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.

The Georgia Department of Labor offers a Job Seeker Guide with tips for putting together a resume, getting training, interviewing for jobs, and more. Find Jobs in Georgia lists the typical steps needed in a job search.

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.

Local technical colleges, community education departments, and nonprofit groups also offer courses, workshops and trainings on career planning and skills.

Disability-Related Job Resources on the Web

The Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (GVRA) offers help identifying a career path, and getting and keeping a job.

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

The Administration for Community Living lists Employment Resources for People with Disabilities and Their Families.

You can post your resume and search for jobs on AbilityJOBS, a national website for jobseekers with disabilities.

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

Georgia Career Resources on the Web

The Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) offers Job Search Assistance, including:

• A step-by-step Job Seeker Guide
• Resources for job seekers with disabilities

WorkSource Georgia Center provides a range of individualized career information and services.

GAFutures links to Career Exploration tools that can help you discover the type of work you might want to do.

WorkSource Georgia Centers

Each WorkSource Georgia Center offers a variety of free services that can help you with your job search and career planning. Center staff can:

• Teach you the basics of conducting a job search
• Help you with your resume
• Tell you about any special services that might be available to you
• Give you advice about local employers that are hiring
• Guide you to needed education and training

Find a WorkSource Georgia Center near you.

Vocational Rehabilitation

Vocational Rehabilitation services offer counseling, training, job skills, and job placement services. These are short-term programs that help people with disabilities become employed. In Georgia, the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (GVRA) offers these services to people who qualify.

In order to help people with disabilities be productive and independent members of society by finding meaningful employment, the GVRA offers five programs:

• Vocational Rehabilitation (VR), which helps people with disabilities find and maintain employment. Here are some services it offers:
  • Assistive Work Technology, which finds the technology that can best help you on the job
  • Supported Employment (SE) offers people with significant disabilities three types of supported employment: Traditional SE, Customized SE, and IPS (Individual Placement & Supports) SE
    • The Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) offers long-term IPS Supported Employment to people with a mental health disability who have successfully completed GVRA's short-term programs.
      
  • Project Independence helps adults 55 or older dealing with vision loss or combined vision and hearing loss live as independently as possible
  • Counseling information and referral services
• Disability Adjudication Services (DAS) works with the Social Security Administration to decide if a person's disability meets the standards for SSA benefits
• The Business Enterprise Program, which helps visually impaired Georgians become independent business owners in the food service industry
• Georgia Industries for the Blind, which employs people who are blind in jobs that involve manufacturing high-quality file folders, safety vests, pillows, customized screen printing, sewing projects, and other products that are sold to the public

GVRA 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, and your counselor will work with you to decide which GVRA services are best for you.

To get GVRA services, you must have a disability, want to work, and find it difficult for you to prepare for, get, or keep a job because of your disability. Learn more about GVRAservices and how to apply.

Blind and Low Vision Field Services

If you have significant vision loss, the Blind and Low Vision Field Services program can help you prepare for, find, and keep a job, and live as independently as possible. These services are a program of the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (GVRA).

The exact services you get depend on your needs. They can include:

• Worksite Assessments
• Daily Living Skills Training
• Orientation and Mobility Training
• Access Technology Training
• Instruction in Braille
• Adjustment to Blindness Counseling

Deaf, Deaf-Blind, and Hard of Hearing Services

There are GVRA counselors who are specially trained to work and communicate with people who are deaf, deaf-blind or hard of hearing. The goal is to help you prepare for, get, keep, and succeed in competitive jobs. Depending on your income, there could be a fee for some of the services.

Services can include:

• Guidance and Counseling
• Vocational Training
• Education
• Interpreting Services
• Hearing Aids and Other Adaptive Devices
• Adjustment Services Training
• Technology
• Job Placement

Learn more about GVRA's Deaf, Deaf-Blind, and Hard of Hearing services.