Cal State Northridge officials hope to make this search a little easier with a "Career Information Exchange" on Thursday, April 26, that will link deaf or disabled people with employers.

"There are an estimated 1.23 million people with disabilities in the Los Angeles area, about 60 percent of them are unemployed. We hope that this exchange - job fair, really - will open doors and provide opportunities," said Terri Goldstein with CSUN's National Center on Deafness, which is hosting the event. "This is an opportunity for people with disabilities to learn about working and for employers to learn about people with disabilities."

Not only will there be companies offering jobs, but the university will have people at the exchange demonstrating adaptive technology to show employers how to effectively use their disabled employees.

"It¹s a two-way process," Goldstein said. "We hope this event opens doors not only for those who come, but for others who may come behind them."

The exchange is scheduled to take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Grand Salon of the University Student Union on the east side of the campus at 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge.

Among those employers expected to take part are the American Red Cross, California Highway Patrol, Coca-Cola Bottling Co., Federal Express, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept., Social Security Administration, The Boeing Co., Software Dynamics Inc., Washington Mutual, Xerox, Twentieth Century Fox, and NASA.

In all, more than 30 companies will be on hand distributing information and recruiting to fill jobs, internships and volunteers opportunities at their organizations. For more information, call Goldstein at (818) 677-6355 or e-mail her at terri.goldstein@csun.edu.

Cal State Northridge is internationally recognized for providing services through its National Center on Deafness to people who are deaf or have other disabilities.

The career exchange is being offered by the center's Career WIT, a collaborative effort between two grant-sponsored projects from the U.S. Department of Education and a contract from the State of California. The program provides essential career development services for people who are deaf or have other disabilities, and training for employers through the Americans with Disabilities Act.

California State University, Northridge has more than 29,000 full- and part-time students and offers 58 bachelor's and 50 master's degrees. Founded in 1958, it is the only four-year university in the San Fernando Valley.