Strategies for Seeking Employment

Self-Advocacy and Job-Seeking Skills

Work is a significant part of your life and it is important that you make your own decisions about what type of work you want to do. Being a self-advocate means speaking up and being in control of decisions about your life.

If your career is interesting and satisfying, it gives you a sense of purpose, enjoyment, and self-confidence. The best way to find satisfying work is to focus on your interests and the type of work you enjoy doing.

Self-advocacy also means improving your job-seeking skills so that you are more in charge of your job search. Focus on core issues first, such as improving your resume, writing a clear cover letter, and taking advantage of chances to meet people who might help you with your job search. Other important skills are how to prepare for and do well in an interview.

CareerOneStop.org has articles on job-seeking skills. The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) also has a page that discusses how to prepare for a job interview.

If you need another person to help you with your job search, you can apply to work with a counselor at your local Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) office or IowaWORKS office.

On 2-1-1 Iowa, you can find more organizations that offer career counseling and employment support.

Disability-Related Job Resources on the Web

The National Center of Self-Employment lists self-employment resouces for people with disabilities in Iowa.

CareerCircle.com connects people with disabilities to career opportunities.

DisABLED Person allows you to connect with future employers by posting your resume and finding detailed information about potential jobs.

The Workforce Recruitment Program helps connect college students and recent graduates with disabilities with federal and private-sector jobs.

Iowa Career Resources on the Web

The University of Iowa's Pomerantz Career Center offers:

• A Career Guide to help you find your path and prepare for your career
  
• Free career assessments and other tools to help you explore majors and careers
  
• Tools to help you become career ready

IowaWORKS offices

IowaWORKS offices provide a variety of free services that can help you with your job search or career planning, including:

• Finding training and education
• One-on-one virtual appointments with career counselors
  
• Job readiness workshops
  
• Information about job fairs and workshops
• Help creating resumes and cover letters
• Practice job interviews
• Free computer and Internet access

If you get SSI or SSDI, IowaWorks can serve as your employment network for the Ticket to Work program.

Your local center can tell you about all the services they offer, and the local employers who are hiring. Find an IowaWORKS office near you.

Vocational Rehabilitation

Vocational rehabilitation services offer counseling, training, job skills, and job placement services. Vocational rehabilitation is a term for programs that help people with disabilities become employed. In Iowa, Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Services offers these services to people who qualify.

VR can help you get training or other services you need to return to work, enter a new line of work, or get a job for the first time. Their services are carefully chosen to match your personal needs. You and your counselor work together closely to set goals and then develop a plan to help you reach them.

Being able to use VR services is based mostly on whether you have a physical or mental disability that makes it difficult to prepare for, get, or keep work. If you get Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits, you should qualify. Other people with disabilities who do not get SSI or SSDI may also qualify.

You can apply online or by printing and filling out a paper application and sending it to your local Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) office. For more information, call 1-800-532-1486.

Iowa Department for the Blind

If you are blind, have low vision, or are deaf-blind, Iowa Department for the Blind can help you prepare for, find, and keep a job, and live as independently as possible. It offers:

• Employment services and vocational rehabilitation services to help you find and keep a job
  
• In-home and community-based independent living services
  
• Help managing your own business through the Business Enterprise Program
  
• Assistive technology
• Books and other materials in alternative formats through the Iowa Library for the Blind and Print Disabled
  

• The Instructional Materials Center providing textbooks and educational material to students from kindergarten through college

• The Orientation Center for the Blind with training options designed to fit students’ lives.
  

• Youth services with workplace readiness training in a variety of environments designed to prepare students for post-secondary opportunities, plus monthly weekend retreats throughout the school year and a summer program.

To apply for Department of the Blind services for yourself or someone you know, submit an online referral form. To learn more, email contact@blind.state.ia.us.