[Faith-talk] Employment for the blind, top tips for a successful job interview.

[Paul]

Well, when I began my employment as a medical transcriber back on April 15, 
1970, I was one of the probably very few fortunate blind people in that my 
late father, who was a postmaster then, knew an eye doctor, Thomas R. 
O'Rourk Jr., by name, who mentioned that the medical records director at the 
hospital where I eventually gained employment, owed the good M.D. a favor, 
and that favor was hiring me.  And no, facilities were not what you would 
call blind-friendly, but we had quite an adequate amount of transcribers in 
the transcribing pool at that time, and they were so helpful in that 
department.  And yes, as I recall Dr. O'Rourk did mention my blindness and 
that was no problem with Miss Finney, the director of medical records at 
that time.  She was a strict disciplinarian, but also fair at that time, 
keeping all her employees on their toes and not chattering, and this went 
for other areas of the department such as coding, charting, putting 
individual patients' charts away, sending copies thereof to the doctors who 
needed them etc.  Sure, there were setbacks, but all in all it was a good 
almost 31 years of employment.  In my opinion the key to not only get 
employed but to please your employer is sometimes to work harder than your 
sighted co-workers.  Paul
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Doris and Chris" <chipmunks at gmx.net>
To: "Faith-talk,for the discussion of faith and religion" 
<faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, October 21, 2013 1:34 AM
Subject: Re: [Faith-talk] Employment for the blind, top tips for a 
successful job interview.


> You raise a few very inersting points. I wonder also if and what are 
> cultural points in this.
>
> The question of whether or not to mention blindness in the job application 
> is one that really intersts me as I have had different recommendations on 
> the subject.
>
> First of all - and to connect this toto our faith *g* - there is the 
> commandment of "not bearing false witness", or in plain language not to 
> lie.
>
> Some people have given me the advice, though, not to mention my blindness 
> in my letter of application or my resume so it would not influence the 
> employers decision of whether or not to invite me for an interview as I 
> would not apply for a job I was not qualified for.
>
> Other people, like you, recommend being straight forward about my 
> blindness  and confident so that I convince the employer of my ability to 
> handle the job and not create the impression  that I am likely to give 
> false information or create the impression I am not confident I can handle 
> the job.
> Thanks bunches and God bless,
>
> Doris
>
>
>
> At 06:13 AM 10/21/2013 +0200, you wrote:
>>Hello everyone. Good time wherever you are, whenever you're reading this 
>>message. I hope you all are keeping really well. as all we know, the 
>>hardest part of permanently chartering a blind applicant, is the fact that 
>>most of the workplaces are not equipped with the major facilities that the 
>>blind needs to cope with the job demands, and to adequately accomplish a 
>>task. It's a complicated part of the subject, but, it is an undeniable 
>>fact. Most of the time, company directors would throw the argumentative 
>>assertion, that the vast majority of blind people, are unemployable. Well, 
>>in spite of the emotional aspect of that statement, let us be more 
>>realistic, and let us ask the question; Are the blind people sufficiently 
>>prepared for the jobs they apply to? Most of the blind workers are hired 
>>as callcenter agents and so forth. But even so, when you are in the 
>>process of getting a job, you need to follow some instructions, which 
>>hopefully assists you, in positively impressing your interviewer. Here are 
>>some tips to present yourself professionally. Firstly; writing your 
>>Resume. How you write your Resume? A Resume is a summary of someone's 
>>former education and work experience. Here are some basic tips, of how to 
>>present your Resume professionally. 1; Identify yourself. At the beginning 
>>of your Resume, you should write your name, your current address, place of 
>>birth, date of birth, and a valid contact information, that includes, 
>>telephone, cellphone, and E-Mail. 2; Career objective. You should write a 
>>brief statement, describing the field of your interest, and why you are 
>>interested to pursue in that particular field. So, for instance, it could 
>>be as follows. " To find a challenging opportunity to pursue in the field 
>>of telicommunication  profession, by which I can exert my skills, and to 
>>demonstrate my firm adequacy to the sufficient paramount". 3; Your work 
>>experience. You should write a brief outline of your work experience, 
>>stating your job description, the date of its commencement, the date of 
>>its termination, and the reason of why you had to leave the job if that is 
>>relevant. 4; Education and credentials. In the next section, you are 
>>expected to summarize your degrees and certificates, starting from what is 
>>higher, to lesser degrees. Mentioning your Bachelors first, followed by 
>>highschool certificate. 5; Stating your qualities, along with its pros and 
>>cons. In this section, you should talk in brief about your qualities, 
>>mentioning both of your advantages, and disadvantages.   6; Stating your 
>>interests. In this section, you should briefly talk about your interests 
>>and what hobbies  you like. Such as, reading, exercizing, socializing, and 
>>so on. At this point, you can congratulate yourself, you're almost done. 
>>You just need to revise the contents of your Resume with a professional. 
>>Good luck. Secondly; in preparation for your interview. Now we have 
>>written our Resume, it is time now to share some major tips for passing 
>>the interview successfully. It is a standard manual, which works for the 
>>blind and the sighted alike. 1; Revise your Resume. In preparation for 
>>your interview, you should speak in accordance to what your Resume 
>>contains. Don't go beyond, don't exaggerate, avoid inaccuracy, and you 
>>should precisely refer to the information given in your Resume. 2; Study 
>>about the company. It's not exactly that you have to study about the 
>>company, but, you must read some basic information about the company you 
>>are going to. Read about its foundation, principles, accomplishments, and 
>>of course, the privacy statement of that company. 3; Dress smart and 
>>elegantly. Simply, have a decent outfit on. It doesn't need to be 
>>something expensive. It could still be simple, but nice looking, ironed 
>>etc. Have your hair fixed, shorten it if its too long, take a lovely 
>>refreshing shower, and, put on perfume. 4; Please, arive on time. The 
>>initial impression the staff of the company will develop about you, is 
>>essentially based on the time of your arrival. Thus, it is absolutely 
>>unrecommended to be late, not even for a brief period of time. 5; At your 
>>interview. Be quite specific, speak confidently, and stay up to the point. 
>>If you were asked about Y, don't talk about Z. Don't be talkative. And at 
>>the same time, sell yourself to me. Try to significantly convince me, that 
>>you are the one, that I should hire. The concise your phrases are, the 
>>better. Have a brilliant smile as you speak. But avoid the really big one. 
>>Talk about your own strategic scheme in dealing with stressful situations, 
>>if you were applying for a customer care agent position. Talk about your 
>>future plan within five years. Be practical, and avoid inconsistency. 
>>Avoid copying some memorable phrases, and speak within your own. 6; Well 
>>the final point, and the most important one, particularly for blind 
>>applicants. Please, don't ever hide your blindness, either in your Resume, 
>>it should be explicitly stated, as well as on your telephone interview, 
>>prior to the actual one. Please, don't ever assume, that veiling your 
>>blindness is better. Well, it certainly isn't. If you do so, they will 
>>consider you a dishonest individual, and you might be rejected based on 
>>that negative conclusion. That's just my humble opinion, and of course, 
>>other blind people may have different schools of thought on that regard. 
>>Of course, that type of attitude may vary, from a place to another, 
>>depending on how your community is well informed about adaptive 
>>technology.    I hope this was useful for everyone. And I wish you all a 
>>successfully productive, and prosperous day. Mostafa Almahdy. 
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>
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