Recruiting Students with Disabilities
RIT’s Office of Cooperative Education and Career Services recognizes that job seekers with disabilities comprise a key focus area for our employers’ diversity recruitment strategies. As a result, we are dedicated to working closely with you to effectively connect with this population and meet your diversity recruiting objectives, and to providing services and resources to assist job seekers with disabilities achieve success throughout the job search process.
Contents:
3.2 Disability Etiquette in the Workplace
3.3 Employment Laws and Compliance
3.4 Employment Programs Targeting Job Seekers with Disabilities
3.7 Recruiting, Hiring, and Retaining
Recruitment Strategies
Contact our office for assistance with shaping your recruitment efforts and planning effective recruiting events for job seekers with disabilities. We can provide data on enrollment numbers to assist you with your planning, and have a specialized email listserv available to enable you to get your message out easily to this targeted audience.
RIT Campus Resources
RIT Office of Co-op and Career Services
Contact: Janine Rowe, MSEd., NCC, Career Counselor
Email: jmroce@rit.edu
Phone: 585. 475.6309
NTID Center on Employment – The National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) is one of the nine colleges of RIT. The NTID Center on Employment assists employers in the recruiting of deaf and hard-of-hearing RIT/NTID students and graduates. www.ntid.rit.edu/NCE/employers
Contact: Lynne Morley, Assistant Director, NTID Center on Employment
Email: lmmnce@rit.edu
Phone: 585.475.6206 (voice) 585.286.4630 (VP)
Additional Resources
Accommodations
Job Accommodation Network (JAN): JAN provides an online database of accommodation options that is searchable based on disability-/impairment-type and specific functional limitations, and also offers information on where specific accommodations can be purchased. You can also contact a JAN consultant for free advice regarding job accommodations. http://askjan.org
Other accommodation-related resources of interest from JAN:
- Employers' Practical Guide to Reasonable Accommodation Under the Americans with Disabilities Act: This guide from JAN provides information on accommodations that need to be offered during the application and interview process, what medical questions can be asked on applications and in interviews and after a job offer has been made. http://askjan.org/Erguide/Two.htm
- Workplace Accommodations: Low Cost, High Impact: Study examines the true costs and benefits of workplace accommodations. http://askjan.org/media/LowCostHighImpact.doc
Did you know?
56% of accommodations cost absolutely nothing to make; the remaining 34% typically cost $600 or less. Source: “Workplace Accommodations: Low Cost, High Impact.” Job Accommodation Network. 1 Sept. 2010. http://askjan.org/media/LowCostHighImpact.doc
Disability Etiquette in the Workplace
An Introduction to Disability Etiquette: Adobe presentation by Laurie Francis from the National Business & Disability Council on workplace etiquette when working with employees who are blind or visually impaired, deaf or hard-of-hearing, have mobility disabilities, and those who have speech disabilities. http://abilitiesonline.adobeconnect.com/disabilityetiquette/
Communicating With and About People With Disabilities: Communication tips from the U.S. Department of Labor. http://www.dol.gov/odep/pubs/fact/comucate.htm
Disability Etiquette in the Workplace: Fact sheet and guide from JAN. http://askjan.org/topics/disetiq.htm
Employment Laws and Compliance
ADA National Network: Provides information, guidance and training on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), tailored to meet the needs of business, government and individuals at local, regional and national levels. http://www.adata.org
U.S. Department of Labor – Disability Nondiscrimination Law Advisor: Provides businesses with a customized list of federal disability nondiscrimination laws that may apply based on business type, size, and location, and links to detailed information regarding requirements under these laws. http://www.dol.gov/elaws/odep.htm
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Overview of federal laws pertaining to employment discrimination, a list of prohibited practices, how to file a discrimination charge, and how to resolve a discrimination charge. http://www.eeoc.gov/
JAN ADA Library: Information on the ADA and the ADA Amendments Act. http://askjan.org/links/adalinks.htm
Employment Programs Targeting Job Seekers with Disabilities
In addition to recruiting directly from RIT, your organization may also want to get involved in employment programs that target job seekers with disabilities that we promote to our students including:
- American Association of People with Disabilities Internship Program: The AAPD manages internship programs for students with all types of disabilities. http://www.aapd.com
- Emerging Leaders: At Emerging Leaders, we help you find interns with disabilities who are exceptionally qualified, well educated and highly motivated to succeed. http://www.emerging-leaders.com/employers.htm
- EntryPoint!: A program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). AAAS identifies and screens undergraduate and graduate students with disabilities who are pursuing degrees in science, engineering, mathematics, computer science, and some fields of business, and places them in paid summer internships. http://ehrweb.aaas.org/entrypoint/
- Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP): The WRP is a recruitment and referral program that connects federal and private sector employers nationwide with highly motivated postsecondary students and recent graduates with disabilities who are eager to prove their abilities in the workplace through summer or permanent jobs. http://www.wrp.gov
Making the Business Case
Connect-Ability: Information on why hiring people with disabilities is a good business decision. http://www.connect-ability.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=51&Itemid=53&lang=en
EARN: The Business Case: Insights from businesses about the value of employees with disabilities. http://www.earnworks.com/BusinessCase/index.asp
Did you know?
People with disabilities comprise a lucrative, yet often overlooked, market segment. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, they and their network contribute $2.4 trillion dollars in discretionary spending in the United States. Employees with disabilities can provide businesses with valuable insights into this under tapped market . Source: Gurchiek, Kathy. “Hiring Persons with Disabilities Touted as Good for Bottom Line.” Society for Human Resource Management. 10 Sept. 2009. http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/Diversity/Articles/Pages/HiringPersonswithDisabilities.aspx
Professional Associations
Career Opportunities for Students with Disabilities: COSD is a national professional association comprised of more than 600 colleges and universities and over 500 major national employers. COSD's mission is to improve the employment rate of college students and recent graduates with disabilities on a national basis. COSD closely works with employers to identify innovative methods of recruiting and hiring college graduates with disabilities. http://www.cosdonline.org
National Business & Disability Council: The NBDC is the leading resource for employers seeking to integrate people with disabilities into the workplace and companies seeking to reach them in the consumer marketplace. NBDC members are predominantly corporations and Federal government employers committed to diversity. http://www.business-disability.com
US Business Leadership Network: The USBLN® is the national disability organization that serves as the collective voice of over 60 Business Leadership Network affiliates across North America, representing over 5,000 employers. The USBLN® helps build workplaces, marketplaces, and supply chains where people with disabilities are respected for their talents, while supporting the development and expansion of its BLN affiliates. http://www.usbln.org/
Recruiting, Hiring, and Retaining
Disability.gov: Tips and resources related to employing people with disabilities, workplace accommodations, laws and regulations, and research findings. http://www.disability.gov/employment
Employer Assistance and Resource Network (EARN): EARN provides resources for employers who want to recruit, hire, and retain employees with disabilities, and offers confidential, free consulting services to employers on these topics. http://www.earnworks.com/
Focus on Ability: Interviewing Applicants with Disabilities: Interviewing tips from the U.S. Department of Labor. http://www.dol.gov/odep/pubs/fact/focus.htm
Interviewing Applicants with Disabilities: Tips on interviewing applicants who use a wheelchair, are blind, are deaf, or have an intellectual or cognitive disability. http://www.treasury.gov/about/organizational-structure/offices/Mgt/Documents/interviewing_applicants_disabilities.pdf
National Business & Disability Council: The NBDC Roadmap: Includes links to PDF checklists on Accessibility, Handling Internal Complaints of Discrimination, Interviewing/Testing, and Retaining Newly Identified Employees with Disabilities and PDF lists of etiquette tips for using TTY and the National Relay Service. http://www.nbdc.com/roadmap.aspx
National Organization on Disability: The NOD provides up-to-date findings on the employment status of people with disabilities, on issues facing people with disabilities, on creating an inclusive work environment, and other topics. http://www.nod.org
NTID Center on Employment: Tips on how to interview and work with a person who is deaf or hard-of- hearing from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID). http://www.ntid.rit.edu/nce/employers
Office of Disability Employment Policy: Information on recruiting and hiring people with disabilities, employing people with disabilities, and guidelines for including employees with disabilities in workplace emergency preparation. http://www.dol.gov/odep/categories/employer/
Society for Human Resource Management – Disability Employment Resource Page: Provides resources, articles and links to help you source, recruit, retain and develop people with disabilities, a pool of talent too often overlooked by employers. http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/Diversity/Articles/Pages/disability_072110.aspx
Working With People with Autism: Information on recruiting, interviewing, and working with a person with an autism spectrum disorder. http://www.autism.org.uk/working-with/employment.aspx
Did you know?
Employees with disabilities have very low turnover; studies indicate a job-retention rate of 85% after one year of employment. Source: "Why Hiring People With Disabilities Is Good For Your Organization." Connect-Ability. http://www.connect-ability.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46%3Awhy-hiring-people-with-disabilities-is-good-for-your-organization&catid=51%3Abuilding-diversity&Itemid=53&lang=en