Charlie Chawah is an incredible example of resilience, dogged effort, and determination in his search for employment. Visually and neurologically impaired as a super premature infant, he learned early on to adapt, be creative, be flexible, learn, and thrive like anyone else. And overcome!
Charlie is of Lebanese decent with a strong community behind him. He came to the Employment Now Initiative (ENI) at Mass Eye and Ear Hospital (MEE) in Boston through a referral of the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind (MCB). Charlie had graduated from Curry College with a degree in Computer Science.
Like many College graduates, he was stuck looking for jobs with no real prospects. He was tired of the lack of structure in his job search as well as the rejections. He took a chance and interviewed with our team. We were so impressed with his hutzpah! He completed the onboarding in record time and began a volunteer rotation within the hospital as we applied to jobs together and continually honed his resume and interview presentations.
The structure of his week improved and so did his energy level. We applied to over 100 jobs while he was with us, but it turns out the job he was hoping for turned out to be right under our noses within Mass General Brigham. He applied for the position of 340B Pharmacy Program Analyst II. After exceling through the phone screening and 3 additional interviews, he was offered the high level, fulltime position within the Mass General team.
We are so happy and proud for him to now be working alongside us every day. He is off of disability support and has a full-time salary plus benefits through his employer. His success was based on his efforts and our personalized and team driven approach to the employment search. We also owe a debt of gratitude to our host business Mass Eye and Ear Hospital. Come join us!