Job interviews and federal jobs

[Monarhistka]

Good day!

I would like to hear advices/comments from anyone who is familiar with my situation. I’m profoundly deaf. I'm currently a college student, but in the summer of the next year I'll look for a job as a statistician. My problem is that I never had a real job but internships only. Therefore, I do not know how I would experience job interviews as a deaf person. English is not my native language (I was born in other country); hence, I do not speak English well and prefer to communicate in ASL.

I have some questions and would like to hear your answers:

1). I'm planning to look for a federal job as a statistician in the Bureau of Census or a similar department in New York City. (I already have U.S. citizenship, so citizenship would not be an issue.) If you work in the field of statistics or mathematics or have a federal job, please share your experience.

2). I suspect that it would be easier to find a federal job than a job in a private company. Do you agree?

3). I have the information that by law it is required to have an interpreter for job interviews, but the real life is more complex, of course. It is possible to tell an employer that you need an interpreter in advance before a job interview, but there is a risk of being rejected because of interpreter-related costs. I have heard that in order to avoid this issue some deaf employees hired an interpreter themselves. It is also possible to ask VR to help pay interpreter services, but this is not the best option in my situation because of the difficulty of obtaining services from VR I experienced in the past. Please tell your experience with job interviews and suggest the best strategy in getting interpreting services.

I would appreciate if you would answer to any question. Also, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me.

Happy Holidays!

 

[Oddball]

If you are planning to get a federal job, you need a schedule A at DisabilityInfo.gov: Employment: Employer Resources: Federal Employer Resources. Yes, VR counselor or other person whom you know well or worked with to fill out the schedule A form.

Second, you need to notify the interviewer or other person that you need an interpreter. The interviewer is responsible to provide an interpreter for you when you have a job interview. Or you can provide the list of interpreters to interviewer.

I hope this information helps. I wish you the best of luck and happy holidays!

 

[Interpretrator]

The interpreter thing is tricky. Yes, it's the law, but you don't want to come off pushy right off the bat at your interview by bringing up ADA issues. I agree with Oddball's idea. Perhaps before your interview you could email HR and explain your situation, but help them out by providing a list of interpreter agencies. That way they will see you are willing to work with them on this.

Of course if you're hired then an arrangement might have to be made but at that point, if they want you working for them, it shouldn't be a problem.

I really hope things work out! Keep us posted.

 

[Monarhistka]

Oddball and Interpretrator, thank you for answers! Oddball, the link that you gave has helpful information, thanks. I think that you both are right about interpreting services. So far, I think that I will not mention deafness on my resume at all, but when an interviewer would invite me to an interview, then I would inform him or her of my need for interpreting services and give a list of local interpreting agencies and their contact information.

 

[Interpretrator]

Oddball and Interpretrator, thank you for answers! Oddball, the link that you gave has helpful information, thanks. I think that you both are right about interpreting services. So far, I think that I will not mention deafness on my resume at all, but when an interviewer would invite me to an interview, then I would inform him or her of my need for interpreting services and give a list of local interpreting agencies and their contact information.

That sounds like an excellent approach! Best of luck.