Job Interview Tips for People with Learning Disabilities.

Job Interview Tips for People with Learning Disabilities.

This book gives entry-level job hunting advice to people with learning disabilities. The sections are familiar to most vocational rehabilitation counselors who recommend books for their clients being placed in jobs. Topics include self-assessment, resume writing, cover letters, applications, interviews, and preemployment testing. The back of the book has the traditional concrete examples of resumes, interview questions and answers, and follow up letters.

What makes this book unique are the sections particularly for people with learning disabilities; whether or not to mention one's disability in the job interview, organizing oneself for job hunting and coping skills for handling the job application. The back of the book includes a job search planner which encourages the applicant to write down details while they are fresh in their mind. A brief, simple interview checklist covers several areas of weakness for people with learning disabilities; appearance, location of interview, and transportation.

Although the content assists the client in coping with their disabilities, the book avoids the condescending tone which is often prevalent in this type of literature. The writing style encourages readers and speaks to them as peers.

And a cassette tape of the book's text makes the information readily accessible to non-readers and people with difficulty reading. The recorded voice is attractive and absorbing. Because one package has both the book and cassette, it is easy for the job seeker to read the book and listen to the text at the same time, a frequent technique of people with dyslexia. The print is large and the contrast is low.

This book is so useful to entry-level people with learning disabilities, it is definitely worth ordering from Canada. It does refer to Canadian government programs and the rehabilitation professional will need to supplement the book with American resources. The book is aimed towards high school graduates and might be inappropriate for people with learning disabilities who are prepared for professional positions. It is rare that one finds a book written for people in a particular disability group so well-done and so appropriately accommodating to people with the disability.

Dale Brown, Program Manager, President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities.