Work History Worksheet: Describe What Your Jobs Required
This worksheet records what each past job actually required: the tasks, the lifting, the hours on your feet, and the tools you used. Social Security weighs your past work against what you can still do, so the physical details of each job matter more than the job title.
Print it blank or type into it on screen. Nothing you enter leaves this page.
Why Social Security needs more than your job titles
Social Security compares what your past jobs required with what you can still do. A title on its own says very little. “Warehouse associate” can mean a desk with a scanner or ten hours of lifting, and a job title works like the label on a box when Social Security needs what is inside it.
Describe each job as you actually did it, not as a posting would describe it, and do not round up or down. Social Security’s forms set the period of work they ask about, and that period has changed over time, so follow the instructions on the current form for how far back to go.
Sources: SSA-3368, Disability Report, Adult; 20 CFR 404.1560.
Work History Worksheet
Using your work history worksheet in a disability claim
Work history comes up on the application, again if the claim is denied, and again at a hearing, where a vocational expert may describe your past jobs. Having one honest record that matches every time matters more than having the longest one. If you are filling this out before you file, the Before You Apply guide covers what else to gather.
Talk with Downard & Associates about your claim
Downard & Associates represents adults with SSDI and SSI claims in every state by phone and video, from applications through Appeals Council review. Sending an inquiry starts a conversation; it does not file anything with Social Security. We respond to inquiries within 3 business hours.
Representation before Social Security nationwide: 42 U.S.C. 406; 20 CFR 404.1705.