Talking to Employers

CareyJay

CareyJay

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So, I just went to my first career fair today. I think it went well, I talked to a number of companies, gave out a big stack of copies of my resume, had several people seem really interested in having me work for them. But I can't help but be nervous about the future. I'm going to have to explain to them at some point about my hearing, and I'm not sure how to handle that when it comes up. I don't make a secret of it, but it takes most people quite a while to notice.

Advice on how to have that discussion when the time comes?

Ok, background information because I know you'll ask. My impairment isn't too bad, but even with hearing aids and lipreading my speech comprehension is not what it should be. I use an FM system for classes but it's on loan from the school so I wouldn't have it at a job. (Whether or not that could be a problem will depend on the format of whatever meetings I'd be attending.) Interpreters aren't a question because I know only a few words of ASL in the first place. Obviously I speak well enough (usually, though if I'm excited or tired I sound drunk) that people rarely notice anything amiss.

I don't expect many problems, but people do notice eventually, and I have no clue how to handle it when that eventually comes.
 
I think it really depends on what type of job you are applying for. If it has to do with customer service and lots of telephone work then you need to bring it up sooner rather then later. I would explain it exactly like you did in your post. Good luck to you!!
 
Everything I looked into is tech work. Mostly user interface design, since most of the companies at the career fair were looking for engineers or programmers rather than scientists. So the graphic nature of that would mean that customer interaction would probably have to be either face to face or exchanging files over email.
 
I had that discussion last night over skype.
I'm in a different province than my potential employer so we used skype, he didn't know about my hearing but apparently they always use skype instead of the phone because of the ability to see expressions and body language.(big plus)

One of the questions he asked me was, "is there anything that may affect you performance?"

I told him about my limitations on answering phones but in the line of work that I am pursuing that the lack of phone contact can be easily be worked around by text messaging, emails, skype. ect... I really downplayed my difficulties on the phone by making the alternative communication methods look shiner and more efficient as a whole.

The job position does not require me to answer phones at all. It just requires the willingness to find way to communicate with customers, clients and to be able to network with others in my field. Pretty open

Be honest on what you can and can't do, and offer ways to work around what you have trouble doing. The more clear you are the sooner will prevent them from placing you in situations that you aren't suited for, but at the same time don't sell yourself short. Make sure they know you can work around it efficiently, if they think of your hearing status as a limitation rather than a difference it can hurt your chance for employment.

If you wondering, I'm applying for a position as a graphic artist, different from tech positions yes but you would be surprised by how similar the communications for both positions are.
 
JabberJay said:
Be honest on what you can and can't do, and offer ways to work around what you have trouble doing. The more clear you are the sooner will prevent them from placing you in situations that you aren't suited for, but at the same time don't sell yourself short. Make sure they know you can work around it efficiently, if they think of your hearing status as a limitation rather than a difference it can hurt your chance for employment.
Click to expand...

I agree with JabberJay. This bold sentence are the key to get successful entry to the job. Many HR are very smart on interviewing with prospective employee and they can catch any dishonesty or difficulty to answers. Just be straight forward honest with them. I mean think about it, there are many new technology to communicate with people. You can simply ask to use e-mail only if you can't use the phone. Everyone are used to using e-mail, they don't feel any differences between phone or e-mail. 20 years ago, they say "I prefer phone!" Today..they don't see any differences. You know?
 
My only interview so far (not a big deal, I'm only a sophomore and looking at doing research this summer anyway since that's better for getting into grad school) went well until the end. The last round of papers had a question at the end What are three personal (not professional) goals you plan to work on over the next four years? The interviewer was really enthusiastic reading over it in front of me, 1. finish my Bachelors--"good, wouldn't expect any less of one of our employees", 2. get accepted to a good PhD program--"amazing, I have a great feeling about you", 3. regain and surpass my prior fluency levels in Spanish&ASL--"*blink*...what's that?" And then once I told him, he got all weird and ended the interview. I didn't even tell him that I was hoh, just that I wanted to brush up my ASL. Not really sure whether to think he was embarrassed not to have realized what it stood for or whether he was put off by it.
 
Carey, thats kinda weird so go figure =\

Besides... I had this one Boss that I always told my friend he was mostly "All Talk" because of the crap that spews out of both ends....shudders.... but for the most part I discovered from another co-worker that he tells new people that the company hires that I have 'hearing problems" and to be honest... I was a bit insulted because how would every one else interpret that? I told my co-worker my concerns and he pretty much told me he thought the Boss was being "politically correct" or using such a term, but bleh.

I think the term "Hearing problems" is too broad and can be insulting, at least to me I think so.

But anyway I'm glad i have a company e-mail address because as a CNC Programmer, I do have to e-mail Engineering on missing dimensions or if their 3-D model doesn't match the drawing and such. Not only that, but I find it's my best method of communication, even though almost every desk has a phone on it, cept mine, so for that I'm grateful. But that doesn't mean that I won't be bombed by e-mails upon e-mails lol. I honestly believe that e-mails are a lot more helpful because you can go back and re-read responses or go over whatever it is you discussed with a fellow co-worker.

Sometimes I've had to have other people to be my ears because I just can't use the phone if they want something addressed that can't wait. Other times i've had to ask, but as far as i've seen, everyone i asked was okay with it so it was cool.
 
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