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April 19, 2005
Managing a Job Interview
On this blog last week, our discussion generated at least four ways to help shift the attention of a hiring manager away from our disability to how we can contribute to a company’s success. Those "attention shifters" include:
- Proposing unusual offers to prove ourselves at no risk on the part of the employer.
- Taking the initiative to clear the air with candor about our disabilities.
- Refusing to be used as a scapegoat for unresolved issues on the part of the employer.
- Mustering the finesse needed to help the job interviewer put our disability into perspective.
Let me show where these four tactics are mentioned here on the SiM blog.
Barney, for instance, says:
"The disability has simply created additional issues to be resolved to prove my capability. There are several ways to provide the hiring manager with knowledge of my competency and skills:
- "Offer to do a project for free -- not a money maker, but it will demonstrate loud and clear what I am capable of.
- "Offer to work for a trial period for free -- not a money maker but one that says I will put financial stability on the line to prove that I am capable.
- "Ask them what concerns they might have about my ability and address all concerns positively and constructively.
- "Ask them how success is measured and use past work history to demonstrate how I have achieved success.
"It is about what I can do, not what I cannot do. No one is hired for what they cannot do; the focus must be on how I can contribute, which means the hiring manager must focus on me, as a person -- not my disability."
Peter, on the other hand, takes a different slant:
- "I like many of the suggestions made already, although I'm not sure I like the idea of doing work for free. I think people sort of expect us (and other underrepresented groups as well) to provide advice and work for free.
- "I think we need to remember that finding a job in nontraditional arenas is a real challenge and that regular failures may have more to do with employer issues than with the skill set of the applicant with a disability.
- "I also think that weaving one's disability seamlessly into the interview is a valuable skill to master."
Each of these tactics is not easy but may be well worth cultivating. They have one thing in common: They put us in the driver’s seat because we’re managing the job interview instead of dodging the real questions the hiring manager probably has – but is not asking – about our disability.
Your personal experience may have generated additional ways of managing a job interview. So, our discussion question this week is this:
What measures have you used to help a job interviewer focus on how you can contribute to a company’s success instead of just your disability?
Add your comments to this posting
Posted by Jim at April 19, 2005 06:26 PM
Comments
I think one way to have a very successful job interview is to tell the employer about the adaptive technology we use, and possibly offer to give a demonstration of that technology. I for one, having been a JAWS user for several years now, am very willing to demonstrate the program to anyone. One great advantage of JAWS is that a single user can install it on more than one computer at a time. I don't know if this is necessarily true with the new Internet-based authorization scheme, but it is definitely true of the disk-based authorization. I recently went with my father to a nearby senior center to give a demonstration of JAWS to their program manager. My father had brought along his laptop, which has a version of JAWS on it. I was offered the job of teaching seniors how to use the software, but as of yet I have no arrangements to work with an O&M instructor so I have not started.
Posted by: Jake Joehl at April 19, 2005 10:03 PM
Having been in school for much of my life and having relatively little job experience, I now realize the value that high school/college volunteer or paid experiences would have played in my current job search.
I feel I have skills whereby I can possibly land a fulfilling position, yet I am often stifled and prevented in my job search by self-generated fears of being caught unknowing at an interview, and/or being denied a job. I am presently trying to send out honest resumes of my skills to companies/career sites to find out how far I can go with this.
Would anyone have additional tips on networking and getting my name "out there"? I guess this might be helpful for others?
Posted by: Roni at April 26, 2005 02:32 PM
Roni, let me recommend two eSight articles which may address some of your questions:
"How You Can Use Key Success Factors to Build Your Resume" at http://www.esight.org/View.cfm?x=790
Your key success factors can come from hobbies, volunteering -- not just work.
"Essential Career Marketing Tactic: Self-presentation" at http://www.esight.org/View.cfm?x=905
That article describes the first of eight steps in marketing yourself as a job candidate.
The best as you continue on your journey.
Jim Hasse
Posted by: Jim Hasse at May 4, 2005 03:53 PM