Working Relationships: Creating Career Opportunities for Job Seekers with Disabilities Through Employer Partnerships

All businesses have needs. People with disabilities have the skills and desire to work. As employment specialists work to match employers with job seekers, they need to do more than understand the job seeker's personal and professional goals—they also need to know exactly what the employers are looking for. That's what Working Relationships is about: securing satisfying jobs for people with disabilities by fostering partnerships between employment specialists and businesses. A must-read for all employment service providers and for anyone interested in employment of people with disabilities, this book helps readers

• understand the theoretical framework for improving career development practices through relationship building
• understand what employers want and expect from employment service providers
• learn about the building blocks of strong partnerships with employers: beliefs and values, communication skills, multicultural competence, ethics, and self-efficacy
• find practical guidelines for getting to know both job seekers and employers, marketing proactively to businesses, matching job seeker characteristics with employer needs, and using the tenets of quality customer service when working with employers
• consider the possibility of non-traditional employment through customized job consultation
• discover strategies for improving job retention and promoting career advancement for people with disabilities
• explore specific ways to make employment service programs more customer-oriented, convenient, and understandable to employers

Filled with helpful case studies and examples, this valuable resource will help employment specialists develop strong, respectful partnerships with businesses—partnerships that will lead to rewarding careers for people with disabilities.