Disability Careers Office

The Disability-Careers Office (DCO) is a collaboration of UT Career Services and the Office of Disability Services that offers career development and employment preparation assistance to UT college students and alumni who have various disabilities. The DCO works with students with all types of disabilities including but not limited to: learning disabilities (including ADHD and TBI), psychological disabilities, mobility disabilities, hearing disabilities, visual disabilities, and chronic health disabilities.

 

We are happy to provide many services including: 

• major and career exploration counseling
• information on job-seeking skills
• self-advocacy and self-disclosure skill development
• information on interviewing techniques and preparation
• information regarding rights, responsibilities, and options for reasonable accommodations in the workplace

 …and many other informational and career counseling services!

 

Along with our day to day individual appointments, the DCO also provides many programs and events for students to participate in. October is going to be a big month for our office as we host Disability Mentoring Month and the Workforce Recruitment Program!

 

Disability Mentoring Month is officially recognized during the third Wednesday of October, but the DCO is recognizing the importance of mentoring for the entire month of October! Participation in this program offers you an opportunity to be mentored by a professional in a career field that interests you. During this experience you can learn about the workplace, participate in informational interviews, observe a professional through job shadowing, and learn about potential internships and other opportunities.

 

The Workforce Recruitment Program is co-sponsored by the Office of Disability Employment Policy, U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Defense. Each year a government recruiter visits the UT campus to interview current students and recent graduates with disabilities. Students are interviewed and then have the opportunity to be contacted for internships and employment at federal and private worksites throughout the Unites States (and abroad!). Approximately 2,200 students are interviewed through this program each year and in 2011 over 500 of the participants were hired!

 

It is never too early or too late to get involved with the DCO! We strongly encourage you to start utilizing the many resources that the DCO offers. Whether you are a freshman looking for a part-time job, a sophomore looking for an internship, or an alumni looking to start a new career, we are here to assist and support you through the process!

 

If you would like to learn more about any of these events or would like to set up an individual appointment, contact the DCO Coordinator, Sarah Helm by email at shelm1@utk.edu or by phone at (865) 974-6860 or the DCO Graduate Assistant, Myranda Bertrand by email at maustin3@utk.edu or by phone at (865) 974-5549.

Grad School Bound?

If you’re a senior, there’s a good chance you’ve considered going to graduate school. You might have friends who are going and wondered if you should as well. Or maybe somebody has told you that a bachelor’s degree is what a high school diploma used to be and you need an advanced degree to get ahead.  Here are some good reasons to go to graduate school along with not so good reasons.

• Your career goals require graduate degree.  Some fields absolutely require graduate school, for example, speech pathologist, lawyer or counselor.  In this case, your decision is easy because you have to go to graduate school to achieve your goal.  But remember to have a backup plan in case you don’t get admitted.

• A graduate degree will offer more career opportunities, advancement, and higher salaries.  In many areas, like psychology, biology or public administration, you will have more career options with an advanced degree. In this case, you could likely find work with your bachelor’s degree, but it might not be the kind of work you want to do long term.  Continuing your education will often provide the skills and experiences needed for higher level positions in the field.

• You hold a true passion for a subject area or desire to conduct research.  If you love your major, whether it’s philosophy or physics or anything in between, and want to take your knowledge to the next level, graduate school could be the way to go.  Often people who have interests such as these want to teach or research and share their knowledge with others, much as a university professor would do. 

• Graduate school provides an opportunity to change fields.  At some point during your undergraduate education, you may decide that you don’t like your major any more or you discover a new interest after it’s too late to change majors.  Graduate school is a good way to redirect your career goals.  In many cases, graduate programs will accept students from a wide variety of backgrounds. I majored in business as an undergrad but studied counseling in a master’s program without taking any additional prerequisite courses.

And the not so good reasons… Don’t go to graduate school to avoid a full-time job or because you don’t really know what you want to do in life.  Graduate school is a big investment of your time and money. It’s not ok to be an undecided grad student!  At this point in your education, you should have a somewhat specific career goal in mind and know that the degree you’re pursuing will prepare you for that field. If you don’t, look for an alternative experience for one to two years while you figure it out.

Once you’ve decided to pursue graduate school, utilize Career Services to help you navigate the admissions process. We have many resources (http://career.utk.edu/graduate.php)  on our website to help you get started and College Consultants on staff available to assist you.  You won’t want to miss this week’s presentation, Gaining Admission to Highly Competitive Graduate Programs featuring Donald Asher.  See our events calendar for details.  

Author: Stephanie Kit - Associate Director, Career Planning