Hiring Students with Disabilities

Thank you for your interest in hiring students with disabilities from the University of Minnesota. Our talented students receive a top quality education and bring a strong set of skills to help your organization succeed. The following information will help you determine ways we can help you achieve your hiring goals.

Advertising Opportunities

Disability Services works with the career services centers to ensure that students with disabilities have access to the resources necessary to plan their careers. Here’s how employers can best meet our students with disabilities.

There are several ways that the University of Minnesota can help you advertise opportunities to students with disabilities on the Twin Cities campus:

1) Participate in GoldPASS

GoldPASS is an online job posting system for all students at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. On this web site you can advertise specific opportunities that you have available for students. If you are hoping to hire a student with a disability, you will want to add in the body of the text that “Students with disabilities are encouraged to apply.” Please be aware that students without disabilities may also apply. To set up an account and post a position, please visit http://goldpass.umn.edu and select ‘Employers / organizations Login here’.

2) Join our Disabilty Employer Listings

Organizations that want to hire students with disabilities are often willing to tailor a job description to meet both a student’s skill set and the organization’s need. Campus career services offices, in collaboration with Disability Services, keep contact lists of employers and recruiters who seek to hire students with disabilities. This information is made available to students in resource libraries and on web sites. To have your organization contact information added to this resource, please email your notice to the Career Services Liaison in Disability Services at ds@umn.edu. Students interested in your organization will then contact you directly to discuss opportunities.

3) Host a Networking Event

Are you interested in meeting students with disabilities to tell them about your organization? If so, consider hosting a networking event in collaboration with the Disabled Student Cultural Center (DSCC). To set up such an event, contact them at (612) 624-2602 (V/TTY) or via email at dscc@umn.edu

Other Considerations when Hiring:

Creating Effective Job Descriptions

Your success in hiring students with disabilities may be improved by carefully examining your hiring criteria before writing your job description or interviewing candidates. Make sure that your criteria are directly related to the essential functions of the job, and that both the essential functions as well as physical and academic requirements are clearly identified for the applicants. Invite applicants to communicate their needs for accommodations in the application and interview process. Then indicate your sincere willingness to make accommodations by identifying an individual in your organization who is outside of the decision-making process with whom the candidate can speak freely.

Selecting the Best Candidate

Keep in mind that qualified students with disabilities may not always meet traditional criteria in terms of length of study, prior work experience or volunteer activities. Employers committed to hiring students with disabilities need to look beyond conventional measures to discover the unique experiences and skills that they can bring to the work setting. These might include persistence, advocacy, copying mechanisms, creative self-accommodating, plan­ning and time management.

Communicating within Your Organization

Many students with disabilities participate in ongoing on-campus recruitment activities, such as job fairs and on-campus interviewing, which are open to all students. They might also use networking as a strategy for securing employment within your organization. If you are responsible for recruiting students with disabilities at the University of Minnesota, you will want to connect with all recruiting efforts in which your company is engaged to ensure that you present a unified approach to diversifying your workforce.

Additional Related Links:
Job Accommodation Network (JAN)
Office of Disability Employment
DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology)