« May 2008 | Main | July 2008 »
June 18, 2008
How Would You Focus This job Search?
Today's eSight Case Study focuses on Edward in New Jersey.
Edward, who is totally blind, says he needs help in figuring out where to look for work.
He says he wants to use his interpersonal and business-oriented technical skills to help an employee-oriented company achieve sustainable growth.
A 1994 cum laude graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, Edward has worked as a contract employee through Lift, Inc., for Verizon Wireless.
Lift, Inc., is a non-profit corporation that qualifies, trains, hires, and places information technology professionals (IT) who have physical disabilities through contracts with major corporations which eventually hire them directly.
During his four years (2000 to 2004) with Verizon as an IT programmer analyst, Edward designed, updated, tested, and maintained reports using computer program languages such as Cobol, DB2 SQL statements, JCL, PROC, and Xpediter. He also participated in a large-scale, time-sensitive DYL280 project. Verizon named him Employee of the Month in May 2001.
He’s also done recruitment work for Lift, Inc., and has researched and developed a screen reader for blind computer users.
Edward says he realizes that job leads from working blind professionals in IT would be helpful. He turned to Mike Burks, an eSight member and a seasoned IT professional, for advice. Mike has a great deal of knowledge and experience in making electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities.
Mike contacted eSight about Edward’s situation.
Edward has been applying for government jobs through www.USAJobs.gov, but, so far, as he says, he “hasn’t had any luck.”
What advice do you have for Edward as he tries to focus his job hunt?
This eSight Case Study is Edward's actual situation, which raises several disability employment issues. Offering Edward your advice will benefit all of us within the eSight community.
If you need career management help or advice from members of the eSight community, send some background information about yourself and your question to MemberServices@eSight.org
Posted by Jim Hasse at 10:40 AM | Comments (17)
June 11, 2008
Sidestepping Barriers to Connect With First-time Contacts
Today's eSight Employment Tip is how to effectively connect with a key networking contact in a world where most of us are using today’s technology to manage personal contacts with people on our own terms and on our own timetable.
Two weeks ago, eSight member James J. Elekes, M.Ed, MPA, CPM, sent me these observations:
"Over Memorial Day Weekend was speaking with several recent college grads with disabilities. All expressed this same question:
"'I've met many individuals who are likely to be quality contacts when networking as I begin my Employment Search. Unfortunately, they may not always be at their desk or they use voice mail to screen their calls. What can I do to overcome these barriers and connect?'
"I thought about that question for awhile. My suggestions for addressing this issue are along the lines Barbara Safani offers at TheLadders.com:
"The critical key to successful networking follow up is to be persistent without the other party knowing it."When you call a networking contact for the first time and you receive his or her voice mail, leave a message. Make sure to be short but concise and include your name, where you met or who referred you to the contact. State specifically, 'I'd like a few minutes of your time to discuss (a specific topic).'
"If you don't get a call back that day, your follow-up strategy should be to call every day at different times without leaving additional messages. You might call and leave a message on Monday, then follow up at 11 a.m. on Tuesday morning, noon on Wednesday, 3 p.m. on Thursday and 4:00 p.m. on Friday.
"If, at the end of the first week, you don't reach the contact, consider an e-mail. Or early the next week call just prior to the start of his or her business day or slightly after the close of the business day. If you believe this contact is an essential networking contact, be persistent.
"If you send an e-mail, don't keep following up in this manner because you'll likely be labeled 'spam.’ If you get the contact's voice mail, don't leave additional messages. If you vary the timing of the calls, you increase the likelihood of getting the contact in person."
Networking is so important as a strategy within a job search campaign that eSight has researched and written about it extensively.
Here are four eSight resources about the how, when and why of networking:
Read "How to Use Informational Interviews for Job Research, Networking," which reviews five sites that show you how to use informational interviews to conduct research about careers, jobs and companies and make key contacts within your field of interest.
Read "Essential Career Marketing Tactic: Making Appointments by Telephone," which offers tips about how to effectively make appointments by telephone for your information/referral interviews, a crucial step in your career marketing campaign.
Listen to the audio tape about "Networking as a Job Search Strategy" by Julie Jansen, author of "I Don't Know What I Want, But I Know It's Not This: A Step-By-Step Guide to Finding Gratifying Work."
Listen to "How to Build a Vast Personal Network of Supporters" by Olegario "Ollie" D. Cantos VII, a recording.
After reviewing those resources, please reply to this discussion question:
What works best for you in getting beyond gatekeepers so you can effectively connect with first-time contacts?
Sharing your tip now will help us all become better at networking, the key to getting jobs which are rewarding and meaningful to each one of us.
Posted by Jim Hasse at 10:41 AM | Comments (5)
June 03, 2008
Breaking Barriers, Both Legitimate and False
Just two months ago, David Paterson became governor of New York. His blindness became national news.
"The concentration that I have had to engage to make this adjustment sometimes feels overwhelming," Paterson told The Associated Press last Wednesday.
As a visually impaired person who doesn’t use braille or a screen reader, he suddenly found himself outside his comfort zone. He worried that he’d forget the names, the briefings, the facts and figures he had committed to memory.
"That was a little frightening, but I think I’ve gotten past that point," he said.
In his first extensive comments about his disability, Paterson, who took the job March 17, also speaks with pride about how his unlikely ascension has taught him to embrace his disability and may help others be more comfortable with theirs. He rose from the lieutenant governor’s office when Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned amid a prostitution scandal.
Another New York governor, fellow Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt, once hid his polio by using secret doors and hallways in the Capitol.
But Paterson is up front about being legally blind. Paterson said people with all kinds of disabilities -- those who have to turn to hear people talk or sit in a wheelchair when others are standing -- face daunting "ancillary disabilities."
"It’s how it makes you feel as a human being, and that’s the reason that a lot of people try to hide that," he said.
"I had been, on occasion, accused of trying to hide my own disability," the governor said.
"But now, to be able to be myself and have it known ... I think there are a lot of people who have a lot of different problems who feel more empowered."
He said, "If that’s the case, I’m feeling pretty good about that aspect of the job."
See the Associated Press interview with Gov. Paterson.
Paterson’s comments remind me of the four key points Michael T. Bailey, Portland, OR, made at the 30th anniversary celebration of Disability Rights Wisconsin, a protection and advocacy agency, in Madison Saturday night.
Bailey is a national leader in the parent and self-advocacy movements, civil rights attorney and author on empowerment, self-determination, self-advocacy and institution closure. He has a daughter, Jill, who has Down’s Syndrome.
Bailey pointed out that Jill has helped him become aware of four realities:
The first reality is that disability is a normal part of every-day life – and has been throughout history. About 14 percent of the U.S. population has some type of disability; that increases to 41 percent in people who are 65 years old and older.
The second reality is that American culture has tended to hide and shun those with disabilities. That tendency has gradually fallen by the wayside during the last 30 years. In 1978, Wisconsin had 30 “special” schools for kids with disabilities. I attended one of them. Now Wisconsin has two.
The third reality is that the abilities of individuals with disabilities are often underestimated by others -- even those close to them. Bailey accidently discovered recently that Jill could tie her shoes, a surprise for him because her teachers had set that as a goal year after year during grade school with no apparent success. Jill finally admitted to her Dad: “That was a dumb goal.”
And the fourth reality is that accommodations for those of us with disabilities are not unusual because we, as vulnerable human beings, all require some form of accommodation. At no small expense, for example, hotels routinely provide chairs, as an accommodation, for those who attend conferences without wheelchairs or scooters. Offices provide extensive lighting for those who can see, when it is not needed for those who are blind.
Both Paterson and Bailey are helping change perceptions in government and business. Over the years, our eSight members have echoed, within a disability employment context, what they are saying: Among decision makers, false perceptions, not prejudice, are our real barriers.
Shattering such false perceptions is achievable -- even though it may have to happen within one person (one hiring manager, one supervisor, one co-worker etc.) at a time.
That means determining whether a specific perception is legitimate or false and then addressing it in the most appropriate manner.
For example, consider Don, an owner of a small specialty foods distribution business, who says:
“I’m concerned about the imposition a worker with a disability would have on others in our office.
“How would our present employees treat that new worker with a disability? What extra work would they have to do to ‘cover’ for that new worker? Would that lead to resentment among our present employees?
“This truly could be a disadvantage for me as an employer. I want to do the right thing, but I don’t want to unnecessarily disrupt our work flow.”
How do you evaluate Don’s concern? What’s the best way to address it?
Posted by Jim Hasse at 12:16 PM | Comments (3)