National Disability Employment Awareness Month Includes All Americans with Disabilities - Disability.gov

Image via WikipediaBy Guest Blogger Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy Kathleen Martinez

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). This year’s theme for NDEAM is – Talent Has No Boundaries: Workforce Diversity Includes People with Disabilities.

America has been celebrating the contributions of workers with disabilities for 55 years, with a weeklong celebration beginning in 1945. Today our celebration has been expanded to a month and emphasizes the contributions and creativity of people with different types of disabilities from all sectors of the country.

This year, we have a lot to celebrate. President Obama is creating change that we can believe in for jobseekers and workers with disabilities. On July 26^th, the 20^th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the President signed a landmark Executive Order that calls on all federal government executive departments and agencies to hire more people with disabilities. He did not stop there. He is making each agency accountable by requiring them to create goals and action plans for increasing the number of people with disabilities hired and retained in federal jobs.

In addition, my office (the Office of Disability Employment Policy) worked with the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs on a recent issuance inviting input on how they could strengthen the affirmative action requirements of the regulations implementing Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The issuance proposes for the first time that federal contractors, who create 22 percent of the available jobs in America, would be held to benchmarks for hiring qualified workers with disabilities. Until now, it was enough for employers to make attempts to hire qualified workers with disabilities, even if their efforts never resulted in actual job offers. These new initiatives are incredible opportunities for jobseekers with disabilities, opening up thousands of jobs to qualified workers.

I know that job seeking when you have a disability can be very challenging, especially if you are at the beginning of your career or have been out of the workforce for a long period of time. My office hears from constituents who must make extensive, ongoing efforts to find a job. Many of you have had negative experiences from interviewing with employers who do not understand how a person with a disability can be a contributing employee in their business.

One of the most important strategies for successful jobseekers with disabilities is to constantly bear in mind that attitudes about workers with disabilities are different from employer to employer. It can be crucial to career success to continue setting up job interviews even when you have just had a really negative one. Keep a positive attitude and be open to trying a variety of options in order to have a successful job search.

When the job offer is made, many people with significant disabilities are so grateful to have an opportunity for employment that they fail to insist on an adequate salary and benefits package and opportunities for career advancement. What you negotiate for yourself in that short period of time in which you decide on a job offer can have an impact on your career years into the future. Therefore, it is important to practice these skills before you need them.

I challenge each American with a disability to set a career goal during October. For those of you who are currently employed, this may encompass getting additional training to improve your skills, applying for a promotional job opportunity or seeking to join the ranks of management. For others who are not currently employed, your goal might be to engage in career networking, restart a job search, complete career interests and aptitudes testing or retrain for a new type of career. Be creative and see how you can improve your current career situation.

Your local One-Stop Career Center has employment staff that can assist you with all aspects of your career planning, and I encourage you to check it out.

For more information on the One-Stop Career Center nearest you, go to http://www.servicelocator.org or call 1-877-US2-JOBS (1-877-872-5627) or TTY for people with hearing or speech disabilities: 1-877-889-5627.

In addition, for more information on Office of Disability Employment Policy's (ODEP) employment policy efforts across the country, explore our website: www.dol.gov/odep.