Employment is an important goal area that students with disabilities should be engaged with; employment will help students be more independent and help with other goal areas that are in plan for them after graduating. Some examples are independent living; by having a source of income students are able to maintain the basic necessities and expenses of living on their own. Social relationships can increase by being employed, due to the interactions with the community or co-workers. That is why students with disabilities should be informed of various resources available to them like career assessments, writing a resume and interview attire. Below you will find these resources to see how to get started!
Career Assessment
Career interest assessment surveys students with disabilities interests and preferences to match the results to an ideal job. Students should take career interest inventories to determine what employment occupations they are best suited for and meets their interests. For example, they can tell you what kind of employment environment fits you the best, such as whether you prefer to work in an office, in a school, outdoors or in a hospital setting. Do you like helping people? Would you prefer to design buildings or build them with your hands? The link above can give you a free career assessment inventory that can list occupations that are most suitable for your personality type. The assessment is beneficial to students with disabilities because they can have an idea and build on the foundation of what they discovered about themselves. The assessment is based on Carl Jung and Isabel Briggs Myers approach.
How to Write a Resume
After you decide what career path you want to take you have to build your resume. A resume is a document used by individuals to present their education, skills, job history, and background. Resumes are typically used for job seekers to present to their potential employer. You will want to present a resume to get an interview, present your strengths, and demonstrate what you are capable of if you are hired. It is very important that an student with disabilities be able to write a resume to give them an advantage and a chance to not be labeled right of and the employer sees their abilities and strengths on the resume instead of a person who is disabled. The link above is a helpful tool that gives you tips and advice on how to write a resume.
Interview Attire
Job interviews are very important and play a major part in the decision making of a vacant position. You have a greater opportunity of attaining the position if the employer’s first impression of you is a good one. In order to prepare you for this what better way to do it than to show you. This video is easy to follow so that students with disabilities are prepared and well dressed for a job interview. Above is a link to a video that gives instructions on what to wear for your job interview.
These are very helpful tips for helping any individual find a job. I love the career assessment test. I took it myself to see what it said, and it suggested Education as a career choice so it must be accurate! Many people want to go to college, but they aren't sure what it is they want to do with their lives. This test would be a great tool for individuals to help guide the way. The resume page had a lot of useful tips along with examples of their suggestions. For example, it speaks of using a template when writing your resume and then it gives a link to some templates that could be used. This helps not only with the process, but guiding people that wouldn't know what to do with the tips given. Lastly, the video was something unexpected but enlightening. Most people know what it means to "dress up" for an interview, but there were certain things mentioned such as the noisy jewelry. I always put on earrings, necklace, bracelet, etc., and this would definetely be considered noisy. Children who are transitioning into adulthood, and possibly employement, may not know these things and this would definetely be a great simple video for them.
ReplyDeleteThe resources you provided are full of important information for everyone who might be looking for a job, not just individuals with disabilities. Employment should be for anyone who is able to work whether they have a disability or not. People should work not only to earn income but also to socialize and build relationships with other people. The resources you provided in this post allows everyone the tools needed to be successful in finding employment. The career interest assessment survey is a very resourceful link that everyone can benefit from but especially students with disabilities. It is a great tool to use in pinpointing what jobs might be the right fit for students based upon their interests. The interview video was also helpful because not everyone knows how to dress for interview. Thank you for the excellent resources! These will be wonderful websites to share with our students.
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