20something with Down’s syndrome lands dream job through Twitter

Photo credit: Mercury Press & Media Ltd

It’s been very difficult for millennials to find jobs in today’s economy, but what about millennials with special needs?

This article discusses how a Twitter campaign helped Ben Small, a 26-year-old aspiring chef with Down’s syndrome in England, land his dream job:

#GiveBenAJob: Twitter campaign helps aspiring chef with Down’s syndrome land dream job (telegraph.co.uk) 

On March 13, Small’s stepmother Fiona Hodge sent a tweet asking for someone to give her stepson a paid job. That tweet started the campaign #GiveBenAJob, which caught the attention of comedians Jason Manford and Boothby Graffoe.

Despite his catering background, Small could only find unpaid work at companies like McDonald’s and Wetherspoons. But that all changed with the Twitter campaign: job offers poured in, and Small accepted a paid job at Wilson’s Kitchen.

There’s been a lot in the press lately about the negativity of Twitter, with Ashley Judd’s powerful essay about Twitter harassment. So it’s nice to see an example of Twitter being used in a positive way to make a major difference in someone’s life.

If you want another example of a millennial landing his dream job through social media, check out this post that I wrote last year. It’s about a young man who started a Facebook and Twitter campaign to get hired by his dream company, Krispy Kreme.