[Ohio-talk] pro tip for employment searching people and those who represent them

Fri Jun 12 19:38:49 UTC 2015

The original email was sent yesterday and I just read it.  I believe
this is the gentleman who provides assistive technology training to
many NFB members in Ohio.  I believe the comments were actually aimed
at people who had their VR counselor or job coach make the follow up
call about a possible job.  After reading his email I felt like I had
just been lectured by my 2nd grade teacher because of some infraction
I did not commit.  I will never use him as a trainer nor will I
recommend anyone to him.  I don't argue some of his points but it
isn't his place to lecture me.

On 6/12/15, YAHOO via Ohio-talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Did I miss an email? Did somebody actually say they would not use an agent
> who used a job coach?
>
> Is this individual never heard of the EEOC or the Americans with
> disabilities act?
>
> I need to ponder this for a bit get to my MacBook or I can actually type
> with my fingers as opposed to dictation and reply to this somewhat ignorant
> individual.
>
>
> I love your response Annette. You do what I wouldn't, you were nice.   I've
> been in call centers my entire working career. I can tell you right now the
> center is not worth a second look.
>
> Wow...
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Jun 12, 2015, at 9:40 AM, Annette Lutz via Ohio-talk
>> <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> Good Morning Gabe,
>>
>> Usually, I am not one to make many comments on a group such as this, but
>> as
>> one employer to another, I find your email concerning.  First of all, I
>> am
>> not sure why you chose to post such a reaction to this list.  I can Only
>> assume that the emails you received were concerning blind applicants, and
>> you believed that by reaching out to a list consisting primarily of blind
>> individuals, you would reach the correct parties.  There is a chance that
>> those you are referring to could read this list, but there is no
>> guarantee
>> of this.
>>
>> However, the ideas that you expressed on your email are what I find most
>> disturbing.  I am a small business owner, and I share your desire to hire
>> self-motivated, independent, driven individuals to fill any openings that
>> I
>> may have.  Such people are hard to find, and I have found that those with
>> such a skill set are an asset to my business.  However, the fact that
>> someone who needs assistance in applying for, and being trained for a job
>> due to a disability does not necessarily mean that they do not possess
>> such
>> traits.  For example, you mention your unwillingness to accept the
>> services
>> of a job coach for a perspective employee, implying that if the person
>> needs
>> such assistance, they are not independent enough to do the job you ask of
>> them well.  Though in some cases this could be true, in many it is not.
>> Sometimes, a job coach or vocational rehabilitation counselor is merely
>> involved to help assist the employee and employer to make the job
>> accessable
>> to allow the employee to do the job independently.  In the case of a
>> blind
>> person, this might simply mean assessing the software that your company
>> uses
>> to do your work and making a screen reader to become usable for the blind
>> person.  Once the blind person could identify what is on the screen
>> through
>> speech, or in some cases, magnification, then that person becomes just as
>> capable as anyone else, but may not have been able to achieve this on
>> their
>> own.  Job coaches or VR Counselors may also be needed by persons with
>> other
>> types of disabilities by providing interpreting services for the deaf, or
>> making a workspace wheelchair accessable.  My point is, please don't be
>> short sighted about this by believing that people who might need a little
>> more assistance to get started wouldn't make a fine employee in the long
>> run
>> and prove to be a great asset to your business.
>>
>> One other point that should be made is that such items as the need for a
>> job
>> coach or VR counselor in most cases could be viewed as a reasonable
>> accommodation.  The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits employers
>> from
>> discriminating against persons with disabilities who can do a job with
>> reasonable accomodations.  Therefore, please keep this in mind when
>> making
>> such determinations in the future.
>>
>> You sound like a successful and intelligent businessperson, and I
>> congratulat you on your business success, but I encourage you to give
>> disabled applicants a fair shot.  Look past their disability and evaluate
>> them for what they bring to the table to serve your customers.
>>
>> Annette Lutz
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
>> Commtech
>> Customer-Service via Ohio-talk
>> Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2015 11:30 AM
>> To: jobs at nfbnet.org
>> Cc: Commtech Customer-Service; ohio-talk at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: [Ohio-talk] pro tip for employment searching people and those
>> who
>> represent them
>>
>> I just got an email in my inbox this morning, from a person involved with
>> blind rehab asking me about a resume status, or hiring status for a
>> couple
>> of clients. In early April, or it might have been late march, I went
>> through
>> 24 resumes, and some interviews and hired on 3 individuals out of a total
>> of
>> wishing to hire 5.  here is a couple of reasons why you were not called
>> back, not followed up with, or just not considered in general.
>>
>>
>>
>> 1.       I will not deal with a 3rd party, if you want the job, be an
>> adult
>> and call me like any nondisabled applicant and show some
>> self-accountability.
>>
>> 2.       2 When you call my IVR, my menu driven phone system, in order to
>> inquire about a job, directly dial the extension mentioned in the job
>> listing, don't play on my phone system, and dial random extensions just
>> to
>> see what they do, and do not call and hang up and continue to play with
>> my
>> phone system because you think it's a toy, I pay lots a money for this
>> system, and I even pay for the toll free call you are making to my
>> company,
>> and at 6 cents a minute I can't have you playing on my phone system
>> because
>> you have nothing better to do.
>>
>> 3.       I don't deal with job coaches, vr councilors or any other state
>> provided support, my positions require self-motivated, independent,
>> driven
>> workers, either tech support, training, or sells, I need you to be able
>> to
>> send me your own resume, fill out any questions we may have online, and
>> send
>> me documents in the format we ask for, not one that you are comfortable
>> with.
>>
>> 4.       When you call and speak to me or either of my staff, show the
>> upmost respect, we are a close nit team, a national company such as ours
>> works hard and cohesively to provide our customers the best quality of
>> service, but you on the other hand are not our customer, if you aren't
>> pleasant or respectful, you will not be considered.
>>
>> So, any questions, give me a call, I'll be glad to talk. (888) 351-5289
>> Ext.
>> 710.
>>
>> Gabe Vega | CEO
>>
>> CommtechLLC
>>
>> http://commtechusa.net
>>
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>>
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>
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-- 
Marianne Denning, TVI, MA
Teacher of students who are blind or visually impaired
(513) 607-6053