State of Delaware - Delaware Employment Link

Overview of Disability Resources Menu

Selective Placement

About the program

″Advancing employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities is the right thing to do as a society. It's the smart thing for government to do. It makes business sense.″ Jack Markell, Former Governor

The Selective Placement is a program designed to give individuals having a physical or mental impairment that impacts his/her ability to participate in the competitive selection process a way to apply for state merit positions without competitive recruitment.

Individuals wishing to obtain employment in a State of Delaware merit position through the Selective Placement should contact the Department of Human Resources Selective Placement, the designee for the Director of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR), and/or the designee for the Director of the Division for the Visually Impaired (DVI) to get started. Their contact information can be found on the Contacts tab.

How to Get Certified

Delaware's Division of Vocational Rehabilitation or Division for Visually Impaired will need to certify whether the individual has a disability using the standards in the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you are a person with a disability and wish to participate in the Selective Placement Program you must contact either DVR or DVI to begin the certification process. The individual does not have to be receiving services from DVR or DVI at the time in order to be certified as eligible. Certification for this program does not preclude individuals from applying competitively for other State jobs.

You can find DVR and DVI's contact information on the Contacts tab.

The Application Process

Once certified as eligible, the applicant should complete the practice application found on the Delaware Employment Link (DEL).

Instructions on how to access the practice application.

The more detail you provide about your knowledge and work experience the better. Give dates of employment and thorough information about your job duties (past and present). Document specific employment experiences, education taken, or volunteer experience in the application and/or on your resume.

Notify the Selective Placement Program Manager and your Employment Specialist for DVR or DVI when you have completed the practice application.

Meeting the Requirements

When the Selective Placement Program Manager receives the practice application it will be reviewed to determine which job classifications fit the applicant's training and experience. A list of job classifications is then sent to the applicant and they must select the ones that they have an interest in applying to.

Next, a Supplemental Questionnaire (SQ) is sent to the applicant for the selected classes. The Supplemental Questionnaire is a series of questions to determine if you meet the job requirements for that particular class. You will need to document specific employment experiences, education taken, or volunteer experience that demonstrates that you meet or exceed the job requirements for each question. If you document experiences in your narrative, make sure you have also included these experiences on your application and/or on your resume.

Submit the completed SQ's to the Selective Placement Program Manager for evaluation.

Next Steps

The Supplemental Questionnaires are reviewed and the Selective Placement Program Manager will forward you a list of the job classifications that you meet the requirement(s) for.

You will fill out a Selective Placement (SP) Application in the Delaware Employment Link for each job class that you wish to be considered for.

Directions for filling out the SP application.

Once your applications are in our system the hiring manager can view them and consider your application when they have an opening for that classification.

The hiring manager will contact you if they wish to interview.

If you are offered the job, you will serve a probationary period in accordance with Chapter 9 in the Merit Rules or the prevailing union contract, if applicable.