[nfbcs] Resume of visually impaired software engineer

[Mike Sedmak]

You touch on a real tough question, that of disclosure of your current
level of eyesight.

As a hiring manager in a related field, let me note that some of the
people who do software interviews may ask you to write code on a
white-board or use a laptop to enter real code or pseudo-code.

If you disclose on the day of the interview it could leave the
interviewers scrambling to figure out how to deal with an unexpected
condition.

This could either:
1. Throw the whole day off leaving them feeling frustrated
2. Show that you can gracefully offer alternatives on the fly really
cementing your flexibility, the fact that a visual impairment is not a
roadblock to employment, and your general awesomeness.

So depending on your confidence of being able to work through any
issues on the day of, this could be a big risk/reward opportunity.
Things could go great, or things could go badly if the interviewer is
not flexible on having his/her process altered on the fly.

Notifying when accepting an in-person interview would allow you to
still immediately suggest some options like allowing you to bring your
own laptop with a screen reader preloaded for writing
code/pseudo-code.  It might not have that wow, he came up with that
workaround on the fly big shot moment, but it also let's the team
prepare to modify their usual interview mechanics.

I can't say which is the right option for you, you know yourself and I
don't.  But hopefully I may have provided some food for thought.

Mike

On 8/8/18, Tony Malykh via nfbcs <nfbcs at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> My name is Tony, I was a software engineer with many years of
> experience, until I had to quit 5 years ago when I started to lose my
> eyesight. Now I have learned screenreaders and I'm ready to start
> working again. However, I need to explain somehow 5 years gap in my
> employment. I was wondering if you guys can suggest me what's the right
> way to do it?
>
>
> Currently I have in my resume:
>
> ### September 2013 - present: Not working due to health concerns
> * Worked on open source projects
> * Took online   classes in computer science and related fields
>
>
> Is this description good? Should I mention that I'm visually impaired
> explicitly? Or should I try to conceal even the health concerns part? Is
> there anything else I can change in my resume to make it look better to
> potential employers?
>
>
> And also, when should I tell them that I'm visually impaired? In the
> beginning? Right before the onsite interview? Or just come to the
> interview with white cane?
>
>
> Any suggestions will be appreciated!
>
> Tony
>
>
>
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