Johan's story of becoming an administrative assistant

Johan Rune is familiarising himself with his new desk, new computer but same office! He has worked in the office as Samhall as a receptionist and now has moved on to become the Office Administrator at the same office. Johan approached Samhall as he has Asperger’s syndrome which means he takes time to interact and communicate with people. Samhall helped him and guided him through his disability, to find a job. Read his full story as he shares his journey with us!
What is your current job?
Johan: I am an administrator of Technology and Office at Samhall. I have been in this position for just 3 days – but I like it so far. So, I help with basic things like if a chair is broken, I help with getting it fixed, whenever a new employee joins, I help set up their laptop so they can access important software. I also do some more advanced tasks like making reports in Excel and in PowerPoint.
However, I started with the basic tasks a few months ago as I was filling in for someone at the reception. I remember my manager told me - “Johan, smile with your eyes”. It was great advice that I practiced a lot while greeting people entering and leaving the building.
I took these skills forward into my job as an office administrator. Now, I work in and get training on Excel and Acrobat Reader. My latest task was analysing data from an Excel sheet and inputting the results into a PowerPoint presentation. So, there is quite a variety of tasks to do in this job!
What role did Samhall play in your career?
Johan: Samhall has this amazing mission to support people with disabilities in employment. I got help with improving my CV and even job seeking. They would sit down with me and help me look for jobs.
Going back in time, it was 9 years ago that I joined Samhall. When I first came to Samhall, after a while of job seeking, I was placed in a sheltered workshop. It was a cleaning company, and we would go around homes and clean. When I first came to Samhall, I worked as a cleaner at a company that is a customer to Samhall.
A year ago, during one of the cleaning crew meetings, I put up my hand to give a suggestion and that’s when the manager noticed me. Following this, I was asked to work with a variety of tasks at the Samhall office which led to the position as Administrator of Technology and Office.
Did you study before getting your job?
Johan: Yes, my current job is actually in line with the vocational programme, “Business Intelligence Analytics” that I completed recently. Quite frankly I don’t even remember how I came about this course education; I think I found it randomly on Google.
Before this vocational and education training course program, I did enrol myself to an academic course program. However, I could not graduate the course program and left it after a while. I feel there were a few reasons that I couldn’t finish this course programme.
Firstly, I was not doing therapy at that time, and I feel therapy has really helped me to structure my thoughts. Secondly, I use some medication now which also helps me to stay focussed.
Unfortunately, these combined efforts only started after I tried university education.
How important is your job to you?
Johan: I think my job is very important to me. Even on weekends, whenever I don’t have plans, I get frustrated. And to imagine having idle days like that all the time – it would drive me nuts! I like coming to work, I also have great colleagues- knock on wood!
Well, working in this office just gives my life a lot more meaning and purpose. I didn’t enjoy physical labour as much during my time as a cleaner at customers of Samhall. It was a very demanding job, I used to always feel so tired. Manual labour is good but till a specific point, I believe.
What are some of your achievements?
Johan: Actually, I was cleaning my closet a few weeks ago and I found the draft of a book I have been writing for close to 25 years. I never published it, but did enter it into some contests – a long time ago. This is a big achievement for me. The book is on global policy and democracy, one of my favourite topics to talk about.
I would write a bit here and there, but I had a period where for 6 months I wrote almost every day!
On a more serious note, finishing the vocational education training programme was a big achievement for me. Especially since I was not able to complete the academic degree that I took up right after finishing high school.
Would you recommend Samhall to other people for support?
Yes, I feel when I worked as a cleaner for Samhall, the managers were good and supportive. Also, working at the office, I would recommend Samhall from this perspective as well. The fact that my manager saw my potential while at a cleaning crew meeting is proof that they want us to progress in Samhall.
I am grateful for Samhall and want to extend my gratitude to them.