[nabs-l] If or where to include center training on a jobapplication.

[Rania Ismail CMT]

I just put ware I went for my training and said attended an 8 month rehab
program and when I was at the center.
Rania,

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Cynthia Bennett
Sent: Friday, July 20, 2012 8:40 PM
To: National Asociation of Blind Students
Subject: [nabs-l] If or where to include center training on a
jobapplication.

I am currently job searching and running into a quandary.

If a stranger looked at my resume, it would appear that I ended work
in August of 2011, and that I have not worked since. When in reality,
from September to April, I was attending BLIND, Inc. and could have
not worked very much even if given the opportunity.

Sharing the blind thing before appearing at an interview has always
been a tossup for me. I always love giving my first impression in
person so I have more control over the first impression than allowing
some HR assistant's mind to marinate in all of the possibilities of
bad stereotypes only to throw my application out because of some
"excuse."

But I am starting to think that maybe this gap on my resume is hurting
me more than including blindness training as a part of my education.
But therein lies another problem. I do not have nearly enough space on
my resume to properly explain blindness training. I have included
supplemental documents sometimes. If I feel it is appropriate for a
certain job, then I go ahead and divulge it. I provide a plethora of
information and give the website and contact information if they are
so inclined to learn more. I definitely do this when gaps in
employment require explanation.

But right now, I am working with an online application with no place
to upload a supplemental document. There is just one place for a
resume, and in my cover letter, I want to focus on the job
qualifications rather than explain 8 months of unemployment. Normally,
I would submit my application and be done with it, but as I keep
submitting more and more unanswered applications, I am always
wondering what I could be doing better.

Thoughts?

If there is a short way to convey that I went to a great center and
learned great skills, what is it?

I know that we could go on for volumes about whether blind people are
still discriminated against in the workplace, good job finding
strategies, etc. but I would appreciate if direct replies to this
message pertained to the question at hand and that emails regarding
other blindness and job related issues be introduced with another
subject line.

Thanks.

Cindy


-- 
Cynthia Bennett
B.A. Psychology, UNC Wilmington

clb5590 at gmail.com
828.989.5383

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