt out at any time. It's also important to note that if you need to contact Social Security's Ticket to Work program, which is managed by Social Security's office of employment support, we ask you to do so electronically instead of by postal mail. You can send us email at support at choosework.SSA.gov. Remember we ask you not to include personally identifiable information, or PII. This is information such as your Social Security number, the date of birth, or home address. Please do not send that in your email. You can also contact the Ticket to Work help line, as we mentioned a couple times, and we encourage you to do so. The helpline is at 1-866-968-7842, or via TTY at 1-866-833-2967. The help line customer service representatives are available Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time. 

As I mentioned, we encourage you to join our webinars to learn more about Ticket to Work and the work incentives. Our next wise webinar will be on Wednesday, February 22nd, from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. Eastern time. The focus will be on expanding your job search with Ticket to Work, and today we've had a good exchange on apprenticeships, and we received a lot of questions around, how do I get involved, and what can I do with an apprenticeship to help you find that non-office job? We encourage you to attend next month. We'll explore that further, based on some of the questions that we received today. You can access the registration for this webinar online now at choosework.SSA.gov. The link is available. You can find it through the webinar and tutorials navigation option, and choose WISE webinars. It will be on the homepage shortly, as well, and we hope you'll be with us next month. 

We also encourage you to explore another program that we want to bring to your attention. The affordable conductivity program, or the ACP, is an effort to help more households gain access to broadband services. The ACP is a federal communications commission benefit program that helps and ensures that households can provide the broadband they need for work, school, healthcare, and more. The program provides eligible households with a discount on broadband service and connected devices to those broadband services. It also provides a discount of $30 -- of up to $30 per month, excuse me, towards the Internet for eligible households and up to $75 per month for homes on qualifying tribal lands. Again, that's a $30 per month discount for Internet on eligible households and $75 per month discount for homes on qualifying tribal lands. If you received SSI you actually automatically qualify for the ACP program itself. If you want to learn more and find out if you're eligible, and discover how to apply, please go to FCC.gov/ ACP. That's FCC.gov / ACP. 

And finally, we want to know what you think, so we can plan for our future webinar topics. We ask you to provide your feedback by taking our survey. To take the survey, you can follow the link that will pop up after the webinar ends, or you can find the survey link in the web links pod, or you can visit the Ticket Program website at choose work.SSA.gov/surveys/ transcend. Thank you for attending today to learn about the Ticket to Work program and specifically, how to think outside the office in discovering nonoffice jobs. We want you to know that services and supports are available on your journey to employment. Please know that these supports and the people , your employment service provider team are ready to help and encourage you to reach out to begin your journey. 

This concludes today's webinar.