The decision to hire someone with a disability should come before the task of actually creating the job advertisement for the position. Flowing from management, the company’s values and hiring practices must follow a culture of acceptance and diversity that is understood by all employees. Once you’ve determined the specific duties of the job available, work environment, tools, equipment, skills, abilities required to perform the required tasks of the positions; it is time to create a job description and post the advertisement.
Create a proper job analysis (see previous blog for details) and use that to prepare your job posting. When writing your job ad be sure to include:
– Essential requirements
– Unambiguous, easy to understand language
– An indication of the company’s policy on diversity including accessibility. Examples of statements in your job ad could be: “All qualified candidates will be considered” or “We welcome diversity.”
– A variety of formats. Let potential applicants know inquiries can be made through TTY (text telephone) or that the ad and company information is available online in large print.
If you want to specifically market people with disabilities take the job vacancy to places you’ll find them. Participate in job fairs, place your ad in publications that have a target audience largely made up of persons with disabilities, or send it to agencies that serve people with disabilities (EmployAbilities).
It’s also important to train and prepare the your other staff to handle inquiries and applications from people with disabilities.
If you have questions regarding preparing a job ad to hire people with disabilities please don’t hesitate to Contact EmployAbilities!
