7 Strategies to Build Career Resilience with Vision Loss
Career resilience is a valuable skill I have learned in my nearly 30 years of employment with vision loss. I started off with low vision working in corporate human resources. Later I went totally blind and kept working spending these past years in the disability nonprofit community. All of this work experience, along with my rapid vision changes, have contributed to my career resilience and success.
What is Career Resilience
career resilience is the ability to adapt, recover from setbacks and always grow in a changing work environment. This is achieved by cultivating new skills, staying positive and taking charge of your career path. During these work years, I have experienced job loss, industry shifts and unanticipated changes. However, I turned those challenges into opportunities. Career resilience is not about enduring and soldiering through. Rather, it is developing tools, networks and confidence that will lead to a successful career.
Career Resilience and Low Vision
I can’t speak about career Resilience without addressing how low vision and blindness play a huge role. I started my professional career with normal eyesight, decreasing to low vision and later to total blindness. These stages of vision loss greatly impacted my ability to not only work but to thrive in the workforce. I contribute my career success to advocating for work accommodations, forming a circle of support from other blind and low vision professionals and having good technology skills.
Career Resilience with Vision Loss Strategies:
1. Being Flexible and Adaptable
The workforce is constantly changing and you have to change with it. This means being adaptable and flexible. Stay abreast of industry trends and make adjustments. Forge connections and keep your technology skills fresh. When I started as a freelance writer and blogger Artificial Intelligence, known as AI, was not a part of the conversation. Today, it is a center piece where writers, bloggers and journalists are figuring out how to stay employed with this new technology. Observing this new trend has caused me to learn more so I ccan apply it to my own work regiment and career path.
2. Have a Positive Growth Mindset
With each work set back I have had to take a positive approach and not see it as a failure. I have had to learn from the experience and use those lessons toward my next work goal.
When I got downsized from my corporate HR position, I went back to my first love-journalism. This decision shifted me into another career path working as a writer and blogger in the disability community.
Part of creating a positive growth mindset is to do some self-reflection. Focus on your wins from past work experiences. Look at the skills you used to overcome difficulties. Take note of your vision loss journey and apply some of those same skills, habits or techniques. Many of us in the blind and low vision community are excellent problem solvers. We have had to learn how to navigate in a sighted world. Apply those same techniques here.
3. Build a Circle of Professional Support
Connect with others who are blind or low vision for encouragement, connection and support. Job seeking and later maintaining employment with vision loss is challenging. Having a network and/or mentors who understand your accessibility needs and specific career field will elevate your success. These mentors can be found in professional associations, online forums and blind and low vision community organizations like the National Federation of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind . Or resources available through CareerConnect.
Lastly, seek people who have more career experience, are in management and/or have been blind or low vision longer than you. They have valuable wisdom and lessons to share. They can introduce you to their connections strengthening your networks.
3. Become a Lifelong Learner
Career Resilience can’t be built without being open to learning new things. You must continue to hone in both general career development and adaptive technology skills. This could be accessing courses with LinkedIn Learning, listening to career-related podcasts or attending workshops through Hadley. As I continued to pursue a freelance writing career I noticed my typing skills were not as proficient. I took a typing workshop for the blind and low vision through Hadley to refresh those skills.
Consider cross training, continuing educational courses and/or leadership development programs. Always seek opportunities to improve yourself and learn new things because these prospects can lead to better job stability, advancement or promotion. When I decided to work in the disability nonprofit industry , I attended all kinds of workshops, training sessions, seminars and conferences in the field. These educational events helped me understand how nonprofit agencies operate and how I could apply my skills to them. Plus at each event I was able to meet new people and make connections.
4. Advocate for Accessibility and Inclusion
Since I have been blind my entire professional career advocating for myself has been routine yet essential. I learned quickly the need to speak up and not assume my employer would know how to accommodate me. I did research on assistive technology and how it works in a professional work environment. Then I met with management to express my needs . I shared confidently how having the right accommodation would improve my productivity and success in completing my work goals and objectives. I found that framing the conversation this way plus having a positive attitude helped assure my request was met.
One of my positions required direct interaction with the community. I had to attend several external meetings, conduct presentations and tours of my work facility. I requested screen reading technology for my computer, financial assistance for transportation and a sighted co-worker to help manage large tour groups. When advocating it is important to be a team player, understand the goals of your employer and express that with the right accommodation you can help them succeed.
In many of my previous positions I documented my successes and wins. This was important to not only boost my self-confidence but share with management when requesting a raise or promotion. Employers like to see success and how your role contributed to it. They are also interested in how you overcame work obstacles without bragging or being overbearing. Learn from your employer how the promotion process works at your company. Take notes of the skills, training, or work duties involved. Then create a plan to implement those details into your daily work routine.
6. Process Job Loss or Major Changes
More than likely you have experience a major change at work or a job loss. IT can be hard to process so reach out for support, manage your stress and create a game plan for next steps. When I got downsized from my HR position I took some time off. I needed to step back and digest the situation. I also wanted time to seek professional advice before moving to the next position. Once I did that I was able to come up with a game plan that led to a successful new career.
If you are experiencing a recent job loss, learn about unemployment benefits from your local unemployment office. Connect with vocational rehabilitation services or a career center for job training and career counseling. Look at this time as a job transition not a loss. Perhaps this is a good time to redefine job goals, learn a new skill or pursue a new career path.
7. Make Plans for the Future
Current and future career goals are important in building career resilience. Plan for your job future by keeping up with industry changes and ongoing skill requirements for your position. Set work milestones and review them regularly . Also, secure your financial future by creating an emergency fund and investing in retirement options like a 401K or IRA.
Career resilience is a lifelong practice, not a one-time event. Concentrate on these strategies because you never know your next great job opportunity might begin where the last one ended.