Health Action Overseas (HAO) has continued the series of exchange meetings between young adults with disabilities looking for a job and potential employers organised within the project “Labour market Employment for young Adults with a Disability – LEAD”
Thus, in the end of June, in Constanţa County, at Cumpăna City Hall – Multifunctional Center for Socio-Medical Assistance, 7 young people with young adults with disabilities aged 15 to 29 years had the opportunity to talk with representatives of Cumpăna City Hall, of Cumpăna Sheltered Housing, and also with members of the HAO team.
Valuable information on: the evolution of the labour market, the active jobs in: Cumpana village, Constanta municipality and Constanta county, the salary level and details about working conditions for each position currently open were delivered to young adults on this occasion.
Our colleagues, Alina Dobrescu, Coordinator of the Supported Employment Programme with HAO, and Alina Sachelaru, supported employment specialist, talked about the employers’ expectations, and about the weaknesses identified during the integration process of a new employee. “The lack of motivation, conscientiousness and perseverance shown by young adults make it difficult for them to obtain and keep a job”, said Alina Dobrescu, also emphasizing the importance of transversal skills.According to Alina, “participation in vocational training courses organised by authorised providers, as well as involvement in volunteer activities contributes substantially to the development of skills required on the labour market.”
During the meeting, each young adult had the opportunity to express their expectations regarding employment and to talk about the barriers they face in the process of obtaining and keeping a job, the most important being: lack of experience, their disability which is obstructing them from carrying out some tasks, and the lack of jobs in the field where they have been prepared.
Starting from these points of view, our colleagues have identified the most effective strategies to overcome individual barriers in order to find and maintain a jobby young adults, following a personalized path, through the process of supported employment.
While LEAD project is carried out, 27 such experience exchanges will take place, 12 of them coordinated by HAO (Romania), 9 by Valakupiai Rehabilitation Center (Lithuania) and 6 by Consultis – Consultoria Empresarial, Unipessoal Lda. (Portugal)
