Homme/Zomp: Bender Consulting Services Sponsors Webinar on Transferable Skills for New Career Paths in Today's Changing Job Search Environment

At Highmark Health, we believe what makes us unique makes us better. Our differences broaden our perspectives and foster a variety of skills to complement each other, creating a stronger and more vibrant workforce. It's this belief that earned us recognition as the Best Place to Work for the 10th year for individuals with disabilities in a survey by the American Association of People with Disabilities and Disability:IN. We'll continue to celebrate and benefit from the inclusion of all people. To find out more, visit highmarkhealth.org. Welcome to Disability Matters with your host Joyce Bender. All comments, views, and opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host, guest, and callers. Now the host of Disability Matters, here's Joyce Bender.

Hi everyone and welcome to the show. I am so happy to be here today. You know why? Well, I always love being here on this show, but especially today because it's all about you. We are here to help you. You know, I'm on a crusade to find employment for people with disabilities. Competitive jobs mean freedom. I've been on this crusade 30 years, 30 years, and still We are so far behind from where we should be in competitive employment. But you know what? It's my listeners, people like you that have stood behind me, that, you know, stay with the show, that have helped make such a difference. So with that, I want to thank you, thank all of you, and tell you that this show is dedicated to all of you. Who are seeking hope through loss of a job or a family member's loss of a job or underemployment. No matter what has happened, we're here today to give you a whole reboot to what's going on in your life. Because you know what I tell everyone? You know what you have to do right now? Move forward. Don't stay still. Don't stagnate. You know, that's never good. You've got to move forward. Keep moving. And we all have to communicate and we have to help one another. That's why you should post this show. Really. You know, we're all in this together. Nothing about us without us. Right? I have epilepsy, I'm hard of hearing. We are all in this together. And if we don't help each other, who will? Well, no one. So what I'm asking you to do is post this show for everyone, especially people you know that have lost their job or family member lost their job, because you're going to be helping them. You may actually help someone gain employment. Oh my God, how powerful is that? So thank you to everyone in America and around the world, especially Germany. Unbelievable that you have the most listeners, but thank you to all of the countries, all 70 countries. We've come a long way. From when I started, and I don't even remember how long it took to have one. So here we are together changing the world, and that means including people around the world. So to all my brothers and sisters with disabilities around the world, we are here for you also. You know what you have to do? You have to go to English-speaking venues and tell them about this show. So that you can get this out to other people with disabilities in your country. And Yoshiko, dar Yoshiko, special shout out to you. You know how I love you, Yoshiko. You are a great role model for all of us. Lead on, Yoshiko. We will all never stop working together. And hi, Mark. What can I say other than Highmark sets the high mark for other companies to follow. Thank you so much for sponsoring this show and being the lead sponsor all these years. Once again, if I didn't have them, we wouldn't be able to get this news out to all of you. So with that, oh, I'm so excited today because we're all here to help you. Bender Consulting Services is here to help you. And I have two of the people from my talent programs team, two significant leaders at Bender Consulting, and I will have them introduce themselves. And today we have this webinar on transferable skills into a new career path coming up June 30th. 2025. So don't forget about that. June 30th, 2025, Bender Consulting Services sponsors webinar on transferable skills into a new career path in today's changing job search environment. You know, I am not going to stop helping you. So make sure you tell everyone about that. So Gerald Homme and Jill Zoff. Gerald, we will start with you today. How about if you introduce yourself and tell everyone what you do?

Thanks, Joyce, and always a pleasure to be here on the show. Um, so grateful to be here today. I'm Gerald Homi, the manager of the talent acquisition team here at Bender. That means I get the privilege and honor of leading this fantastic team of talented, passionate individuals— and fighting this crusade. People that are looking for great talent to place into the competitive jobs that Joyce is finding out there. She's partnering with these great companies, and I get to find the great talent to put in these roles with a wonderful team to support it. And it's awesome to get to do that every day here at Bender. And I also support the technology that keeps the Bender machine moving and get involved in a few other things like digital accessibility. Other stuff around the business. Um, love this company. I've been here now for officially 18 years and started in high school, never left. Have a nice collection of hidden disabilities: dysgraphia, dyslexia, PTSD, anxiety disorder, migraine disorder. Um, I love what we do. As many listeners that have been here a long time know, my father Jim, was who blind, was the very first person with a disability that Joyce ever placed into a job before she even started Bender, when she had her executive search firm. And in the '80s, before the ADA, she placed him into a role— yes, at Highmark, before it was called Highmark— in a job where he became the first blind certified Lotus Notes developer on the planet. So my dad was the bread earner for our family, working in technology in Corporate America at a time when the unemployment rate for people who are blind was 99%, and he was being told he should just go work in the broom factory instead. But he didn't want that path, and Joyce saw this other path for him and gave him that opportunity. And with my amazing team, I get to help give that same opportunity to many other great talented people with disabilities every day. It's the best thing in the world. So happy to be here.

And may I say, and Gerald, it's so wonderful to have you and Jill, a blessing to us and to Bender and to everyone living with disabilities. But, you know, when you were talking, Gerald, and I think Jill can comment on this, but why I said Even if the person you know has not lost their job, make sure you tell them about this show because you don't know, someone in their family could have lost their job. And you know, when someone is not working, it impacts the entire family. Jill Zomp, you could talk about that, but why don't you introduce yourself, Jill?

Thank you so much for having me again, Joyce Bender. It's an honor to be here. Um, I am I have been working at Bender for almost 9 years now. When I first started here, I started a lot helping out with the federal hiring when we were doing so many people in the federal government, and I saw all the great things and all the great opportunities there. So I understand a lot of that side of it, but I came here because personally my husband actually lost his vision, went back to school who got a bachelor's degree after losing his vision in a new field because he couldn't do what he was doing before. So he got a degree in IT. And this is back when there was a lot of opportunities in IT, more than there were candidates for them. And he still spent a number of years looking for a job. We had small kids at the time. I was working 3 jobs just trying to make sure to keep the family afloat. When somebody recommended that we reach out to Bender and Bender saw the potential that he had and was able to connect him with an amazing employer, it changed not just his life, but it changed my life, my kids' life, our family members that were helping us out when we needed it. So it affects so many people whenever somebody with a disability finds employment. And he has been successfully and gainfully employed ever since then, continuing not just to have a job, but to have a career and a trajectory for success and continue to move up. And it's been an amazing thing to see. He too was originally told, "You should probably go work at the broom factory." So it's a joke around our house, but it's, it's a very real thing out there. And being able to have him employed had changed so many things. And I at the time worked at our local community college helping students with disabilities get their degrees and try to move forward in their careers. And they were having the same problem as he was. And I, I realized then I was on the wrong side of things and I needed to come over to Bender and start paying it forward and, and helping people find those career paths. And it's just been the most amazing honor of my life to be able to do this and continue to do this. And now here we are trying to even expand our reach even further with these webinars, trying to help as many people as we can and see as many people with disabilities in the workforce as we possibly can based on their own skills and their own success so that they can continue to find that employment and that path in life.

Yes. Well, and that is so awesome, as you are, Jill. Gerald, maybe we can start by you talking about some of the industries or roles you see as the most resilient or those even benefiting from the rise of AI, artificial intelligence, and then what skills are valuable that transfer into those positions as well.

Thanks, Joyce Bender. I love this topic because our whole career year we've been helping people reinvent themselves and transition into new roles, right? Because so many people have had to do that because they've gained a disability later in life or found themselves trying to find a new opportunity for a variety of different reasons. And not only that, that's partially my story too. I started out going into music and then decided, you know what? Nope, disability rights, more passionate about that. I want to do this fight and this mission and went down this path. And there's so many skills that you can bring into lots of careers. And a lot of those types of jobs we've helped people transition into are these roles that are still most resilient right now. There's a lot of jobs that are incredibly resilient that you don't need to have a lot of necessarily special certifications for and things like that, because the things that AI can't do right now is have incredibly great business skills, incredibly great street smarts, incredibly savy decision-making skills of knowing with your gut what the right thing to do in a situation is and putting yourself in roles where you are a decision maker, whether that be making the right call on— with a customer, supporting them to make sure the right things are happening, or with a patient in a hospital or in a project manager position. These roles where AI supports people by grabbing data and helping them make decisions, but you are the one choosing the destiny of what happens to your team, to your product, to what is going on. These are the roles that we are finding to be most resilient. And these are the roles where we've seen companies even in IT industries, hire people that have creative backgrounds, people that have come from other industries with other types of degrees and brought in those creative ways of thought into the— so roles like business analysts and project— the entry pathways into project management like project coordinator roles where you're getting started out and looking to move into project management if you haven't done it more. Those business analyst and project coordinator roles are the types of roles for that. Or in the product space, product managers or product coordinators. Medical roles. If you've never worked in the medical industry, now is the time because— and you need a role. There's so many different roles in the hospital right now and across America. And guess what? People aren't going to stop getting sick anytime soon. People aren't going to stop needing support. And there's so many jobs in hospitals to support that whole process of helping patients. And some of those roles don't even require any kind of specialized training. There's so much you can do if you're trying to take what you know and apply it somewhere else. There's lots of opportunity to do that. So those are just a couple examples of the types of things we're seeing out there right now.

And that— and, you know, I don't think people realize, they don't think about all those type of opportunities. You know what I mean? They just have in their mind specific areas. So I'm really glad that you went over with that, but Jill, some of the most overlooked transferable skills that people have, where they don't even realize they have those transferable skills. Would you talk about that for a minute?

Absolutely. Um, I think that this topic is so important. I know we did our first webinar about resume building and kind of went over so many things, but as people transition from one role to another, they're like, am I starting over? You're not starting over. The biggest, most transferable skills that everyone has are the soft skills. If you think about it, people— we've worked with so many people, like I said, the federal sector. I work a lot with veterans. It's very, very close to my heart. I have a lot of veterans in my family. I understand that you are in a very different environment, and now you're looking to reinvent yourself or take a new trajectory in your career. And the soft skills that you have, things like conflict resolution or time management or even emotional intelligence that you have from experience, whether it be in the military or federal or another type of, um, area within the private sector, all of these can be transferred over. And honestly, they are all very valued by employers. Think about it, if you, um, had conflict resolution in the military, you might be really good at navigating chain of command. If you— or if you had to lead anybody, you have management skills, you have ability to manage a team, and you have the ability to handle high-stress situations and come out with positive results. And being able to show that and showcase that is going to be a huge, um, way to move yourself forward in consideration for any opportunity. So a lot of people have the same exact trainings or the same exact certifications. And if you're up against other people, use that experience and use that new lens that you're looking through to say, okay, I bring all that to the table and all of my previous experience that will help move this entire mission forward. And being able to showcase that is going to be huge whenever you're being considered for any new role in any new industry.

Yes. Even, Jill, I tell people, even if let's say they were at the Epilepsy Association on a volunteer basis and they were the treasurer, you know, I tell people, and you're looking for a financial position, I tell people, make sure you remember that that is a skill that you have been doing that. So I'm really glad that you talked about that. And you know, Gerald, we are known for IT, and that's probably because when I started in my career in executive search, that's what I did, IT. But there are visible pathways into tech roles that can leverage their, leverage their existing skills. Could you talk about that?

Yeah, um, so there's a lot of different types of things that you can do if you want to break into IT. Um, for example, a lot of technical support roles at an entry level provide primarily customer support, and a lot of those roles start out as customer service, and you can gain a lot of knowledge about what it takes to provide the technical support for those roles in online trainings and gain access to a lot of information online to get started. And as long as you have great customer service skills, and if you want to break from maybe a customer service industry into actual technical support, those entry-level roles, you can really make a break into tech in that way and then start to learn from that technical support everything about the infrastructure of tech in that company, because everything around technology comes in as a technical support ticket and that technical support, and you can really get to know who all these people are and network and get engaged and move up within an organization. So that's one way. I mentioned another role, which is the earlier, but I want to talk a little more about it, which are business analysts. This is a role that we here at Bender have worked on a lot in our, our time here. And these are roles that support teams and organizations in kind of the go-between role between developers and technical folks and business individuals. I like to call them almost like translators. So they don't have to do coding. They don't have to do the actual technical in-depth work. They just have to understand it enough to speak the language to those people and have to organize those people enough to be able to communicate with them. So if you have a lot of friends who are techies and you get along with them and you understand them, but you don't do that stuff and you can communicate well and you can organize things and you're like a problem solver, you like to solve puzzles and that's the way you like to work, these are jobs that are great to break into the tech industry. I find people that even have backgrounds like in creative skills like music and art we've placed into these types of roles, and they've done great because of all the technology they use to support their craft. People with financial backgrounds that want to make a change can do well in these roles because of all the reporting they do with finance and tech— with the financials that they do in Excel and other software, so it's just doing it with a different mindset because it's focused on the business solution conversation, which sets you up for a future path in either, depending on how you want to go, data science or project management or going into that more development role or maybe being a Scrum Master. There's all different types of paths that branch from that business analyst type of role. They're great roles to break into the industry from if you can pick up those skills once you get in there.

Yeah, that's phenomenal. And, you know, before we go to the news break, only because I want to make sure we talk about this, Jill, and that is when I meet someone— as if you don't know, this is Bender's 30th anniversary. Bender Consulting Services, a for-profit company that focuses on the employment of people with disabilities. And since we started, we found employment for thousands of people in the STEM area, some business disciplines, but now our other new big area is healthcare, which is so exciting. Jill, if I meet someone and young person, anyone, and they say to me, "Oh, I wish I could get into healthcare," but, you know, I'm not a nurse, or, you know, I don't have a medical degree. What can they do to get into healthcare? Are there opportunities for them?

There are so many different types of opportunities in healthcare for people that are not specifically doctors and nurses. And I think that's a big misconception, is a lot of people think, okay, I didn't go to school to become a doctor, I didn't come to school to, to be a nurse, I can't do anything in the healthcare field. There are so many opportunities. There's so many people that support the doctors and nurses that don't need to have those same degrees. And then also, if you're willing to start in one of those front-facing roles where you're bringing in patients or you're first introducing them and gathering your information, you, like Gerald said, have the beginning of a network. So now it's if you wanna move up in the healthcare field by starting out in one of those more front-facing roles where you're, you know, greeting the patients when they come into the emergency department, or if you're assisting with different types of things around the hospital where maybe you're not directly giving care to patients, you can develop an understanding of how those things work. You can meet people that will point you in the right direction to further continue your training. You can get the certifications needed to really move up in these roles. And a lot of times when you're already working for these organizations, they will either assist you with getting those certifications or be able to at least point you to places that they accept the certifications from so that you can grow your career. And these such fast-moving jobs, and there's just so much need because, I mean, here we are and there's so much healthcare that's needed out there for so many people, and there's such high demand. You can basically, whenever you apply to these roles, as long as you're open to different shifts— because remember, people don't only get sick from 9 to 5— but as long as you're open to different shifts and you're really willing to put your heart out there to help patients, and remember the big in the grand plan that that's what you're doing, people can become very successful very quickly. So it's not just about, do I have a medical degree? It's about, do I have the passion to make sure people are getting the best care? And as long as you have that, there are so many different facets out there that you can start out in and grow your career from there. So it's not just a, you know, a job, it's a career path.

Yeah, and some of these jobs in the hospital Do you know, now, where— although we're in Western Pennsylvania, and if it's a hospital here, you obviously have to work there. Don't we also have positions for nurses doing remote work, Jill?

That's true too. So with the, with the 21st century comes so many new things out there. You look at— and I don't know if anybody's experienced this yet— um, going to the doc They now also have AI integrated in there. So when somebody needs to be called after you go home from some kind of procedure, somebody calls you. It doesn't have to be a nurse sitting at the hospital. These are now nurses that can do from home, make sure everybody's okay, making sure that they're getting the care that they need, doing patient check-ins, making sure that on those remote, different types of remote healthcare systems, you can even go and see your doctor remotely. They also have physicians available there too, um, for nurses to check in with people. So the nursing skills are still needed because you still need to understand all the parts of the chart, all the parts of the healthcare needed, and what certain symptoms and signs can mean. But if you have those skills, but especially people with disabilities maybe are no longer able to do the job that they once did while nursing, these are amazing opportunities right now to be able to still give the care that you want to give without having to be that direct nurse lifting patients, things like that.

Yes, I'm, and I'm telling you, I met a high school student wanting to get in healthcare, and that person's resume is already on the way. So if you are looking, or you're a nurse with a disability in the United States, you've got to get in touch with Bender. Gerald, where would they send their resume?

Just go to benderconsult.com/jobs. Go to benderconsult.com/jobs. You can apply and get in touch with the recruitment team there.

So remember I told you to share this show because with all the people with disabilities that have lost their jobs, seeking employment, you know, we've talked about some specific jobs right now, But we're talking more and continue to talk more how you reinvent yourself. How do you find a job? What do you do now? So make sure you post this so other people can hear what we've been talking about prior to talking about these specific jobs. But right now, oh, my favorite time. It's time for, yes, Mathis on the mic. With Jennifer Mathis. And Jennifer, I want to tell you what I told Matt, our engineer. I said, make sure you get Jennifer through. I mean, she's very powerful. I said, she is the Rachel Maddow of the disability rights community. And here we are, I have you. And just so you know, I've been getting all kinds of positive remarks Jennifer, and part of that reason is people don't know what's going on. Things change so fast right now that people don't know. So that's another reason, by the way, that everyone should share these shows so that other people with disabilities can hear. Okay, I had no idea. I now know what's happening or what I should do or could do. So, Jennifer, Mathis, what news do you have for us today?

So lots of things happening as always. Um, what I want to focus on today is, um, a continuation from something I talked about last week, but there's a new development. So I think last week I had talked a little bit about the P&As being at risk, the Protection and Advocacy systems for people with disabilities. Because there was a leaked draft of a budget document that said that the president was going to be, at least according to this leaked draft, recommending eliminating the Protection and Advocacy system for people with disabilities, specifically for people with developmental disabilities, intellectual and developmental disabilities. There's different pots money that fund, um, the protection and advocacy organizations for people with developmental disabilities, for people with mental health disabilities, and for people with other disabilities. And so this leaked document said the DD part, the developmental disabilities part, they were saying get rid of it. And so the new development is that on Friday, last Friday, at the end of the day, May 30— May 30th, I think, or 31st, whatever last Friday was, um, there was released, uh, some budget documents for different agencies, including HHS. And so we no longer have to rely on this leaked draft because the leaked draft is, you know, was a draft, and this is an actual budget document. There will be more documents to come because this doesn't have the specifics on everything, but the good news is that they are no longer recommending eliminating the P&A program for people with intellectual developmental disabilities. So that's great. I think that was the product of a lot of advocacy Still a lot of concerning stuff in there, so it's a mixed bag. I think we, you know, have gotten past a hump, which is great, on the Protection and Advocacy program for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities not being slated for elimination or recommended for elimination. Again, I want to stress, whatever's in that budget document doesn't mean that Congress is going to do that. Congress gets to decide on this budget in the end. And so there's a lot of advocacy that needs to happen with Congress because just because the White House and the president are recommending eliminating something doesn't mean that Congress is going to choose to do that. And the power is with— well, it's with Congress, but it's also with all of us, right, to advocate with Congress, to tell them Don't do that. And so, um, here's the mixed bag, um, that was in the budget document that was released on Friday. Um, so, uh, there are some protection and advocacy programs that they are still recommending for elimination. We need to stop that. Those are, um, the program that gives protection advocacy groups money to help people with disabilities vote, to register and vote, and P&As do a lot of really good and important work in helping people with disabilities vote. That's called the PAVA program, Protection and Advocacy— I don't remember what the— well, for Voting, and I don't remember what the, the whole acronym stands for, but that's an important program. So this budget document says they're going to propose eliminating that. They're going to propose eliminating what's called PAIR, which is Protection and Advocacy for Individual Rights. And what that is, is the whole P&A program outside of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and people with mental health disabilities. There's that everybody else That's PAIR. So that's important. That's people with physical disabilities, people who are blind, people who are deaf, etc. That would— I mean, I think to some extent, if people develop their disabilities before 22, you can say that they really have developmental disabilities, but it's a big group of people that would be impacted if the PAIR program goes away. So the voting program, the PAIR program, also assistive technology. They are funding some assistive technology advocacy, but not for the P&As. They're proposing eliminating the role that the P&As play in assistive technology programs. So that's bad. Um, and then And actually, I would say, I should just clarify, there's a few budgets from different agencies that were released. The PAIR, I think, comes out of the Education Department rather than out of HHS. Another thing that is impacted is CAP, the Client Assistance Program. That is being recommended for elimination. That's bad. That helps people with disabilities., get the employment services that they need. Um, and so all of these programs need to continue. Um, so while it is great that, um, they're no longer recommending elimination of the Protection and Advocacy for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, they need to continue all of these programs that the P&As do and that CAP, the Client Assistance Program, does. They're also recommending eliminating the UCEDDs, the University Centers on Excellence for Developmental Disabilities. And what that is, is basically a disability research program, right, where universities in every state, university-based programs, do research on what helps people with disabilities. And so all of that's important. So we need to advocate. Also, one other positive thing, the DD councils, the developmental disabilities councils in every state, they are no longer being recommended for elimination. That's good too. But these programs, we don't know how much they're going to fund them at. The mental health P&A program, It's not really mentioned in this budget for HHS because it's not so granular. There's going to be more documents that come out. Um, but in the leaked draft, the, the mental health program had been mentioned, um, and the funding would have been cut by 65%, by two-thirds. So basically, people need to make sure that they're advocating with Congress, that they're talking to their members of Congress and telling them the disability programs are important. All the P&A programs, you don't have to list them all, but all the protection and advocacy programs should continue, should be funded at least at full funding, at least at what they were funded at last year. And that includes all these programs that I talked about. And the the DD councils and the independent living centers and the university centers on developmental disabilities. So all of that is important. That's the news. Mixed bag. If you have any questions, happy to answer.

Well, Jennifer, it's a mixed bag, but everyone needs to hear all of this because it is unsettling. Nothing is really done. You know, this is all still up in the air, and we so appreciate you keeping us up to date. Our show today, the purpose is to help all these people that lost their job, to try to advise them with, you know, leaving the federal government and going to the private sector is like being a veteran going to the private sector. It's like a whole new world. So, so, and please share this, Jennifer, with everyone, this show. And, uh, once again, all I can tell you is you are helping so many people by doing this. Thank you so much.

Yeah, I should say one more thing before I forget, um, before you move on, which is that on NDRN's webpage— NDRN is the National Disability Rights Network. It's the umbrella group for the protection and advocacy groups. They have on their homepage a page that says, "Oppose cuts to disability and aging programs," and it has a place where you can click on that and fill out a form that they will send a letter to your congressperson. Oh, so it's— you do it by filling out the form and it—

oh, that is so great. NDRN.gov, is that what they are? Ndrn.org. ndrn.org. ndrn.org. Yes, I know that group. They're a great group. Thank you. And we'll make sure we post that. Thank you so much. So, Gerald, do you have any questions, first of all, for Jennifer?

Nope, no questions right now. But thank you, Jennifer, for sharing all that and always coming on to the show with such actionable information for our listeners. I personally can't wait to share this information with our Pennsylvania Rev Up Coalition. So excited for that.

And you're hearing it from Mathis on the mic. That's a powerhouse right there. Jill, how about you? Do you have any questions?

No, ma'am. I was actually making sure I made note of it to go check out that website as soon as we're done here.

Okay, that's good. So, Jill, we are talking about how people need to repackage themselves. How do— how can hiring managers do a better job of recognizing and valuing these transferable skills from non-traditional candidates?

That is a great question. I think hiring managers, they're so quick. They get so many people, they're looking at very few things on a resume: title, who the employer was, title, who the employer was. I think that they really need to look beyond the title, especially from industries that are not equivalent. So people coming out of the federal government, coming from a different industry altogether, or veterans, they may have more than the skills that they're looking for and didn't have the same title. So looking beyond the titles on their resumes would be a huge benefit to them because understanding, even taking a moment or two to understand what those jobs mean, they may find the diamond in the rough that they've been looking for, for their position that's gonna be there every day on time, that's going to really move and drive their entire project or their organization forward instead of just checking boxes. Boxes. They should think, does this person— have they had to solve complex problems, or have they led people? I mean, these are skills that are beyond just what you're looking for. And just because it's not the same title doesn't mean it doesn't have the same skill set. And whenever they're coming from the federal government or from the military, these are very large-scale teams, so they have the understanding of how to navigate in those large-scale scale environments too. And like I said, they're also bringing a very different lens. So they're looking at it from their experience. So these great candidates see things that maybe people that are always in the industry, just go with status quo, don't see to maybe lead to innovations or to changes that could make, you know, better decision-making or more dynamic teams to move this company or the organization forward that they're working for. So really trying to understand and to see that titles, although might be different, skills are always going to be there, is going to be huge for them to find the perfect candidate for them.

And, you know, I'm so glad you said all that, Jill. I heard someone speak years ago, and they said to me, give me an MIT student Brilliant. Give me someone with a bachelor's degree. Brilliant. But the MIT person has terrible communication skills, bad attitude. Oh, I'm taking the other person. And I just want to say, attitude, gratitude. When you give someone a chance to work, for example, a person with a disability, they're grateful. You know, very grateful. If you were left out all the time, you too would be grateful. So, don't just look at one thing. You know, I always say you could teach people anything, but you can't teach them to have a good attitude. So, you know, you should look at all skills. Gerald, what roles do you think would be in healthcare would be best if people are transitioning from other skills?

There are so many—

I mean from other fields, sorry.

No worries. There's so many different things you can go into if you want to go into the healthcare industry, from working and helping and managing a medical office to cleaning instruments to help prepare people for surgery to being that friendly face that's the first person that people see when they walk into the emergency room to help people stay calm and have support when they enter that hospital. Um, there's so many jobs out there that there's a huge need for in hospitals right now. Um, there's roles that are needed to help watch patients to make sure that people aren't falling that need support so that nurses can focus on the jobs that they do best so that they aren't spread too thin. There's all kinds of jobs that are supporting the certified medical professionals to help them make their jobs easier. There's roles in supply chain to help the industry because don't remember, don't forget these hospitals are whole industries and there's business roles and support roles that help keep everything moving along the way. And one of the best things you can do— this is one of the things I remember Joyce Bender saying early on in my career to remind people of when I'm talking to them— is one of the best things you can do if you're looking for a job is have a relationship with a great recruiter, because if you keep a relationship with a good recruiter. They know what's out there, and their whole job is matching what your skills are to a role, and if you talk to somebody like someone from Bender about what is my background, what do I have on my skills, and just having that conversation of What could I be looking for with what I have done with school, with my volunteer work, with my engagement in the community, with my work experience, and what's out there? You'll never know unless you start having those real-world conversations. You're never going to get that same experience by just going and searching on LinkedIn Indeed and applying online that you're going to get by talking with an industry expert and sitting down.

Yes. And you know, when you said, Gerald, that's the best thing you can do. Hey, you never know what's going to happen. Just like, look what happened. You never know. Always keep that relationships, relationships. Are what makes the difference. And right now, uh, Jill, there are many people who feel stuck in their current career search. What advice do you have for them?

Yeah, it's hard. It's hard to transition. It's hard. So many people believe that they just have to completely start over, but in reality, they're not. They're building off of what they've already done. So anybody who feels stuck, first of all, take inventory. Think about what you like to do. Think about what you're good at doing. Think about where those two things overlap. Then you need to start looking, seeing what is out there in the growing industries. We're talking about healthcare. Why? Because it's a growing industry. So look at these big industries that are growing and saying, okay, here's some strengths that I've identified that I enjoy doing. Maybe I could try this. You don't have to have it all figured out. You just need to know where to make the next move and start going in that direction. You'll be surprised what you learn as you continue to, to explore things. And even after you get the job and all of a sudden you're like, wow, this could really lead into that. Recognize your own value to recognize that what you've done can be used moving forward. And we have so many things out there now that we've never had before. For. So many things at our fingertips. If you don't know something and you are currently unemployed and you are not learning it, you are doing a disservice to yourself. There are videos online, there are training modules online. Take the time to invest in yourself. Think about what's something I could learn, what's something I could do to set myself apart, where do I see a ton of job openings. Not okay, I I see that there's this one job opening I'm really interested in, I'm going to do everything for. But if you see a lot of them, that's where there's a lot of need. Do some of those skills. You'll be more likely to grow in using that network after you've started, and these new things are going to help too. And finally, be realistic. I mean, if you're transitioning from a different job into a new industry, you may not be somebody with the most seniority. If you're only looking for something that's 9 to 5 and you want to get into the healthcare field, it may not be realistic because those are coveted— those are coveted hours that everybody wants to have for their work schedule. So usually people that have been there longer get those. You may have to start out at different hours, or you may have to be open to relocation, or you may have to be open to different salaries than what you were getting in the past. Salaries are based on your experience and your skill set. So you do bring something to the table, but be flexible enough to understand that I can move forward from here and take that next step. Because sitting around and just saying, you know, oh, I hope something good happens, usually doesn't make things happen. You have to be the person out there making the things happen. Reach out, reach out to recruiters like Gerald said as well. I mean, there people that we talk to every day that are going in one direction, and we know of other opportunities out there that they've never even thought of before. And being able to tell them about these opportunities and open their eyes to it is huge to be able to get people inspired to move into different roles as well. So you're not stuck, you just need to figure out the next step.

Yes, and as Jill said, you've got to move. You cannot stay in one. You know what? I would even suggest, you know, Monday through Friday workdays, I would get up in the morning, take a shower, put on a nice shirt, you know, or a sweater and your jeans or khakis, whatever that you would wear to work. Get up. Take a shower, go downstairs, have all of your goals written for the day, your plan of action, as if you had the job. You know why? If you say, "Oh, I'm so depressed," and sleep in, and then just come downstairs and lollygag and, you know, watch game shows or whatever it is, You're not going to get anywhere. You are not. Opportunity does not knock on your door. You may hear that, but when it comes to a job, it does not. It's not that a job comes to you. Hey, I want you. Come on, start working. Here's the salary you want. Yes, it's remote. That is not going to happen. You You have to make it happen and you have to have the right mindset. Attitude is a choice. And when you get up, your choice has to be, I'm going to find a job. And yes, I'm going to go to work and get my coffee and I'm going to go sit down. I'll never forget when I met this one young man. Oh my goodness, it was over like 25 or more years ago, and I was retained to handle the human resources for this high-tech company. So it was more than 30 years ago because it was right before Bender Consulting. Um, so anyway, my job was to interview people. So I'm interviewing them, and this young man comes in and he hands me his resume, and I say to him, uh, you know, he's very nice, good attitude. And toward the end, I said, let me ask you something. In your job search, how many resumes have you sent out? Because of course, I'm wanting to know, does he have initiative or does she have initiative? Have they even tried? And he looked at me and he said, "107." And I said, "Well, 108 was your lucky resume." And you know, and I got him that job. But like, I couldn't believe, look what he did, how much initiative he had. And he did find a job. But I am telling you, get up, take that shower, go down to your work area as if you're going to work, get your coffee and get moving. Do research, go to LinkedIn, look at companies that are hiring, you know, go through the website and or And one other thing, very, very important. Make a list of everyone you know that you're going to call. Hi, Jane. I'm looking for a job and I'm not calling you because, you know, you're hiring people. This is just even friends. That's what I'm talking about. Who do you know that is hiring people? Or who have you talked to that told you they've been interviewing somewhere? I mean, you've got it. And Jane. You know, Jane, you're a good friend of mine, but if you hear of anything, please get right back to me. You have to call everyone you know. That's part of that I'm going to work. So Gerald, Jill, you agree with that? Jill, what do you think?

Absolutely. It's a job to find a job, and you got to treat it that way. You put your uniform on, you got your headspace ready, and you are going more likely to be more successful. And you're right when you said opportunity does not come knocking. You can open doors of opportunity if you knock on them.

Gerald, how about you?

One of the other big traps people fall into with this is they get too attached to a posting online. They see a job and they go, oh, this is the perfect job, and they really like that, so they apply to that job, and then they don't apply to anything else, and they wait and they see what happens with that call. The minute you should move on from that role in your mind is as soon as you apply. Keep applying. Keep going. Now, if you hear back from that company and then it's a great fit and you're really excited, that's a whole other story. But don't just put out that application and then wait for days hoping you'll hear back, doing nothing, making no progress in your job search. You've got to keep moving every day. Set a goal. I'm going to send, apply this many today and keep doing it every day until you get there. And what Joyce Bender said, calls, who you know is incredibly important. One of the best things you can do to get a job is to volunteer work. Get involved in your community. And show up to that volunteer work like it is your job.

And Gerald, before I forget, because I know we're coming to the end of the show, June 30th, 2025 webinar with our two superstars back, Jill Zomp and Gerald Helmy. Make sure you attend that. And you know what, before we go, I know I've said this quote before, But I don't care because it is so appropriate and I believe it so much. Remember, your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing, said President Abraham Lincoln. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice, where disability matters. At voiceamerica.com. Talk to you all next week. And when you go out tomorrow looking for that job, in the words of Mary Brooker, remember, choose joy. Oh yeah, that'll make all the difference. Talk to you soon.

Voice America would like to thank you for tuning Please join us next Tuesday at 11 AM Pacific time and 2 PM Eastern time for another installment of Disability Matters right here on the Voice America Variety Channel. We are the leader in live internet talk radio. VoiceAmerica.com.