I'm legally blind and looking for work in illustration or web design as a career change. It's going to be very obvious that I don't see well if I ever get an interview.
It didn't stop me from earning a bachelor of arts degree. But people judge.
I let the instructor of my first art class know that I was legally blind, registered with the school's disability services office and that if I needed any help I'd let her know.
Her response "So why are you here?" I was so stunned my only reply was "Because I have talent."
I still hear that question, that immediate assumption, 27 years later.
How should I approach that I'm legally blind during my job search? Put it in my cover letter as the opening paragraph and get it out of the way? I don't want either pity or immediate dismissal. I just want to do something I love.
MostlyBlindGamer20 points1y ago
Put your best foot forward. First you show them your portfolio and do whatever it is you'd do at that job and show them how good you are.
The last time I interviewed for something I did just that and only disclosed my disability after I got an offer. They said "I didn't even realize you had any issues."
Is it disingenius? Maybe. You know what happens when you're fully open though.
fanofthefollowing [OP]6 points1y ago
Full disclosure was required at the time. Not sure why the disability services office insisted on it.
MostlyBlindGamer8 points1y ago
I understand, it isn't moving forward though. In most jurisdictions, employers cannot legally ask you if you disabled - take advantage of that.
cebeezly8211 points1y ago
I'm a social worker and went into that field because I figured everybody would have been understanding woke people. Let me tell you these people are woke up until it comes to disabilities. I literally just went to my dream job because I'm in a crazy crisis case job where it's just non-stop crazy stuff that's giving me white hair. Just went to a job interview couple weeks ago that was basically an eligibility specialist working for the state but the initial interview and first couple of years it is a employee management company that interviews and hires you until you're hired on with the state. Went to the interview on Thursday they call me Monday on Martin Luther King Day to tell me that they love my credentials and I'm there very much qualified but that my accommodations being a CCTV or magnifier and a screen reader on the computer breaches client confidentiality. It was the stupidest thing I'd ever heard in my entire life. Every job interview becomes a tech demo and I've been to like 125 job interviews in the past 3 years. I'm getting pretty damn frustrated. My credentials are on point and I don't know why people keep focusing on the elephant in the room lol. It's ridiculous that we can't get hired because people are too ignorant of assistive technology. That was my dream job just pushing paper for some good benefits 9 to 5. Unless you're going to work for a blind rehab center it's almost impossible to find a well-paying job that will hire you it seems. Unfortunately the low vision center that's about an hour away and a bigger city literally hired all the teachers from the state School for the blind and the teacher's pets. So literally they won't even hire you there unless you were a teacher's pet so it's all monopolized by staff and students who favor each other. They're definitely milking the system all those people make like $80,000 a year just to answer phones. Super bizarre
rumster8 points1y ago
Just heads up some great UX designers are legally blind. Nothing should stop you. Period.
carolineecouture7 points1y ago
Gah, what a terrible thing to have happened. That person was a jerk. I wouldn't put it in your cover letter BECAUSE IT DOESN'T IMPACT YOUR WORK. Show your portfolio, as someone else said. Get the next interview. When it becomes something that is an issue, then disclose. I'm a greek so often, the only time I will mention it is after meeting a client, and then it's to tell them that if they see me on campus and I don't acknowledge them, it's because I don't see very well, so I'm not being rude or dismissive. Good luck!
[deleted]6 points1y ago
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fanofthefollowing [OP]4 points1y ago
Thank you all for the advise. I really do need to just highlight what I can do instead of what I can't.
Which honestly the only thing I can't do is drive. The local emergency alert system would probably activate! LOL
MostlyBlindGamer7 points1y ago
Never mention it. If they ask how you usually get to work, just say "by car." They'll assume you mean you drive your own car, but it could be a taxi, ride share, carpool or whatever.
mdizak3 points1y ago
I find the best solution to this issue is simply self confidence. I'm a software engineer myself and ran out of work recently, so went running around the internet picking up a bunch of new contracts.
I can't count the number of times I was asked, "it says here on your resume you're blind, so how can you possibly work and write code?". This would be followed by me unplugging my headphones for a few seconds while I let them listen to screen reader. I quickly realized this was pointless though when your screen reader is set to 100% speed, because all they hear is some garbling noise and can never tell those are actually words being spoken.
Nonetheless, I had no problem at all picking up lots of good paying work. I just made sure to act as though my blindness simply isn't an issue, hence they calmed down and believed it wasn't an issue. I just concentrated on what was important -- the work and project being completed.
I'm absolutely certain if I went into those phone calls self concious and worried about my blindness, I wouldn't have picked up most of those contracts. Instead I trated it as such a minor thing that's it not even really worth discussing, hence that's also how the clients viewed it. Worked for me at least.
solidDessert2 points1y ago
I've been able to leverage my condition so that I can provide valuable input about how things work in regards to accessibility. Lots of folks get accessibility testing done on projects, or they might fumble with VoiceOver once before getting frustrated. But how often do they get input from someone who regularly benefits from this stuff?
Not only will your profile show that you are capable of excellent work, your professional and life experiences will save your employer time or money because of the insight you can provide. Remind them that your situation is an asset to them.
TechnicalPragmatist1 points1y ago
I had a ceramics teacher in high school do this to me myself. It is really not fair for sure.I would disclose only at the last minute or if you have to if something comes up. Probably not as problematic because you’re not totally blind.
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