Text Version of Employment Update! Summer Issue Volume 1, Issue 2
Division 2, Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually
Impaired
Association Story Contributors:
Anthony R. Candela
Kathy Gallagher
Tim Hindman
Megan Merriwether
Inside this issue:
Lead Story: Welcome to Our Summer Issue! Page 1
Career Solutions: Navigating the Interview
Page 1
Cutting-edge Approaches to Job Development Page 2
Hire an Older Worker Who Is Visually Impaired Page 2
Welcome to Our Summer Issue!
Welcome to our summer issue of Employment Update! We have a jam-packed
newsletter for you with more interview tips from Tim Hindman, and a wonderful
article on some great new approaches to employment that are bringing
opportunities to people with visual impairments and blindness at the American
Foundation for the Blind by Tony Candela. And last, but not least, Kathy
Gallagher from National Industries for the Blind sets us straight on how to make
use of a growing resource - older workers!
As a baby boomer, I can attest to the fact that most of us will want to stay
involved with work much longer that we would have thought!
Please enjoy the issue and let us know what you would like to see in upcoming
issues of the Update. Our mission in Division II is to make your job easier
through the sharing of ideas! So, please share yours! Megan
Career Solutions: Navigating the Interview
By Tim Hindman
In order to get a job in today's market you must first navigate the interview. This
harsh reality does not have to intimidate the visually impaired job seeker. Like
any unpleasant task if you can find out what it demands of you, you can then
begin to strategize how you are going to tackle it.
When it comes to interviewing the first step is to find out what the employer is
expecting of you. With this information you can then have a guideline for
answering the interviewer's questions. The primary thing employers will expect is
that you know yourself, your strengths and your values. Can you cope with
uncertainty and change? Do you understand and appreciate diversity among
people and are you willing to try new approaches? Obviously, knowledge of how
to use the computer is a big expectation as well as being service-oriented and
possessing good people skills. On the personal front, employers are looking for
self-motivation, confidence, dedication and sound ethical judgment.
Once you know the interviewer's expectations, it is important to move on to
explore the different types of interview questions and why they are being asked.
Questions about your skills and work experience are designed to find out what
you can do and where you have done it, why you want to do it here at this
company, why you are qualified, what you'll do for them, and how you handle
situations. Questions about your knowledge are designed to find out what you
know, how you'll make a difference with that knowledge, how you have made a
difference in the past, and how you stay current. Questions about your personal
characteristics are designed to find out what kind of person you are, how you
handle situations and your overall style and priorities.
Cutting-edge Approaches to Job Development and Placement
By Anthony R. Candela
Early 21st century challenges in job-development and placement of blind and
visually impaired consumers pose the same problems we've always faced, plus a
few new ones. How can we approach these challenges using cutting-edge
tools? The first step is to learn what is out there. Here are a few examples from
my 'travels' around the country.
Employment Consortia
Employment consortia consist of job developers, from blindness and generic
agencies in a given geographic region, who work with blind and visually impaired
consumers. They meet monthly, either in-person or by telephone, and
communicate regularly with each other between meetings. Consortium members
share candidate information (protecting their confidentiality), job leads, and
strategies for assisting their clientele. Because of their willingness to share leads
and, in effect, clients, consortium members increase their ability to match
consumers to jobs and employers to consumers. Thus, the consortium benefits
its members by allowing them to maintain reasonably sized caseloads and by
increasing their presence in an already competitive employment market.
The author helped form consortia in New York City and northern California. For
more details, please see the 'Employment Update' section of the July 2001
Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness.
Job-developer, Job-coach, & Assistive Technology Teams
Many agencies with employment and technology staff assign teams that work in
tandem to develop employment possibilities and to assist with the provision of job
accommodations. Employers uniformly state that hiring blind and visually
impaired employees provides value-added benefits when the cost of the
accommodations is borne by a third party (usually State VR) and ongoing
technical assistance is provided by employment and technology specialists
during the hiring and training process.
The Arizona Services for the Blind, for example, has placed dozens of blind and
partially sighted consumers into customer service positions by sending its team
along with qualified candidates to such large-scale employers
as Sears, Discover Card, America West and Southwest airlines, and others in the
Phoenix area. Operating similarly, the Clovernook Center (Cincinnati) makes it
easy for employers to hire blind and partially sighted telephone sales
representatives by providing temporary job coaches during the sales training
process. Agencies that do not have in-house technology or job coach staff often
contract with independent vendors for these valuable services.
In California, the Sensory Access Foundation routinely sends teams to
prospective employers and, with the understanding that no particular position is
being sought at the moment, evaluates all the jobs available in the company and
develops an accommodations profile for each. This proactive approach
expedites the placement and accommodation process when a candidate
becomes available.
Employers Speaking to Employers
One of the strategies to eliminate or reduce inequities in employment options and
opportunities for people who are blind or visually impaired currently underway at
the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) is the creation of a vehicle for
employers who are considering hiring blind or visually impaired workers to speak
with employers that have already done so. Combined with the technical
expertise of vision rehabilitation professionals, AFB hopes that the employers
speaking to employers (ESTE) project will help increase the number of blind or
visually impaired persons who are hired. In its pilot phase, ESTE project staff is
currently interviewing large-scale employers with a recent and affirmative
experience hiring blind and visually impaired persons. The goal is to develop a
database of ESTE employers who will mentor prospective employers on a realtime and as-needed basis.
When operational, job developers, through an AFB intermediary, will be able to
refer employers currently in the process of hiring a blind or visually impaired
candidate to an 'employer-mentor.' These "experienced" employers will assure
them of the value of hiring blind and visually impaired workers and, in brief,
'coach' them through the process. Matched by industry and positions, employers
and job developers alike will have another resource at their disposal to facilitate
the hiring process.
For further information and to assist with the project, contact the author.
Anthony R. Candela, National Program Associate
American Foundation for the Blind
111 Pine Street, Suite 725
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 392-4845
tcandela@afb.net
Have the "Vision" to Retain or Hire an Older Worker Who Is Visually Impaired
By Kathy Gallagher
The number of older Americans who are experiencing age-related vision loss is
growing. Yet, these individuals often may want to continue to work if given the
chance by an employer and help and guidance from vocational rehabilitation
services.
What should an employer do to help an older employee who is losing their
vision?
Find out about low vision services and devices and vision rehabilitation services
which can make it possible for the employee to learn adaptive techniques to
carry out his/her job functions. By taking advantage of these services, the
employee can avoid premature and unnecessary early retirement, and the
employer can avoid losing a skilled, productive and reliable employee.
Why would an older person who is visually impaired want to
continue or go back to work?
Older persons who are visually impaired are interested in work for the same
reasons as most older people who want to work:
Additional income
The opportunity to be around other people
The opportunity to continue to learn new skills
Health insurance and/or other benefits
Sense of self worth
Opportunity to feel productive
I can understand why I would want to retain a good worker
but...
Why should I consider hiring an older person with a visual impairment?
Older persons have:
A proven work history a strong work ethic
Life-long work related skills
Job-related education and training
The capacity to learn
No earnings limitations after age 65
Typically no dependent children at home who require care
Interest and attention to safety issues (less likely to take chances which may
result in injuries)
What help is available to employers and older workers?
Accommodations such as:
Additional lighting and/or lighting positioned directly on work tasks
Low vision optical devices such as hand-held or stand magnifiers
Devices such as talking clocks and watches, writing guides, large print rulers
Adaptive equipment such as screen enhancers which magnify the image for ease
of reading, computers and other equipment with speech output.
Services such as:
Eye medical care
Vision rehabilitation services
Low vision services
Job site modification
Individualized orientation to the job and to the work site
Job training or retraining
For more information about hiring older workers, call Pris Rogers, 423-921-8456
or Alberta L. Orr, 212-502-7634 at AFB.
We want to hear from you!
Please send us your submissions, comments, questions, and inquiries about
Division 2, the Employment and Voc. Rehab. Division. If you are not a member,
call AER to join or call Megan or Tim in Seattle @ (206) 436-2119 or 2186.
Chair: Megan Merriwether
Chair Elect: Tim Hindman
Secretary/Treasurer: Adele Crudden
Past Chair: Dan Brim
Employment Update!
Editor: April Bergsman
c/o Seattle Lighthouse
P.O. Box 14959
Seattle, WA 98114
Phone: 206-436-2119
Fax: 206-329-3397
Email: MMerriwether@SeattleLH.com