Improving Success at Step 5: VE Guide to ORS in Live Hearings – 2026 Spring National Conference – Track II (Presented by National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives)

John holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Sociology, and Cultural Anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from La Jolla University. He holds multiple professional certifications, including Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC), Diplomate of the American Board of Disability Analysts (ABDA), and Community Partner Work Incentives Counselor (CPWIC), the latter reflecting his specialized training in Social Security Administration disability benefits and work incentives advising. His credentials span rehabilitation counseling, disability analysis, and SSA benefits planning, providing a multidisciplinary foundation for his work as a vocational expert and disability services leader.

John is one of the co-founders of the Social Security Vocational Expert Section of the International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals (IARP) and has served as Section Board Member and Past Section Chair, a leadership contribution that has helped shape the professional standards and community for vocational experts practicing before the SSA. His founding of Recovery to Work Disability Services in 2017 and co-founding of WorkscapeAnalytics.com in 2024 reflect an entrepreneurial career defined by building institutions that advance the disability rehabilitation and vocational expert fields. He has been a featured speaker at IARP, the American Board of Vocational Experts, the Louisiana State Bar Association, the American Association for Justice, the Association of Administrative Law Judges, and NOSSCR.

John's professional involvement spans vocational expert testimony, Employment Network leadership, software development, and national conference speaking. As Executive Director of Recovery To Work Disability Services, a national Ticket to Work Employment Network, he helps Social Security disability beneficiaries pursue employment and self-sufficiency. Through WorkscapeAnalytics.com, co-founded in 2024, he is advancing the use of technology and labor market data, including the Occupational Requirements Survey (ORS) and Occupational Employment and Wage Survey (OEWS) to improve vocational analysis in disability adjudication. He has also presented an ORS webinar series for NOSSCR, extending his expertise to claimants' representatives nationwide.

John Yent's career in disability rehabilitation began in 1986, and he has been in private practice since 2003. Since 1997, he has served as a Vocational Expert contractor for the SSA Office of Hearings Operations, accumulating testimony in more than 10,000 disability hearings, an extraordinary volume that reflects both the longevity and the intensity of his engagement with the Social Security adjudication system. His expertise in the Occupational Requirements Survey and Occupational Employment and Wage Survey positions him at the forefront of the evolving use of labor market data in SSA disability determinations. In 2017, he founded Recovery To Work Disability Services to extend his impact into the Ticket to Workspace, and in 2024 co-founded WorkscapeAnalytics.com to bring vocational software tools to practitioners across the field. His leadership in founding the IARP Social Security Vocational Expert Section further cements his legacy as a builder and shaper of the vocational expert profession.