Jobshadowers spend day with Gardai in Navan

Three clients of Jobmatters in Navan recently took part in the 'Jobshadow" initiative and were based in An Garda Siochana Civilian Directorate"s human resources headquarters at Johnstown, Navan. The morning was spent at HR headquarters, shadowing staff and familiarising themselves with the daily running of a busy human resources department. On Jobshadow Day, hundreds of individuals with disabilities throughout Ireland were afforded the unique opportunity to shadow a workplace employee as they went through a normal working day in hundreds of employment locations across the country. Jobmatters Ltd is the Meath branch of the Supported Employment Programme funded by FAS and NDP, and co-ordinates the needs of employers with the abilities of jobseekers. The Jobshadow Initiative is organised by the Irish Association Of Supported Employment (IASE), a national organisation that promotes employment rights and access for all individuals with a disability in Ireland. The IASE"s patron is Senator Feargal Quinn and it has over 800 members nationally, who in turn are working with over 5,000 people with disabilities. Senator Quinn added that 25 jobs were secured as a direct result of the National Jobshadow Day in 2008. The benefits to the job-seekers include exposure to work settings which afford them the opportunity to learn more about the job requirements and employer expectations, thereby gaining an awareness of the skills and education required to compete, develop and succeed in the workplace. In Navan, the opportunity also arose for participants to meet gardai on duty at the local Garda station. The gardai were also helped to understand the challenges the JobMatters clients faced in finding jobs in today"s environment, while also raising the profile of ability of participants. Participant Rosemary Lynch felt the day was 'educational and informative, and it raised awareness of how much work goes into the day-to-day running of the Gardai'.