Networking Forum

Surround yourself with people who are in or served by the "field(s)" you might be interested in.
For example: If you are interested in sports there are many non-traditional jobs out there for anyone interested in from sports marketing, ticket sales, equipment, team travel, print, radio, TV to coaching etc. and then include all levels from little league, high school, college, semi-pro, minor and major league. A good network is important to every job seeker. The more you surround yourself with people who can introduce you to or direct you to a person or an opportunity the better. Learn people’s names and do your best to get a business card. This will give you the correct spelling, title, phone numbers and even email addresses. Then follow up. Call, write or email mentioning how you met and then keep in touch. Ask for opportunities or a direction to go in. Usually someone knows someone that can help or use to get to the next step. Remember it is usually not what you know it is who you know! I would rather hire someone I know or someone recommended to me by someone I know. Also remember that most jobs are NEVER posted. They are filled by someone who knows someone. Also many companies ask and even pay for employee referrals.

I have struggled with this tightrope all of my adult life. I am legally blind, but I have always tried to work with little or no accomodation as possible because of employers who equated blindness with lack of intellignece. I even worked for a large bank that gave me the runaround when I asked for an accomodation. Whenever I would go on a job interview I wore my contacts so it would not be obvious that I had poor vision because I knew that whenever I did go on an interview wearing glasses I was treated differently and never got call-backs. I finally got another job that I really like. After I was hired and they realized I was visually impared my supervisor was very understanding and willing to accomodate me. Now I am just having to deal with everyone thinking I am stupid and fragile. I am neither. I have a B.S. and am currrently working toward an MBA so I am not stupid. I hope the situation will improve over time. Being treated this way is really aggravating, but it is better than being unemployed. In the past I have tried to talk to people I work with about the way they treat me. They always deny it and act like they have no clue what I am talking about, even when I cite specific incidents. Then I end up alienating them more tha before.
I am a member of a local chapter of the American Council of the Blind. I vent my frustrations to my friends there because I know they understand.

As for this week’s topic - What do you recommend as the best place to find contacts who can help you build a meaningful, non- traditional career when you have a disability? – I’m struck by the last five words. I’d eliminate those last five words and concentrate upon pursuing a career that excites you first and foremost.

I’ve been legally blind since the age of ten and for the past ten years, totally blind. I studied classical music at Juilliard because I love music; it’s part of my soul. After a few years as a conductor, a not too brilliant one, I was interested in helping out at a classical music radio station so I volunteered to file away LP records since I had enough sight to manage that. Soon, my interest – my passion for music – led to a part time position and a 17 year career in broadcasting, including CBS’s FM Owned and Operated stations. I was hired at CBS because of what was between my ears not in front of my eyes.

Eventually I was introduced to the blindness field by accepting a marketing position at the American Foundation for the Blind which inevitably led to my forming my own consulting firm focusing upon helping people like myself reach for their own particular star. And yes, classical music still moves my soul.

I agree with Nick and others who say to emphasize what you love, have passion for and hone your skills. The rest will communicate itself. That doesn’t mean you don’t need to stand up for yourself when others can’t fathom how you do things. I had to do that too. But the proof is always in the doing. So cheerfully do and do more and still more – the rest will come!
At one point in my life when I was seeking a career change, a voc rehab counselor recommended that I become a VR counselor too. “Why,” I asked, “since I’m not interested in that?” Yes, all too often, people involved in the blindness field don’t understand why a person’s passion is for something else – Mine was. “Be realistic,” some would say, “”you can’t be an airline pilot.” True enough today, perhaps always. ?But normally, so-called professionals” have difficulty in imagining how much a person CAN DO when passion and motivation inspire double and triple effort.

Many years ago, I had an occasion to try and help a teen age boy who happened to be blind to learn to use a computer. His father had asked me to do that. The boy was not interested and little was accomplished. I haven’t seen that boy since then but I’ve heard of him. He was the first blind person to ascend Mount Everest. His passion for mountaineering and overcoming odds led him, pushed him to achieve – and so he did! So can you develop a non-traditional career. Develop a network of friends and acquaintances and go for it!

John De Witt, President
De Witt & Associates

All of you have made incredible comments and they're all true. I've been legally blind since birth, attended public school with all the neighbourhood kids and frankly never really gave my disability too much thought until I was in university and I started to hear but you can'ts from professors and career advisors, voc rehab specialists.

My parents always taught me I was a person first, my disability apart of me in much the same way I was blonde and had blue eyes. I made friends with people not network but because I enjoyed having a wide variety of friends.

I volunteered in areas that I was passionate about but never got involved in the ' disability' moement until I was in my late 30s.

And yes jobs or experiences often times fall into one's lap when you're least expecting them. That's how I got into journalism by writing a small article on the year of the disabled and it just grew. In between I pursued teaching, disabled and non disabled children, working as an education curriculum designer for some museums, a costitutency assistant for my local member of parliament and even working in non government offices as a peer support and transportation coordinator. I like to think of them as ' traditional' jobs done in a non traditional way LOL.

Becuase people are uncomfortable with disability, nobody ever teaches people how to be comfortable with disability or race or different religion, when they meet someone who is different from them and their experience , they either are very over protective or overly aggressive , no in between.

I think if you sit down and say to them I can appreciate that having a disabled colleague can be disconcerting but you know I 've managed to finish almost two degrees and I have a real life like just like you, could you possibly treat me just like you'd treat anyone else please.

However another thought pops into my head as maybe they're not pandering to you , you just may feel like they hence the denials.

Engage more , participate in discussions or group activities a little more if your schedule permits and perhaps everything will ease off and you'll both more comfortable with one another .

Liz Seger

Peter A. and Nan H. presented a perceptive, and informative article.

Some things are, to clearly understand about blindness. At any give moment there are so few, adult blind, out and about in any given community, and therefore we remain a mystery.

All blind people have in common is, blindness, and there are so many variables, to consider, that blind people, remain strictly, unique individuals.

Blind people live in a hit and miss continuum. Blind person is seen on a bus, thus, the sighted fellow passenger views this person, to be, of a super breed. In fact this individual, may, in fact, be liberate, have serious medical conditions, possess no work, or even other adequate living skills.

Many blind persons can, be successful, in completing a specific, vocational training course, or even gain professional level Degree's, but still not, be even close, to being able, to maintain professional, or any meaningful employment.

An employer may have an experience, with one blind worker and, be totally impressed, and committed. Same employer hires another blind person, and the experience becomes, sour and even bitter.

Prior, to our current age, of fantastic, talking technology, it was most difficult, to compete, at any level, with the sighted population. Now that we have access, to this most useful technology, guess what! it is equally tough, to compete with the sighted population, because they are really great, at utilizing, even better technology.

I am suggesting that we should not become, disillusioned, to believe that there is a first, and new generation. The statistical gap between the numbers, of adult blind, of working age, and those who are actually able, to work, widens.

It is my perception, however, that assuming that a blind job applicant, possesses, specific work skills, currently in demand, the current employers are much more likely, to offer the job, than existed in former times.

Peter was very correct, in that if a blind person expects, to be successful, Braille is mandatory.

Thanks for all the great comments!

In reflecting on what I have read, it occurs to me that everything is "more" - more important that we network, get along well with colleagues while on the job, balancing independence with seeking accommodations, and the like. The problem, though, is we expend these efforts and often receive less in return - less money, fewer promotional opportunities, and the like.

I believe we have - and learn much more from - experiences from other underrepresented groups, which, for me at least, involves finding good mentors (and mentoring others), improving our ability to handle conflicts, and networking intelligently. And, for me at least, accepting that I cannot be all things to all people, and that I cannot do everything (meaning that I have to be clear about my personal vision and ruthlessly set boundaries.

I am glad that the topic of breaking into no-traditional fields has been braught up because I am facing similar issues that were mentioned. First, let me just say I am very comfortable in being blind; I have been blind since I was six and I am now 28. I have worked in the technology arena from doing Assistive Technology to just your genaric system administration and programming. For personal reasons, I decided that I would try working in the government, and so I landed a position doing Enterprise Architecture. This field is very complex and relies heavily on graphics to convey very complex and detailed information.

I have gathered that the defense agency that I work in has never had a positive experience with blind people, and this has caused some problems for me. Fortunately, Ihave a wonderful supervisor who is very open; you couldn't have ask for this person. anyhow, back to this career field that I have landed into. Because of the organization's experiences in the past and the cost that it would take to accommodate my need for tactile graphics, I am having the devil of a time trying to learn about Enterprise Architecture. One of the problems with the tactile graphics issue is that every vender that I have showed the material to have said that it is to complex to transcribe. So, now I am trying to strategize how do I balance my need for accommodations with my need to learn this new field. I am finding that Enterprise Architecture taps into my natural strengths, and if I can master the field, it would be most advantageous for me in the long run. I considered doing the reader route but I am concerned that might be viewed in a negative light, and there is no guarantee I get someone who is inteligent to explain some of these graphics. The final option is that I transfer into a different group with the agency but I am determined to not do that. In go against everything that I believe in about myself and about one's choice in pursuing a career. I would like to hear anyone's input on the matter.

Finding allies to help you when you have a disability is an ongoing process. Finding work is a difficult process without a disability but with a disability it becomes a bit more difficult. However, problem solving skills are something that disability teaches each of us early in the process. There are those folks we meet on our daily path who will help and these are the ones to put your energy into. Others will nay say but it is best to ignore them.
You may meet people anywhere--so always be ready.
Smile, be yourself and greet them as you would like to be greeted. Remember you have skills and talents to share--do be generous and when necessary ask for what you need.
It is a process that takes time and practice--as the Nike folks say: DO IT.

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