A word to employers. Interviews and stupid interviewers.

Mar 16, 2010 | Uncategorized | 0 comments

Now, in this post, I’m not going to pull any punches. If you’re sighted, and you get easily offended then this one is really not for you.

I was an interview some time back. Just the run of the mill kind of interview. You’ve all had them. I was kind of just going to see what kind of questions they’d ask because it was a job I’d like to strive to in the future so it was a nice learning experience. I have no plans to leave the job I’m in at the moment. I enjoy it too much.

So, let me start from the beginning.

I arrived at the interview and with some searching; I found the office that was used by the company. Now, when a person who is blind goes to an interview, they’ve a few more things to keep in mind compared to someone who can see. That’s not a bad thing of course, I enjoy the challenge. When I go to an interview, I rather walk or use public transport. I rather not use taxis as it’s important for the perspective employer to see that although I can’t see, I’m still very independent and capable. There’s nothing worse for destroying the image of independence than someone guiding you up to the door of the office you are visiting. Of course, I’ve had to get taxis to a few interviews because the companies were too far away to get to without taking too much time out of my normal working day but for those instances, I’m not taking the taxi because I can’t see, I’m taking it because it’s more efficient.

So, anyway, because I walk to where I’m going, I use Google maps or GPS to work out the route to the place. This is usually fine. However, if the office is in a business park or somewhere that is not covered by Google maps or GPS, things can get a bit hairy. But, again, I love a challenge so it hasn’t put me off yet. The company I was going to this time was in a very small and quiet business park so my normal methods of getting directions didn’t apply. I’d usually find a nearby shop or even a reception area in the business park to get directions. For example, when I was going for interview in east point, I’d ask someone in the local shop because nine times out of ten, they’d know more than most people what was around.

This place was much smaller than east point and there was no one around so getting directions was a tad more difficult. I’d given myself plenty of time though so I eventually found where I was looking for with some determination.

The office was on the top floor of a small building but there was nothing inside the front door. I called the company and informed them that I was down stairs. Although I plainly state that I’m blind on my CV, I got the impression that they still were not aware. That wasn’t an issue though; I just didn’t want to intrude on their office space without making them aware that I was at least in the building. I called and they told me that they’d be down in a moment.

Almost ten minutes passed but there was still no sign of them. I was actually starting to doubt that I was in the right building. A man leaving work for the day passed me so I called him back. He worked for a different company in the building but he was able to tell me that they were on the top floor. I waited another minute and decided to walk up to them.

After reaching their door, I knocked and after hearing an acknowledgement, I walked in. It seemed like a reasonably small room and I could only hear four or five people typing to my right. I apologised for disturbing them but asked for the person I was there to meet. There was some confused silence for a moment and I again wondered if I’d found the right office. After a moment, someone spoke up and confirmed that he’d be with me in a moment. This is where it gets funny though.

As he was saying hello and greeting me, he congratulated and commended me for walking up the 6 flights of stairs to their office.

Now, I ask you, if I can walk the miles from Connolly station to their office, are a few flights of stairs going to be all that difficult?

When you go to an interview and people even doubt your ability to walk up some stairs you know you’re in for a hard one.

I hate poor me posts, and this next part isn’t meant as that kind of thing but an interview is hard enough without having to first prove that you’re a normal person before you even start talking about what you came there to discuss in the first place.

These people were so clueless that I just lost all interest in their company.

People who are blind will argue that it is our place to further the interests of people with disabilities to enhance equality and promote understanding. I have to say screw that! If a perspective employer needs to be assured that you need to walk up stairs when it’s your eyes that don’t work, not your legs is there really any point trying to convince him or her that you can independently work on his or her IT systems?

Just to finish, I said earlier that I plainly state that I’m blind on my CV. I want to expand on that a little. For any of you who are wondering about this, I don’t have it written in size 16 fonts with bold and underlined attributes to highlight it, I write it in a section for personal compandancies. My thinking is that “As I am Blind, I rely on memory for mobility and navigation more than most. This strengthened memory serves me in a number of areas……..” I expand on that of course, but if you want to know more, you will have to read my CV. Being unable to see isn’t the problem. It’s the attitude of a small subset of people to that difference that makes it a minor annoyance on occasion. With the right accessibility I can promise you that not only will I do the same as most people, I’ll aim to excel at it. I’d bet that the majority of people who have a vision impairment would say the same. We’re use to working harder to obtain access to systems and equipment that people who can see take for granted. We’re use to fighting for even the simplest things like getting into public buildings with our guide dogs. We’re use to fighting and working hard for what we need and what we want. In the end, that serves us and for the companies we work for, I believe it serves them too.

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