Matt Berger knows the value of a good suit.
鈥淥ne thing that I鈥檝e learned over the years that you dress for success,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f you were a good suit, they notice.鈥�
Dressed in his two-button gray business suit, Berger hoped the companies and organizations on hand Wednesday for 海角社区鈥檚 annual job fair would take notice of his sartorial flair and his gussied up resume.
鈥淥rganizations always need people who can adapt to diverse situations and circumstances,鈥� said Esteban Lopez, director of corporate and academic outreach at 海角社区 in Leesburg, Fla., America鈥檚 first college or university accredited to award bachelor鈥檚 degrees primarily to students who learn differently. 鈥淚ndividuals who learn differently can possess such abilities because they regularly must think creatively about matters that people without such impairments take for granted, such as how to solve problems and accomplish even the simplest tasks.鈥�
In all, the college hosted recruiters from 15 regional employers: Aflac; Barker Law Office; Blue Green Vacations; CareerSource Central Florida; Central Florida Disability Chamber of Commerce; Central Florida Health; Faneuil; Fry鈥檚 Lyon Project; Leesburg Regional Medical Center; LifeStream; Manpower; Massey Services; Morrison Pre School; Orlando Utilities Commission; and The Salvation Army.
Such an eclectic and expansive showing of companies, noted Dinorah Ramos, director of the Career Development Center, affords students invaluable opportunities to 鈥渕ake good contacts with employers.鈥�
Berger, a senior business management major who is graduating in May, was eager to show recruiters he was the problem-solver their companies needed.
With the table set with so many companies to choose from, the job fair was a jobseeker鈥檚 smorgasbord. Still, Berger stuck to his diet 鈥� sampling opportunities from three companies: Aflac, Blue Green Vacations, and Manpower.
鈥淎ll three of those companies were very great, very supportive. I think they鈥檙e the best three for what I鈥檓 looking for in the Orlando area.鈥�
Aflac, for instance, offered his the prospect of finding flexible opportunities in his field. Blue Green offered a path into the hotel industry, he said, while Manpower explained employment prospects were bright both locally and in New Jersey from where Berger hails.
That such a large contingent of companies answered the call to recruit on 海角社区鈥檚 campus owes to greater awareness of the bleak employment prospects of Floridians with disabilities, Lopez says.
Two years ago, a Florida Chamber Foundation study found that 76.3 percent of Floridians with a cognitive disability were unemployed.
鈥漎et many of them desperately desire to earn a paycheck, become independent, and recompense society with their work, while enriching organization and its workforce in many ways,鈥� Lopez said.
These citizens, he said, could bring a passionate work ethic and an invaluable creativity to the workplace.
鈥淭oday鈥檚 Job fair is another example of 海角社区鈥檚 commitment to provide a recruitment platform for this untapped source of talent, while expanding partnership and inclusion throughout the Sunshine State,鈥� Lopez said. 鈥淭hese days, student who learn differently represent real value, we sometimes ask, 鈥榟ow can we secure future wealth and welfare in our society?鈥� We tend to forget that the answer is our students.鈥�
Berger certainly hopes at least one companies decides he is their answer. And the job fair, he says, allows quality employers at least to consider him and his classmates in their staffing questions.
鈥淓very year the college keeps growing and growing and more companies and opportunities come to help [us] students, 鈥淏erger says, 鈥渁nd I think it鈥檚 amazing for all students to get a chance to find work after college down here.鈥�