According to the Social Security Administration, there are over 8 million disabled workers in the United States. These workers often face challenges such as stereotyping, discrimination, and a lack of accommodations. Thankfully, there are a variety of legal protections and employment resources available that help people with disabilities overcome these challenges and advance their careers.
Below, we’ll go over best practices for resume writing, laws that protect you from discrimination, and several other topics that you should know about as a disabled worker.
Resume Tips for Job Seekers With Disabilities
For the most part, writing a resume as a disabled worker involves the same best practices as writing any type of resume. Some of the most important things to keep in mind include:
Keep your resume clear and concise
Hiring managers usually have dozens, if not hundreds, of resumes that they need to review in order to fill a single open position. There’s simply not enough time to carefully review every applicant’s resume in depth — if you don’t catch their attention quickly, they’ll usually move on to their next option. Generally, you should limit yourself to one page, favor short and direct words over longer synonyms, and use paragraph breaks and bullet points where necessary to avoid a “wall of text” look.
That said, there are some instances where a more than one-page resume is okay, including for certain roles or experience levels. Review our resume examples to find out best practices for your role.
Highlight your specific qualifications
While training is always an option, employers prefer candidates who already have experience with the specific tools that their team uses on the job. Connect the dots for the hiring manager by highlighting any software platforms, regulatory programs, types of equipment, or other relevant skills that you have that makes you the perfect fit for the job you’re applying to.
Use numbers to quantify your work accomplishments
Even if you give potential employers a good idea of what your responsibilities were at your previous jobs, how will they know that you handled these responsibilities well? Showcasing your achievements with concrete numbers to demonstrate your job performance helps convince hiring managers that you really know what you’re doing. For example, the amount of revenue or savings generated, the percentage of projects completed under budget, the size of the team you managed, etc.
In addition to these general rules, there are two aspects of resume writing that specifically concern disabled workers: deciding whether to disclose your disability and explaining gaps in your employment history.
To know more, you may visit: https://www.resumebuilder.com/comprehensive-resume-and-career-guide-for-people-with-disabilities/.
