Category: Jobs and Employment
So after 2 years of partially completing a liberal arts degree, I'm living with a friend. I've got personal obligations I need to tend to and one of them is getting a job. I have been working with the division for the blind however, as of the end of school, I had to move out and am living with a friend. My friend however does not live within the area that the division for the blind covers. I'm working with someone who is trying to get me a job, but the problem is that without paid work experience, and with me being blind, there really is no job I can do. I have never really thought about this, but with the amount of skills I've got, I will never be hired anywhere. A lot of mindless jobs are sadly visually jobs. If a company had the choice between me, who might be able to do 75% of a job and an equivilent person who could do 110% of the job, the employer will natyurally go with the other person.
So that leaves me with this question. What jobs can I reasonably search for? I could answer phones and do all of that stuff, but most companies want 1 to 3 years experience. It's either move back to the area where my counselor is and live on the street but maybe get a job, or live with a friend and not have an agency here to help me. But if an agency can't find me work, I certainly can't, and I've been looking all over. Does anyone have any ideas? I've been selling things on ebay and I'm going to try and make a business out of it because it's something I'm able to do from home, and I can watch my paypal account grow. I did it before, and I can do it again. I just need a consistent supply of things to sell.
Welcome to the economy. You're not alone in that position. Call everywhere within a walkable or commutable distance, go into stores dressed professionally and ask for work outright. Bug everyone and every place for part-time work to start. Exhaust all leads.
Yeah the problem though is my advisor said walking into a store asking for a job application nowadays will not get you anywhere, since the application process is all online. That's understandable, but that doesn't help me when I go into the interview, they'll immediately see I'm blind, and they may talk to me through the interview but I know they won't hire me.
Chillin makes a good point. Even career fairs have turned into rehearsed speeches about logging onto the company's webpage to apply for any listed jobs online. The best bet is to network with people through professional events or even random opportunities and encounters. Networking through leads is great, but I feel like there is a fine line between being assertive and downright annoying, and that's a line I'm having trouble understanding as I start my own job search. You want to make a memorable impression, but you're damned if you get a bad reputation for being "that guy" who floods HR every day with phone calls and emails inquiring about the status of your resume or application.
At any rate, have enough respect for yourself and others not to randomly show up at a professional office, business or firm completely unannounced; at best you might get a nice outward smile, a pat on the back for being assertive, a friendly reminder to apply online and a grimace from an executive or secretary for wasting their increasingly busy time after you've left.
But this is all coming from someone who is currently unemployed. So don't listen to me.
I definitely feel your pain, being in a similar situation myself. best of luck with your search. all is not lost, though it certainly feels like it sometimes.
Okay, I've said this several times, and I know you need money (I was out of work for 10 months, so I know how you feel). Maybe what you should focus on now is experience. Maybe be an intern. Ask your Division for the Blind if you could maybe do a Situational Work Assessment. This is where you basically intern, but the state pays the agency to take you on on a trial basis. I know it sucks, no pay for work, but it might land you a job. At the very least, it will help you to network. While you're doing the assessment, your Division will pay for any equipment or transportation. My SWA lasted three months, and I landed a part time but good-paying job out of it. Now I'm a Case Manager. It sucks to think of everyone having more experience than you.
You're right, employers want experience, and just going in there in person no longer works. Hate to say it, but you really really need experience, any experience. If you have to take a crappy job answering phones, by all means, take it. Any job experience, even volunteer work, or internships look better to an employer than nothing.
Sorry to say it, but sounds like you should have thought about this sooner. I know how you feel, the summer of 1998, I was in your exact same position. It was unbelievably depressing! So, the next year, I did some volunteer work as a Crisis Line advocate for women facing Domestic Violence. It wasn't much, but it looked good on my resume. You also might want to try something like AmeriCorps. It's work experience, plus money for school.
I know nobody wants to start out at the bottom, but as a blind employee, you're gonna need to prove yourself even more capable than your sighted counterparts. So, start your EBay business, and in the meantime, get any sort of work experience you can. Oh btw, make it something relevant. If you gotta take computer classes to up your skills, or whatever, do itt!! As far as your living situation, if I were you, I'd consider moving closer to your Blind Division. If possible, try to get subsidized housing, live with your parents, whatever it takes to improve your job prospects. Life's too short to just wait for something to happen. In your present situation, you need all the help you can get. My Job Outreach Specialist with the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation was great. I know not everyone's that lucky though. If I can help you further in any way, please PM me. Also, if possible, don't give up on your degree. But, you may want to change your major to something more relevant. I worked part-time while going to school. It was a rough semester, but I liked balancing work and school. HTH.
Yeah, you really need experience for a job. I'm unemployed myself, and I'm looking for a job, and wanting to go to school part time. But you really need experience if you want a job, because as blw said, that's what employers look for when they try hiring someone.
Sadly, it's true. But as someone who is not currently eligible for SSI, I'm relying completely on the generosity of others to support me right now. I don't like it at all. I'm a very generous person with money when I have a decent income. OK, so I'm not handing out money to any random passer by on the street, or even to friends left and right, but let's just say if you've helped me out in the past, you will most definitely be rewarded as soon as I can. Anyway, my point is, school is great, and sometimes necessary; I get that. Experience is essential; I get that. But I'm getting really tired of depending on those I should be on equal grounds with supporting me as though I'm their child. the sooner it can end, the better. I'm not sure exactly what kind of situation the original poster is in, but if it's anything like mine, I can certainly see the dilemma. I'm not asking anyone to sugar coat the facts for me, nor am I asking for any handouts. But remember, school costs money. You need a job to get any decent amount of money. You need experience to get a job. You need some sort of a job to get experience. Even if you do go to school, that doesn't always give you experience. Meanwhile, you're stuck paying back a bunch of debt. Even if you do get most of your schooling paid for by various means of financial aid, it doesn't cover all of it, and there are still living expenses to factor in as well. It's doable with SSI or other benefits, but without that, you need to have some extremely generous people with a very nice income in your lives in order to make it work. Volunteering is definitely better than nothing, I can definitely agree there, but I've been told again and again by various counselors that they're not even going to bother attempting to place me in a position until I've been through school, and while I see where they're coming from, it's extremely frustrating. If you give me a free option for schooling, or a job guarantee at the end of it all, then I'll be all over that. But neither option exists as far as I'm aware. I'm not trying to sound harsh or pecimistic. I'm just trying to explain why school isn't *always* the best option at the time. I'm definitely willing to work for the income; no doubt about it, but I can't afford to work without pay for any longer than is absolutely necessary, and once again, I've talked to quite a few people who have had a lot of experience volunteering. Some of these positions led to paid work, while others were nothing but a dead end. There's nothing to lose here, because at least you're not paying to do this, but I hope you can understand that when you have no steady income at all, devoting a year or more to anything that doesn't pay is difficult.
Wow, sounds like you're in a tough situation. Perhaps, AmeriCorps might be especially suited for you. It's like the domestic Peace Corps. you'll get a few hundred bucks a month, which you can use as a "living expense". It's not much, but anything's better than nothing. Plus, you'll get an education award at the end of your service. You can serve two full time terms for two years, or do what my friends did and work part-time for four years. It's a great deal all around. I did my service out of college. You don't have to get Vocational Rehabilitation in this. Your state AmeriCorps fund may have a fund to help you purchase equipment. Mine did. I'm glad your DVR is glad to help you with school, but they're really naive to think that school in and of itself is gonna land you a job. Congrats for figuring that out on your own. I used to think I wouldn't have a problem landing a job. But the closer it got to my college graduation, reality started to sink in a lot more. I'm happy with my job now, but had to do a lot of crappy and sometimes unpaid work to get here. If you're living off the generosity of others as you say, maybe apply for some Pell grants if possible. Who'ver's nice enough to help you out, should be glad if you volunteer or take an internship. It shows initiative and motivation. Be persistent with your Voc Rehabilitation counselor. If they don't help you, get another one. Do whatever you have to do. I'm thinking that part-time school, and part-time AneriCorps would really work for you. Assuming you have an AmeriCorps chapter in your town. If not, many chapters are located near college campuses. So keep that in mind if you're considering college. At the very least, ask your counselor for internship or volunteer opportunities. Believe me, your resume will thank you later. My first DVR counselor recommended volunteer work as a way to get experience. I sort of scoffed at the idea, until the next summer, I was jobless with little experience. Worst summer of my life. I'd never want to relive it!! Any kind of work is gonna require some sacrifice, so honestly ask yourself what you're willing to do to get experience. HTH.
That definitely does help. and I really appreciate your understanding. I'll gladly take volunteer/little pay over nothing at all. it's just a matter of finding something suitable.
Oh no problem, anything I can do to help. Just ask yourself what sort of things you're interested in. What would you like to study, that might help you figure out what kind of work you'd like. If possible, if you gotta start out as a volunteer, try to find a job with a title attached like "volunteer coordinator", or "Crisis line Hotline Advocate". That'll look even better on your resume. Float this idea past yor Voc counselor, and see what they think. I was totally freaked out even pursuing my volunteer work. So start small.
Call the agency and inquire about possible positions, inquire about the location and other pertinent info. Do things in small steps. Pick up an application one day, drop it off the next. ETC. I was lucky in that I called about my position, and the training was the next week. I was totally panicked, cause I'd never even visited the agency before. I just tooka cab, and asked for directions before I got out. I did have to go back for an interview and training, but it was totally worth it. That job totally saved my sanity, and I'm not kidding. Connections are almost as important as experience in the work world. It's not who you know, but who you know, knows. Try to meet as many people as you can during your volunteer/interning. I really hope AmeriCorps will be a good fit, if you choose that path.