Group seals the deal on finding employment

Landing a first job is tough.

With no job experience to speak of and nothing to put on a resume, employers are hesitant to give workers a chance.

Matthew Russell, a 22-year-old with autism, knows all about the troubles of trying to get hired.

“We’ve been through a lot of interviews, but it didn’t really go through,” he said. “It was difficult.”

The Huntington Beach resident had no experience except a high school diploma under his belt. That’s where Easter Seals came in.

Easter Seals is a national organization that helps people with any disability or special need become independent through education, advocacy and services.

Everyone with autism is different, but many have difficulty with social interactions — from making eye contact and relating to others to understanding innuendo and just talking to a boss, said Paula Pompa-Craven, regional vice president of Easter Seals.

The difficulty with social interactions can leave some people with autism isolated, wanting to stay home and not getting a job.

Easter Seals works to teach people the skills they need to overcome these challenges by working with them on social interactions and building job skills through education or volunteer work, Pompa-Craven said.

The organization assigns clients job trainers who can be with them every day until they aren’t needed anymore. The goal is to make them independent.

“We really do try to work ourselves out of a job,” she said.

It took Russell and his job trainer, Phoebe Macias, a job specialist with Easter Seals’ Work First program, six months to find a job. Russell said he didn’t know what he wanted to do and didn’t want to get pushed into a job.

Despite the months spent searching, they found the “perfect fit,” Macias said.

She and Russell were driving around Huntington Beach when they spotted Uptown Paws Resort and Spa, a doggie spa and day care.

Owner Suzanne Marchetti’s daughter has Asperger syndrome, a form of autism, and works at the spa.

“I know the struggles they have,” Marchetti said, adding, “I just feel like it’s a passion of mine to show these kids that they can do anything they want.”

Many people are afraid of the unknown, which is why Easter Seals goes in to talk to employers and co-workers about the disability of the person hired, Pompa-Craven said.

At Uptown Paws, that wasn’t necessary.

Russell works three days a week and is certified in grooming and CPR for dogs and cats.

The job process was rough, but the support helped, and without it, finding a job would have taken a lot longer, Russell said.