Success story: Jinjing*

Jinjing* was referred to Open Door Group in November 2012 by the Adult Learning Development Association (ALDA). As a person with a learning disability, Jinjing sometimes has difficulty presenting himself in social situations, making it challenging to promote himself to prospective employers, despite his many years of experience in the automotive field. After working with a case manager to develop his employment plan, Jinjing was connected with a job developer, Max, who would work alongside him to find and keep - paid employment.

Jinjing* (right) with manager Mahesh

Max met with Jinjing to get to know him better, undertsand his unique strengths, the impact of his learning disability, and to construct a strategy with Jinjing to find and keep a job. Together, they decided that Max would directly market Jinjing. Max knew that job retention had been an issue in the past and that, as such, on-site coaching coupled with intensive communication with both Jinjing and the employer would be needed to ensure long-term success. Jinjing wanted part-time work as a car detailer with an automotive company. Max met with a local automotive collision company and introduced WorkBC services to the manager, Mahesh. After getting a great match. Mahesh was intrigued and asked several questions about Jinjing. He had always been interested in supporting ndividuals with disabiltiles through empliymenbt, but never knew how to begin searching for the right candidate. With Jinjing Mahesh decided he would like to meet him. After a trial shift, he hired Jinjing, who began work the following week, working two hours per day, Monday to Friday. Mahesh learning experience for me too as an employer After several shifts, Jinjing began to demonstrate good memory retention and was able not only to keep up but to exceed expectations. have been great and have provided me with a lot of help Jinjing has been working steadily since December 2012 with great success. Earning $10.25 per hour, he is now cleaning and detailing his own vehicles with minimal supervision. His fellow employees describe him as