Our Disability Recruitment Services and employment expertise is based on nearly two decades of recruiting, screening, and hiring early career professionals with disabilities for private and federal government customers.

Our CEO, Joyce Bender, is a business woman with disabilities-epilepsy and a hearing loss.  She is an international expert and advocate on the employment of people with disabilities with extensive experience in executive search. Bender Consulting Services has a national presence in the disability community, as well as a network of educational institutions that offer two and four year degree programs; community and disability non-profit and social services entities; and veterans’ organizations that span the country.  

Our company aligns customers with the most qualified candidates with disabilities to be considered for their open positions. We have experience recruiting for a variety of competitive career fields including:

  • Information Technology
  • Engineering
  • Finance/Accounting
  • Human Resources
  • Office Administration
  • Health Care
  • Legal
  • Mathematics
  • Biology
  • Other General Business Areas

 

Private Sector Disability Recruitment Solutions

Bender Consulting Services has connected private sector employers such as Bayer Corporation, Highmark, CSC, and Northrop Grumman with associates with disabilities in over 20 states throughout the United States. We are able to customize our business model to meet the needs and environment of our clients.

Our contract-to-hire business model offers our customers the opportunity to hire individuals with disabilities first as a contract resource for an initial period, with the ultimate goal being conversion to a direct associate of the hiring company, pending acceptable performance. Companies are able to interview candidates who have been screened by Bender based on position and organizational fit requirements. Your hiring managers select the candidates they wish to hire and Bender engages the candidates as consultants working on assignment at your site. During the contract period Bender provides the salary and benefits to the consultants, while your company pays Bender an hourly fee. Upon completion of the contract, the Bender consultants are eligible to be hired by the partner company, pending acceptable performance, with no additional fees incurred by the partner company at the time of conversion.

Throughout the contract period, Bender is available to assist with performance management. If at any point during the contract assignment, there are any concerns that need to be addressed, a Bender Account Manager will work with both the Bender consultant and the hiring manager to develop a plan to rectify the issues in a timely manner and to the customer’s satisfaction. Bender consultants joining your workforce through our contract-to-hire business model also participate in a career-reality training seminar and orientation prior to starting with our clients. This seminar focuses on employer expectations and professionalism. Issues discussed during the training include proper business attire, accountability, flexibility, and other characteristics an employee needs to exemplify, not only to maintain employment but to advance their career. Our proactive approach to addressing common missteps of new employees in our career-reality training and the support of the Bender Account Manager throughout the length of contract assignments have resulted in approximately 90% of all Bender contractors converting to direct associates with our client at the end of their contract period.

Our direct-hire-mentor business model is a great fit for companies who, due to organizational structure and other business factors, prefer to hire employees directly. This model allows partner companies to leverage Bender’s disability recruitment and workplace mentoring services while hiring a candidate directly into their workforce. Under this model, Bender will recruit and screen talent with disabilities for your open positions. We will assist your organization by acting as a liaison between our partner company and the applicant with a disability during your internal application, screening and interviewing, and on-boarding processes. After a selection is made by your hiring manager, Bender provides mentoring during the first six months of employment, up to and including performance management if needed. Experience has taught us that our mentoring services are critical to ensuring successful outcomes for both the hiring companies and the people with disabilities selected for the jobs. These services can be customized to meet the specific needs of our client partner.

To learn more about how we can assist you with your disability recruitment needs, please click here to tell us about your company’s needs.

 

Federal Government-Specific Disability Recruitment Solutions

Federal agency hiring managers and human resources personnel interested in using Bender Consulting Services in order to increase their pool of talent with disabilities can do so by accessing the Bender-OPM Shared List of People with Disabilities or using the OPM Blanket Purchase Agreement to customize their own specialized recruitment outreach plan.

The Bender-OPM Shared List of People with Disabilities is a database of screened Schedule A eligible candidates, including SSI/SSDI beneficiaries and Veterans with disabilities, for career opportunities in major metropolitan areas throughout the United States. Job occupations of candidates in the Shared List include accountant, budget analyst, contract specialist, contact representative, financial analyst, HR assistant, HR specialist, IT specialist, secretary, and miscellaneous clerk opportunities. OPM’s partnership with the Social Security Administration targets recruitment of SSI/SSDI beneficiaries for inclusion in the OPM Shared List.

If you are a federal human resources or hiring manager and are interested in accessing the Shared List for your recruitment needs, please contact Sherry Lapaglia at slapaglia@benderconsult.com or 412-446-4447. The Shared List is only available to federal human resources or hiring managers with a valid .gov or .mil email address.

If interested in referring individuals with disabilities, including SSI/SSDI beneficiaries and Veterans with disabilities, to be considered for inclusion in the Bender-OPM Shared List of People with Disabilities, please instruct applicants to submit their resume online and select ‘OPM Shared List’ as their area of interest.  All applicants applying for consideration must successfully complete our screening process for one of the above career areas. Applying for consideration does not guarantee placement in the Shared List.

The OPM Blanket Purchase Agreement process allows federal government agencies to utilize Bender Consulting Services recruitment expertise in order to conduct outreach to individuals with disabilities in order to meet their agency’s specific recruitment needs. The Blanket Purchase Agreement allows agencies to utilize OPM’s contract to customize their recruitment with Bender Consulting Services. Each plan is tailored to the recruitment and resource needs of the specific agency.

If you are interested in accessing the OPM Blanket Purchase Agreement for federal recruitment needs, please contact Mary Brougher at mbrougher@benderconsult.com or 412-787-8567.

 

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