Word transcript of transitions video – Tom’s story
TC: Thomas Church
TC: My name's Thomas Church, I'm 23 years old, and I lost my
sight about three or four years ago, now. It was kind of, as I was
applying for university, and I was getting accepted, so actually, it
was a bit of a big change going into uni. I was actually applying to
do a motorsport engineering course, and then obviously, realised
that I wanted to move away from a physical job, because I wouldn't
be able to do that. So I then moved onto a course that we shared
some lectures with, which was logistics, and supply chain
management. So it was kind of, a big learning curve. So I was
learning JAWS, and having training sessions on that, alongside my
degree.
So my job now, my position is Inbound Logistics Operations
Executive. I'm on the graduate scheme at Tesco. When I was
applying for Tesco, the assessment process was quite intense.
They were very supportive there to be fair, I took my own laptop
because obviously they give out pens and notepads which isn’t
very useful for me because I only use JAWS with my laptop. So I
took my own laptop and kind of throughout the day tried to show
how I would cope with a situation. They were really helpful,
because the paper wasn’t electronic-based so they read that out to
me and I typed the answer. Or we had to do a presentation, so I
kind of just tried to memorise three main points and elaborate
around them and sell that point.
Once I found out that I'd got the job, I organised with my director to
come in a few weeks before, to meet him, and sit down with him.
And I sort of showed him my iPhone, and how I use that. And I told
him that the one thing with my sight loss is it takes me a while to
get used to something, and once I understand it fully, then I can do
it. So the main thing I tried to push to my employer was that it was,
be patient with me. It's been quite successful so far, I think
everyone knows where I stand, I make my situation quite clear to
them.
I didn't use Access to Work to get this job, because I've heard in
the past that it was quite a lengthy process, and it can be quite
complicated. And also because I only use Jaws and Zoomtext, I
managed to get my company to support me with that, and some
extra training on that. So I haven't had to go down the route of
Access to Work yet.
I think there is a big difference between being in education with
sight loss, and being in the workplace with sight loss. I think, in
education, you're kind of, you're supported in a big way, and
essentially, you're paying them to teach you, and to provide you
with a service. Whereas in the workplace you want to just be able
to do everything, and be able to impress everyone. And I think if
you're honest, and let everyone know where you stand, and still
have your demands of what you need to be able to do this and
that, you'll add a lot more value to the business, as well as being
good at your job and comfortable.
For my information on transitions, visit rnib.org.uk/young-people.
[Music].
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