Question:
I live in a economically depressed area. Main employers are local navy
base and military contractors. I would like to take advantage of
affirmative action policies and self-identify my handicap in my resume
or cover letter.
What is the best way to tactfully inform prospective employers that I
may qualify for special consideration? Is there some sort of disclosure
statement that I could put at the bottom of my resume? Should I mention
that I receive services from vocational rehab?
The navy asks for "hiring program" in the Resumix application and my
vocational rehab counselor has sent a certification to the regional
personnel office. I am going to mail paper resumes to the contractors.
I have no illusions that I'll be hired solely to meet someone's quota.
Just want to get my foot in the door. If the disclosure results in an
interview, it will be worth it.
Answer:
If your skills and training are sufficiently developed and
comprehensive, they should be enough to at least get you the interview
without your having to disclose your disability before you get there. Unless
you are seeking work in a sheltered workshop or similar setting, failure to
disclose a disability from the moment of initial contact should not be
grounds for denying you employment. Traditionally, disclosure of a
disability prior to the interview has been discouraged, because it leaves
the employer free to imagine all the possible ways in which hiring you could
have a negative impact on the company , before you have a chance to discover
and counter those assumptions.
If you still choose to reveal your disability prior to an interview, I
would recommend putting the information in your cover letters, not on your
actual resume Each cover letter has to be somewhat customized anyhow(since
the date, the name of the contact person, name and address of company and
perhaps even job title will change for each job listing ) and so including
disability information in a cover letter leaves you the option of deciding
what to disclose or withhold on a case by case basis, without having to redo
your resume each time .The issue of revealing your affiliation with
vocational rehabilitation services can also be settled on a case by case
basis and should, I believe, depend on such factors as whether you found out
about the job through voc rehab contacts and the amount of ongoing voc rehab
support you expect to need in order to succeed on the job if you are hired.
