3rd Quarter Spotlight Award Winner - 2021
Clay Cramer
Employment Consultant, at Sycamore Services, Inc.
We are proud to announce Clay Cramer as the recipient of our 3rd Quarter Spotlight Award.
This award honors an employment support staff who goes above and beyond for individuals every day!
According to Katie Kennard, who nominated our winner, Clay’s strengths are his excellent communication and follow-through, the integrity his word holds is like no other employment consultant she's ever worked with before. He openly shares his thoughts and ideas during meetings in a way that does not come off as commanding or imposing. This creates a strong trust between him and his clients. These reasons are what stood out to us when choosing him for our 3rd Quarter Spotlight Award.
“Assisting individuals on this personal journey can be a challenge but the outcome makes the hard effort worthwhile.”
Here at Indiana-APSE, we also look at specific techniques that individuals use to communicate with an employer when making outstanding job matches. For Clay, he draws on the client’s life, family, interests, hobbies, and strengths to make outstanding job matches. He deeply understands that to create a successful long-term job match, he needs to first look at his client outside of the 'employment' lens, and get a sense of how they are supported in other areas of their life.
Clay uses natural supports to effectively support individuals with disabilities in competitive employment and long-term success. He develops and fosters relationships between clients and their management that ultimately lead clients to support themselves long after VR & employment services have ended. He has helped clients reach true independence in employment. The most rewarding aspect of being an employment specialist is contributing to the success of individuals trying to improve their lives. Assisting individuals on this personal journey can be a challenge but the outcome makes the hard effort worthwhile.
The best piece of advice Clay would give to someone seeking employment is to stay positive. The job search can be frustrating and emotionally exhausting, but it is beneficial to maintain a positive attitude whenever possible. The search for the right fit is never easy.
Want to nominate an Employment Specialist for our Spotlight Awards? Check out our Awards page to nominate an amazing person supporting the employment of people with disabilities. Our 4th Quarter nomination period begins October 1, 2021 with nominations due no later than December 15, 2021.