My Experience Finding Summer Jobs
Summer jobs are sort of a rite of passage for a lot of people. It symbolizes independence and being able to work to support yourself in addition to gaining valuable experience. As a university student, I have always been interested in working a summer job to help pay for my university expenses and to gain valuable work experience. However, I quickly noticed that my experience finding a summer job was vastly different from my peers.
Firstly, finding jobs that were accessible in nature were relatively difficult, as many retail-oriented jobs required a lot of visual aspects in relation to tasks being carried out. Even though I had many of the skills listed within the job description, I found myself hesitating to apply since I knew that many people would believe that I wouldn’t be able to carry out many of the tasks that were required for the job.
Nonetheless, I decided to apply for jobs that I believed I was qualified for based on my previous volunteering experience and the skill set I have. This led to the next part of the job-hunting process, which includes interviews. Interviews bring up the big question of how and when disclosure of my blindness would come about. Should I say it right at the beginning? What if they don’t ask me? Do I talk about it regardless? These questions always whirled around in my head before and during my interviews, and it definitely had an impact on my confidence going into some of them.
I wanted to show everyone how capable I was to work with in their establishment, and I found that being upfront and direct about my blindness and how it often served as an asset worked very well for me. As a blind person, problem-solving skills, innovative thinking, working with others, and organization are aspects we implement in our daily lives. Since these are all skills employers are looking for, I made sure to highlight the fact that my blindness only serves to solidify the skills for me.
Although it was disheartening when I wouldn’t get a callback following countless interviews, I made sure to remind myself that I did my best and will keep working on finding a job that will suit my experiences and skills. I am now in my fourth year of university and have had the opportunity to work several unique and incredible jobs within the past few years. Being the chair of a Youth Council, working in a federal internship, and working alongside children within daycares are just a few of the wonderful opportunities that I have had.
Job-hunting can be a nerve-wracking experience, especially when we have a lot of biases regarding our abilities put against us as blind individuals. However, I have learned that being confident in yourself and your skills goes a long way, and I’m excited to see what opportunities lie ahead.