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April 25, 2006

When to Tell About Your Guide Dog

During Barney Mayse’s stint as guest blogger, the April discussion on the eSight Networking Forum has generated some down-to-earth tips about how to put job interviewers at ease, make the transition from school to work and become independent of disability employment services.

I’d like to thank Barney, Jo, Hanneh, Bill, Tricia, Ivis, Fred, Liz, Peter, Christy, Bill, Jake and Kevin for their helpful insights.

Each week recaptures a spring-time feeling. Like apple blossoms, fresh issues about disability employment pop out of our budding dialogue.-- observations you don’t always hear outside of our global, cross-disability, cross-generational community on eSight.

In the process, we’ve probably generated more questions than answers, some as generic as whether networking really does work when you’ve touched all the bases and you’re still jobless after a year-long search.

I think those unanswered questions show we need each other. They remind me of this quote Barney Mayse includes in his e-mail signature:

"To truly be independent requires us to become interdependent not on the system but on each other."

Some issues that have bubbled up have been more specific -- such as this one from Jo, for instance, who wrote on April 14:

"...In speaking with my VR counselor this morning, she said at one point, 'Maybe you should look for a job where having a guide dog isn't a factor. Maybe that's why you're not getting jobs.'

"Later this afternoon someone else said, 'If you let them know in a resume or cover letter that you have a guide dog, you're dead in the water.

"What thoughts do you have about this issue, considering the fact that I've not often worked with VR? Do I surprise my interviewer at the door with my dog?"

Please enter your suggestions for resolving Jo's predicament.

Posted by Jim Hasse at 03:27 PM | Comments (15)

April 19, 2006

Becoming Independent of Disability Employment Services Through Networking

I have had conversations with people who spend their days trying to find employment for people with disabilities. During those conversations, it’s sometimes implied that it may be wise to have someone in a rehab agency, placement service or another part of the disability employment services sector act as a mediator between a job candidate with a disability and prospective employers.

As a result of those conversations, I’m convinced there is a dialogue that needs to take place between employers and job candidates with disabilities. Both need to better understand what works well (and doesn’t work well) when it comes to hiring a person with a disability in the mainstream job market.

It’s true that I did not volunteer to be disabled or ask to be given this opportunity. However, disability is part of my life -- with all of the good and the bad that goes with it.

So, my initial reaction is that using a go-between, which could have some merit if it were universally considered another form of networking, suggests, instead, in the real world that somehow I am not able to do the job or, at least, unable to show others, myself, that I can do it.

If I want employers to feel at ease with me, I need to feel at ease with myself. I need to take the lead and demonstrate that I’m qualified, capable and ready to do the work.

That applies to accommodations, too. Employers often think that an accommodation for a person with a disability will be expensive. The truth is that it can be but often is not. I need to grapple with this issue and take the lead in knowing what accommodations I need, how much they cost and how they affect an employer’s operations.

Now that may seem like I’m shouldering an unfair burden, but, if I’m going to get my foot in the door of preferred employers, I simply cannot wait. I need to take action myself in gaining job interviews and gaining an understanding about the accommodations I need.

I am not asking to be treated with kid gloves. I’m just asking for a truly level playing field in which wheelchairs, service dogs, mobility devices, and assistive devices of all kinds are accepted as part of everyday life (which, in fact, they are). A level playing field is one in which people with disabilities can and will be hired for their abilities (not their disabilities).

Disability is a natural part of life. It can happen to anyone at anytime. It can create some hardships, but it can also offer opportunities. It often creates new ways of doing things we once took for granted.

So, the two questions we must pose to employers during job interviews are:

  1. Do you have any questions about my ability to perform the key functions of this job?

  2. Do you have any additional questions for me regarding my capabilities?

Close the interview by asking for the job (assuming you want the job) in the following manner:

This allows you to close loops and determine where to devote your energy.

As a person with a disability I have the obligation to educate those who will listen about my capabilities and determination. I am seeking allies in my search for employment. To those who will not listen, it is their loss.

Attitude will always carry the day, and, if I have come to terms (a lifelong process) with my disability, my behavior will demonstrate my competence, professionalism and ability to see work through to completion. My behavior will win me friends and allies, and I will find employment.

Disability is part of my life but it does not define my life. I am the person who defines my life. No company, corporation or outside entity has the power to define who I am or who I will become. I will walk up the hill, swim up the stream because I can and I know that I do not walk or swim alone.

Yes, I will probably work harder than many others, but, at the end of the day, I will know that I have earned what I work for.

Barney Mayse
Disability Advocate
The Whole Person, Inc.
email: bmayse@thewholeperson.org

What is the most effective way you've found to network your way into a mainstream job interview?

Posted by Barney Mayse at 09:59 AM | Comments (10)

April 11, 2006

Making the Transition From School to Work

The eSight Networking Forum, under the direction of April’s guest blogger, Barney Mayse, has come up with some very practical job hunting tips during this last week.

Note especially the comments submitted by Jo, Tricia, Ivis and Fred. All good stuff!

Take a look at these helpful tips yourself.

Please add your own tips, if you have not already done so. Barney will resume the discussion next week.

For this week, I’d like to draw your attention to the comment another eSight Networking Forum participant submitted on April 5.

Here’s what Hanneh wrote:

"I am a legally blind person who is currently working on her Master's degree. I have successfully completed all my classes with a 3.8 GPA. I am an out going individual, hard working and ambitious. I never let the fact that I am legally blind stop me from doing anything!

“Yet, it has been so hard for me to find a job. I am looking to work for a larger company, maybe in the New York City area, in the fields of public relations and marketing. But I have been encountering difficulties with getting even an interview. Can you please help me?

“Thank you!"

Please reply to this discussion question:

What steps do you find most helpful in making
the transition from school to work when you
have a disability?

Posted by Jim Hasse at 03:50 PM | Comments (6)

April 04, 2006

Putting Job Interviewers at Ease

The whole job hunting process can be extremely tough at times for a person with a disability.

However, there are certain things that work well for each of us and propel us to the next hurdle and then over the top.

For me, personally, attitude sets well at the top of the list. I know that, each day to some extent (depending on how things are going), I can re-invent myself. Re-invention can provide another view of the multi-dimensional person I am. As a result, I can picture myself being attractive to employers who want to interview and hire me.

Imagine for a moment that you are the employer and looking for someone just like you.

How would you want that person to be? What key characteristics would you need to have to employ yourself? How would you present those characteristics in your cover letter, resume, and interviewing style?

A congruent, self-confident picture of a talented and skilled individual will emerge at some point as you go through this process of reflection. This is something that can be done whenever you need to get a boost. If you have trouble doing this yourself, ask a close friend or someone who can act as your mentor or coach. For those of us here, perhaps we can help each other go through this process in pairings of twos and threes.

Remember, we can pose an issue that we currently have on this forum and discuss it publicly, but we also always have the option of e-mailing one another for more private conversations.

As a starter, I will put myself front and center and ask for your comments, suggestions and ideas about one issue I currently have: putting job interviewers at ease about my walker.

I use the walker for mobility purposes, and, when I approach an interview, the first thing the interviewer sees is my walker.

I am quite comfortable with my walker, but I have met people who are not. During job interviews, I want to talk about my walker but do not necessarily want to volunteer that I have MS. I know the walker can be viewed as a hindrance, but I want to have interviewers see it as simply an aid.

Barney Mayse
Disability Advocate
The Whole Person, Inc.
bmayse@thewholeperson.org

So, here is this week's discussion question:

What suggestions do you have for my presentation during job interviews that can help the interviewers be at ease with my walker?

Posted by Barney Mayse at 03:24 PM | Comments (14)