[nfbcs] Fake Cover Letters Expose Discrimination Against Disabled

Fri Mar 11 04:14:21 UTC 2016

I've heard arguments on both sides of the debate as to whether to 
disclose or not disclose. For me, I think I do well at face to face 
interviews, so my whole goal during the job search is to get that face 
to face interview. That being said, I don't hide the fact that I'm blind 
on my resume, in my job applications or on my social networking sites. I 
also don't volunteer that information if it comes up during a screening 
interview over the phone, but I'm prepared to address it and talk about 
my accommodations if it does come up.

As far as accommodations go, I'm at a point in my life where I don't 
have a problem purchasing my own accommodations. If laying out a few 
thousand dollars is the difference  between being employed or unemployed 
then I consider that money well spent. I understand not everyone is in 
my financial situation, so I'm not saying this applies to everyone.

I haven't had to put this to the test yet. My previous job was at a 
company that used Linux, so I was able to do my job using Ubuntu, Orca 
and other free access tools. My current job is with the state 
government, so I had no qualms expecting them to provide me a screen reader.

On 10/03/16 16:21, Steve Jacobson via nfbcs wrote:
> John,
>
> I think you raise some interesting points.  When I started working some
> forty years ago, it was common thought that the agency for the blind
> provided the equipment for a job.  Often this was a one-time thing, and of
> course that has changed.  However, particularly with the coming of ADA, but
> even before that, it became the employer's responsibility to provide needed
> equipment as a reasonable accommodation.  Whether it should be considered or
> not, that makes us more expensive to hire for the same return, unless, as
> you say, we can convince an employer that we will produce more.  However, I
> am somewhat uneasy with the concept that we produce more to justify our
> extra equipment because it may not be that easy to achieve.  A lot of our
> reasonable accommodation needs are really pretty small for a large company,
> but they can be an "Undo burden" on a small company which is where many jobs
> are.  Also, many large companies budget at a department level and one's
> equipment may need to be paid for by the department that does the hiring.  A
> small expense for a large company might be much more substantial at the
> department level.  come
>
> I don't claim to have answers, but I believe this problem needs to be
> considered.  Still, can one really claim discrimination if someone else is
> hired who does not have reasonable accommodation needs?  I know that some
> job applicants are told to iron out their reasonable accommodation needs
> right away, and there is a case to be made for that.  One needs to know if
> they can do the job for one thing.  But it really exposes one's hand, so to
> speak, very early in the process.  Another employee who does not require any
> reasonable accommodations but who had a family situation that causes them to
> require time off, for example, won't reveal any of this until they have been
> hired.  We need to look for answers to some of this as blind people because
> we are the ones most effected.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Steve Jacobson
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbcs [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of John G Heim via
> nfbcs
> Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2016 10:51 AM
> To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: John G Heim <jheim at math.wisc.edu>; Tracy Carcione <carcione at access.net>
> Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Fake Cover Letters Expose Discrimination Against
> Disabled
>
> It'd be funny if it wasn't about putting bread on the table.
> Another thing in the comments that I think is of interest is that some
> people blasted the research study saying it was stupid to disclose that
> you are disabled in the cover letter. But both of our examples show how
> futile it is to not disclose it.  You're going to end up at a lot of
> interviews where you have absolutely no chance at the job. There is
> always some chance you'll wow the interviewer into giving you a chance,
> I suppose. Is it worth it? Just my opinion but I don't think so. I think
> you are better off weeding those people out in the first place.
>
> The last time I was applying for jobs, I made myself out to be Super
> Blind Guy in my cover letter. Of course, I didn't actually use that term
> in my cover letter but I made a point of emphasizing the things I could
> do. I have competed in triathlonns, landscaped the front of my house,
> done a lot of woodworking. For what it's worth, it seemed to work.
>
> You know about Super Blind Guy, right? He and his faithful guide dog
> companion  go around righting wrongs with his razor sharp mind, super
> hearing, echo location, and super sensitive touch. "Ah ha!" says Super
> Blind Guy, "I knew the bill was counterfeit because it was dated 1936
> and Andrew Jackson didn't appear on the twenty until 1938."
> On 03/10/2016 10:10 AM, Tracy Carcione via nfbcs wrote:
>> I once interviewed for a job, taking a bus, a train, and walking several
>> blocks in Manhattan, only to find the interviewer could not be convinced I
>> wouldn't need someone to lead me to the bathroom.  Grrrr.
>> Tracy
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nfbcs [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of John G Heim via
>> nfbcs
>> Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2016 11:03 AM
>> To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List
>> Cc: John G Heim
>> Subject: [nfbcs] Fake Cover Letters Expose Discrimination Against Disabled
>>
>>
> http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/11/02/upshot/fake-cover-letters-expose-discri
>> mination-against-disabled.html
>>
>> I think I have talked on this list about wanting to commission a study
>> similar to the one mentioned in this article except with a blind applicant
>> applying for IT jobs. The study has people with spinal injuries and
>> Asperger's Syndrome applying for accounting jobs. They found disabled
>> applicants were 26% less likely to get a call back. Of particular interest
>> are some of the comments.
>>
>> "Given two candidates of roughly equal qualifications the rational
> decision
>> would be to hire the one without disabilities. It's going to be less
>> expensive, on average . [...] So statistically, a disabled job applicant
>> would need to be sufficiently better qualified for the job to overcome the
>> disability to be the 'correct' choice."
>>
>> Long time readers of this list will know I've speculated about this effect
>> for years. My guess is that this factor is much greater for blind
> applicants
>> than it is for the types of disabilities in the study. A blind person
> does,
>> in fact, have greater challenges to over come. But I suspect that even
> worse
>> is the lack of understanding about just how much a blind technologist can
>> do. A perspective employer once flatly refused to interview me when she
> saw
>> that I was blind. She essentially accused me of faking my resume and
> simply
>> would not believe a blind person could use a computer.
>>
>>
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-- 
Christopher (CJ)
chaltain at Gmail