[jkels]

Long story short I have a friend I am trying to help find a steady job. He has a very good paying job right now, but it's seasonal, therefore not so well paying in the long run. He's an eager worker and wants to work year round as 6 months of lay off do nothing but pack on pounds. Now his issue: He's illiterate. This part, when I try to explain to people usually irritates me. He's not dumb. It's not that he didn't see a million different specialist to find out why he can't read. He has his diploma. It's not that he 'doesn't want to learn' or that he's 'lazy'. (Most people who know him have known him for YEARS without knowing he can't read well.) The best way I can think of explaining is to say that he can't memorize the way words look, he has to sound it out. Right now he works in a construction trade, which is fine with the exception of it being seasonal work. With his unemployment and normal pay evened out he's making around $13/hr so it really doesn't make any sense to take a job making less than this but nothing seems to be showing. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas of types of jobs or resources to look after for him.

[Coldjensens]

Have him join a public workers union. They will get him in as a library clerk. Those unions are great that way.

Seriously, working for a government crew may be the way to go.

[CoolSocks]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Have him join a public workers union. They will get him in as a library clerk. Those unions are great that way.

Seriously, working for a government crew may be the way to go.

How can someone work at a library if they can't read?

OP: posting this thread in the work and employment board might help you find more answers.

[malamute]

Yes any union job -- and illiteracy is not really rare -- a large portion of college graduates today are functionally illiterate meaning they cannot understand anything past simple prose.

I would think your friend should go to one of those adult literacy classes just to learn a few words and sentences -- it's not very hard to do but as far as job, most employers don't test for literacy and it's not very required in many jobs.

[zthatzmanz28]

May be a lawyer or an accountant? Politics would be a good fit. The Tea Party is always looking for qualified candidates.

[magellan]

Michigan legislature. Or perhaps governor, 2014.

J/k, I can't imagine any job that didn't require at least some level of reading. Although I've been to a couple of restaurants where the workers clearly did not speak one word of English.

[detwahDJ]

Originally Posted by jkels

Long story short I have a friend I am trying to help find a steady job. He has a very good paying job right now, but it's seasonal, therefore not so well paying in the long run. He's an eager worker and wants to work year round as 6 months of lay off do nothing but pack on pounds. Now his issue: He's illiterate. This part, when I try to explain to people usually irritates me. He's not dumb. It's not that he didn't see a million different specialist to find out why he can't read. He has his diploma. It's not that he 'doesn't want to learn' or that he's 'lazy'. (Most people who know him have known him for YEARS without knowing he can't read well.) The best way I can think of explaining is to say that he can't memorize the way words look, he has to sound it out. Right now he works in a construction trade, which is fine with the exception of it being seasonal work. With his unemployment and normal pay evened out he's making around $13/hr so it really doesn't make any sense to take a job making less than this but nothing seems to be showing. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas of types of jobs or resources to look after for him.

Has he been tested for dyslexia or something similar? This easily explains someone who has trouble reading and writing, but is otherwise intelligent. I knew such a person. For them, learning can be a chore.
Test for Dyslexia: 37 Common Symptoms

[Rubi3]

Explaining to others that he is illiterate is not necessary. When you are at a point when it has to be addressed all you have to say is he is dyslexic. Nelson Rockefeller was dyslexic and many others are also.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by CoolSocks

How can someone work at a library if they can't read?

OP: posting this thread in the work and employment board might help you find more answers.

THat is the way it works. My wife is an assistant librarian. The library clerks are county union workers. When a worker has his or her position cut, they get to choose form a list of jobs held by other county workers with less time working in the union and they get that job. Thus, when the guy who drove the sewer truck got cut because he had a DUI and lost his license, he got to bump a library clerk and take her job. The fact that he cannot really be allowed to talk to patrons (becasue of his foul language) and he can barely read is irrelevant. He has seniority, so he gets to be a library clerk. He also gets paid more than a librarin with a amsters degree in library science. LIkewise, whent he guy who did laundry at the prison for 23 years got cut, he was able to bump another library clerk and take her job. "Dewery decimal? Never heerd of dat, but I know which button to push ont he big washin machines" That is union power for you.

Once you get into a government union and get time in, you are set. You will have a job whether you are capable of doing it or not. If you are nto capapble, it does nto matter. Just sit and do nothing, they cannot fire you.

[313Weather]

Originally Posted by CoolSocks

How can someone work at a library if they can't read?

Good point.

But yeah, the days of landing a job without knowing how to read are over, unless you have like 10-20 years of experience or friends/family in the right places. Even assembly line jobs require SOME level of literacy, given the machines they work with now.

The folks in the unions people are referring to in the previoua posts are likely older folks who were hired in back when the only job qualifications were for you to stand on your own two feet and breathe through your nose (I.E. 1950s - 1970s).