Students learn job-interview skills

Not for surgery.

For an interview.

On Thursday, May 6, volunteers from the General Electric Evendale location performed practice interviews with 12 members of Project Search, a transitional program for Butler County students with disabilities.

The students, who deferred their high school graduations to obtain work skills, are in their 13th and 14th years of education, said Tony Huff, instructional coordinator.

He said the interns have “pretty heavy disabilities” and the goal of the program is employment. In the first few years of the program, the 12 students who excelled as interns, have landed full-time positions at Atrium, he said.

Cathy Howell, resource coordinator for the Butler County Board of Developmental Disabilities, said people with disabilities possess “values and skills” and, like abled-bodied residents, they want to work in the community.

An important step is the interview process. After the 8- to 10-minute interviews, the applicants were critiqued. They were told about the importance of practicing for an interview.

Bill Freeland, who has worked in GE’s IT department for six years, said the volunteers hope to make “a lasting impact” on the students with disabilities.

One of the more interesting interviews was the one between Ashley Macal, a student from St. Rita’s School for the Deaf in Cincinnati, her interpreterRobin Bricka, and GE volunteers Tony Ferretti and Rebecca Seaberg.

The interviewers applauded Ashley for her smile and eye contact, but were critical of some of her answers.

“We want to know who Ashley is,” Ferritti told her.

They encouraged her to provide examples of her skills, explain her reliability, and stress how she works hard.

“You want to sell yourself,” Ferritti said. “I want more from you.”

Volunteers have GE have formed a friendship with clients of the Butler County Board of DD..

“We don’t want to come here and paint or spread mulch,” Freeland said. “We want to make a bigger impact.”

Howell added: “They’re relationship building.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2842 or rmccrabb@coxohio.com.