Getting a job versus starting a business(self.Blind)
submitted by [deleted]
[deleted]
thatblindgirl8 points3y ago
It is very difficult for blind people to find a job. I have a masters degree, experience, and still went for a whole year of interviews before I got a job. I played all kinds of social games; I told them I was blind upfront, I told him I was blind later on, I brought my guy dog, I did not bring my guy dog. It finally came down to someone taking a chance on me and realizing that I was capable because of my experience, but it was an exhausting and depressing experience.
ybs900122 points3y ago
That's the thing which I worry about. It's like employers have so many people to pick from. I just feel that investing my time into starting a business will be more beneficial as I would be in control of what I am doing and not have to deal with people doubting my capabilities.
skycaster156 points3y ago
The US job market is absolutely ridiculous. I'm going to law school currently because our laws that "protect" us from being discriminated when finding jobs is so stupid and I had enough when I was looking for a job. Equal opportunity my ass. I say if you can start your own business and have the means go for it.
bscross323 points3y ago
As long as you know that a business requires an immense amount of planning and research, and is a full time gig, go for it.
[deleted] [OP]1 points3y ago
[deleted]
DrillInstructorJan1 points3y ago
Being self employed is equal parts awesome and horrible (there's a great oatmeal comic on it but it's not accessible so I can't be bothered to look it up). On one hand my boss is awesome, on the other hand, you're never off work and if there's no business it's your problem. But you are at least the master of your own destiny and if you perceive a problem you can at least solve it.
I worked for a big corporation for a while, didn't hate the job but did hate commuting like everyone does. Eventually it got to the point where I could make a living doing more fun stuff and being self employed, so I did. The functional difference is that I now (or at least usually) commute one or two days a week less than before, but I'm always going somewhere different so it's interesting. Of course that's also a huge pain as regards getting around, so there's that to deal with. I think it's worth it.
[deleted] [OP]1 points3y ago
[removed]
sicklixix1 points3y ago
If you can, start a business. I want to look into starting one but I just don't have the confidence for it.
I've noticed that r/business_ideas has a supportive community.
ybs900121 points3y ago
I can fully relate to you, I am also lacking confidence.
codeplaysleep1 points3y ago
I've done both. I ran my own business for 14yrs, then I stopped and took a management position at a small company, worked there for 7 years, and 6mo ago I switched to a senior position within another, larger, but still medium-sized company.
I have found that I much prefer working for someone else over running my own business. Everyone is different on that, but I hated the constant need to be marketing the business and just wanted to do the bits I'm good at and enjoy. Working for someone else lets me do that.
It's also meant much more affordable health insurance, much simpler accounting and taxes, and I'm not the person that gets woken up at 3am when something goes wrong anymore.
That said, there were parts of it that I enjoyed a lot and I got a lot of pride and satisfaction out of seeing it grow from nothing into a successful business.
Of course it depends on the nature of the business and what you're doing, but starting your own business means selling yourself to others constantly. Working for someone else means doing that once every several years.
When I switched jobs last year, it took me about 3 months to find the new position and I interviewed with maybe 7 different companies. I work remotely and during the whole interview process with my current employer, I never mentioned my blindness. I don't try to hide it, but I don't advertise it at first, either.
It turns out, the company knew, though. The person interviewing me had listened to a tech podcast I co-hosted at the time and I'd mentioned it in one of the episodes that came out around then.
snappydoggie1 points3y ago
Federal government jobs are always an option.
yourmommaisaunicorn2 points3y ago
I’ve yet to met any person with any type of disability with a federal govt job.
snappydoggie1 points3y ago
I know quite a few, including myself, who are blind and work for my agency.
dunktheball1 points3y ago
People always claimed to me that they'd want to employee visually impaired people, due to getting some tax break. Maybe it's a situation where businesses want to hire more people with disabilities, but are cherry picking which ones, though.
Personally, I have only ever gone on two job interviews and one never called me back and apparently the other was going to hire me, but I only applied because I was there with someone else, so did it just for the heck of it and didn't take it.
I learned how to do some coding to make apps for forum software, so that has come in handy for me to work from home and only when I want or need to. I am worried also, though, as far as if I end up needing a more guaranteed job.
ybs900122 points3y ago
At least you have coding Which is in high demand
dunktheball1 points3y ago
True, but I only know how to do it within one company's system and lately nobody has wanted anything. What I need to do is learn a bit more and then I'd probably feel comfortable doing it for other types of software or making my own main software.
It's a good thing I did figure out how to do it because I have anxiety about getting a job outside of being at home. There is a lot more I need to learn to be able to do as much as other people, though.
Hellsacomin941 points3y ago
How do you find and compete for coding jobs? Is there a gig website? How do you determine the cost? I’d love to hear more about it.
dunktheball2 points3y ago
Ironically, it started by me wanting to run a website where you could discuss any topic, which is pretty much what reddit is. I just now looked and it even turns out I was wanting to do it the same year reddit started. My idea failed big time, though. lol.
Anyway, so I bought forum software and paid someone to make me a product review system for it. I kept wanting new features when he wasn't available anymore to do it. Somehow by me looking at the files he made me, I figured out which code was doing which features and learned how to add some things. Then I read documentation on the forum software site on how to do more.
So in my case I started making programs for that one software and selling copies on their site. Then some people asked me to make them custom programs. I annoyed a lot of people there, though, by asking so many questions on how to do the programming, but now I understand a lot...
The pricing is the complicated part, though. People will either just decide what they think a program is worth to whoever is buying it or they will charge x dollars per hour. It's hard to know what to charge, though, because obviously it takes me longer due to my vision. People will usually charge anywhere form $25 per hour to well over $100 per hour. Since I normally estimate hours up front and give them a definite price, it's been a disaster on pricing, though, where I work way more hours than I predicted. It's pretty fun, though, and I did need the money.
ybs900121 points3y ago
That's amazing buddy? So are you self employed?
dunktheball1 points3y ago
yes, I just occasionally come up with ideas for addons/apps and sell them in their marketplace or if someone asks me to make them a custom one, sometimes I do that. I haven't really done much this year, though. In fact the virus situation messed me up some because I was releasing a feature for picking who would win the NCAA tournament basketball games and then the tournament got canceled. lol. At least it's mostly done for future use, though.
Other than that work, I am in the same boat wondering what I would do for a job. Especially since so many types of work give me headaches, due to the vision and getting close to screens. At some point I will probably have to get a "normal job" instead of trying to get enough from self employment, though.
Our mission is to provide everyone with access to large- scale community websites for the good of humanity. Without ads, without tracking, without greed.