Office of Student Life
Disability Services

Career Support

At Disability Services, we believe in the importance of equal access in the workforce. We collaborate with campus units, state agencies, nonprofit organizations, and business leaders to create accessible and inclusive career development opportunities for students with disabilities.

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Ohio College2Careers Counselors at SLDS

Ohio College2Careers, a partnership between The Ohio State University and Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities, aims for students with disabilities to have the support they need to complete their degree and/or credential, earn higher wages, and meet the demands of tomorrow’s labor market.

The College2Careers Counselors embedded at Ohio State are Shelby Koehler (Shelby.koehler@ood.ohio.gov) and Tiffany Smith (Tiffany.smith@ood.ohio.gov).

Some of the services available through Ohio College2Careers include:

  • Career exploration and counseling
  • Scholarship support opportunities
  • Assistive technology
  • Resume and interview preparation
  • Internships and permanent employment
  • Assistance navigating OhioMeansJobs resources
  • Connection to an expansive employer partner network

To find out if you are eligible for services, visit www.OODWorks.com.

Want to learn more about OOD? It’s the state agency that helps individuals with disabilities get careers and keep careers.  OOD serves individuals with physical, intellectual, and sensory disabilities as well as mental health disorders.  Further information about OOD and its services is available at www.ood.ohio.gov. 

Career Services on Campus

Student Life Buckeye Careers

Through Buckeye Careers, Student Life provides a unified career services support model available to all students and employers. Buckeye Careers works in partnership with all university career-related services to help employers find the customized support they need, from creating a new internship program to connecting with students.

Career Services Offices

Ohio State utilizes a comprehensive, de-centralized career services model. College and department career services offices exist across the university to support students in connecting with internships, co-ops and career opportunities related to their majors.

 Handshake

Handshake is Ohio State’s comprehensive, web-based career services management platform to help employers find and engage with talented students for internship, co-op and career opportunities. Access Handshake at handshake.osu.edu.

FOCUS 2 Career

FOCUS 2 Career is an online self-assessment tool to help students explore majors and career options, through the following link: go.osu.edu/focus2career. Students can also find the go link in the Career Resources section of Handshake. To access FOCUS 2 Career, go to Handshake, click on Career Center > Resources.

GoinGlobal

GoinGlobal is a career and employment resource for global internships and job opportunities, including content on topics such as work permits, visa regulations, cultural interviewing advice, etc.

  1. GoinGlobal is available in the Career Resources section of Handshake. To access GoinGlobal, go to Handshake, click on Career Center > Resources.

*This section's content adapted from Buckeye Careers - Career Resources page.

Internship Opportunities

Workforce Recruitment Program is a collaborative effort between the U.S. President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the Job Accommodation Network. This program recruits and screens qualified college students with disabilities for summer or permanent positions. Phone interviews will be held during the Autumn Semester. By the end of December, the student’s information is placed on a database that is then made available to employers in the public and private sector. Interested employers can make contact with students to offer employment. For more information, please visit www.wrp.gov. Contact your Disability Services Access Specialist if you are interested in this opportunity.

American Association of People with Disabilities https://www.aapd.com/ AAPD places college students, graduate students, law students, and recent graduates with all types of disabilities in paid internships with congressional offices, federal agencies, nonprofit and for-profit organizations within the Washington, DC area or virtually.

Entry Point is a program through the American Association for the Advancement of Science that recruits, interviews and refers students with disabilities for paid internships with NASA, IBM, Du Pont, Proctor and Gamble, Seagate and the National Science Foundation. Entry Point seeks undergraduate or graduate students majoring in science, engineering, math and computer science who maintain a 3.0 G.P.A. or higher. More information is available at the Entry Point web site, www.entrypoint.org.

Student Employment Resources

Finding a Student Job site - Lists multiple resources to job search boards (Handshake, Work Study) and helpful advice.  The link is https://see.osu.edu/students/finding-a-student-job

The Human Resources website for students employees who wish to seek workplace accommodations is https://hr.osu.edu/services/disability-benefits-leave-services/workplace-accommodations/

Disability Disclosure

Disability Access & Inclusion Resources

  • Job Accommodation Network - A useful site with job hunting tips, ideas for accommodations broken down by disability, links for adaptive equipment and ADA information.
  • Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD) - A state agency that provides employment-related services to people with disabilities, including training, job placement, job coaching and job-related accommodations. Here at The Ohio State University, Cyndi Mignone is the OOD "Ohio College2Careers" Counselor.  She can be reached at cyndi.mignone@ood.ohio.gov.
  • Disability Rights Ohio - https://www.disabilityrightsohio.org/ DRO provides legal advocacy and rights protection to a wide range of people with disabilities, including access to assistive technology, employment, and more.
  • World Institute on Disability - https://wid.org/ WID offers comprehensive tools, curricula, and services to help people with disabilities to advocate for themselves, make confident choices, explore jobs, earn and save money, and fully take part in community life.
  • Great Lakes ADA Center -  https://www.adagreatlakes.org/About/ The Center provides information, materials, technical assistance and training on the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). 
  • Southeast Vocational Services https://southeasthc.org/services/vocational-services/ Our Vocational Services program provides services to assist people with mental, emotional and other challenges to regain a productive life by focusing on employment, economic stability and life skills.
  • National Federation of the Blind (NFB) - Resources for Working: This site provides resources for both those seeking employment and employers.  For people seeking employment, there are a variety of discussion boards that can be accessed and uses, links to training centers, technology centers and state and local organizations. For employers, there are resources for information on Braille signs, courtesy rules of blindness, laws and regulations, and information about how to accommodate blind and low vision employees.
  • Office of Disability Employment Policy, United States Department of Labor: This site provides information for both job seekers with disabilities as well as employers of people with disabilities. Office of Disability Employment Policy does not enforce any laws, but makes them easy to access as well as provides resources such as information on assistive technology, education and training for the job search, as well as employment support.