Named by the San Francisco Bay Guardian as “The Bay Area’s Best Career Coach”, Marty Nemko has been a Career Coach for 26 years and is the host of Work with Marty Nemko on 91.7 FM for the previous 24 years.
What occurs if you collect forty-4 jobseekers with twenty employment facilitators over a interval of 4 days? You get depth, depth, focus, help, and an enormous dose of the fact {that a} good jobseeker wants.
The LightHouse Employment Summit happened in early September, within the pure setting of our stunning Enchanted Hills Retreat in Napa, California. Away from the noise of city/suburban life, the Summit inspired jobseekers, all of whom are blind or visually impaired, to pay attention and to re-consider how they approached discovering a job. Throughout, a standard theme resonated: “If you want a different outcome, YOU need to get engaged and YOU need to do something different!”
Though jobseeking courses occur in all places, the LightHouse’s goal on this demanding week was to construct a robust motivation among the many jobseekers, including fireplace and workforce spirit to their quest for employment. The group heard from greater than a dozen employed blind folks, from attorneys to tech trainers, and all the things in between. The sustained and constructive week was a number of the most demanding work many had accomplished in latest time, starting at 7:45 within the morning and generally not ending till early night.
One key a part of the weekend was the individualized teaching that occurred round and after the day’s audio system, giving private consideration and route to every jobseeker. The teaching continued for weeks after the top of the summit.
Each participant discovered totally different features of the summit which spoke to them. Charles Jackson, for instance, has been self-employed for the final 5 years, as an impartial contingency gross sales and IT recruiter. He attended the Summit, “to expand my professional network,…get insight as to how others with vision disabilities are functioning in their work places and to learn what tools/search strategies they find to be most effective in the current constrained job market.” Brian McCallen, who’s searching for work in broadcasting, journalism, public relations, or descriptive video, attended “to learn the next steps in my job search and continue to network with broadcasting industry professionals…”
Blind Role Models Covered A Range of Topics
Our presenters, a lot of them blind, talked about points that blind and visually impaired job-seekers face as they search for employment. These included how blind folks get jobs (even on this economic system); what employers are searching for when hiring and greatest methods to spice up self-confidence and handle their work-life steadiness.
The Summit additionally gave individuals the chance to community each in the course of the periods and extra informally after hours. Jobseekers “linked-in” in individual: over a bus journey, a meal, an opportunity dialog on the breeze-method by the lake, or whereas roasting marshmallows across the campfire; some developed lasting bonds. One participant discovered “camaraderie amongst strangers, who are now my colleagues and friends. It was safe to share, support and laugh about the frustrating road to finding a job.”
For practically half the group this was the primary time they spent prolonged time round competent and self-assured blind folks. The affect of this shut and private expertise was, to some, a minimum of as vital as any scheduled speaker.
Each participant left the Summit having taken a really private journey. Insurance dealer Ramona Herriford mentioned, “I am self-employed so found the Summit to be very empowering. I left encouraged and focused on ways I can grow my business. Every speaker was very knowledgeable [about] their chosen topic…It was a real blessing to connect with other talented blind individuals. Everyone willingly shared their experiences, philosophies, strategies, and how to’s. It was truly a Summit with people helping people.”
George Gaboury, a jobseeker who has a background in multimedia, mentioned, “All the speakers and coaches were excellent. Joe Xavier & Mike Bullis’ message to get involved and do what others won’t do in the workplace and in volunteer work, struck me as a very powerful approach to blast through hiring & advancement prejudices. This approach inevitably generates valuable work experience and quality.”
If you might be blind or visually impaired and are prepared to start out searching for work in a scientific method, the LightHouse would like to accomplice with you. Please contact Kate Williams at kwilliams@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7324 to study extra about our Employment Immersion program.
If you may have by no means labored or are transitioning from faculty or faculty and need some work expertise to study what else you want to get that subsequent nice job, please contact Debbie Bacon about our Blind Leaders program at dbacon@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7357.
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