• DVRS Home

• Contact DVRS

 

Employment with DVRS

Rehabilitation. It’s a profession that will allow you to reach for your full potential – while you provide the experience, the professionalism, and the skills that will allow others to reach for theirs. It’s also a career with great benefits. When you join "VR" as a rehabilitation professional, you’ll enjoy flexibility and autonomy in your work, plus multiple opportunities for training and advancement.

For more than 90 years, the N.C. Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services has assisted hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities with achieving employment and independence. VR offers its services in more than 100 locations – from North Carolina’s majestic mountains to its exciting urban areas to its beautiful beaches.

Our agency provides a range of services to North Carolinians with physical, psychiatric or intellectual disabilities to assist them in becoming job-ready, independent or both. You’ll help people change their lives while you receive a competitive salary; vacation, sick and holiday leave; health insurance; flexible health benefits; and state retirement benefits.

A first step in your rehab career is earning a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling or vocational evaluation. (A few other fields are also considered.) Four North Carolina universities offer rehabilitation counseling programs: East Carolina University, N.C. A&T, UNC-Chapel Hill and Winston-Salem State(which also has an on-line program). Find dozens of programs across the U.S. Search key words “Rehabilitation Counseling.” Many offer full scholarships!

Check all Department of Health and Human Services employment opportunities and benefits

Our Services

• Counseling and guidance
• Vocational evaluation
• Benefits counseling
• School-to-life services
• Education and training
• For people who are deaf/hard-of-hearing
• Job development and placement
• Services to employers
• Community rehabilitation programs
• Supported employment
• Independent living
• Assistive technology

Our Positions

• Counselors
• Vocational Evaluators
• Managers
• Engineers
• Office Assistants
• Program Specialists
• Human Service Coordinators
• Casework Technicians
• Quality Development Specialists
• Business Relations Representatives
• Community Rehabilitation Specialists
• Assistive Technologists
• And more

VR Internships

Students who are pursuing a master’s degree from an accredited institution are encouraged to apply for a rehabilitation internship. While preference will be given to those majoring in rehabilitation counseling, other human services majors will also be considered. A variety of caseload specialties may be available, and you’ll learn about opportunities for permanent employment. Get more information about our internships.

Our Employment Benefits

• Competitive salaries
• Longevity pay
• Vacation, sick, holiday leave
• Community service leave
• Family medical/illness leave
• Free state health insurance
• Optional insurance plans
• Pre-tax health & daycare benefits
• State retirement benefits

Great Opportunities for Growth

• “I get to work one-on-one advocating for, assisting, and guiding people with disabilities in making significant improvements in their lives. VR affords great opportunities for growth, both personally and professionally. I love my job!” —Mike Wall, Rehabilitation Counselor, Mt. Airy
• “VR has given me the opportunity to grow professionally and pursue my passion for working with people with disabilities. We are given the resources and freedom to make a difference in people’s lives. It makes you proud to say that you work for VR!”—Mary Beth Moore, Rehabilitation Counselor, Rocky Mount
• “With VR, you never feel alone. There’s an extensive network of professionals to help no matter what your challenge is day-to-day.” —Tammy Wade, Business Relations Representative, Goldsboro
• “You can really get to know an individual, help them see themselves in new ways, and help them match their abilities and skills to a job they now love.”—Janis Grayson, Vocational Evaluator, Lexington
• “My job allows me to help produce a more diverse and productive workforce. I advocate for two: the person with a disability who needs a job and the employer who provides the job. It’s all good.” —Thelma Cox, Business Relations Representative, Pinehurst
• “As an independent living counselor, I can take someone’s abilities and help give them the strength and empowerment to wake up every day and know that that day will be different.” —Geneva McManus, Rehabilitation Counselor, Albemarle
• “I have found my vocational niche with VR and independent living. There is nothing more fulfilling than knowing, at the end of the day, that I have been able to impact a person’s independence and sense of self-determination.”—Kim Stewart, Recreational Therapist, Rocky Mount
• “It is gratifying to work for an agency that can have such a positive impact in people’s lives...I’m also thankful for the state benefits because it is so important to have decent health care coverage.” —Elizabeth Ezzard, Rehabilitation Counselor, Wilmington

Come Join Us…

In the nine decades of the public VR program in the state and nation, more than 14 million individuals have either acquired gainful employment or been able to stay on the job despite a disability. Many others have achieved the independence of living in the home or community of choice, rather than in an institution.

The N.C. Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services has played a proud part in that record of achievement. Underpinning that record have been thousands of rehabilitation professionals – from counselors and recreational therapists to quality development specialists and vocational evaluators – serving our consumers with physical, intellectual, psychiatric and other kinds of disabilities.

We’d like you to come join us at VR – and bring your professional expertise into the lives of people who, with your assistance, can participate more fully in jobs and in the lives of their families and communities.

Linda Harrington, Director, N.C. Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services