UA STUDENT SPEAKS AT NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CAREER OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - University of Arkansas Management major, Denna Lambert, recently made a presentation at the national Career Opportunities for Students with Disabilities (COSD) conference May 13-15 at Microsoft corporate headquarters in Seattle, Washington. She spoke to a group of 200 human resource personnel and diversity coordinators representing corporations, universities, community colleges and technical institutes from all over the U.S.

Lambert has not allowed her visual disability to deter her educational advancement nor her career planning efforts. She wants to educate others about the importance of maintaining high standards and attaining independence as a person with a disability. Her COSD presentation focused on identifying staunch misconceptions some recruiters have about what to expect when interviewing people with disabilities and outlining how the job application and interviewing process can be unnecessarily tedious or even completely unworkable for candidates with disabilities.

"Please do not assume, I, a student who happens to be blind, lack ability," Lambert said. "Assume that I am a competitive candidate for the competitive position. The recruiter's job is to determine whether my skills, education, talents, leadership potential and other related characteristics best meet the position at hand and the company's strategic plan."

Some of the challenges she has faced in the interviewing process as an upcoming business graduate include: being asked to possess a valid driver's license, company Web sites not being set up to accommodate technology that provide speech and Braille output for the computer and concerns over whether disclosing the visual disability would deny her advancement in the interview process.

"I can be just as successful as the next person," Lambert said. "All I need from you is an open mind, social and technological access and an opportunity to show that I am just as good and even better than what you could have hoped for. Allow me to succeed by my own merits and fail by my own faults. Expect great things from me. I, like many other students with disabilities, will meet the challenges with intense vigor and dedication."

Lambert will graduate in December 2003 and plans to pursue a career geared towards developing people, whether in a corporate, government or educational environment. She has had an outstanding career at the University of Arkansas, evidenced by her involvement with: Walton College of Business Dean's Student Advisory Board, National Council on Disability, ASG Delegate, Emerging Leader Mentor, 2002 N.F.B. National Scholarship Recipient, and National Youth Leadership Network.

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Beckye Bates, University of Arkansas Career Development Center, (479) 575-7379, rabates@uark.edu