Abstract
Customized Employment (CE) represents the natural evolution of supported employment (SE). The techniques used challenge traditional methods and build on SE and relevant competitive employment strategies, but they do represent a departure from having the local job market needs dictate the employment sought. Instead, CE starts with the person and engages employers through an interest-based negotiation revealing the benefits hiring a specific job seeker will have for both parties. The promise of this approach is that stereotypical jobs are reduced and employment better matching an individual's "personal genius" occurs.