Preparation: The Key Ingredient to a Successful Career

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Preparation The Key Ingredient to a Successful
Career

• Alan D. Muir, Executive Director
• Career Opportunities for Students with
  Disabilities
• State Office Building
• St. Paul, MN
• April 9, 2008

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The Situation

• Students with disabilities register with Career
  Services one-third as often as students without
  disabilities
• In general, students with disabilities lack
  real-world work experience
• Therefore, students are not viewed, by employers,
  as competitive with their peers without
  disabilities

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What are Employers Saying?

• Great enthusiasm and recognition of need to hire
  people with disabilities
• Changing workforce with looming labor shortage
• Disability is a new source of talented and
  qualified individuals
• Disability is a part of Diversity
• More questions than answers
• Where do we find students with disabilities?
• When we do find students, why are they
  unqualified?

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What excites you about working
full-time?What concerns do you have about
entering the workforce?
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Common Concerns and FearsAbout Entering the
Workforce Student Responses - University of
Tennessee

• I am scared of how the employer will react.
• I dont want the employer to link disability to
  inability.
• How can I disclose in a way that puts my
  disability in a positive light?
• Once I disclose, I wont be given a chance.

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• How many of you have heard the term
• self-advocacy?
• How many of you feel as though you are good
  self-advocates?

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Self-Advocacy The basis for developing a
successful career planning strategy

• Definition
• Self-advocacy is abouthow to make decisions and
  choices that affect our lives so we can be more
  independent. It teaches us about our rights, but
  along with learning about our rights, we learn
  about our responsibilities. The way we learn
  about advocating for ourselves is by supporting
  each other and helping each other to gain
  confidence to speak out for what we believe in
  (Hall, 2000).

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Self-Advocacy

• Two transitions
• Transition from high school to higher education
• Who was responsible?
• IEP meetings
• Documentation notification
• Transition from higher education to work
• Who is responsible?
• The responsibility is placed on you
• The stakes are much higher
• You need to learn self-advocacy skills -in order
  for you to be successfully prepared for the
  workforce

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Self-Advocacy What does it really mean?

• Setting long-term and short-term goals and
  achieving those goals
• Making informed decisions independently
• Knowing when to seek help
• Understanding your strengths and describing your
  strengths to others
• Understanding your disability and limitations
• Describing your disability to others
• Knowing which accommodations are effective in
  school and work

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• What is disability disclosure?
• Have you had to disclose to a
• Professor of a staff member?
• Have you had to disclose to a supervisor?

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What is Disclosure?

• Talking about your disability to another person.
  In this case, an employer
• A process to identify how your disability affects
  you and the people around you
• An important personal decision that only you can
  make
• ability

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How Do I Decide if Disclosure is a Good Idea for
Me?

• Think about yourself and your disability
• Research the employer and the job
• The accommodations you receive in college
• Compare who you are, with the job
• Do the job without accommodations? Then probably
  no disclosure
• Cannot do the job without accommodations? Then
  disclosure is necessary

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• When should a person disclose?

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College vs. Workplace Disclosure

• College Disability Services
• Helps you figure out classroom accommodations
• Helps you provide about your disability to
  faculty to receive reasonable accommodations
• Workplace On Your Own
• Talking your disability and how it affects you in
  the workplace
• Knowing what accommodations will work in the
  workplace to help you be more productive

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Rules for an Effective Disclosure

• BE POSITIVE
• Rehearse and anticipate some common questions
• Ensure that the discussion quickly returns to
  abilities
• Focus on employers primary concerns
• Will you be at work?
• Can you do the job as well or better than others?
• Will you bring value to the company?

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Keep in Mind

• If accommodations are needed, it is important to
  disclose that fact. Notifying an employer before
  negative performance issues occur is your
  responsibility.
• The ADA does not protect anyone from poor
  performance. An employer has every right to
  dismiss you if you are performing poorly.
• Disclosing your disability and requesting an
  accommodation at that time will not help you.

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• How many of you have had work experience?
• How many of you have had related work
  experiences, such as internships or co-ops?

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Benefits of Work Experience

• In 2006, 92 of college hires had work experience
  and 76 of employers report recruiting
  entry-level talent as the primary focus of their
  internship program. (NACE)
• You are more likely to land permanent placement
  with a prior internship
• You gain knowledge of whether this career is a
  good fit for you

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Benefits of Work Experience

• Real work experience is as important if not more
  important than grade point average.
• You gain confidence in a work-based situation to
  appropriately disclose and request reasonable
  accommodations
• You develop lasting mentor relationships and are
  more knowledgeable regarding the importance of
  networking

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Network, Network, Network

• You already have a network
• Job Shadowing
• Disability Mentoring Day
• Informational Interviews
• Career Fairs

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Career Opportunities for Students with
Disabilities (COSD)

• A national association of nearly 600 employers
  and higher education institutions focused on the
  career employment of college graduates with
  disabilities

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• A nationwide recruitment site specifically
  focused on college students with disabilities at
  any higher education institution
• Students with disabilities register on Career
  GatewayTM with confidence that only COSD member
  employers, who are seeking to recruit college
  students with disabilities, will be posting jobs
  and viewing resumes

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• Students post their resumes, browse jobs and
  directly communicate with employers seeking them
• Employers have a central point to find students
  with disabilities
• Employers and Students can access Career
  GatewayTM at www.cosdonline.org

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Employer Sponsors

• AIG
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
• Booz Allen Hamilton
• Exxon Mobil
• Hewlett Packard
• The Home Depot
• IBM
• Lockheed Martin
• Merck
• Microsoft
• Motorola
• NASA
• Nordstrom
• Procter Gamble
• SunTrust

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Presenters Contact Information

• Alan D. Muir, Executive Director
• Career Opportunities for Students with
  Disabilities (COSD)
• The University of Tennessee
• 100 Dunford Hall
• Knoxville, TN 37996-4010
• 865-974-7148
• E-mail amuir_at_tennessee.edu
• Website www.cosdonline.org