Case Studies
Case Study A
The following is a link to an account written by a graduate placed on the WAM programme. The article, entitled ‘Flexible Friend: The experience of a WAM Programme intern’, appeared in the Link newsletter which is circulated to all Civil Servants.
[Account appears on page 10 of the Link Newsletter, Issue no. 50, July 2007]
Case Study B
The following is an account of the experience of a graduate, placed as part of the WAM Programme, in the Civil Service. The account, entitled ‘Entrepreneur in Profile’, appeared in an article on the WAM Programme in the Summer 2007 issue of the EQUAL online newsletter.
[Account appears on page 15 of the EQUAL online Newsletter, Issue No. 12, Summer 2007]
Case Study C
A business graduate, who is deaf secured a 6 month mentored work placement within a company. This proved to be the candidate’s first experience of the mainstream work environment. In gaining this placement the candidate had passed a full recruitment process and met all the skills required by management to fulfill the role. The candidate stated at interview that Irish sign language is their first and most comfortable language rather than English. However, it transpired that the particular work placement environment had a strong reliance on verbal communication for the routine exchange of information and also included the use of terms that are specific to the sphere of corporate actions. This posed considerable difficulties for the candidate who found lip-reading very strenuous.
Whilst the co-workers attempted to send more emails and write down a lot of information for the person, the manager noted that because the turnover of work was so fast some co-workers would do tasks for the candidate rather than explain them. On the spot verbal communication took up a significant part of this job. A sign language interpreter was provided for large meetings. Eventually it was agreed by all parties involved that the candidate would be better placed in another area of the organisation where quick, verbal communication was not a central feature, as the employer appreciated the work being done and did not want to lose a talented and enthusiastic employee.
The manager gained considerable learning about the work environment and core competencies that are required in order to fulfil this particular role and actually stated that this will be taken into account for all future recruitment. This experience provided essential learning for both the company and candidate. Considering that this was the candidates first work experience in the mainstream labour market, it proved to be very informative;
‘...it’s given me a greater understanding of my future... I can picture my future better...’
The candidate went on to secure a permanent position in the company.
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