EmploymentWorks: My One-Year Experience

Check out Spectrum Productions creator Robert’s insightful experience with EmploymentWorks!

Last December, I applied to a 12-week program created by the Miriam Foundation called EmploymentWorks. I heard about it from my work agent at Action main d’oeuvres.  This program assists those with disabilities, whether mental or physical, to find work. It is run by its two co-leaders, Martine and Rania, and it was amazing! Read below to learn about my experience as a participant and a mentor.

You start out in the program with a small group of peers. We’re all here on the same mission - what is it? - to find a job. And how do we do it? Well, we got to learn various topics, all related to job search and workplace etiquette. But, there was one annoying little detail - the pandemic! So we had to meet online. Luckily, Noah, my group’s mentor, hosted a weekly 1-hour Meet and Greet, so we could get to know each other, bond, share, play some games, it was really great. 

After my session was done in April, the organizers offered me to become a mentor for the summer group, which I happily accepted. I got to do the whole thing over again, but this time from the perspective of a mentor. Alongside my fellow mentor Clara, I did my best to help everyone in their training and job search, and it was a great experience to see participants go through the same path I had been on myself. On top of it, there was a surprise - a few familiar faces from Spectrum Productions. My own cohort included Tristan and Jonathan, and after I became a mentor, my group had Julien and William.

Being part of EmploymentWorks was an amazing experience. It helped me find my first part-time job at Dominion T-shirt. I couldn’t have done it without everyone’s help in the program. If anyone is interested, I encourage you to apply and join the program. Hope you all have a good experience… like I did. And some very special thanks go to Martine, Rania, Kinga, Noah and Clara for everything.

The printing machine

Robert posing with the supplies at his job