[nfbcs] Career Advice

Thu Oct 11 17:36:48 UTC 2012

Hmmm, guess I'm lucky.  I don't routinely put in overtime.  I'm on call
every 5 or 6 weeks, but the oncall has gotten a lot better over the years.
 Once in a while, I'll have to put in some extra work for a go-live, but
it's unusual.
The hospital I work for has used the same system for about 15 years, so I
haven't had to learn anything really new. We are moving to a new system,
but I have had time to learn the language we'll be using in between
projects for the current system.
There are definitely things that aren't accessible, but, so far, the boss
and I have found work-arounds. But they did just recently become
inaccessible; it might be a different story if I couldn't do them from the
beginning.
And, though I read slower than a sighted person, and can't take in a whole
screen at a glance, I know how to use Find and such to get the info I need
fast enough.
It is important to have excellent skills, both as a programmer and a blind
person.  I've been at my job almost 25 years.  I might not be able to get
a job anymore at an unrelated business, but I feel confident that I could
get one in my field, if I wanted to. But I expect to be where I am until I
retire.
I have a friend in another programming shop, and his experience is pretty
much like mine.  Looks like for once I came into something at the right
time.
Tracy

> Working in the computer field is a challenging experience, especially for
> a blind person (well partially sighted in my case).  Here are some things
> to consider:
>
> Know your craft thoroughly.  Be as prepared with your programming
> languages as you possibly can be.  Corporations are looking for people
> that can solve a problem quickly and who know where to go look when they
> donâ€™t know the answers.   Therefore, you need to be as knowledgeable as
> you possibly can be in whatever programming languages you decide to work
> in.
>
>  Know your weaknesses and have solutions in place before you go get the
> job.  Itâ€™s a competitive environment out there and the people that can
> get the job done right in the shortest amount of time at the least cost
> are the ones that seem to rise to the top at least in my company.  You
> need to know any limitations your disability places on you and you need
> to have a solution BEFORE you go to the job so it doesnâ€™t hurt you in
> your career and you can keep up with the normally sighted people.  For
> example, my reading speed is about 130wpm.  A normal person reads at
> about 250wpm.  You can see it will take me twice as long reading as
> someone else.  In my daily job, Iâ€™m constantly reading code on the
> computer monitor.  So you can see how a normal person without any vision
> issues will finish things before me.  Doing your best in this case is not
> good enough because youâ€™ll always be coming in last.  And that equates
> to less money at your performance review.  Trust me, I have 30+ years of
> experience to back me up on this.  If you think Braille, for example,
> will help overcome slow reading, or using programs such as Jaws, learn it
> BEFORE you get to the job so thereâ€™s no chance of supervisors forming
> opinions of how you work.
>
> Know that the job will eventually change, and sooner than later.  In my
> job, new technologies are always coming up.  The company is looking for
> faster and better ways of doing things.  And that means theyâ€™re trying
> new programming languages, new things to make us meaner and leaner
> programmers.  And that means that you have to learn quickly, and probably
> more often than you would like.  You may be required (not by your employer
> but just by the fact that you have to keep up) to spend extra hours in the
> evening learning if you donâ€™t have enough time during the day.  The
> years of learning a few things for your job and doing that for 5-10 years
> are gone.  Figure on having to relearn your job every couple of years
> depending on what new thing is coming out.  You have to ask yourself if
> you feel like  keeping up like that all the time, or if your disability
> will put limitations on you there.  You are definitely under pressure in
> these situations.
>
> Be prepared to work overtime.  If youâ€™re in a professional job such as I
> am and youâ€™re not as fast as others, itâ€™s going to take you more hours
> to do the same work in a time-frame that an employer considers normal.
> Iâ€™ve come to the conclusion I can probably never please my employer.
> Or, if you have to do the training thing, you may not get it all done in
> the course of 8 hours.  In my job, an 8 hour day is the thing of the past.
>  I work more like a 10 hour day just to stay even .. to make up for my
> poor eyesight.  Even with technology such as screen magnification and
> speech, and Braille, I still work a 10 hour day.  With the demands of the
> job, itâ€™s just the standard.
>
> So consider all these things.  Perhaps you can assess your situation and
> justify going into computer programming.  It is a good career, but to keep
> up and compete is a challenge.  Itâ€™s even moreso with a vision
> disability in my opinion.
>
> I don't want to throw cold water on things, but I've had a lot of
> frustration in my career.  It's no fun when you come in second most of the
> time and people seem to move ahead of you and nothing seems to work.
>
> ---- Tracy Carcione <carcione at access.net> wrote:
>> When I was looking for work with my programming certificate, I got an
>> offer from the IRS, but the salary was very low, and any programming
>> would
>> have to be approved by head office in DC.  I declined the offer, and
>> soon
>> got a much better one.  Even though I started at a low, trainee salary,
>> it
>> was still significantly better than the IRS was offering. Though perhaps
>> IRS salaries are the same across the country, and only low when compared
>> to average New York salaries.
>> Tracy
>>
>> > I googled tfor info on the program. A link is below. A one paragraph
>> > summary
>> > is as follows...
>> >
>> >> Program Description: The Programming curriculum prepares clients to
>> work
>> > in a wide range of programming
>> >> environments including .NET and JAVA, and other application projects
>> as
>> > well. Certification exams for JAVA and
>> >> Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD) are offered through
>> >> the
>> > program. Some prior programming
>> >> experience is helpful, but not necessary to be successful in this
>> >> course.
>> > This program often offers the opportunity to get
>> >> a commitment for employment with the Internal Revenue Service.
>> >
>> > http://lwsb.org/index.php/general-overview/vocational-catalog/#content
>> >
>> > Wasn't it this list where we just had a huge debate about java?  I'm
>> > thinking java programming might be making a huge comeback in writing
>> apps
>> > for mobile phones.  But I'll admit I don't really know what I'm
>> talking
>> > about. I would note, however, that the link above indicates that the
>> Lions
>> > web site itself is written in php, not .net or java.
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: nfbcs [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tracy
>> Carcione
>> > Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2012 9:38 AM
>> > To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List
>> > Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Career Advice
>> >
>> > Hi Daniel.
>> > I got a programming certificate, after I found I was going nowhere
>> with my
>> > college degree.  I looked around, and found a certificate course that
>> > taught
>> > the languages employers were looking for at the time.  It was local,
>> not
>> > out-of-state.
>> > If you do go to Lions World, try to make sure that they are teaching
>> > languages that will actually  be in demand.
>> > Learning programming was a very good move for me.  I have a secure job
>> > that
>> > pays well, and is usually interesting.  I'm not sure if the IRS job
>> pays
>> > well, or is interesting.
>> > My brother is also a blind programmer, working for subcontractors to
>> the
>> > government.  He gets paid OK, but gets laid off every few years.
>> > So your results may vary. But I think he'd rather be programming than
>> > having
>> > a rather dull but secure IRS job.
>> > HTH.
>> > Tracy
>> >
>> >> Hello Everyone:
>> >>
>> >> I hope this is the appropriate forum for this question.
>> >>
>> >> I am legally blind with a background in engineering and
>> manufacturing.
>> >> After
>> >> talking with many blind engineers, I find that many of them are
>> >> thriving computer programmers.
>> >>
>> >> I am now trying to decide whether to go to Lions World in Little Rock
>> >> to take their 10 month computer programming course. My counselor at
>> my
>> >> states agency for the blind wants me to go to Lions World but to take
>> >> one of their IRS courses, which would in essence be a guaranteed job
>> >> with the Feds.
>> >>
>> >> I am the type of person who could do any job, at least that is what
>> my
>> >> aptitude tests tell me.
>> >>
>> >> What is life like for blind computer programmers? Do most work for
>> >> employers or as freelancers/contractors? Are there any languages in
>> >> particular I should focus on? Are there any other ways of learning
>> >> computer programming as a blind person than going out of state?
>> >> Learning on my own is just not working for me.
>> >>
>> >> Any advice you can give would be appreciated.
>> >>
>> >> Regards
>> >>
>> >> Daniel Garcia
>> >> Northville, MI
>> >>
>> >>
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>> >
>> >
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