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ACKNOWLEDGMENT: This is a precis of an article entitled "Employing society's outcasts", which was originally published in Personnel Journal, Vol. 75 No. 4, pp. 106-113. The author was Jennifer J. Laabs.
No doubt some of the jobs Jack Norbury wrote off for were unsuitable. Even in his most optimistic mood, he should have realized that, redundant at 58 and suffering with a touch of arthritis, he would not be a prime target of every line in the situations vacant column.
More than 1,000 letters of rejection
Jack wrote more than 1,000 letters of application over the next four years and was rejected every time. Then, a task he had been doing for nothing - driving a bus for charity - turned into a full-time, fully paid job.
"I always felt that I had something to offer. Now I have won back my pride", he said.
An attitude like that is worth a fortune to an employer. It is far more important than an applicant's age or a twinge of arthritis. But more than 1,000 employers did not recognize it.
Three US companies which are giving life-building chances to people who need a little extra support to enhance their professional and personal lives are Coors, the Delstar Group and Mini Maid. Their motivation to employ the homeless, the educationally deficient or other disadvantaged individuals is based as much on business need as the desire to be do-gooders.
Coors Brewing Company is part of Adolph Coors Company, a beverage firm based in Golden, Colorado. It has given some 150 disadvantaged people employment through its Golden Door employment opportunity training program, which was set up in 1968.
Coors identifies potential hires for the programme from local public agencies and non-profit groups. Some individuals who apply for jobs through the company's normal hiring process are referred to the programme if they have an income below the poverty level, have less than a high school diploma or meet some of the programme's other criteria. The...