Networking Forum

As I clarify my career path, I believe that my self-confidence may be a barrier. There are times when I can lack confidence and lose faith that I will make it. But there are also times when I am overly assertive and can take the leadership role when I might indeed be stepping on someone else’s toes. Even now, as I finish my first month in a great new job, I am constantly second guessing myself. In my first week on the job, I asked my supervisor how I was doing and expressed fear that I would make mistakes and fall flat on my face. He reassured me that I should just get out there and do it and not worry about mistakes.

Apparently, other people have more confidence in me that I do. One way I can try to overcome this or use it to my advantage is to continuously seek advice and input from my colleagues and my organization’s members – since they are the experts. I have to let go of the fear of failing and trust that by checking in with all the right people, I will do what’s best for my organization and advance my career as I get to know and work with all of the key players.

I agree with Shanti that confidence is the biggest issue in applying for jobs, and I also feel that I go fron one extreme to the other. I started out my job search feeling pretty confidenct about my chosen field, but the longer I go without a job, the more difficult it becomes to not take the increasing period of joblessness personally. Even though I have plenty of sighted friends who have spent longer periods of time unemployed, I keep feeling it is some sort of reflection upon my own abilities. Then I begin to wonder if I come across as too much of a Hermione, too much of a know-it-all or something, and I begin to think I should act less confident. Aargh! I mostly try to just stop letting my thoughts go around in circles about then, because it just makes me crazy, and I try to stick to going on as I have been, participating in projects, volunteering and writing, and increasing the size of my networks and resources.

My long term career path is to be self-employed in the area of Career Coaching. I am confident in my ability to acquire any additional credentials that would strengthen my qualifications, therefore I do not feel that this would pose a significant barrier. However, I feel that marketing my services to yield a sustainable living would present a greater challenge.

To ease this challenge, I am hoping to use the tools that I am becoming familiar with through the Online Networking course from eSight in conjunction with some of the traditional marketing methods to widen my marketing reach.

Hi Shanti. I believe the most significant barrier preventing me from pursuing a more desirable, although risky career path is fear of failure. I often think of an independent business venture as being the logical solution to secure, gratifying employment. The stronger, seemingly more logical part of me wants to play it safe and search for that regular paycheck which has been my preoccupation over the past few years and I’ve burned up a lot of time, “playing it safe”. Evidently, this path hasn’t been very fruitful for me. So, I am at a point where I need to re-assess and ask myself, “Do I really want to continue down this path? Shouldn’t I be investigating more innovative options?” The more attractive route, such as developing a sole proprietorship are always clouded with fearful thoughts of will I have trouble obtaining financial resources?, what if I lose a lot of money?, I don’t have time for long, drawn out, training periods, an what if there’s an unexpected shift in the market, or worst of all, I completely fail, thus a total waste of time.
I believe that by simply participating in the E Learning course shows I am pursuing a fresher approach, hoping to learn more aggressive techniques. Now, I’ll be embarking on utilization of a blog and ePortfolio, coupled with networking with other successful blind/VI mentors. Although, I’ve never tried blogging as a job search tool and because of the broad spectrum of these kinds of resources on the web, perhaps it may be the most logical step I could take in easing my fears and breaking down some of the personal barriers that have plagued me for so long.
JD Lewis

As you clarify your career path, what is the greatest barrier you expect to encounter in pursuing such a path, and how can you overcome this barrier?

Following my heart and soul I have aligned myself with 3 goals:
1) to become a motivational speaker which as a member of Toastmasters I am working on--greatest fear--learning how to present myself with my walker or wheelchair so that I can communicate my message effectively every time.
2) becoming a financial coach--greatest fear is learning how to talk with all kinds of people without letting myself get in the way.
3) becoming a writer--greatest fear--that I will write and no one will read--write anyway which I do.
Fear lives only in our minds thus if we live in the present moment always there cannot be any fear. If you fall, get back up. If you cannot get up ask for help. If help does not come be creative.
Solve your problems as they arise not before they are a problem.
Become a warrior who conquers each moment with courage and fearlessness. We live with disabilities that show no fear or quarter--learn from them and LIVE proud, no fear, just be the real miracle that only YOU can be.

The biggest obsticle for finding a job in my feild (family therapy, M.S. degree) is due to the fact that this is a newly licensed feild in NY state. The jobs just aren't there because the feild hasn't progressed enough to absorb the program's graduates. For better or worse, I'm stuck with a degree that doesn't have a marketing value. It's very disheartening. At this point my disability has nothing to do with why I'm not finding a job.

Ithink the greatest barrier I've encountered in my career path is transportation. I live in a very small city of just over 18,000 , in Ontario. We have just started a transportation system within the city and although there is an intra regional system to the local casino in Niagara Falls, there is no regular bus leaving the city for employment in most cases.

This often has presented and presents a major obstacle in pursuing my numerous chosen career paths over the years- substitute teaching, journalism, just about any job. However, I have found now with adaptive technology and a newspaper editor with an imagination that writing for the community editorial board is easy. I just email whatever article is needed. I also bum a ride to the editorial meetings with someone from town although the editor's wife has also driven me. That's one of the pro's of being from a small town, almost everyone knows you and your circumstances.

Writing for eSight over these past 8 years has also given me confidence in my abilities . Nancy, Jim, Nan, Marten have become dear colleagues as well as friends but I've never met them in person.

Self-confidence was also a barrier when I was younger , I kept judging myself as not being as good as the sighted teachers but when I got callbacks from principals I knew I had what it took. I think aging has helped here and also having had my disability from birth.

Accomplishing and putting it out there developes one's confidence and self- esteem. Not comparing yourself to anyone else is hard to do at first , but then you know the able -bodied can't imagine how we do it anyway , and can't imagine them doing it if they were disabled. So we have an edge if you really think about it. We KNOW we're able, everyone else has just got to catch up.

The internet has opened many fields to us due to technology. Going out there and doing it may prove to others that we are indeed able and capable, even if it does take longer. Then we are more prepared and more resolved about our abilities.

Dear Shanti, while thinking about my blindness as a limitation and barrier, I have arrived at the conclusion that I have never considered it a decisive factor in my career. As a trial attorney, I have been working to solve other people’s problems. My clients come to me asking for help and I am working to assist them. Nobody cares about whether I face some kind of a personal barrier or not. I went to fight against injustice for the rights of others and the key issue is how to accomplish this mission. I think that all my clients assume that, if I choose the attorney’s career, I have no limitations in doing my work. It is my responsibility to organize my practice and not to harm the interests of people who ask for help.

Vladimir

Shanti:

You convey great emotion in your writing and it is obvious you are passionate about words and for you, there are no barriers to your ability to write and communicate.

I take your idea of instinct a bit further. There is no barrier if the work is something one is passionate and drawn to by instinct then that is what you should and could be doing.

Fleur

Fleur