[nabs-l] Tips for soon-to-be grads who are looking for work

Arielle Silverman arielle71 at gmail.com
Sun Jul 28 05:26:43 UTC 2013


Hi all,

I know everyone says that the best way to get a job is through
networking. It's quite true, but sometimes it's hard to figure out how
to network. I'm not the expert on networking by any means, but here
are a couple of ideas that have worked for me:

One good piece of advice is to ask for a reference letter from any
professors you connect with who seem to like you, or anyone for whom
you work as a volunteer, like as an intern or research assistant. You
should ask as soon as your relationship with that person ends, rather
than waiting until you have graduated or are ready to start applying
for things. I've been on both sides of this because I have had
research assistants I supervised ask me for letters. Sometimes they
don't actually need the letter until a few years after we stop working
together,  because they are younger students and/or decide to take
some time off before applying for grad school or full-time jobs. It
always helps if they tell me right when we stop working together that
they might want a letter in the future, so I can write down things
about that person while my memory of them is still fresh and then when
they come to me later asking for a letter I remember who they are and
how they stand out. Also, it's best to request letters from people you
actually spent time with one-on-one rather than just professors you
had in big lecture classes. I have heard professors complain about
students they had four years ago, in a big lecture class, asking them
for reference letters and feeling like they couldn't possibly write a
good letter. Going to professors' office hours is a great way to build
that relationship with them so they will be more able to write you a
good letter (and can also help you excel in their class). Professors
are required to sit around in their offices waiting for students so it
is no inconvenience to the professor to come visit them in their
office, and good professors will appreciate the chance to connect with
their students in this way.

Also, if you meet someone at a conference, a  speaker on campus, or
anyone else in your field whose work sounds interesting, you can
approach that person or get their contact info and send them an email.
Ask to hear more about what they do, and tell them that you are a
student wanting to learn more about their job, research etc. I've done
this twice and it is not something that comes naturally to me since I
can be a little shy, but it has actually worked amazingly well for me.
At least in academic circles, I've found that people who enjoy their
jobs want to mentor younger people and help them get involved in their
line of work. If these individuals are impressed by your resume or
your academic accomplishments, they could invite you to work for them
as an employee or  volunteer or at least inform you about job
opportunities and help recommend you to other employers.
Finally, if you think you might want a job that even remotely relates
to blindness, NFB forums and conventions can be a great place to
network. I got offered a job last year by a research team who first
connected with me through NABS, because they were looking for blind
consumer help with their research. They did not know that I had social
science background, but just approached me because I was involved with
blindness advocacy. There are likely other employment opportunities
with blindness agencies, legislative groups, etc. that could benefit
from your feedback and experiences as a blind person. If you're
interested in  doing assistive tech work, for example, it might
behoove you to walk around in the exhibit hall at national and get to
know some of the reps from the various AT companies.

I would be interested in hearing about other strategies that folks
have used for networking.

Best,
Arielle

On 7/27/13, Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
> Gloria,
> What do you want to do? FYI, you cannot exactly use a psychology degree
> without being under someone's supervision. You have to have a masters in
> psychology to practice therapy independently.
> However, a related job using the people skills you studied in psychology can
>
> be obtained.
> You may be able to get a support role job in the federal government under
> Schedule A, the hiring authority  for disabled applicants.
> You may also be qualified for a job in sales, marketing, or outreach in a
> nonprofit if that interests you.
> Sociology is also a good major. Its interesting; I loved my intro to
> sociology class.
> Ashley
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gloria G
> Sent: Saturday, July 20, 2013 8:18 AM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Tips for soon-to-be grads who are looking for work
>
> Hi,
> This is a great question and any suggestions will be welcomed. I just
> graduated this past spring with a bachlers in psychology and sociology and
> am worried about finding a job. This is a scary situation to be in.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "melissa Green" <lissa1531 at gmail.com>
> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2013 10:20 PM
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Tips for soon-to-be grads who are looking for work
>
>
>> this is a really good question.
>> I am interested in the answer as well.
>> I am looking for jobs currently.
>> there may be something different for me.
>>
>> Blessings,
>> Melissa Green and PJ
>> Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot
>> drive out hate; only love can do that.--Martin Luther King, Jr.
>> facebook Melissa R Green
>> twitter: melissa5674
>> Linkedin www.linkedin.com/in/melissagreen5674
>> skype: lissa5674
>> Goodreads Melissa Green
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Anjelina Cruz" <anjelinac26 at gmail.com>
>> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2013 5:21 PM
>> Subject: [nabs-l] Tips for soon-to-be grads who are looking for work
>>
>>
>> Good evening all,
>> As a soon-to-be grad from college in December, I'm starting to put
>> serious thoughts into what I need to do in hopes I'll be able to find
>> work. I'm planning on using my career center, job fairs on campus or
>> networking to find possible employment opportunities.
>>
>> For those who are working: what tips could you offer blind students
>> who are looking for work? Are there parts of the process you wish you
>> did differently? Was blindness a big barrier to finding employment?
>> Thanks for any thoughts or advice.
>> --
>> Anjelina
>>
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>
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