Disability Community Outreach

Recruitment Ideas

6 STEPS FOR GETTING STARTED

Integrating people with disabilities into your workforce

1. Get Commitment from Above

Let everyone in the company know of your organization's commitment to employing, advancing, and retaining people with disabilities. If management wants it to happen, everyone else will also. Publish it ; make it an often-repeated statement.

2. Practice Recruitment Outreach

Let it be known that you are aggressively seeking job candidates with disabilities. Send your vacancy announcements to disability-related organizations and agencies. State right on the job announcements your interest in receiving applications from people with disabilities.

3. Effective Interviewing

Train your interviewers to learn how to screen-in qualified applicants with disabilities. Examine essential functions, candidate qualifications, and ways to make reasonable accommodations. Don't let the disability distract you as you evaluate qualifications.

4. Provide Job Accommodations

Be sure to test accommodations and adaptations once the person is on the job. Rework them as necessary. Ask the employee with disabilities to help guide you in the process.

5. Provide Orientation & Training

Any employee's success hinges on proper orientation and training. Be sure all such programs are accessible to your new employee with disabilities. Also, make sure training programs that lead to upward mobility and career advancement are available and accessible.

6. Encourage Awareness & Sensitivity

Explain to all workers involved the principle of reasonable accommodations and the particular accommodations or adaptations that have been made. Knowledge is the key to understanding. Also, if needed, have someone knowledgeable speak to coworkers about disability myths and misconceptions.

Adapted from "Ready Willing & Available: A Business Guide for Hiring People with Disabilities." Prepared by PCEPD (Aug/92)