I wanted to find a company with a range of positions and nothing too physical. I believe Jerome capable of standing all day, but beyond that might push his leg too far.
For the evaluation agency, I wanted to focus as much as mental competencies as physical ones. I developed questions that focused on education, training and past experiences. I wanted the agencies to delve into Jerome's skill set and his attitude towards work, rather than worry about his leg. He has a good education and I felt that this should be the focus. I wanted to get him into either a counseling career or human resources, maybe marketing -- something where psychology can come in handy.
For myself, I did start to feel some biases when working with Jerome. I know that I guided him and our partners away from overly physical jobs -- although to be fair he is 38 years old, which is more a time to...
As well, his education suits him for non-physical work. But I definitely carried that bias to some extent, even though I did not want to limit Jerome by having potential employers focus on that bias. I would also say that I carried some bias about the veteran status, if only because I have seen how that can work both ways for a job candidate. There are many biases positive and negative and perhaps I worried too much about how others would react to Jerome's war experiences when I should myself have worried about his competencies instead. Jerome was a great case that way. Working with Jerome allowed me to explore my own biases and how those can affect the way that I work with certain people. I realize that I need to address my own biases better in order to be the help my clients better, and that made Jerome a valuable experience for me.
