Last Wednesday I attended the annual UAHuntsville Career Fair. Many of the local companies come and set up recruiting tables in the basketball courts at the University Fitness Center (in future abbreviated to UFC). Students come in business attire (I saw them turn away a guy for showing up in a t-shirt and jeans and tennis shoes) with copies of their resumes to talk to local businesses, hand out resumes, and find out about internships, part-time or cooperative positions, and summer and post-graduate employment opportunities. This has grown into such a large event that companies now can register ahead of time and tell the University which types of positions they are looking to fill (engineering, human resources, financial, nursing) and the University staff compiles lists of businesses’ needs by college (one sheet full of companies looking for liberal arts majors, one sheet looking for engineers, et cetera), and hand those out to the students when they enter the fair. This way students can know exactly which businesses are most likely to be interested in their majors. I talked to recruiters from the US Space and Rocket Center, the FBI, and several government contracting companies. I am most optimistic about the USSRC recruiter’s response to my interest in the Camp Presenter position. This person does education presentations to space camp teams, and since I’ve sat through many of those lectures through SCI-VIS I have a bit of an edge on most applicants. I will probably apply for that position sometime during Christmas Break.
So, I’m employed, I have a nicely fleshed out resume, and, thanks to my Dad, decent interview skills. Is it harder for a legally blind person to get to this stage? Not too much more so than for a sighted person. There are a couple of extra steps to do but not a whole lot. How about for a blind person with a dog? Same, only add a lint roller! Well, there’re one or two other things to keep track of, but all in due time. I’m not going to write about how to prepare a resume or how to interview properly. There are so many tips and sources for advice and contradictions in advice on that that it’s not worth mentioning here and I don’t have the space to write everything down, or the time. Instead I’ll just point out a few things a legally blind person might want to keep in mind when preparing to apply for a job or go to a career fair.
Resumes
Really, there are only two things to keep in mind. First, have a sighted friend look over it to make sure it’s visually pleasing. Let’s face it, folks. We blind people don’t have the best handle on visual aesthetics. Yeah, you can make your own resume. Yeah, you don’t need anyone’s help to do anything (or so we like to think), but when your job’s on the line, and possibly the financial future of your dependents (wife, kids, dog guide, pet goldfish…), is it worth jumping up on your independence high horse and foregoing a little good-intentioned help? I always have a friend or my Dad look over what I’ve got before submitting it to anyone.
The other action I suggest is REMEBERING TO SHRINK THE FONT SIZE BEFORE YOU PRINT OR EMAIL OR UPLOAD YOUR RESUME! We high partials tend to write things in large fonts, and then shrink them down before submission. I, for one, have forgotten at least once to shrink the font down again on a paper or other attachment. DO NOT forget to do this on your resume, high partials! It looks really tacky.
Career Fairs
These can be challenging because eye contact is vitally important. Every single public speaking instructor I have ever had has told me that I do very well with eye contact, but this is difficult if you can’t see eyes at all. If you are totally blind, TAKE YOUR CANE. Don’t just wing it using sighted guide. The cane communicates to a recruiter that you cannot see them so they won’t count lack of eye contact against you. When you introduce yourself put your hand forward a bit above waist-level. They’ll see the cane; they’ll know you can’t find their hand, so they’ll find you to do the handshake. DON’T FORGET THE CANE. Do the same hand gesture when you’re ready to leave. Be clear, polite, respectful, confident, maybe a trifle ambitious, and only put copies of your resume in your portfolio so you odn’t hand anyone the wrong piece of paper! (Did that in class a few times, not resumes but homework…yay for gracious professors who granted me extensions so I could get the right paper to them).
At the UAH career fair they had made up papers for each college with a list of companies there specifically interested in hiring from that college (engineering, nursing, liberal arts, business, science). If you’re a high partial, bring a magnification aid. If you’re blind, bring a friend. My boyfriend also attended the career fair so we teamed up. He had arrived well before me so he had done most of his looking around by the time I showed up. We met at the entrance and he read the paper for me so we could map out a plan of attack, which companies to visit first. Then he helped me figure out which table was which. That was probably the hardest part for me; distinguishing tables. Most of them have big logos on them but some do not. A simple solution to this (if you don’t have a friend there) is to step up and ask. “Excuse me, but I can’t see your logo -strategically timed gesture with the cane/jingling of dog guide harness-.” That usually does it. It’s also a good way to get a recruiter’s attention if you’re not the only one at the table poking around.
Job Interviews
Much like the above, only add one more step. Two to three days before your interview go to the interview site. Make sure you know your way to the building, and to the room where you will interview, or at least to the front desk or lobby where you were instructed to wait. If you happen to run into your interviewer while you’re scoping things out, explain you’re just making sure you know where to go. This doesn’t tell them you’re directionally challenged. This says “here’s someone who cares enough about this interview to make sure he/she’s got all his/her bases covered. This person knows how to prepare ahead of time.” This is a good thing.
With a dog
LINT ROLLER
They like it when you wear black. So do German Shepherds and yellow labs and golden retrievers. Roll yourself off, have a friend roll you off, and then take a lint strip with you. Get to the interview at least 15 minutes early, if not 20. Roll yourself again. You won’t ever get all the dog hair off. But, hopefully, the interviewer will see the dog and understand. If not…there isn’t much you can do about it so do what you can and then move on.
Make sure your dog has lots of exercise before going to the interview. Take an extra walk, play fetch, wrestle. This diminishes the risk of ‘puppy business’ at the interview (jumping around, distractions…) We all have off-days. So do the dogs. If the dog is tired it’s more likely to work better for you and then pass out during the interview. When I interviewed for my position at the College of Science Advising Office I left Prada back at the dorm because I had a morning interview. Prada is a morning person. I knew there was no way I could wear her out by 9:30am and I didn’t want to risk her jeopardizing my job opportunity with some puppy misbehaviors. Normally I am quite confident about her behavior but I know there are off-days and I don’t want to be surprised by anything. If you have to make this decision, do alert your employer you have a dog usually. It’s not required but it’s a nice thing to do, and it helps. At the end of the interview the interviewer will most likely ask you if you have any questions for him/her. “Yes, actually. I usually travel with a dog guide who would be joining me at the office if I came to work for you. Do you think this will be a problem, say, maybe coworkers with allergies or something?” Now, they cannot refuse to hire you based on the dog guide’s existence but it politely gives them a heads-up. If they have concerns you can address them before you go to work for them! It’s a wonderful education opportunity, let’s you feel them out a bit more, and is a courteous way to give the potential employer a heads’ up. Employers don’t usually like surprises on their first day with a new employee. Many do not want that surprise to be an 80 lb dog. DO everyone a favor and communicate.
My last piece of advice is to smile. Interviewing can be fun. Yes, I just said that. Most people hate interviews. I actually enjoy them now. I get to practice reading people, learning how to phrase things in a way that person will best appreciate what I say, practice control of facial expressions, and I get to offer a service to someone. It’s great!
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