Applying at WeCo

Below are tips for completing your WeCo application, and preparing for and attending your interview.

If you have questions about applying for WeCo roles, please feel free to reach out to WeCo Operations: [email protected] or 855-849-5050 x 3

Completing an Application

Your application is your first chance to make a good impression. Here are some of the things we look for in a good application.

1. Select The Role You’re Applying For: Before your fill out your application, read through the available roles on our website. Select what you’re interested in. Then, read the position description carefully.  This will help you provide more complete, and correct, information on your application.
2. Use Correct Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation: Make certain that the spelling, grammar and punctuation are correct.  If you aren’t certain, ask a friend, family member,  job coach or teacher, to review it for you.  Applications that look sloppy or rushed, are less likely to be accepted for interview consideration.
3. Complete the Entire Application: Incomplete applications are the primary reason applications are not considered for our roles.  Take your time and make certain you complete each required area.
4. Use Volunteer Experience as Part of Your Job Experience: At WeCo, many of us who live with disabilities began our careers as volunteers.  Know that you can showcase your skills through your volunteer experience on your application.
5. Include Requested Samples: Make certain to include samples of your work, if a position requires it.
   For example: most WeCo Public Relations Internships and Roles require writing samples be attached to the application.
6. Provide References and Give Them Notice: References help us learn more about you. Be sure to include both types on your application (see below.)
   IMPORTANT: Ask each of your references if they are comfortable being your reference, before you list them on your application.  Let your references know that WeCo might be contacting them for reference information.
   1. Personal Reference: Someone who has known you in an area outside of business, for the past two years.  This might be a friend, a relative or someone you know from a club or church affiliation.
   2. Business Reference: Someone who has worked with you in the past, either at a job or in a volunteer position.  This should be in the past two years.

Preparing for the Interview

WeCo interviews are often given online or over the phone. If you are local to the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area (Minnesota), you may be asked to interview at our office for your second round. Being prepared for your interviews will make you more relaxed, and help us get to know you and your capabilities.  Here are some suggestions on how successful candidates prepare for their interviews with us.

1. Review the Position Description Several Days Before Your Interview: WeCo provides a position description for each role we seek to fill.  Review it and, if you don’t understand all of the role requirements, do your own research. You may be able to answer your own questions through an internet search and come into the interview with more knowledge.
   EXAMPLE: A Public Relations Internship role lists Hootsuite as a tool that will be used.  Hootsuite is offered in a free form that allows you to try it.  Do this before your interview so that you understand what it is.  You may also take the time to view free training on Hootsuite so you can speak with more confidence about it, even if you haven’t worked with it before.
2. Research WeCo Several Days Before Your Interview: Coming into your interview understanding what WeCo does, and how we do it, will add strength to your interview. Read our website, sign up for our social media feeds (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the Disability Employment Center on LinkedIn) and emails.
3. Review and Practice Interview Questions: This is one time when planning what you’re going to say ahead of time, is a great idea. Research common interview questions.  Review them and write down your answers.  Then ask a friend or family member to role play with you.  Practicing an interview is a great way to gain confidence!
   1. Use Interview Questions to Showcase Your Strengths: Questions like, “Can you tell me about a time when you made a mistake on the job and how you handled it?” are kind of like us setting up a perfect baseball pitch for you, right across the center plate.  Our hope is that you’re going to tell us that you are a professional who knows how to accept responsibility and correct mistakes.   Take advantage of this opportunity in every question of your interview.
   2. Use Your Disability to Showcase Your Strengths: At WeCo, we view disabilities (or “diffabilities” as we often call them) as a skill set.  If you live with a disability, tell us what you’ve learned from yours and how it makes you a more viable candidate.
   3. Prepare Questions to Ask Us:  We often find great candidates based upon the excellent questions they asked us during their interview. Why? Because their questions say a lot about them.  They show us how interested they are in what we do, how much they care about our mission, how excited they are to begin the new role.

Attending the Interview

When you receive an interview request from WeCo, you know that we are interested.  This means that you’ve already done a good job of selling yourself to us! Build on that success with the following tips used by our most successful candidates:

1. Be Early: Whether the interview is online or in-person, showing up early shows you’re interested.  It also demonstrates that you respect other’s schedules and are likely to carry that over to working on our teams.
2. Dress the Part: The in-person interview is your chance to show us that you are the professional we want to hire.  We recommend formal business attire.  For men, dress pants, dress shirt, sweater or jacket and dress shoes.  (If you really want to impress us, a tie is great.) For women, dress pants, skirt or dress, and dress shoes.
3. Bring an Electronic Resume: Resumes help us get to know you, your skills and experience.  You can email them to us when you accept your interview invitation, if you did not attach one to your application. Because nearly everyone at WeCo lives with a disability, we no longer use printed resumes.
4. Phone and Video Interviews:
   1. Practice Logging On Days Before: Feel free to log on to our virtual conference room days ahead of your interview.  You’ll receive the link in your interview invitation. You can contact us if you experience issues.
   2. Clothing: Wearing interview appropriate clothing for phone interviews helps you feel, and sound, professional.  If you are using a video interface, dressing the part is essential.
   3. Visual Background: Make certain that the background you’re showing in a video interview is business appropriate. If your office is a bedroom, for instance, consider using a book case as a backdrop, instead of your bed.  You can also put up a decorative screen to change the scene.
   4. Background Noise: Be aware of where you’ll be when you attend your phone or video interview.  Will it be the time of day when the neighbor’s dog barks? Will there be other distractions that will make you feel less relaxed, or interfere with our ability to hear you?  We are happy to work with you to schedule your interview at a time that works best for you, and your surroundings.

Disability Employment Connection (DEC)

Join the Disability Employment Connection (DEC) Group on LinkedIn to get ongoing tips for employment, connections with other job seekers, and possible connection to employers looking to hire. Click on the “Request to Join” link at the top left-hand side of that page.

"Disability employment isn't just something we do, it's our mission and part of our business plan."

-Lynn Wehrman, WeCo President/Founder