Job Hunting for the Disabled
Job hunting is often seen as more difficult for people with Disabilities. It doesn’t have to be. The point to remember is that Disability , is directly related to what you are trying to do.
Honestly, it’s that simple.
Recently on a work at home board, someone responded to one of my posts saying they were sorry my job options were limited. I wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that at first, because my first thought was, Isn’t everyone’s? I have a friend who is a brilliant mathematician, but they can’t string five words together in a sentence. Her job options are limited to jobs that don’t require writing. My friend knows this and she doesn’t look for jobs that require writing. She also doesn’t look for jobs that require bi-lingual Spanish. She doesn’t speak Spanish. Jobs that require, Cold calling , on the telephone are out as well. Disabled people simply need to follow the same logic.
A blind Person, isn’t, Disabled , if they are working as a touch typist transcribing doctor’s notes. The entire idea of touch typing is that you aren’t looking at the keyboard.
A deaf person isn’t, Disabled as a writer. All correspondences can be done by mail, email or Instant Messenger’s. You aren’t required to hear, to write.
Disabled people may not need, accommodations on the job, if they pick the right jobs. I’m speaking from experience here. My co-worker and bosses rarely find out that I’m deaf, until at least a year after I’ve been at the job. Because I pick the right jobs, it never occurs to them to ask. It rarely occurs to me to tell them.
It helps to have a plan, and it can help a lot to write it down. Treat the disability like a piece of computer software you don’t have. It can be about as important. I have two lists when I am job hunting, simply labeled Yes and No . The, yes list is things I have or can do. The , No , list is things I don’t have or can’t do. I don’t have Microsoft Office, so that’s on the , No list. Somewhere further down on the list is, Hearing , some where underneath that is , phone work . The fact that I don’t have Microsoft office is higher on the list because it actually limits me more than my lack of hearing.
On the, Yes , list is things and abilities I have. A DSL connection ranks pretty high on this list. So do my writing and English skills. Do some brain storming, ask some friends if you have to. You’ll likely find the , Yes , list is longer then the, No . When I am looking through jobs ad’s, I check them against both lists. I apply for the ones with the most, Yes checks, and hopefully not a single, No . Somehow, I don’t have a very hard time finding jobs. Like my friend the mathematician, I stick to what I can do.
Because, Disability , depends directly on what you are trying to do.
