Part Two of the challenges of employment for the Deaf series. Read Part One here.
When I moved to Connecticut, I reminisced about the days of the Probation department. Naturally, that was the first place I went to seek a job. I interviewed for the probation officer position in my county. It turned out to be one of the worst interviews I’ve been to.
Before I dive in about what happened with the interview, let me explain some things. I’ve gone to numerous job interviews. Beforehand, I usually try to ask for an interpreter or give a heads up about my deafness. Most often, they are not aware of the ADA law that they need to provide accommodations so I would find myself easing their worries that we can communicate via paper-and-pen method. It’s a difficult position for me to be in. When I should’ve been educating them about the ADA law accommodations, but instead I am trying to get on their good side and be likable for them to want to hire me. I worried that if I came across as demanding and made them uncomfortable, they wouldn’t consider hiring me.
With every job application I have submitted, the furthest I’ve got was them calling me to schedule an interview and this is when they find out about my deafness. I would normally not receive another call back from them. It became a common occurrence so I stopped telling them beforehand that I was deaf. I wanted to show them that I have the ability to do the job! I started showing up to interviews with paper-and-pen in hand and ready. I received a variety of reactions; most would be surprised. Some were willing to go along with the communication method I showed them.
Some were not willing to accommodate which is what happened at the probation job interview. I showed up, dressed professionally, proud of my strong criminal justice background and excited to ace this interview. I left the interview wishing that I wasn’t born deaf and felt very down for the rest of the day. The interviewer was a woman, who acted unhappy about the communication barriers. She had a list of questions she wanted to verbally ask me, but I had to write down every response. Throughout the interview, I also struggled with understanding her so I asked her to write it down and she refused to. At the end of the interview, she explained the high fast paced environment in the courts. I was very familiar with it from my previous experiences. I spent a good half hour selling myself with that amazing background and the ability I had for the job only to have her belittle me. She was clear about how it wouldn’t work with my deafness. It was a straight rejection right there at the interview. She only saw my deafness, not my abilities. It was impossible to change her mind because she never gave me a chance.
Unfortunately it was a common result of the many interviews I went to where the people rejected me right there. It was difficult for me to keep applying when I kept running into these roadblocks. Eventually, I started applying to jobs with less demanding qualifications. I applied to stores, restaurants, hotels, etc.
Kohl’s invited me for a group interview with 3 other young ladies for a sales associate position. It was an hour long interview specifically explaining the position. Kohl’s offered me a job afterwards. I was excited thinking it was at least something to get me out of my apartment and earn some income. Later that week, we were discussing the schedule and training. I found out that they planned on having me unload the trucks for 4 hours per week. I was in disbelief. This is all they see me capable of doing? I was so insulted that I told them I didn’t want the job.
I went on websites where parents posted listings for babysitters or nannies. I decided to try my luck there with my previous background of babysitting for my neighbors’ kids and cousins. I was faced with many similar responses from parents saying they didn’t think it’d work because of the communication barriers. One parent even asked if I was a parent, and stated that I shouldn’t even have a kid because “how can I hear them crying!” Communication barriers were the most often used excuses from anyone for why I wasn’t being hired.
I interviewed for a real estate assistant position. The real estate agent was a super friendly Italian guy, who was willing to talk with me via paper-and-pen. I had hopes with him based on his positive attitude. During the interview, he was super skeptical of the communication barriers that I would have with his clients. I never heard from him again.
Through these challenging times of waiting on getting a job, I did find a way to make some income. I started cleaning out my closet, selling it online.
Stay tuned for the next experience which is when I finally got a job in a deaf environment.