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November 14, 2006

How to Make Myths Work for You

Have you ever felt that a job interviewer was thinking
the following thoughts as you tried to show why you
were the best candidate for a job?

You’re not capable.
You can’t keep up.
You’re dependent.
You have a low opinion of yourself.
You believe people always take advantage of you.
You’re always angry.
You’re an easy mark.
You’re a whiner.
You’re a trouble maker.
You’re a liability instead of an asset.

Those are some of the common misconceptions about people with disabilities that are still alive today in the minds of some employers.

Such myths are like invisible elephants which sometimes squeeze in between you and a hiring manager during a job interview, blocking any real communication or any real understanding. As a result, you don’t get hired, and you don’t know why.

Those 10 myths (and probably many others) are real.

Your challenge, according to Debra L. Angel and Elizabeth E. Harney, authors of "No One is Unemployable: Creative Solutions for Overcoming Barriers to Employment," is to learn how to make such commonly held myths work for you instead of against you.

Having those invisible elephants follow you around from job interview to job interview can be a drag. You basically have three options for dealing with the herd. You can become a victim, a rebel or an exception.

Angel and Harney say that considering yourself a victim or becoming a rebel does not work in the job market. Those two responses only lead to despair or anger.

Instead, the authors recommend, position yourself as an “exception to the rule” so that your personal herd of elephants is not just invisible. It's no longer there.

Presenting yourself as an “exception to the rule” means job interviewers see you as a “profit generator” instead of a “liability to the bottom line,” in spite of the fact that there may be a little extra cost in time, money and effort due to expected accommodations.

Job interviewers see you as capable, independent and motivated. And you’re a problem solver.

Below are portions of comments that two bloggers posted to the eSight Networking Forum this last week. They’re both eSight members who know how to set themselves apart as exceptions to popular myths about job seekers with disabilities.

Suzy writes:

“I tell people (as a counselor) to watch info commercials and listen to how they are selling the product. Then think of yourself as a product and how to sell yourself.

“…(After) giving permission to the prospective employer to ask me questions (about my disability), I then let the interview continue about my skills and abilities. That gives me an equal playing field with others competing for the position.”

Barney notes:

“Living with a disability forces each of us to become problem solvers extraordinaire. These same problem-solving skills are transferable to the workplace.

“What questions do you have about my ability to perform the essential functions of this position? Let me show you how I would do them.

“That demonstration of proactive problem solving (shows) how professional and capable we are.”

During the 90s, we began to hear stories about “super crips,” those of us who surprised others with what we could do at work. Those surprises or even smidgens of success in a mainstream job sometimes yielded "super crip" stories about us at work -- a context others perhaps used to reconcile our apparent physical disabilities with our abilities to properly apply mainstream work skills.

That happened in my own career.

In fact, by conducting myself in the same professional manner as my colleagues, I received recognition because my achievements were unexpected due to what others considered severe disabilities. Other abled employees, exhibiting the same conduct, did not receive such recognition. That gave me an advantage, even during mergers and reorganizations in which abled colleagues would seemingly be in line for my job.

By 1985, I had become known as “an over-achiever” by my CEO -- maybe not true or accurate but helpful to my career because I showed that some myths about individuals with disabilities were, at least in my case, invalid.

I had a “personal brand” (an image not entirely shaped by myself) in the 1980s before personal branding became popular.

Today we have many “over-achievers” -- exceptions who are changing “the rule.” And they are positioning themselves as “individuals” instead of “representatives” of people with disabilities.

I don’t consider my by-chance reputation as an exception a “sell-out” to the mainstream community because I subsequently touched a lot of people by being employed in the mainstream and had a chance to introduce more “exceptions” about disability employment to a diverse group of employers through my day-to-day business contacts.

Today, with so many exceptions, the rule in the minds of many people is no longer the rule of 50 years ago. The myths about people with disabilities working within a mainstream employment setting are gradually being abolished.

What’s the toughest disability employment myth you’ve encountered during your job searches? How can you make it work for you instead of against you?

Posted by Jim Hasse at 05:39 PM | Comments (2)

November 07, 2006

The Value of a Good Answer

Two weeks ago, at a workshop for updating skills in career development facilitation, I heard two individuals who help technical college students with disabilities develop career management skills concur on this observation:

"We don't know where this comes from, but we find students with disabilities generally have some catching up to do (compared to the general student population) when it comes to knowing how to sell themselves to employers as viable job candidates."

I was not surprised to hear that lament, but I was surprised to hear two in-the-trenches people actually question why students with disabilities have difficulty "selling themselves" in this age of self-promotion.

After all, turning a disability into a positive in the eyes of an employer is not easy. It requires insight. It takes extra work.

Here are a couple of extra questions non-disabled job candidates usually don't have to ask themselves as they develop their job marketing programs:

That kind of preparation for a job hunt is well worth the extra effort. The keys to getting it done are introspection, perception and projection. Again, it's not easy, but it's doable.

Debra L. Angel and Elizabeth E. Harney are authors of "No One is Unemployable: Creative Solutions for Overcoming Barriers to Employment."

Their response (in capsule form) to the above questions: Develop a "good answer" for a reply to questions about your disability and your ability to do a job and plant it in the back of your mind in case you need to use it -- something short and sweet that comes off the tip of your tongue naturally during a job interview.

Ideally, your "good answer" can act as a transition from talking about your disability to describing your work skills during that job interview so the interviewer can focus instead on what you can offer the company or organization.

To develop your "good answer" to a real and/or perceived disability barrier to employment, the authors first ask you to consider these two questions:

To find the key to your "good answer," the authors suggest that you search for reasons why the barrier should no longer concern the employer.

Can your barrier be used to further qualify you for a particular job? Or, can you show how overcoming the barrier has helped you develop skills or knowledge that a prospective employer needs (such as resourcefulness, planning or persistence)?

By developing a "good answer" for yourself, you'll minimize your fear of job interviews and exhibit more self-confidence because you'll begin to see yourself and your situation in a positive light.

Here are three examples of "good answers" I've collected during the last year or so:

First from Mary:

"I have some sight, but I'm legally blind. However, my visual impairment has become more of help than a hindrance to me as an online content editor because I use computer screen magnification and screen reading software to enhance my ability to thoroughly proof text before it goes online. In some instances, I pinpoint typos -- little things in the text that my current supervisor, who is sighted, misses."

Second from Tom:

"I don't drive because of my limited sight, but, under a range of work situations, I've learned how to team up with other workers to carpool. I usually volunteer to keep track of weather and traffic reports each day so we can avoid delays. I often keep track of ride-sharing expenses for the group, too. It's quite easy because I have screen reading software on my laptop, which I often carry with me. These ride-sharing experiences, by the way, have also taught me a lot about team work and group problem solving -- things I can apply when I'm at work."

Third from Bev:

"I'm sure you've noticed that I talk with some difficulty. This has not had an impact on my ability to manage a communication department, however, because I know how to effectively delegate the functions I cannot do well myself to others on my staff who can. In fact, I've found that, by developing my delegating skills and recognizing excellent performance among my staff members, I've been able to develop strong teams and future leaders for employers."

In her Assessment 2006 comments, Sharon F. wrote that she would find helpful a discussion about "strategies for successfully discussing disability in the job interview."

Below is a case study about Sam which touches on both the need for a "good question" and Sharon's request for a discussion about job interview strategies.

Sam has been job hunting for three months -- even before he was laid off last month from a software development company of 2,000 employees due to a merger in July 2006.

Employed by the company for 12 years, Sam had worked his way up through several promotions to group manager of customer relations within the division serving corporate clients when, in 2000, he started losing his sight.

During the last six years, Sam had worked as the company's only legally blind employee. He became innovative in adapting software and hardware solutions for his lack of vision so he could track projects with customers and communicate with his team.

But, now at 42, Sam fears that prospective employers believe he cannot keep up with the rapid changes taking place in software development and that adapting operations to his visual impairment would just be too much of a hassle for them.

During his upcoming job interviews, how can Sam use a "good answer" to help an employer make the transition from his disability to what he can offer the company?

Posted by Jim Hasse at 05:19 PM | Comments (4)