Melissa Peele
On Wednesday, February 27, The Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities (RCPD), Career Services and Placement, and Diverse Ability, a local development team committed to integrating persons with disabilities into leadership positions, hosted a workshop on career planning for persons with disabilities. The evening's presentation and pizza dinner was presided over by Cathy McCredy, a transition leader attached to the Center for Independent Living of Mid-Michigan, and Health Care Consultant, Disability Advocate and Access Technology Specialist Cathy McAdams. Centered on the concept of the creative job hunt, their interactive lecture addressed such concerns as disclosure, workplace accommodations and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).After an introduction by the RCPD Director Michael Hudson, Ms. McCreedy and Ms.McAdams began by asking what obstacles their audience foresaw to finding and maintaining a satisfactory career. The answers, given by multiple persons with differing disabilities, included ignorance of the possibilities, prejudicial employer reactions about extended schooling before graduation, personal care attendants, and the prospect of disability disclosure and workplace rigidity in the face of necessary accommodation. One of the first steps in overcoming such barriers, they advised, was preparation. Research, the Internet, internships, the campus's Career Services and placement Center and perhaps working with a partner all have places in career exploration. Evidence suggests, however, that informational interviews and creative networking followed by appropriate letters of acknowledgement and gratitude are critical to any successful job hunt. The self-assessment process, discovering your passions, pastime as well as academic, qualifications and your ideal work environment, is equally important. During this self searching phase, it is helpful to cultivate and keep at least one confidante and supporter who will listen to your ideas, remind you of things you may have forgotten about yourself and cushion your confidence and self-esteem when the rejection letters come without resorting to flattery or false consolation. The results of these endeavors, matched to considerations of accessibility, transportation and geography, will give you the clearest idea of your options and preferences. Once you have attended to these initial tasks, you are ready to select the organizations that fit your needs and to begin application and interview procedures.
When Ms. McCreedy and Ms. McAdams asked their audience what they believed the fears of prospective employers of persons with disabilities to be, the resultant list included the costs of accommodation, higher absenteeism, loss of production, public relation considerations, liability in case of further injury and lack of adaptivity. One way to obviate such concerns, the presenters explained, is to try to ascertain if an organization is accommodating to persons with disabilities in advance of application. Before applying, draw on your network, informational interviews and disability related databases and tour the building with attention to the layout, the presence of TTY displays and interactions, if any, between persons with and without disabilities in the business's public areas for firsthand impressions. Once the appointment is made, discuss your prospective employer's apprehensions with a degree of frankness and tact that will allow you to maintain both your comfort levels. Most of all, make a personal story of your situation, turn your disability into an asset wherever possible and use hard data to dispel any remaining doubts.
Finally, the co-presenters passed along a few essential strategies for survival and self-protection during your hunt for a perfect workplace. First is the issue of disclosure. It is highly inadvisable to disclose your disability to anyone except your interviewer and employer. Keep control of your own image and never discuss your disability with a secretary, receptionist or intermediary, who may pass along such information in an unfavorable light. If circumstances or your own personal judgment recommends disclosure before a face-to-face interview can occur, at least wait until you receive written confirmation of the appointment so that the possibility of discrimination will be easier to verify. In any case, cautioned Linda Gross, a representative of MSU's Career Services and Placement office, you should keep a written log of all appointments and cancellations, both to keep pending appointments in order and for legal purposes. When in doubt, consult the ADA.
After turning over the floor to a person with disabilities who shared his success at networking and several years of experience at Dow Chemical, the meeting ended. Leaving the room, having been well fed and well informed in a convivial and interactive environment, the students who had attended carried away with them a new confidence and the workshops most vital message: “If You Can Dream It, You Can Achieve It.”