Adrienne Kleinman's Blog (113)

The hiring process can be a stressful time for anyone. There’s a lot to think about and consider: fine tuning your resume, gathering references, creating a convincing cover letter, and submitting your application. Next in line comes the offer for the interview—the applicant’s time to really showcase to their potential employer why they’re a great fit. As you get ready for the interview, there’s a few things that you should consider and be aware…

Mary Kay Walch, director of sales and marketing at BlueSky Designs, has worked in the assistive technology

industry for more than 30 years. Improving product design and life for individuals with disabilities. Educating

families, therapists, teachers and suppliers. Her specialty is improving accessibility and independence…

As a person with a physical disability, there are a myriad of things that I need to think about and plan for in my daily life. This includes my personal life, my mobility, my education, and even my career. I may need to adjust the way I complete tasks, get to a destination, complete my schoolwork, or navigate my place of employment. Any workplace that I am hired at will have to accommodate me to their best of their ability--enter Assistive Technology (AT)…

Nick Wilkie has devoted his career to working in the Human Services field. The last 12 years he has been employed by the Metropolitan Center for Independent Living (MCIL), working as a Transition Specialist, then shifting to Advocacy within Public Policy. Currently, he is heading the promotion, outreach, and teaching of a new…

For our last topic on the subject of resumes, I will discuss with you all the matter of disclosure. For someone like myself who has had a visible disability her whole life, I am never really given a choice when it comes to keeping my disability a secret. At one point or another, my potential (or future) employer will know that I use a wheelchair. I do, however, have say in how and when I disclose to them that I have a disability, as do any of you who have a…

Since the age of about four I have used a wheelchair. I was born with a neuromuscular condition that made it impossible for me to walk, or be completely self-sufficient. Though I required total physical assistance, my drive, tenacity, and ability to think for myself has never faltered. That has always been my reality and life, it’s my normal.

Enter onto the scene the idea of Ableism, a term that isn’t as discussed…

By now we have addressed several different topics that have to do with cover letters. We’ve discussed their function, outlined a variety of formats, and now this month I’m going to detail how to customize yours to make it stand out from the rest. The way to accomplish this is by adding in personal anecdotes, mentioning prior knowledge about the company in question, or including facts and hidden history about the industry you are applying to be a part…

Michelle Maloney is an Equal Employment Opportunity Specialist with the Minneapolis VA Health Care System, specifically an ADA Coordinator. I had the pleasure of chatting with her on the phone last week and discussing her career journey. As an individual who is hard of hearing, Michelle’s unique perspective was so wonderful to learn about. Check out her…

There are two types of people in the world—those that like to talk about themselves, and those that don’t. Of course, it can depend on the situation—or who it’s concerning—but generally it can be difficult for someone to make a concrete list of attributes, qualities, etc. that describes who they are in a positive light. When you’re applying for a job and meeting with potential employers, the act itself beckons you to create clarity in regards to who you are as a person and how much of an…

Thabiso Rowan identifies as a free spirited, out-of-the-box thinker. After enduring a spinal cord injury in June 2011, he received an Associate Degree of Human Services. His current occupation is Options Counselor at Disability Hub MN, where he assists people with disabilities -- and their caregivers and family…

We’ve all been there—applied to a job that we were very qualified for, and then never heard back. Generally that applies to jobs in which you haven’t directly spoken with a recruiter, but more or less when you submit a resume and cover letter to an online application portal. A huge part of why the majority of individuals don’t ever hear back from a job is because of a concept called, Resume Black Hole—or, that cyber void that seemingly swallows up the resumes of perfectly qualified…

Diego Mariscal is the Founder, CEO, and Chief Disabled Officer behind the nonprofit startup 2Gether-International— directly supports entrepreneurs with disabilities. At the age of 26 he has already created Limitless Prepa Tec (a disability education program that benefits students in Monterrey Mexico), is a…

Over the last couple months we have covered various topics related to the resume. We’ve covered types of resume layouts and templates, how to be succinct and keep your resume at a shorter length, and now this month we will go over how the usage of powerful language can truly enhance the way a potential employer views your experiences.

When the hiring managers of any given company are given a stack of resumes…

Some of you may recall my interview with Peter Berg a few years back, and he was gracious enough to allow me to ask him a few more questions this month. …

If a boarding pass is your ticket to flight, then a resume is your ticket to work. Depending on your industry, trade, or area of focus, your resume will vary in length, format, design, and focus. For example, someone in a creative field will likely have a more colorful and fluid looking resume, whereas someone in the sciences will have more of an exact and precise flow to theirs. Though resumes come in all shapes and sizes, they are there to serve a common purpose: to convey to a potential…

When I was a freshman in college at Hamline University, I had the pleasure of meeting Deb Holtz. She was not only my advisor in Disability Services, but my mentor, and my friend. This past week she was gracious enough to let me ask her a few questions that could be shared with our members.…

When you were a kid in school, there were a multitude of things you needed to learn in order to progress to the next grade. Basic arithmetic, spelling, geography, science, art techniques, and even physical education to teach you good habits to help your growing body. As an adult in the workforce, out of school and fully immersed in your career, it can be hard to think about adding anything else onto your busy schedule. Furthering your learning of a topic or trade can seem like it’s too much…

Last week I had the pleasure of talking with Ross Baker, a current graduate student at the University of Minnesota who's studying to be an Architect. Ross, who happens to have dyslexia, spoke candidly about his experiences in school, and beyond. He had a lot of great insight to…

When I first started out applying to jobs, there was a pattern in what most every job required me to submit: resume, cover letter, and references. If we can think of a resume as the table of contents to our skills and experiences, the cover letter as the descriptive body of what we’ve accomplished, then our references are the facts and figures, the index, the actual proof behind what we have said we can do and have done.

Every job application is different because every company and…

It was such a pleasure to be acquainted with this month's featured individual, Ancel Montenelli. He is recognized as a leader in advocacy for Latinos with disabilities in the United States and in Latin America. Since 1994 he has been in the field of disability and civil rights laws, with an emphasis on…