[nabs-l] Part time/campus jobs

[Ashley Bramlett]

Hello,

I did not qualify for work study but was eligible for part time work at my 
university, Marymount university.
I had some of the same barriers you faced. I thought about working at the 
dorm desk as they needed desk staff to sign in visitors or student guests to 
the dorm.
I did not apply because the job was too visual such as needing to check Ids 
at night. After midnight, you were supposed to scan your ID and show the 
desk worker.
If your school has information desk jobs where you mainly answer questions, 
this may be a good fit.

Tutoring may be an option. When I tried that at Northern Virginia community 
college though, the software system to track our tutees was partly 
inaccessible. Other tutors could make appointments but I could not.
I was let go of that position for another reason though.
So, just be aware that tutoring may have access challenges too.

You might want to see if working in the front desk of some offices is 
doable. It depends on the duties and if they use paper forms.

Good luck in finding a job.

Ashley
-----Original Message----- 
From: Kaiti Shelton via NABS-L
Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2016 1:35 AM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Cc: Kaiti Shelton
Subject: [nabs-l] Part time/campus jobs

Hi all,

I'm wondering if some of you who have done work study programs at your
universities could weigh in on this.  Being just 13 credits shy of
earning my degree, I'll be a part time student this year.  I'd like to
find a part time job on campus and do qualify for work study, but
there are also a lot of businesses within walking distance or a short
bus ride of campus that I could get to.  My issue is that I'm having
difficulty finding something that I think I can do throughout the
semester for a few hours each week that is accessible.  I had a
somewhat disastrous experience in my sophomore year with work study,
where I was hired to work in the computer lab for my department and
eventually was let go because due to an inaccessible main work station
I wasn't doing anything beyond babysitting the place (while that was a
big part of the job and the lab needed to be superfvised and cleaned
regularly, I wasn't able to edit and catalog the audio and video files
which are processed in the lab as well).  A lot of the readily
available jobs I'm seeing in the listings are in cafeteria food prep,
and I'm slightly hesitant to apply for desk jobs because while I do
have secretarial and receptionist experience it has only been at
blindness agencies that made sure to supply braille extension lists
and the like.  I know work study is practice for the real world, and
since I qualify for it I have just as much as a claim to a work study
position as a sighted student would, but a lot of the jobs seem to be
things that present with accessibility barriers that staff will not be
invested in sorting out for a short-term student employee, and I'm not
sure if battling them for it is really worth it if I can find
something that doesn't require so much effort just to get my foot in
the door.  I'm also looking for something that goes all semester long;
the telethon positions were an idea I was going to pursue, but they
tend to have pique times of the semester and not do much else.

I will say that my university has a wonderful disability services
office who I know would help with accessibility where they can.  In
the last case there were legitimate reasons for the accessibility
being an issue that was just beyond anyone's control, but both the DS
office and the music department made a good effort to give me equal
work opportunities before we saw how unreasonable that would be for a
simple work study position.  I also know what my rights are and how I
should be equally treated, but going into my last few classes and
prepping for my internship to follow, I really just don't want to
fight a long and hard battle to get into a job to make maybe $50 extra
each week.  Maybe some would agree, but thinking ahead to my next
steps after college, I'm just not all that invested in potentially
fighting the good fight like I know I may have to do in the true
employment arena.  I'm wondering if anyone has experience or positive
ideas of jobs that might be innately accessible or easily made
accessible.  I'd prefer campus jobs but I'm willing to look out in the
community as well; I just know the majority of things like food prep
and waitressing are probably going to be hard for me to score, as
would be working in any type of store since products move and I can't
read the packaging.

Tutoring is something I've already considered, and if I can find a
receptionist position that doesn't have a ton of print filing I could
potentially do that.  I know the dorms need desk workers and have a
sign in sheet, but I might even be able to make the students fill out
paperwork more than usual and accommodate that way.  What worries me
about that position is that the desk workers have to be a little
vigilant for anything shady that goes on, and I'm worried that the
potential for someone to take advantage of that would be very real and
considered a liability.  My other idea that I'm still thinking of is
tour guide.  I don't know if I'd get hired to do that one because they
tend to go for the stereotypical campus pride type of kids, and
although I don't make a bad poster child for my school I certainly am
out of the norm.  Still, I know my campus and all its little shortcuts
very well and as long as I could get hired, I think I could do that.
I'm still interested in hearing what has worked for others in case
none of these leads pan out.  Thanks in advance.

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