counselor

rehabilitation assistant

vocational rehabilitation counselor

program specialist

forklift operator

State of Texas

A typical day includes retrieving messages and returning calls and emails, call employers to get information to file past due quarterly reports and/or collecting taxes, work new and ongoing labor and wage investigations, get information from employers to complete status or amended status reports, use many databases to find various types of information (locate people, verify entity name/ownership/status, determine where employees are reported or should be, etc.), process acquisition paperwork, answer telephone calls from employers needing information. Depending on the phase of the workflow, I may need to send out letters to employers and schedule audits, and occasionally I must subpoena records and testify under oath during agency hearings.
I have learned how to actively listen at this job, even to very hostile people, to hear the issues from their perspective. As a result, I have become a trusted resource to employers in my tax area and have  lowered the long-term debt from over $550K to under $75K. I have also learned to manage a heavy workload on multiple computer work queues, and switch rapidly between activities, changing priorities as necessary.
Our office is split into two teams of Auditors with two supervisors, but no one really sees a division and all work very well together. There is a lot to know and you need to ramp up rapidly, so having knowledgeable veterans around is a huge plus. 
I also have a large cubicle and great coworkers in the adjacent cubes, which is nice (my friends envy me for this). I also enjoy meaningful work and knowing that I am helping employers, either by lightening their load by filing reports for them, or by breaking down complex processes and (employment/HR/compliance) law and making big, scary stuff easier to understand. 

The Pros: (In addition to all the other things) Job security, RETIREMENT PENSION, regular hours (great for work/life balance), and I NEVER have to take work home, management trusts our judgment and stands behind our decisions (of course, those decisions are all based on the law and procedure), and no one  micromanages us, great place to get experience in auditing.
The Cons: Job security, difficult to move up, pay not great. 
Let me explain. People working here have generally been with the agency for years, if not decades, and enjoy working here as much as I do, so they stay. Years ago, the agency apparently did away with step and merit raises so, unfortunately, unless someone retires or quits, there is no way to move up and, hence, no way to get a raise. Those who have been around for a while, have had step and merit raises over the years and make substantially more than newer employees. The other part of the process is that when an opening is posted, it is open first to all internal candidates, then external candidates, and if you want to move up, you must apply like everyone else, interview, and hope to get the position.

A typical day at work - you come to work with a very high caseload.  You schedule appointments, meet with customers, email, and text with a company phone and enter a lot of notes.  The structure of the system created and the process to provide services is too lengthy.  You spend too much time attempting to defend yourself on notes and are expected to input quality notations along with meeting fiscal years numbers on every area when it’s nearly impossible.  The only way you could do this is by working beyond your schedule even if your not paid for it.  Most customers are entitled and only want the funds without taking any responsibility or follow policy.  This applies to some vendors as well.  Customers will find ways to work around the system even if they know people or people that used to work within the organization.  Especially those that are wealthy.  

I learned that if you are not properly trained and if it’s not available in the very beginning,  you will have a harder time after you leave probation

Management and Regional only care about quantity and hardly any quality.  They will put all the responsibility on you even if you were not trained properly.  They do not correct you directly but will do it in a group meeting indirectly and no one knows who’s being corrected.  Too much politics. 

Workplace culture - I was very fortunate to have great coworkers  and a good supervisor to work within my location who attempted to guide me through best way possible.   Even with difficult cases, they assisted me.  However, there are too much politics and gossip even amongst coworkers. 

The hardest part of the job is dealing with the customers who demand services to be given to them (entitlement) and a lot of hearsay is spread amongst their friends and families while disregarding policy even when they sign on the dotted line.  Management and training lacks very much depending on the position you have as you will not succeed thus the high turnover rate which TWC is highly aware of but there has never been any changes.  

The most enjoyable part about the job are the benefits, holidays, and amount of time off you get.   The coworkers and supervisor that I worked with.  Seeing very rarely the customers that do succeed and are able to obtain employment.  


Flexible work hours available with state employment upon request and approval.

Administrative duties vary accordingly (dependent on the team (air and / or water division)  to which the assistant is assigned).  Once assigned to a team, there is little variance, and the assistant is reponsible for the duties pertaining to her team, however, can be called to assist another team.  Team work is required.  The assistant is also required to assist the general public with questions concerning environmental issues.

Typical days are busy and mostly productive.  The most difficult days for me, are the days I serve as a back-up to another team, however, it is manageable.  

The most enjoyable part of this job is the diversity and the independence to provide excellent customer service to the teams I support (3 teams--3 very diverse programs of this agency).  In many cases concerning environmental situations, the assistany must make decisions based on the best available information and/or knowledge.  "Follow-through" is important.

I am very fortunate for the independence afforded me in my position (decision making, work independently, create new procedures to replace those no longer functional, afforded certain level of confidentiality, called upon to create functional forms beneficial to my team and others).  Not all administrative assistants are afforded this level of independence.

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is a very large agency designed to monitor air quality and water quality throught the entire sate.  Although home based in Austin, TX, there are a number of regions within the state that provide services, information, and data to the general public and/or Commissioners requesting same.

I am employed by the Agency  at the Region-12 Houston Regional Office, located at:  5425 Polk St., Houston, TX.

I report to work an hour before my class starts. I prepare everything before the students show up. I make sure that I have everything ready to ensure a successful learning at the end of each session. In the afternoon, I proceed to my duty in dismissing the kids. If I have tutorial, I stay until 6 pm to provide extra help for the children. I do check and evaluate papers until 6:30 in the evening and I go home and relax.

I learnt that coming to work ahead of time, sets the tone of the day. I love an organize and uncluttered work place. If the students see and feel that their teacher is organize, they tend to emulate and act according to their environment. Preparation and organization set the standards for a safe and conducive to learning.

Management wise, I am a Coach, Team Captain, and a Parent. As a Coach, you want a strong team but take a one-on-one approach. That's me! I strengthen my students' weakness and treat them individually. A Coach is a good listener and I do. I respect how they feel and how they speak their minds. I don't offer instant answer to their question or solution to a problem. I ask questions to encourage them to be critical and creative in discovering the answer. As a Team Captain, I encourage children strong team building. Grow as an individual but especially as a member of a group. I praise individual performances in reference to its benefit to all. Lastly, as a Parent. Using the "tough love" approach, I nurture children because this is what they need. I provide support in learning, structure, and discipline. As a parent, children need advise, feedback, praise, acknowledgement and understanding.

My co-workers are awesome! We collaborate and do alignment of our lessons. We sit together and plan actions for the success of our students without being told. I got lucky for having an excellent team that strongly believe in the importance of what a Student First means.

The hardest part of the job is getting burn out! On the other hand, when kids understand, enjoy the lesson and behave right in class is the most enjoyable part of my job...when you see their happy faces or say, "oh I got it!" It means job well done.

The best thing about working for the Texas Workforce Commission is that work stops when you walk out the door - period. The agency discourages overtime because it doesn't want to  pay it. 

The dark side of that is that the work load in some departments is completely unmanageable and there will be no way to handle it except by cutting corners. Cutting corners is routinely done - to the detriment of the job and of the state of Texas - and most supervisors look the other way. However, I've observed someone get the axe from a supervisor who disliked him for doing this - even though everyone else did the same.

The leadership at the Texas Workforce Commission is poor. It felt like a very political agency because the people at the top seemed most concerned with maintaining that status quo. It is a reactionary organization that does little to anticipate problems and head them off before the damage is done. 

There is little encouragement of innovation and no incentive for process improvement. This doesn't just come from the top either and it seems to be part of the agency's culture. In one department, I had tweaked how I did my work and greatly improved my efficiency. A co-worker asked me to stop because she was worried that they would cut staff if we all started using the new process. Fortunately for her, she was the only one who noticed the improvements.

I lost track of the number of times that I heard "We do it this way because that's the way its always been done."

Interagency communication could be much improved. Each division of the agency is its own bureaucratic fiefdom. However, the programs that the agency runs are handled by more than one division, and they sometimes get in each others way rather than work together.

Overall, its a terrible place to work. However, if you just want to go to work and then come home, if you don't care about the job and just want to be paid, and if you are good at making friends with 'the right people', then this may be the job for you.  

I am currently retired, but working as a Social Worker and Manager for Texas state agencies gave me great insight into the needs of families, children, the elderly and those with disabilities and how the agencies struggle constantly to acquire enough funding.
My most enjoyable time with the state was in Protective Services managing and working with the training division developing courses for front line caseworkers and their managers. I also thoroughly enjoyed direct service - as an investigator into reports of child abuse and neglect and in training, licensing and monitoring foster and adoption families.
Interviewing people for the home studies I wrote and for the reports I submitted to the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) honed my investigative and writing skills as well as provided interesting insight into others' choices and behaviors.
The most challenging aspects have been high caseloads, children and families who experience tragedy and sorrow, infrequent raises, and management not experienced in the specialty to which they've been hired or promoted.
My co-workers were of the highest quality, hard-working and truly focused on service to those in need. They worked with integrity, kindness and humor.
The final state job I accepted was in Civil Rights with the Health and Human Services Agency. I was in the State Headquarters and dealt with upper management, directors and commissioners from 4 state agencies. The most difficult part was sitting in front of a computer all day, every day with no field work and no face-to-face client interaction.  
I learn about myself, the inter-workings of state agencies, the needs of families and children and I enhance my skills from every experience and job I've had.

•	a typical day at work
•	what you learned
•	management
•	your co-workers
•	the hardest part of the job
•	the most enjoyable part of the job

A typical day at work consist of and working from a time managed profile. Start time 8:00 am to 9:00am return phone calls on any important phone messages. Send out letters or emails to confirm all business actions. From:  9:00am to 12:00 noon make calls to establish new business. Lunch 12:00 to 1:pm if applicable. 1:00 pm to 4:00pm follow up on appointments that have been set. 4:00 to 6:00 follow up on any requirements regarding ongoing business procedures.
I have learned it is extremely important to have a well time managed agenda. Allow for possible delays and adjustments to the own going business plan. 
In regards to management, it is the core of my business plan to keep all personal aware of the steps in my progress this will eliminate setbacks and  reinforce completion of the plan at hand.
In regards to c-workers it is of the utmost importance to maintain an excellent working condition when at all possible with all personal. 
In reference to the hardest part of the job, making all of the plans happen in a timely order for the sole purpose of completion of the task at hand.
The most enjoyable part of the job is when the entire process of the plan and all parties involved are satisfied with the end results.

Could be a dream job however DOJ monitoring directs the overall practice of clinical pharmacy and the monitors are not clinical pharmacists and they do not have the slightest idea of how the clinical pharmacists should practice -therefore there is a total lack of evidenced based direction for the practice of clinical pharmacy with the Department of Aging and Disability facilities. There are many good physicians here and they want input from the clinical pharmacists however the DOJ settlement agreement monitors (physicians) want to direct the clinical pharmacist activities and they are bean counters, watch dates for completion of QDRR's and want certain terminology used for their approval which would be great if they had any idea of what clinical pharmacy involves. As with any state agency there are political issues and massive inefficiency and taxpayer waste of money. Very frustrating for anyone who believes in being cost effective.and evidence based. All in all I did have good results with many clinical services I implimented while with DADS. I had a young Medical Director who did know the value of good clinical pharmacy services and basically did buffer the incompetence of the DOJ monitors and their settlement agreement template which constantly had moving goals and objectives -they made up rules as they went.

The State positions are very structured. Advancement can be slow. The job is surprisingly detailed and generally based upon the statutes of the state. The pay is always about 10-15% below competitive average. The legislature controls raises (i.e. merit increases) and is required to review all jobs once every 3 years and adjust pay levels accordingly. The benefits are similar to other private positions (and many times less for 'special' perks). Most benefits aren't available until the end of the probationary period - 6 months. The jobs are straight forward and your know in advance what is expected/required of you. Proficient keeps you there, Outstanding can get you promoted. All promotions are competitive. Generally speaking, the job stays at work and your time is yours. Where I worked family came first - the job was not 'life or death' (99% of state positions). The second big plus is retirement. 6% is withheld from pay every month (figure that in your budget). Additional investment plans are available for a small fee. The rule of 80 applies for retirement - your age plus number of years worked. Return to work for the State after retirement is frowned upon and can significantly affect your retirement. Health insurance is basically free after you retire. However, the legislature can screw with your health benefits but not your pension. Remember - legislators see retirees as 'hangers-on' and have not given a COLA to retirees since the 1990's or anybody for that matter! All said, the job can rewarding.

In all fairness, I am an over-acheiver and enjoy fast-paced environments, so I should have known that long-term the state is not a good match. I did not know where my career was headed nor did I really know what I was good at when I started at TWC. I just thought working here would align with my degree. I worked really hard in every position at TWC and I was rewarded every time I applied for the next level up, by getting the job. However, I hit the ceiling and there is nowhere up from where I am. There are no raises, no cost of living adjustments, no merit based increases or bonuses.. in essence you are getting poorer every year you work for TWC and vesting in the pension takes 10 years, so there is not really much incentive to stay. 

My manager and department director are great and are the reason I have stayed another year. However, higher ups do not believe in compensating employees for hard work. They believe everyone is replaceable. I'm fortunate enough to have been here and climbed and taken advantage of every opportunity to learn and all free time to teach myself new skills. Others have worked here for years in the hopes of getting increases or getting into management.. to no avail.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Counselor 46 salaries reported	$4,941 per month
Rehabilitation assistant 18 salaries reported	$3,265 per month
Vocational rehabilitation counselor 4 salaries reported	$47,965 per year
Program specialist 3 salaries reported	$60,000 per year
Forklift operator 14 salaries reported	$15.21 per hour

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