Access UCC DS EmployAbility Programme

The Access UCC DS EmployAbility Programme is focused on providing employability supports to students with a disability. Research has shown that students with a disability do not transition from 3rd level education to the workplace as successfully as their peers. With this in mind, the EmployAbility Initiative was developed in collaboration with our partner employers, to create a pathway to employment for students with a disability. There are 3 main strands to the project: DS Career Mentoring Programme: The DS Career Mentoring Programme matches students with a disability with mentors in industry. Mentoring partnerships meet 6 times or more throughout the academic year to deal with a variety of topics that students may want to work on. These topics may include such important issues as CV development, interview preparation, job searching, networking, disclosure, industry insights, and any other area that will support students into employment on graduation. Mentoring meetings take place mostly online with some meetings hosted at the mentors place of work. DS Summer Internship Programme: The DS Summer Internship Programme invites our employer partners to make paid summer internships available to students with a disability. Supports are provided to employers on a variety of issues including writing inclusive job descriptions, preparing to interview candidates with a disability, and providing disability specific supports where required. Supports are also provided to students throughout the recruitment and selection process including undertaking a needs assessment with each successful candidate before they begin an internship. Ongoing support is provided for the duration of the internship where necessary. DS Graduate Hire Programme: The DS Graduate Hire Programme invites our employer partners to come through the Access office in UCC, and Disability Support in particular, to recruit a graduate with a disability. Contact us on AccessUCCEmployAbility@ucc.ie