The mandate of the Office of Employment Equity for Persons with Disabilities is to increase the number of persons with disabilities employed in the provincial public service. The Office achieves this mandate by operating programs and services designed to help persons with disabilities attain employment within the public service. Positions affiliated with the Office's programs and services are located in provincial government departments throughout the province and are filled as vacancies occur. When a position becomes available, a screening of our Client Registry is completed to identify persons with disabilities who meet the necessary education and experience requirements for the position. The resumes of those clients who meet the required qualifications are then referred to the hiring department.
As an active client, your resume will be considered for any position in your area for which you meet the education and experience requirements for the position. Beginning last fall, representatives from our Office met with managers of government departments in the regions to promote our programs and services. We continuously work with government departments to encourage increased participation in our Office's programs and services.
You may wish to visit the Provincial Government's public employment opportunities web page to view positions advertised by government departments.
The Opening Doors Program accepts persons with disabilities based on self-identification using the definition of disability as outlined by the International Labour Organization. It reads as follows: Persons with disabilities are those who identify themselves, or who believe that a potential employer would likely consider them to be significantly disabled or handicapped by any one or more persistent physical, mental, or psychiatric conditions or by any persistent learning or sensory disability.
If you feel you fit this definition, you are welcome to submit an application form to us along with your resume and proof of education as listed on your resume. Application forms can be picked up at our office on the 5th floor, West Block, Confederation Building, mailed to you or you can print one from our web site.
Once you have submitted your completed application, it will then be processed and an employment counsellor will contact you to set up an orientation session.
Should you require further information, please contact us again.
I wouldn't say you are overqualified - as you said yourself, you have no experience in the IT field and it is experienced workers that employers are looking for these days. This is especially true in Newfoundland as there are so many people looking for the few jobs that are available.
As long as I can remember, and believe me, that's a while now, new graduates have been making the same statement - "I can't get a job without experience, but how do I get experience if no one will hire me?" The answer is, you do whatever you have to do to get experience. If that means volunteering your skills for a while to some organization or moving away where you can find a job in your field, then that's what you do.
As for finding a job in the Administration field, if you have lots of experience and good references you should be able to find something. However, there could be a couple of explanations for your difficulty here. First, I gather from what you said that you got your experience in administration outside the province. If this is the case, your references may not be local. Usually, local employers like to see the names (of references) of people they may know in the business community or at least people they can easily contact.
This is assuming you are providing references with your resume. Quite often, today, people are putting on their resumes "references supplied upon request". Most employers want a complete resume from applicants and that includes references.
Finally, it is important, when applying for jobs, to tailor your resume for each position you apply on. Carefully read the qualifications the employer has identified and make sure your resume touches on each of them, especially the education and experience requirements. Don't worry if your resume runs into a second or third page - just make sure you demonstrate to the person reading the resume that you have the experience and the education they are looking for. If you are sending out a "one size fits all" resume to employers this could be one reason why you are not getting any nibbles even in a field in which you have a lot of experience.
Hopefully, I've given you some tips for your job search and some food for thought in helping you what to decide about getting some experience in the IT field. Good luck and try not to get too discouraged.
With regards to summer employment, The Employment Equity and Strategic Initiatives Division offers a summer employment program for post-secondary students with disabilities. To qualify for this program, students must be enrolled in full-time studies at a recognized educational institution and be returning to full-time studies in September.
If you have graduated from a post-secondary educational institution, you may submit an application to the Office of Employment Equity for Persons with Disabilities. Application forms are available from our website, or by contacting the Office:
It sounds to me like you're doing everything right. As you say, you check back with the employer and you have a portfolio that you've developed. You also say you "present" yourself well. I'm not sure what you mean by that and I don't know what your post secondary training involved, but here are some things I would do:
That's about all I can think of. I hope I've identified a few pointers for you and I wish you every success in your job search.
The definition of a person with a disability used by the Office of Employment Equity for Persons with Disabilities is the same one used by the International Labour Organization. It states:
"Persons with disabilities are those who identify themselves, or who believe that a potential employer would likely consider them to be significantly handicapped or disabled by any one or more persistent physical, mental, or psychiatric conditions or by any persistent learning or sensory disability."
The Federal Government has defined persons with disabilities as:
"...persons who have a long-term or recurring physical, mental, sensory, psychiatric or learning impairment and who (a) consider themselves to be disadvantaged in employment by reason of that impairment, or (b) believe that an employer or potential employer is likely to consider them to be disadvantaged in employment by reason of that impairment, and includes persons whose functional limitations owing to their impairment have been accommodated in their current job or workplace."
It would seem to me that your diagnosis would put you in the category of a person with a disability and I would certainly suggest you submit your application for inclusion in our Client Registry. You can learn more about our programs and services by visiting our web site or by calling us at 709-729-5881 or toll free 1-800-950-4414.
With regards to available assistance, you could contact your local office of the Provincial Department of Human Resources, Labour and Employment and inquire about the Labour Market Assistance for Persons with Disabilities program. You could also contact the local office of Human Resources Development Canada to inquire about any financial assistance available through the Opportunities Fund. Student loans are also available.
Correspondence courses vary, depending on the educational institution. I would recommend calling educational institutions such as MUN, College of the North Atlantic and the private colleges to ask about correspondence courses/distance learning opportunities related to computers and office skills. This can also be done by visiting the web sites of these educational institutions. Another option would be to call the Career Information Hotline at 1-800-563-6600 to ask about training opportunities in the office/computer fields.