In my experience, the earlier I start advertising access assistant job openings, the larger the pool of candidates I get to chose from and the better quality of access assistants I end up hiring. It is best to start advertising to the student body well before classes start.

The University of Florida Disabilities Resource Center and I found that the most effective method for finding access assistants was to distribute job fliers in relevant academic buildings. University website postings can also be used effectively. It may also be beneficial to utilize resources beyond your school's disability services; getting your department and your state's services for the blind involved can help you to cast a wider net.

A skill that I emphasize in job advertisement and interviews is computer competency. I want my access assistants to be able to convert documents, enter and organize data, build charts and graphs, perform searches and locate scientific articles, etc. without needing my constant supervision.

Once, at the University of Florida, the disabilities office hired an access assistant for me who didn’t know how to use a web browser. On her first day on the job, I asked her to open Safari and perform a search. When she asked me how to do that, I realized she was not suited for the job. This was also the day that I decided I needed to begin conducting my own access assistant interviews.

In order to advertise Access Assistant positions to the University of Minnesota student body, a Disabilities Resource Center advocate and I designed and posted fliers in the Chemistry, Math, Biology, Physics, and Computer Science buildings. In response to inquiries, we sent potential job candidates more comprehensive job descriptions. Below, I’ve inserted images of these two documents that are links to their pdf versions. I hope you find these examples useful as you design your own job advertisements.