DMD MATCHMAKING Matchmaking is perhaps the most important element of making DMD a success and helping all participants come away with a positive impression. It’s about matching interests and meeting expectations. You need to be especially concerned about the expectations of Participating Employers and Mentees. MANAGING EXPECTATIONS – PARTICIPATING EMPLOYERS It’s important to remember that Participating Employers may bring certain assumptions and expectations to DMD based on past experiences with similar types of activities. One of the current strengths of DMD is that it provides Local Coordinators with the flexibility to plan events that suit the needs of individual communities. This includes organizing events for Mentees with diverse ages, maturity levels, education levels, and levels of job readiness. Because each Local Coordinator will develop unique activities – limiting AAPD’s ability to be precise in explaining exactly what will happen across the country – it’s imperative that Local Coordinators be clear with all Participating Employers about what they can expect from their Mentees. There are at least three scenarios that Participating Employers may be expecting: * Job-ready individuals interested in specific career paths at their companies/agencies * Individuals interested in career paths that in the future might make them suitable for the employer’s industry (e.g. information technology, public service) * People with disabilities generally exploring the workplace, who may or may not at some point be interested in the employer’s companies/agencies Local Coordinators should find out from Participating Employers what their business- or agency- wide interest in DMD is. Each of the above scenarios are a useful approach to DMD, and each has pitfalls that should be avoided. Employers seeking job-ready individuals. This is an extraordinary opportunity to translate DMD into internships and, ultimately, job offers. Many employers are looking for people to fill specific types of positions and may approach DMD as a way to identify the pool of talent that is either immediately or soon available. The pitfall here is that employers could come away with a bad impression about DMD (or, worse, about the employment of people with disabilities in general) if expectations aren’t met. An employer expecting someone who might be groomed as an engineer, for example, may be confused and disappointed if matched with an inexperienced high school student who hasn’t yet identified a career interest. An employer also might be frustrated if a Mentee makes cavaliers remark about how he or she has no interest in considering working for the Participating Employer. Employers identifying potential future talent. This also presents opportunities for linking DMD to longer-term interaction with the employer, perhaps in follow-up visits or future internships. The pitfalls aren’t quite as dangerous. In this situation, Local Coordinators should be careful to match Mentees who have at least tentative ideas about the careers they want to pursue and be interested in the possibility of further involvement with the Participating Employers. Employers hosting student Mentees with minimal career direction. This provides an opportunity for employers to participate in DMD and learn more about the employment of people with disabilities in general. Most importantly, the goal of this model is to demonstrate the overall potential of people with disabilities by providing the employer with Mentees who are interested in learning about careers and are committed to improving their employment- related skills. The one thing to avoid here is matching this type of an employer with a Mentee on the job market who may pressure the employer about job opportunities (when the employer is approaching DMD as a way to help prepare young people for employment and does not have immediate job openings). As long as the Participating Employers and Local Coordinators understand the same expectations, DMD can be successful for everyone involved. Keep in mind that in a given community different employers may have different expectations. MANAGING EXPECTATIONS – STUDENTS & JOB SEEKERS There at least three possible scenarios that Mentees may be expecting: * Employers that are actively looking for interns or employees in their career area; * Employers that can provide insight into what a specific career path is like and offer targeted career advice to help in refining career goals; * Employers that can demonstrate what the workplace is like in general and offer guidance about how best to prepare for the workforce. As with the employer scenarios, each of the above sets of expectations are a useful way to approach DMD, and each has pitfalls that should be avoided. Local Coordinators should find out as much as possible about what prospective Mentees expect to get out of DMD. Mentees seeking internship and job opportunities. This offers a tremendous opportunity to present employers with possible new recruits. Mentees should go to their Workplace Mentors with resume in hand and be prepared to ask about job opportunities. It is important to help prepare the Mentee before DMD about how best to present oneself to an employer. Be careful, however, about giving Mentees the impression that if they don’t get some kind of follow-up opportunity that they did something wrong. Internships and jobs are the ultimate goal of DMD, but Mentees should glean as much insight as they can from their encounter with an employer. Workplace Mentors may best be able to help Mentees with preparing for generic job opportunities (not specifically within their companies/agencies). The day can be a good practice run for job interviews. Mentees seeking targeted career advice. This is a great opportunity to motivate Mentees to see the connections between school and work and refine their career goals. The pitfalls are comparatively small. Local Coordinators should try to match a student with a workplace mentor who has similar career interests, yet encourage students and job seekers to recognize that they can gain valuable insights from any workplace mentor. Mentees seeking general exposure to the workplace. This bears the least risk with respect to Mentee expectations. Encourage Mentees to think not only about what they get out of their experience, but also how they can help their Workplace Mentors appreciate the talents of people with disabilities. LEAVING TIME TO MAKE THE BEST MATCHES The more time you have to match Mentees and Workplace Mentors the better. If you’ve collected good information from applications far enough in advance, you will have an ability to make the best matches among your pool of participants. It also gives you the opportunity to recruit additional Mentees or Workplace Mentors to meet very specific requests that carry some of the higher levels of expectation. AAPD recommends that you set the deadline for receiving student/job seeker applications for at least 3 weeks prior to the event, then aim to complete all matches by 2 weeks prior to the event. COMPONENTS OF GOOD MATCHMAKING People with all types of disabilities and wide ranges of education and employment experience can benefit greatly from DMD. Here are a few things to consider when making matches for the day. Expectations. Understanding the expectations of all participants is the most important part of making a good match. Thinking about participants with the above scenarios in mind can help in matching people with similar levels of expectations. Type of Setting. Some Mentees may be better suited to group activities than individual activities, or vice versa. Be mindful of Mentees’ confidence levels and communication skills when setting them up for one-on-one mentoring. If Mentees don’t have clear ideas of what careers they want to pursue, being paired up or visiting an employer in a group setting may be more effective. On the other hand, an ambitious student who wants to talk specifically about his or her interests may be bored by being part of a large group. Areas of Interest. If students and job seekers don’t have a good grasp of what career path they want to choose, try to find out generally what subjects or activities they enjoy. Use your own judgment to consider what types of careers Mentees might enjoy most. The “Career Clusters Worksheet” in Appendix B may be helpful in this regard. Accessibility. Make sure that any prospective mentor’s workplace is suited to Mentees with accessibility needs. Diversity of Jobs within a Business/Agency. Remember that every business/agency has jobs that may not be what immediately comes to mind. A high-tech computer company, for example, will have public relations, human resources, support staff, and other personnel as well as engineers. Be creative: you may be able to match Mentee interests in ways that don’t immediately come to mind. Long-Term Career Goals. Regardless of Mentees’ current levels of education and experience, pay attention to their long-term goals. A Mentee interested in running a company or an agency may not be the best match for a Workplace Mentor who is in more of a behind-the-scenes details position, even if the subject area is a perfect match (e.g. information technology, science). Stretching. Consider how you can match students and job seekers with Workplace Mentors who will challenge them to think creatively about what they might ultimately do. Don’t prematurely limit Mentees to a certain line of work. WHEN MATCHES ARE HARD It won’t, of course, be possible to find the perfect match for every Mentee and Workplace Mentor. There probably won’t be an ample supply of Workplace Mentors for future rocket scientists, for example, and it may not be possible to fill an employer request for college senior accounting majors. You may have more Workplace Mentors than Mentees, or vice versa. Here are some things to keep in mind: * Do the best you can. Be open with both Mentees and Participating Employers about trying to find the best possible match, but not being able to find the perfect match. * Some participants who had very specific expectations may be willing and even excited about being matched with someone with different career interests. * You might be able to double-up Mentees with a single Workplace Mentor or match a single Mentee with two Workplace Mentors (spending a portion of the time with each). * Consider working with Mentees and Workplace Mentors to find matches later in the year. * Be prepared to turn some people away. It may not be possible to place every Mentee or find someone for everyone who wants to be a Workplace Mentor. Encourage them to get involved next year. KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER * Be cognizant of expectations about refinement of career interest and job readiness in addition to subject/career area * Set an early and firm deadline for receiving applications so you have adequate time to make matches and coordinate logistics * Be creative with making matches! Sometimes the subject areas may not be the most important criteria – the priority could be matching according to level of responsibility and leadership * Do the best you can to include as many people as possible and make good matches, but remember DMD is not an exact science and it’s okay to limit the scope of your participation