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

Fri Jul 24 18:17:06 UTC 2015

You handled that perfectly. 
Justin.

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bryan Duarte
via nabs-l
Sent: Friday, July 24, 2015 12:49 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Bryan Duarte <bjduarte at asu.edu>
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Disclosing That I am Blind on job/internship
application process?

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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