Health Action Overseas Foundation (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”.
In the second part of March, six young beneficiaries of LEAD project with skills in the field of bakery/pastry had the opportunity to meet with Andrei Pascu, the manager of the bread factory SC Gatapan SRL, at the headquarters of the Services Centre for Supported Employment from Constanța. After a short presentation by each participant, Andrei Pascu talked to them about his business, the technology employed, the production flow; the challenges of this profession, and the reasons why a young adult would choose to work in this profession. In this context, he gave details about the tasks that need to be performed, the work schedule, the salary package, and how young adults benefit from on-the-job training in the first three months of employment.
Following this meeting, an employment contract was signed with one of the young participants, who studies at the School Centre for Inclusive Education “Albatros”. The young man will work 4 hours daily, and after graduation, he will work full time. The manager of SC Gatapan SRL appreciated the collaboration with our colleagues expressing his desire to work with them again in the near future, when he will expand his team.
Three weeks later, at the headquarters of the Services Center for Supported Employmentfrom Constanța, five young beneficiaries of LEAD project participated at a meeting with Nicoleta Platon, Talent Aquisition at Ingenium HR (a recruitment company), in order to find out valuable information about the selection/recruitment criteria for candidates from secondary and higher education. During the discussion, our guest and the team from Constanţa pointed out the importance of passing the baccalaureate exam, the necessity of improving digital skills and mastering a foreign language (especially English).
The meeting was a good opportunity for young adults to understand the difference between job, career, and voccation. The specialists emphasised the importance of developing skills and using free time for personal and professional development, particularily for acquiring new knowledge, methods and techniques of self-motivation and learning how to learn.
During the meeting, Nicoleta Platon presented to the young adults with disabilities the criteria that she uses in the recruitment process for different positions with renowned companies (multinational, and local).
The young adults also had the opportunity to find out from Ionuţ, a young beneficiary of the LEAD project, how he opened his own accounting services company a few months ago, and how he has started various collaborations, guided by Alina Sachelaru, Supported Employment specialist at HAO Romania.
This exchange ended with two important conclusions. Firstly, young adults with the intellectual potential must complete their studies, at least at high school level, in order to have access to well-paid jobs. Secondly, a dream can turn into reality through work, courage, determination, and with the necessary support, at the right time.
Two weeks later, in the second part of April, five other young adults with disabilities, enrolled in the LEAD project participated at an experience exchange organised by HAO at “The flower shop with smiles”, a business opened in February this year.
On this occasion, they learnt from the administrator, a young entrepreneur who has been passionate about flowers for a long time, but with studies and work experience in another field, how important it is to discover your passions, and how much it matters to follow your own dream.
The entrepreneur talked to the young adults with disabilities about the profession of a florist and its challenges. She pointed out the attention that must be paid to the client’s need and gave them some details about how to care for and maintain different species of flowers. At the same time, the young beneficiaries of the LEAD project found out valuable information about the possibility of working together with the “The flower shop with smiles” team. Two of the young adults immediately offered to work as volunteers in the flower shop following the interesting presentation made by the young entrepreneur.
While the 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).
