[nabs-l] Disclosing That I am Blind on job/internship application process?

Fri Jul 24 18:15:39 UTC 2015

The correct term is someone who has a disability. You wouldn't say someone
who is disabled.  If you do that with true proes in the field, they will get
you for that. The theory is that a disability does not make you disabled.
Justin.

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kaiti Shelton
via nabs-l
Sent: Friday, July 24, 2015 1:17 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Kaiti Shelton <crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Disclosing That I am Blind on job/internship
application process?

Hi, Miso and all,

I'm in a position where my field helps people who have disabilities.
I would be very selective in using this, but if I'm applying to work in a
school's special needs program I might say, "As someone who is disabled I
believe I will have a greater sense of empathy and knowledge of disability
issues than someone who does not have a disability."  That could also lead
into talk about role modeling and the student feeling more comfortable
discussing disability issues with me than their non-disabled parents,
teachers, friends, etc. However, if I'm applying for a job in someplace like
a hospital setting, where disability is not the main thing, I would say the
same but say, "As I have been hospitalized as a child to undergo surgeries
and other treatments," instead of the disability bit.

I currently hold two jobs and am waiting to hear back from another where
blindness was a factor in my hiring process.  One sounds similar to yours in
that it is an accessibility tester for my school, and the other is at a
center for the blind in my hometown where I work the phones at the front
desk.  I have 2 separate resumes to use when applying for one or the other
kind of job; for jobs that don't want to hear about blindness stuff I've got
a very clean-cut resume, but for jobs like this and the disability services
office one I interviewed for I have one that mentions the access technology
I can use, the braille codes I know, my experience working with others who
have disabilities, etc.

You also have to be careful on resumes with the scholarships; my "clean" one
doesn't mention the word blind at all, except for that I volunteered at one
place for the blind for a significant time under music therapists and the
center where I was a receptionist.  The other one mentions it far more,
including my NFB scholarships at the national and state level, the camp I
counsel for, etc.  Also on the clean copy I use "visually impaired" when
describing positions that have me working with blind people.  Not that I'm a
fan of doing that in normal life, but in my field it is the politically
correct terminology and it isn't as jarring as saying blind.

On 7/24/15, Bryan Duarte via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> I would like to share my recent experience with this topic. I was 
> recently contact by Google to explore my career opportunities with 
> them in the Software Engineering field. They had a copy of my resume 
> in hand already and I do not disclose that I am blind but I do make 
> several references to my research focus areas, student organizations I 
> am apart of, and my student clubs I operate. Each of these areas on my 
> resume give insight to my focus on the blind and low vision community. 
> I also make reference to the different tools I use and am proficient 
> in including the screen readers I use and Braille display.
>
> Now during this initial contact I talked with the recruiter for about 
> an hour before he eventually began telling me how the interview 
> process would operate. I would be expected to use google hangouts to 
> share my screen and google docs to share with an engineer so they 
> could watch me write code collaboratively. This part was ok I still did
not disclose my blindness.
> Next he explained that if I were to be moved to the next stage of the 
> process they would be flying me out to Mountain View California for a 
> series of follow up interviews with four more engineers where I would 
> be expected to write code once again, but this time it would be 
> writing it on a white board. For software engineers this is a common 
> way of laying out code when working on teams so I was familiar with 
> the possibility this would be asked of me. Now I had a decision to 
> make here. I could disclose my blindness and give them the opportunity 
> to make accommodations for me a head of time, or I could show up to 
> the interview concealing my disability and potentially set myself up 
> for failure. I continued to listen intently to how the process was 
> going to work and when he asked me if I had any questions I took this
opportunity to say, "Yes actually I do have a question and a few comments."
> I went on to explain that I have no problem using google hangouts and 
> google docs to write code, but I did have a little issue with white
boarding code.
> My exact words were something to the effect of, well you might notice 
> my references to all the focus on blind accessibility and assistive 
> technology, he replied yes, and I told him it is because I am a 
> software engineer who has no problem developing software with the best 
> of them but I do it as a blind person. As you might guess he was able 
> to read between the lines when he reviewed my resume and already had a 
> pretty good idea but as a good recruiter he was not going to ask the
question unless I first brought it up.
>
>
> To sum this up I will be having an interview with Google engineers 
> this August and if I should make it to the second stages of interviews 
> they are well aware of my disability, my need for accommodations, and 
> more than willing to make those necessary accommodations. I think we 
> as people with a disability in a world that is becoming more and more 
> aware of our presents and drive for equal and competitive employment 
> it is in our favor to wait for the right time and place to disclose 
> our disability in a way that makes it known we will be doing things 
> differently but we can and will still be committed to the opportunity 
> just as the rest of the people who interview. I hope this helps.
>
> Go Devils!
>
> Bryan Duarte
> ASU Software Engineering
> QwikEyes CEO
>
>> On Jul 24, 2015, at 8:57 AM, Justin Harford via nabs-l 
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>> You could put blind related experience on your resume. For example, 
>> if you served on the board of the Association of blind students at 
>> any level, you could put that on your resume as part of your experience.
>>
>> This is if you were looking to disclose.
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
>>> On Jul 24, 2015, at 6:00 AM, Suzanne Germano via nabs-l 
>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> My opinion if you put in on a resume you make it look like maybe it 
>>> is an issue. It is like at a career fair it would have been awkward 
>>> for me to say Hi I am Suzanne I am looking for an internship and I 
>>> am legally blind.
>>> What
>>> i did do was use my cane so they would know why I was squinting and 
>>> holding paperwork to my nose.
>>>
>>> If it is just an inconvenience then why put it on a resume? just 
>>> show up at the interview with your cane or dog.
>>>
>>> You resume should only speak to why you are a fit for the job. Now 
>>> don't hide it for example if you received and NFB Scholarship then 
>>> you add that under awards.
>>>
>>> Suzanne
>>>
>>> On Fri, Jul 24, 2015 at 7:38 AM, Carly  via nabs-l < 
>>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Morning, Justin,
>>>>
>>>> If blindness remains like a party line insists, nothing more than a 
>>>> what
>>>> do they call it,   mere inconvenience, then why aren't we encouraged to
>>>> be
>>>> forthright about this personal characteristic? Feels a little 
>>>> dishonest to me. Aren't we supposed to embrace this personal 
>>>> characteristic? For my part, I love my blindness, want people whom 
>>>> mix with me also to regard this blindness in a positive light.
>>>> Car
>>>>
>>>>> disability of any sort.  However, some situations do benefit you 
>>>>> to disclose such.  Usually, I wouldn't disclose until you have the 
>>>>> interview for sure, and I wouldn't do that unless my disability 
>>>>> was obvious upon sight.
>>>>> So,
>>>>> if
>>>>> you have a cane, dog, or something to indicate you have a 
>>>>> disability, in other words, your disability is not hidden, telling 
>>>>> the interviewer before you arrive lessens the shock value, and at 
>>>>> least gives you a better chance of having an honest interview.  It 
>>>>> also gives you the ability to better access whether or not the 
>>>>> place in question is a good fit for you; you are interviewing them 
>>>>> as much as they are interviewing you. Of course, you can just go 
>>>>> to the interview not having told them anything if you think that 
>>>>> is best, you are not required to disclose at all.  If you are in 
>>>>> need of an accommodation during the interview application or 
>>>>> interview process, then you have to disclose in order to receive 
>>>>> the appropriate accommodation.
>>>>>  I
>>>>> hope this helps.
>>>>>
>>>>> Justin.
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Miso 
>>>>> Kwak via nabs-l
>>>>> Sent: Friday, July 24, 2015 3:11 AM
>>>>> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>>>> Cc: Miso Kwak <kwakmiso at aol.com>
>>>>> Subject: [nabs-l] Disclosing That I am Blind on job/internship 
>>>>> application process?
>>>>>
>>>>> Hello everyone,
>>>>> What are your thoughts about disclosing our blindness when 
>>>>> applying to internships and/or jobs?
>>>>> I currently have a job (which is my first official job) so I have 
>>>>> done it once, but I had an easy way.
>>>>> My blindness was a major factor in being hired because I work for 
>>>>> making an accessible campus map for my university. I got recruited 
>>>>> because I was a blind student who was active on campus, so I did 
>>>>> not have to think about when and how to disclose my blindness.
>>>>> I am currently applying to different internships with hope of 
>>>>> getting one to complete one of my minor requirements.
>>>>> So I am a bit confused and concerned on how I should handle 
>>>>> disclosing that I am blind.
>>>>> Would you do it on case by case basis?
>>>>> For instance, if you were applying to an organization that mainly 
>>>>> serves blind client, would you disclose that you are blind, 
>>>>> whereas, if you were applying for a corporate internship or a baby 
>>>>> sitting job, you would not?
>>>>> I'd just like to hear your thoughts on this matter.
>>>>> Thank you in advance.
>>>>> Miso Kwak
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
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--
Kaiti Shelton
University of Dayton-Music Therapy
President, Ohio Association of Blind Students 2013-Present Secretary, The
National Federation of the Blind Performing Arts Division 2015-2016

"You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back!"

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