Ross’ Journey to Employment

As anyone who has worked with Ross S. can attest, he is fiercely independent and likes to accomplish as much as he can on his own. The same has been true during his job search; he is extremely motivated and is always looking for employment opportunities. Transporting a person served to and from work is one of the biggest challenges facing an individual when he or she seeks employment.

Prior to landing his current job, Ross applied to many opportunities where he was offered a job, but the transportation was just too challenging. For example, if he had accepted one job offer, it would have been three bus transfers and three hours on the bus to get to the job site, and then a $27.00 cab ride home due to bus service ending after 10:30pm. In this circumstance, Ross and all people involved agreed that this situation would not work, so he had to decline the job offer.

Dungarvin worked to support Ross in looking at all of the factors that impact if a job opportunity will be the right fit for him, including these types of transportation challenges. One of the first areas regarding transportation in which Ross received help was by applying to Metro Mobility. Dungarvin staff helped him to navigate the system and the necessary paperwork, as well as providing Ross an outlet to vent his concerns and frustrations. All of these supports helped Ross get ready for this step of independent community transportation. After all the paperwork was completed, Ross was interviewed by Metro Mobility, after which he received an ID to begin riding the Metro Mobility bus. This opened up so many new doors for Ross when it came to the location of potential job opportunities.

Ross’ Supported Employment Specialist (SES), John Finnerty, also began collecting paper applications from as many restaurants as possible within walking or biking distance, or a only a short bus ride away from Ross’ home. Ross found that these paper applications were easy for him to fill out independently. When one of Ross’ staff learned about an opening for a dishwasher at a Restaurant/Bar & Grill just up the road, an application was collected. Ross did a fantastic job of filling it out on his own and turning it in on a Friday. Ross was interviewed by the Kitchen Manager that very weekend and was offered the job. Ross would start working that upcoming Thursday afternoon!

Ross had a willingness to learn more about the opportunity, which he knew he could only do by completing and submitting the application, and subsequently took the initiative and did both in the same afternoon. He pushed for the interview and, this is key and can’t be stressed strongly enough, he approached the interview with a tremendous amount of confidence, enthusiasm, and a can-do attitude, responding to the Kitchen Manager’s questions with phrases like, “Sure I can do that!” and “No problem, that’s easy, I’ve done that before!”

His SES staff said, “Ross is an example of how to get hired and the embodiment of what we try to impart in the people we support.” He has taken everything that his Employment Specialist has told him to heart and given his best effort. Some of the tips John has given Ross are:

1. Be open to opportunities, even if they don’t initially sound like the best fit.
2. You will rarely get an interview for an opportunity if you don’t fill out and submit an application. If you are fortunate enough to be extended an invitation to interview for the job, approach it with an open mind, thinking about what additional opportunities it could present.
3. Finally, each person should interview with a positive, can-do attitude, with energy and enthusiasm, as if it is the only job you have ever really wanted. If you are extended a job offer but the position isn’t a good fit, you can always turn it down. It is important to give the company a chance by applying and going through the interview process.

John also added, “I’ve worked with some people who don’t get as many job interviews in a year as Ross did in a month, but if those folks approached those opportunities the way Ross did they would all be employed!”