An update from USEP Consultant Sascha 🙂 Of relevance to students with disability.Â
Well, hasn’t 2020 thrown us a curveball and now it’s time for us all to get started getting used to the “new normal”.
The USEP service is back on campus from the 2nd June, every Tuesday and will be just at Bedford Park in the beginning. Bookings are still the same process, contact Sascha on usep@cbsinc.org.au or 0448 000 897.
Our USEP group chat is still running online via Collaborate every Tuesday from 10am to 11am, so feel free to drop in there.
There are actually plenty of jobs out there at the moment and the grad roles are still being released.
I have still been chatting to employers over the last couple of months and as a whole grad programs are still progressing. Some have delayed a little, to make sure that the onboarding process is well supported which is great news for those candidates that might need a little more support. In a recent webinar with Grad Connection, recruitment Managers were discussing ways to connect with your recruiters through the process.
I think it is worth mentioning they all supported people disclosing their disability and having a chat about what supports you might need through the assessment and recruitment process. Use LinkedIn. They said if the contact details are there, then they are open to being contacted. This could be a great chance to have a chat about how they can support you and your application and if you are actually suitable to the role, they all said when grads do this it definitely starts to create a rapport with the recruiter.
I think it all comes back to gaining that understanding of your condition, how it impacts you, how you manage it and knowing your resources for support and help should you need them.
Another big tip was – get used to seeing yourself on the screen and make sure all your audio and cameras work, your background is OK etc as moving forward more and more employers are looking to put recruitment in a more online space (especially while restrictions still exist) and communication amongst staff will include more online formats in the new normal space. This can actually be great news for a lot of people with disability. I know even for my clients and students, the option for the online/phone contact has been very beneficial. One client who was previously working 29 hrs per week with chronic pain, got set up to work from home due to COVID 19 and now finds her pain much easier to manage. I’ve been able to help her negotiate an arrangement to continue partially working from home as it helps her and actually makes her more productive needing less time off work.
This “new normal” is going to be a very interesting time.
Don’t forget to look at Career Hub for lots of general Careers information, videos etc. Most of the workshops held over the last few months are available to watch.