Hi Sameer, If the top mgmt itself doesn't have conviction on disabilities and refuse to even keep an open mind, it would be best not to try to change such morons. Save that time and instead plan your job hunt well. Below I am sharing some steps which help structure your job search so that you increase your hit rate.
1. Decide what role you are interested in and what are the problems you will face in that role. Then figure out the work arounds. For eg. you are interested in an HR role but you have to maintain all the resumes of candidates in hard copy. You can either braille label the resumes before filing them or scan them and store them in E-format 2. Shortlist the sectors you want to be in and the companies you want to target - Remember to select organisations with professional management and better still which are known to be equal opportunity employers If such a company resuses to interview you or rejects you unfairly, you can always appeal to the top guys and exert some pressure on them. 3. Prepare - Before going for an interview, research the role you may be offered and try to break it down into all it's tasks. See if any task poses a hinderance to you and what is the work around for the same. If for eg. the job involves data analysis on Excel sheets, brush up your Excel skills thoroughly. You could even borrow a laptop with Jaws or Win Eyes and take it to the interview to demonstrate how it is not really an issue. Also research on the company, it's products, competitors, etc. and the industry it is in. There is no substitute for a good general knowledge. Finally, anticipate all the doubts the interviewers is likely to raise regarding your disability and prepare suitable answers for them. 4. Pre-interview - Before you go for the interview, you could email across a write up on how you manage to work effectively in a normal job environment, how you manage your travelling, how you use softwares and assistive aids to overcome small obstacles, etc. This will give the interviewer a perspective and prepare him favorably for the interview. Also if you know someone in the organisation, they could do some ground work for you by allaying any fears they might have about your ability to cope with their role. 5. Interview - Interviews are all about impression management as the interviewers have hardly 30 minutes to assess your entire worth and it is often superficial aspects which strike them. So you need to appear confident and relaxed. Use humour whenever appropriate and give the impression that you have thought through the role and that there is absolutely no problem you anticipate in discharging your duties as well as anyone else. Small things can make a big difference in managing the impression - for example I make it a point to mention that one of my hobbies is martial arts. While it is quite true that I enjoy my martial art work outs, I don't really practise it every day. But mentioning it makes the interviewer feel that I am just another regular guy like everyone else. I guess also the fact that I might just punch him hard if he doesn't give me the job really helps! But jokes apart work on small things which send across the right message. If you need any further inputs from my side, you can mail me separately and I will give you my contact nos. and we can take it forward. But guys always remember one thing - don't take a job just because it is available. Identify what you will be good at and what you want to do and then go hard and pursue it till you get exactly what you want. All the best! Warm regards, Hari -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Geetha Shamanna Sent: Friday, July 21, 2006 9:02 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AI] Bad Expeirience at job interview Hi Sameer, Frustrations such as this are unfortunately part of the job-hunting process for us. Either the vice president does not genuinely have adequate authority to overrule the managing director, or he may have given you that reassurance about his company looking at ability alone in a fit of selfrighteousness. Analysing why he did that is not going to change the situation for you. You may want to write to the vice president in a few days once he gets well and is back at the office, and ask if you could meet him to show him how you work, how your speech software works, etc. You may already know your job profile there. If so, identify the potentially problematic areas and explain to him about the alternative methods you plan to use. Sending a mail would be better than calling him, as people are usually more dismissive over phone. If he rejects your request, stop pursuing this job. If someone in the VP's position cannot keep his word and cannot defend his decision to interview a blind person to the MD, it may not be worth working for such a company. Do not get disheartened and do not give up hope. Keep applying, and you will encounter an employer who will not just recognize your abilities, but will also have the decisiveness to override any opposition he may encounter in his company and hire you. ----- Original Message ----- From: "sameer latey" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, July 21, 2006 5:51 PM Subject: [AI] Bad Expeirience at job interview > > Dear List members, > > I would like to narrate an incident which happened > with me today. Please inform if there is any recourse > possible. > > I had received a call for an interview from an > Andheri, Mumbai based infrastructure equipment leasing > company for an interview. The interview was to be > conducted by the Vice President of the company. I had > spoken with him before hand and he had casked me to > come today for the interview. I had informed him > regarding my blindness and he had said that only my > ability mattered to him and thad my disability was not > an issue. > > Today, I went for the interview and the Vice President > was absent due to ill health. The watchman telephoned > inside the office to find out if I had been called for > an interview. The Managing Director informed me on the > watchman's telephone that he would not give a blind > person a job and refused to let me appear for the > interview. > > I called the Vice President and he said that the > Managing Director's word was final and he could do > nothing. > > Unfortunately, as all these conversations happened on > the telephone, there is no written proof of the > discussion between me and the MD. > > Awaiting your suggestions. > > Regards > Sameer > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com > > To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, > please visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Send instant messages to your online friends http://in.messenger.yahoo.com To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
