RSC, Business Partners Find ‘Can Do’ People for Jobs
In the Cincinnati area the Ohio Rehabilitation Services
Commission (RSC) and its business and kindred service partners
have been working together for decades to find employment for
people with visual impairments, sometimes on short notice. A
recent job opening required a self-starting ‘can do’ computer
whiz. Phil Gates filled the role perfectly.
Medicount
Management Inc. asked RSC for a list of 20 to 30 candidates to
vie for the position of patient relations specialist. The
medical billing firm wanted to start the interviews in three
days. RSC’s Bureau of Services for the Visually Impaired teamed
with a job placement company to find suitable candidates. Phil
Gates, who Medicount’s president called a ‘can do’ guy, landed
the job after impressing the interviewer with his mastery of
software and web designs and knowledge of workplace
accommodations for people with disabilities.
Phil, a 1999 graduate of Cincinnati State Technical College,
relied on the Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually
Impaired, a RSC partner, and Medicount’s information technology
(IT) staff to adjust company’s computer applications for his
visual impairment. According to Phil’s IT boss, his productivity
equals and sometimes surpasses that of his coworkers without
disabilities.
Phil’s success paves the way for other ‘can do’ people with
visual impairments. Medicount, the satisfied employer, wants to
work with RSC to offer 10 jobs in upcoming years through the
Governor’s Initiative on Jobs for People with Disabilities. In
exchange, Medicount will receive funding from RSC to purchase a
copier and IT equipment enabling the company to expand its
workforce. RSC knows that teamwork, networking and partnering
works for people who want to work. The strategy is good for
people, good for business, and good for Ohio.
