The American Association on Mental Retardation launched an online employment service yesterday to connect employers and job seekers in the disability field.
The service, called Career Connections, lets job seekers post resumes for free on the association's Web site, www.aamr.org. Employers can post their first job for free until March 31. Thereafter, employers will pay $125 for positions paying $30,000 or less, $200 for positions paying $30,000 to $75,000 and $275 for positions paying more than $75,000.
“We hope this will help people looking for jobs in the disability community by offering them the ability to come to one source and look for those jobs,” said Charles Helman, director of chapter relations at the AAMR, Washington.
The service also notifies job seekers via e-mail when an employer posts a job that fits their qualifications, Helman said. It also lets people forward listings to friends.
Meanwhile, the service lets employers directly reach professionals in the disability field, Helman said. The field has a high turnover rate because of low wages, he said, and the service would enable employers to replace workers quickly by providing them access to people seeking positions.
The AAMR last week promoted the service via e-mail and direct mail to its 9,000 members, Helman said. It also announced the service through the same mediums to about 35,000 other people in the disability field, he said. The non-member names were obtained from a variety of relevant lists, he said.
