Throughout the month of October, I like to remember what this is all about – freedom through competitive employment. Although October is known as Disability Employment Awareness Month, I like to call it Disability Employment Month – we have the awareness, we need the jobs. This month we will be hearing from some of our great employees and alumni about their experiences and what employment has meant to them, beginning with a few words from Thomas who works for us at enGen where he is doing a wonderful job.

In July, Thomas received the Bender’s Best Award. This is an award given to our consultants who have gone above and beyond. Some of the areas cited in receipt of this award are that Thomas was able to push through multiple impediments and found a way to get the job done, that he created a very approachable path for tasks that were both tedious and ambiguous, and that he demonstrated a positive attitude and the core behaviors that drive our customer’s workplace culture.

So often, we leaders in the disability community, talk about the positives of hiring employees with disabilities and the return on investment in this talent. Thomas is an example of just such an employee. Thomas, we thank you and are so proud of you and the work you are doing. You are helping to make a difference for others with disabilities who are seeking competitive employment.

Let’s keep the momentum alive and make commitments to hire the great talents to be found in this community.

Thomas’ Experience

Hi, I’m Thomas, and I have been with Bender Consulting Services, Inc. for two great years.

When I joined two years ago,  I was unaware of how great the team that existed at Bender was. I had only heard about the team, but to interact with them directly is different – what I had heard about them doesn’t do the team justice. The support system that exists is always designed for caring about me and my career and helping me define what would be the best path for me.

When I was first starting on assignment, I was set up to work with many different people who helped guide my actions and my focus in order to get the most impactful and meaningful start. Bender’s team was doing way more than I ever expected anyone to do in order to ensure that when I was placed on assignment, I would be a perfect fit for the position. Once I started, they continued to provide guidance and made sure that I could give my all. Bender really understands who I am and what gets my heart going.

I have always had a desire to help people with my skills and understanding with computers. When at a young age my family’s computer was hit with a computer virus. I didn’t realize how much that event really impacted me until years later. I pinpoint that moment as when I defined what cybersecurity really means to me – being able to secure systems for people who are just trying to live their everyday lives. Since then, I spent time learning about computers in general and getting more specific understanding into phishing attacks when I worked with fellow students at Adelphi University as part of team creating a generator for phishing emails to understand how much goes into orchestrating these threats. My career is in cybersecurity and currently, thanks to Bender, I am on assignment as an Automation Engineer.

During this time, I have been a part of multiple projects dealing with automating business processes and daily duties. I learned more about the importance of having automation and how through automation you can relieve employees from tedious repeatable tasks, such as checking for daily updates for any systems that could have been impacted by a recent vulnerability. This automation allows these employees tasked with critical security activities to address other issues, such as actually applying patches to those systems, making the team more productive and efficient in protecting their organization. From my time on assignment so far, I truly believe that automation has to be one of the best tools for helping ensure that teams can maximize the time they have while working to stop the bad guys from attacking systems.

Without Bender, I never would have ever had a chance to learn about automation. It was a field I used to think of as a neat tool to address cybersecurity needs, but never realized how important it truly is. Only through Bender’s partnerships with industry leaders was I able to have my whole view of automation drastically changed and fully understood how much more intensive the use of automation is to cybersecurity.

Being able to spend time with veterans of cybersecurity was another benefit of all the time I have gained while on assignment. I regularly have the opportunity to talk to individuals who have decades worth of experience and it truly shows with the mastery they have for each of their respective crafts. Ranging from other engineers to department heads, the wealth of knowledge that exists in just one department is staggering. To have access to all of these cumulative years of knowledge is something that I never would have been able to gain without Bender’s guidance and support.

I can only truly say thank you, Bender, for everything that you have done for me.

 

If you are looking for impactful candidates with backgrounds in STEM fields, consider hiring a person with a disability. People like Thomas who are committed and passionate about their work. Contact us today to get the process started.