A dedicated class of 9 candidates came together for the first time on September 12th to take SDI’s Capstone Course being held at the Brentwood Recreational Complex. They are learning the ins and outs of competitive employment and gaining the skills needed to find a job.

“I have learned more in the Starkloff Career Academy Capstone Course in a week and a half than any other job readiness program,” candidate Laura Soucy says. “It is concentrating on what I really want to do with my career.  With the Knowledge Grid and ‘My Disability Success Story,’ I had the opportunity to focus on my career in ways I have never done before,” Laura proclaims, describing some of SDI’s trademarked learning tools.

This fall’s cohort of candidates showcase a wide variety of careers: human resources, legal services, sales, marketing, finances, office administration, software development and social services. They are practicing their job interviewing skills with recruiters from Ameren, Nestlé Purina and Wells Fargo Advisors. Dale Carnegie Institute is also showing them how to make lasting first impressions.

The opening speaker for this fall’s orientation was Spring 2017 Capstone Course graduate and SDI intern Tiffany Eickhoff. Tiffany showed off her over 10 years of public–speaking experience by first sharing her personal experience with the course, then providing strong words of encouragement to our fall candidates. Not passing up a chance to learn, they proceeded to dive right in with questions and discussion of Starkloff’s efficacious BOLD approach to job searching: Build relationships, Organize, Learn and Demonstrate.

We at Starkloff want to extend a heartfelt Thank You to all of the participating organizations for this fall’s Capstone Course, as well as to the wonderful staff of the Brentwood Recreational Complex.

This unique course is open to people of all disabilities who want to work in the mainstream job market. It introduces the importance of “owning one’s disability” as an essential attitude to successful employment. The class structure builds candidates’ confidence in their ability to land the right job for them.  In addition, participating companies gain experience interviewing and becoming familiar with candidates with a disability, opening doors to a traditionally untapped pool of qualified candidates. The syllabus for this class is consistently updated.

If you missed your chance to participate in the current course, don’t worry. Our next Capstone Course will begin February 6th, 2018. And don’t forget: One-on-one services for active job seekers are available throughout the year.