Hiring College Students with Disabilities—Innovative Strategies for Success

Description

This workshop will introduce two strategies for improving the way companies recruit and retain college students/grads with disabilities. The first half of the session will focus on a successful mentoring program model that we (Minnesota Business Leadership Network and its partners) piloted in Spring 2016. We will share our process for recruiting and matching mentors/mentees and tips for developing effective curriculum. Attendees will hear from our collaborating partners including Minnesota Association on Higher Education and Disability (MN AHEAD), an employer mentor and a student mentee, to get their perspective of what drives success in a quality mentoring program.

During the second half of the session, we will discuss our experience planning and implementing a reverse job fair, which features college students/graduates with disabilities marketing their skills, interests, and business profile at their own table for employers to visit. We will provide testimonials, report on the employment outcomes, and share lessons learned from this innovative event.

Learning Outcomes:

• Attendees will learn about the some of the key components for an effective mentoring program and reverse job fair model to leverage and improve outreach to college students/grads with disabilities.
• Attendees will be able to identify 2-3 key resources for accessing qualified college students with disabilities.
• Attendees will walk away with one documented action step that they will pursue to engage college students/grads with disabilities.