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Mike Hill is one of the first success stories of the internship program at the Work Training Center. Prior to this internship, Mike worked for Work Training Center for a total of 10 years. He worked five years for their landscape company Prestige, and five additional years for an office janitorial team that Work Training Center coordinates. While working for Work Training Center, Mike was in charge of his own cleaning crew and routes. “I was given the opportunity to have keys to different accounts, alarm codes for different accounts. I was really depended on.” Mike said. Work Training Center through their internship program opened up the door for Mike to work 6 months for Butte Country Club. He so impressed management with his work ethic and skills that made him so successful working for Work Training Center that he was permanently hired a month before his internship program was to end. Mike became the first person with special needs to ever be hired at Butte Country Club!

Mike was recently received the Outstanding Achievement Award from Far Northern Regional Center for his positive contribution working for Butte Country Club. When describing what his employer sees in him, Mike shared three things that he does well, “fast, thorough and efficient.” Mastering these three skills Mike is helping change the perceptions of what it means to hire people with special needs from the community. 

Most of the time he works as a dishwasher. “I’m the main guy that helps keep the kitchen operational” Mike said. Mike works a lot of major events over the five years he has worked for Butte Country Club. This includes proms, graduations, golf tournaments and weddings. Butte Country Club host many weddings and special events so Mike has his share of opportunities to serve large groups. “I’ve been part of a lot of weddings in five years and one wedding I was working was almost 400 people. I was the only dishwasher, I had no backup.” Mike explained. “I always work fast and I’m thorough at the same time,” Mike continued, “that’s what my boss wants is fast, thorough and efficient.” Due to Mike’s exceptional experience and skills he has been able to help out Butte Country Club in other ways as well. When he is on the clock Mike is called on to clean all of the restrooms at Butte Country Club. Like he does washing dishes Mike also makes sure restrooms are spotless and in working order. “I always work fast and I’m thorough at the same time,” Mike said.

Being reliable and trustworthy Mike has shown Butte Country Club they can hire other workers from Work Training Center as well. “I am the one who will do the training for new dishwasher employees,” Mike continued, “I helped two people get hired on that I know personally.” Unfortunately those two workers didn’t work out. Working a community job is not for everyone but that’s another reason why an internship is great because it gives you a chance to work for a short time at the job of your choosing to see if it’s the right fit for you.

Mike Hill and other internship graduates like him are paving the way for even more workers with special needs to work in the community. Employers like the Butte Country Club are discovering that they can invest in workers with special needs knowing that their investment will pay off for years to come. In fact Mike has made it clear that he is planning on working the remainder of his working years at Butte Country Club.  If working for an internship program is something you’re interested in and you live in Butte or Glenn Counties Work Training Center has an amazing internship program that will provide you with the right balance of support and connections to help you land your next job. If you receive services through Far Northern Regional Center let your Service Coordinator know you are interested in learning more about the Internship program in your area.