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Many of us weathered employment uncertainty after the pandemic started in March 2020. However, it brought a silver lining: the opportunity to work remotely. For people who are blind or have low vision, these opportunities eliminate transportation barriers! I had always dreamed of working from home. This is my journey to teleworking and proving to myself and employers that I could successfully telework.
Finding Love and Changing Jobs
At this time in my career as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor for a state agency for the past ten years, I was ready for a change of scenery and work-life balance. Fast forward to July 2020. I found love in another state. I was presented with the idea of leaving my current job in Florida to move to Tennessee. My goal was to find a local job before I made the move.
I began virtually networking with people involved in the local chapters of the National Federation of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind. I connected with an employee of the Tennessee Vocational Rehabilitation Services. I learned there was an opening for a VR Counselor. I stayed persistent in order not to miss that opportunity. In November 2020, I applied for that job. I had my first Zoom interview. In December 2020, I was hired to start in February 2021.
Supervisors
I moved to start my job. I had a great supervisor for the first two months. I was disappointed when she left. I soon realized that a good supervisor can make all the difference in job satisfaction. This led me to start the job hunt journey again.
The Job Search
Since vocational rehabilitation is a niche job market, I didn’t know if I wanted to stay in this field. I didn’t want to go back to school to try to start a new career. Instead, I contacted other rehabilitation counselors who had left state agencies to find out what types of jobs they were doing and what companies they worked for.
One of my graduate school classmates happened to be a professional resume and cover letter writer. She also had low vision and had been in a similar situation. She encouraged me to get LinkedIn. She also taught me how résumé and cover letters must be tailored to the job you are applying for to be picked up by the automated applicant tracking systems employers use. I used her services to assist me.
In addition to applying for remote jobs, I used LinkedIn to find other employees in the same role and companies I was applying to. Networking on LinkedIn gave me an insight into how the company treated its employees and the job responsibilities. My research was beneficial to job interviews. I had a better idea of what questions to ask. I persisted in applying to jobs even if they looked like jobs I had already applied for. My investment in using a professional to assist with resumes and cover letters had paid off.
A Successful Interview
In December 2022, I received a call from a recruiter regarding a position I had applied for months before. I scheduled a virtual interview for January 9, 2023. Before this interview, I had practiced with a sighted person to ensure that my background, position on the screen, and sound settings were appropriate. My interview went well. I had to wait a whole month before I got a call back from the recruiter with the job offer. I was elated. My start date was a month after I accepted the job offer.
Resigning
Two weeks later, I resigned from the state of Tennessee. In between, I gave myself two weeks of a break. The break benefited my mental health and allowed me to prepare to work for a new employer that was much larger and different from a state agency. I was somewhat nervous about accessibility issues as I use screen magnification to operate a computer.
Starting My Job
On March 6, 2023, I started my telework job as an ADA Job Accommodations Specialist for a global risk management company. While most employees used dual monitors, I had challenges with this. During training, I learned that another employee with low vision was in a similar situation.
I connected with her to navigate challenges. I explained to my supervisor how I needed to do this job differently with one monitor instead of two. I proved I could do this job with the right support system.
Words of Wisdom
I would encourage anyone who is blind or has low vision to network with others who have successfully overcome accessibility barriers. This will ease the angst of leaving a job for another where you find out it can’t be made accessible for undue hardship, retrofitting issues, or lack of experience with assistive technology.
Networking is also key because the interviewer will not always bring up challenges because they need new employees. People who already work there have unbiased knowledge of how they are treated and what it is like in that role on a daily basis. Lastly, I would encourage anyone with transportation barriers to learn how to use assistive technology most effectively. This will open more doors for employment in a remote setting.