The UW Career Center Resume Book: A Promising Practice in Promoting Employment for STEM Students with Disabilities

Postsecondary career centers help students create resumes, learn about the labor market, practice for interviews, and connect students with recruiters. Ultimately, their goal is to empower students to secure internships and jobs that support career goals. They also provide services to recruiters seeking candidates for open positions.

The University of Washington’s Career Center noticed that quite often recruiters ask to recruit candidates with disabilities, stating that they were seeking these candidates because:

• they wanted to meet their organization’s diversity goals,
• they had an open position specifically for an individual with a disability (e.g., a “Schedule A” hiring opportunity in the Federal government), and/or
• they wanted to hire an individual with a disability for specific knowledge (e.g., a person who is blind and has expertise in developing accessible websites).

The UW Career Center, in collaboration with a project called AccessSTEM Careers, developed an online Resume Book for Candidates with Disabilities. Students and alumni with disabilities are invited to upload their resumes so that recruiters looking for their unique skill sets can contact them.

The Resume Book for Candidates with Disabilities is viewed as a promising practice because it uses technology to efficiently create connections for mutual benefit. One recruiter stated, “I want to interview qualified candidates with disabilities simply because I’m looking for the best candidate for the position and I don’t want to overlook anyone.”

For more information about career development and students with disabilities, visit The Elevator Pitch Contest: A Promising Practice for Preparing STEM Students with Disabilities for Employment and What can students do to improve their chances of finding employment after college?

AccessSTEM CAREERS is a project of the Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology Center at the University of Washington. The project is funded by the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, an organization that works to make changes for the better in society by investing in innovative strategies to empower youth with disabilities to lead productive lives.