The Choice Group

Jonathan Ross has been a client of The Choice Group for a few years now. One of the first things I noticed was that Jonathan does a great job of setting goals.  He sets goals that are specific, measurable, and achievable. When I first met him, he was attending college and was looking for a part-time summer position. Jonathan found employment at two local grocery stores for two summers as a Bagger/Courtesy Clerk. At first, Jonathan required intervention in learning certain tasks and building professional relationships. However, after effective support, he gained the ability to work independently. Jonathan is extremely punctual, and never missed a day of work. He built relationships with his co-workers and showed significant improvement with his interpersonal skills. Once Jonathan graduated from College he began to work part time at a Digital Solutions company. The Choice Group provided job site training to ensure he was successful in his new role and able to attain a full-time po

James Mothershead is an intelligent guy.  He is an accomplished academic with both a bachelors and masters degree in Business Administration.  Not only an academic, James put his schooling to good use becoming a successful executive in the financial industry.  He worked in banking for almost 20 years. When I met James he was looking for a new job.  He had just been diagnosed with Spinal Bifida, a condition that can make certain physical movements extremely painful.  Along with the Spinal Bifida, he was also dealing with clinical anxiety and depression. Despite these challenges, James was determined to find employment. Early in the job search, he was having a difficult time locating an employer, everyone kept telling him he was over-qualified. In addition, his Spinal Bifida required him to find a position where he could accomplish his work sitting down or with very minimal movement.  He kept at it and found a job working as a cashier clerk at Walmart in Fredericksburg. In his ro

In the first few minutes of meeting Jeff, you quickly learn that he is a hardworking man. Over a year ago, he contacted his DBVI (Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired) Counselor and requested help in finding a job. He had recently left his job as a Manufacturer at a local business in Charlottesville and wanted a job as a Dishwasher. That’s when he met Kate Gariepy, a Vocational Counselor with The Choice Group. Together, Jeff and Kate completed several assessments in his community before beginning to look for a job. After several months of applying for jobs, Jeff was hired at a new local restaurant as their daytime Dishwasher. Jeff quickly learned his job and became friends with the owner and several of his coworkers. He was highlighted on the restaurant’s Facebook page that eventually caught the attention of a local news station. Jeff says that since his appearance on Newsplex CBS19, many of his friends contacted him to comment on the news story. Jeff continued to work at

Katrina Blow has been working as a Hostess at Applebee’s in Franklin, Virginia for almost two years now.  When first starting the job, she learned that hostessing required a fair amount of organizational skills like learning the layout of the tables and keeping track of the seating chart rotations.  That’s where Nancy came in, the Lead Vocational Counselor from The Choice Group in Hampton Roads. Together, they made small index card maps for each of the table rotations, especially important during the shift change of the servers.  After only a short time using the new system, Katrina had memorized the information and no longer need to use the cards. After a year and a half of employment, Katrina’s General Manager asked her to train a new employee. She was excited about the opportunity. It motivated her to work diligently and pay specific attention to detail.  Katrina now trains the majority of new hosts and hostesses hired at Applebee’s. Her managers say she is one of their best e