I am a person who lost my sight 11 and a half years ago. I am now totally blind and I lost my sight through complications of Diabetes. I had different jobs when I was sighted ranging from a filing clerk which was my very first job after leaving school and then I work for 3 years in the banking industry as a bank clerk.
I started to loose my sight whilst I was working for the R and I Bank in Western Australia. I was working in the International Department and I finished there in 1991 due to my eye sight becoming very poor. I became totally blind in 1992 and I sat in self pity for 6 months until I realised I was blind and not dead.
I went to the Association for the Blind and learnt how to read and write braille. I then was taught how to use a computer with voice feed back technology. I knew that I had to learn these skills if I wanted to get back into the work force.
It took me 3 years to develop my skills with computers to be able to start looking into work placements. I had never used or seen a switchboard so my first step was to do some work experience where I could gain some skills in using a switchboard.
While attending the Association for the Blind I met people who were blind and I also was told about people who had jobs and where these people worked. I contacted a lady who was totally blind who worked for the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet to see if it would be possible for me to come in and do some work experience on the switchboard with her. This lady checked with her supervisor and I was given 2 weeks work experience in this government department.
After completing the 2 weeks there I was told about another blind man who worked for the Fremantle Police department. I contacted this man and arranged another 2 weeks of work experience with him. I was arranging the work experience in departments where I knew there was blind people working as the technology was already set up for a blind person to use.
Once I had completed my 4 weeks of work experience I was contacted by the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet asking me if I would be interested in doing some part-time work for them on a contract basis. I was over the moon in being offered this opportunity and of course I jumped at it. I spent the next 18 months working 2 days a week there. I was then wanting to get more work but there was no placements available where I was, so I then was put in contact with an employment agency who helped disabled people obtain work. Another receptionist/switchboard operator position in the state government was advertised and the employment agency assisted me with writing an application for this position. I obtained an interview and I was given this permanent position with the Government Employees Superannuation Board(GESB). I was working 5 half days a week which at the time suited me very well. I stayed with the GESB for 20 months, but then my circumstances changed and I needed to have a full time job.
There was no possibility of this happening at the GESB so I started looking elsewhere. A receptionist/ switchboard operator position came up with the Association for the Blind so I applied for this position. Using the experience I had obtained through the employment agency I was able to write a very good selection criteria for this job. I did obtain an interview for this position and I was given this job. I was put on the top salary range for this position due to the experience I had in this type of work. I spent the next 5 months working for the Association for the Blind but due to the lack of support by the staff at thin organisation I decided to look for another job.
My next position was with a large company in the finance industry again as a receptionist/ switchboard operator. This was part-time work and it was a casual position. After working for 6 months as a casual I was offered a permanent position. The part-time work then became a full time position which I was prepared to do.
I had a situation of discrimination whilst working for this company and I continued to speak with manager's about this issue but nothing was being done about it so I thought the best thing for me to do was move on.
My mum was checking the papers each Saturday for me and a part-time telephonist position was advertised at a 5 star hotel in Perth. Once again I applied for this job. By this time I had ganed a lot of experience in writing selection criteria's so I was quite confident that I would obtain an interview with this hotel. Once again I obtain this position as a telephonist and I was told after I started that the manager who interviewed me went back to the other girls she supervised and told them about this amazing person she had just interviewed who was blind and that she was going to employ this person. I had to have a lot of technology work done with JAWS to get it to operate with the data base that the hotel used, but this was all done by the technology people from the Association for the Blind and the cost of this being done was covered by Work Place Modifications. I worked for this hotel for just under 12 months but the position involved shift work. After a while this was effecting my health being a diabetic. I resigned from my position and I had no job to go too. I had to give 2 weeks notice and I took those 2 weeks as annual leave as I needed this time for interviews for several other positions I hoped to obtain.
I was still working at the hotel when the Public Service Management Office called me. This is a government department which handles all employment in the Western Australian State Government. I had put my name down on their disability list for any work that may come up that would suit me. I received a call from this office saying my old position at the GESB was being advertised for a 3 month contract and would I be interested in having my name put forward to the position. Of course I jumped at the mention of my old position there as it had been the best job I had ever had and certainly the best group of people to work with.
About a week later I received a call from a lady who was the supervisor of this position and I knew this lady from when I worked there previously. I was asked to come in for an interview the next week. I had my interview and within a few days I was contacted by the GESB offering me the position. I knew at the time it was only a 3 month contract but I had nothing at the time and anything was going to do. I spent the next 9 months working on contract and in June of 2002 I was given permanency. I have now been working here for 19 months and I have no intention of going anywhere else.
In summary I have had a few jobs both in my sighted life and in my blind life and I have learnt from experience how to write an excellent resume, selection criteria and covering letter. These are the essential facet's of any application. When writing a selection criteria it is so very important to ensure you have all of the essential criteria that is listed before you consider applying for any position. It is essential that you have a good example to use in your application for the selection criteria you are addressing. Make your application straight to the point. Whatever you do don't ramble on, as this makes the reading of your application by the employer very boring. Don't mention in your written application that you are blind or vision impaired because you are competing against sighted people and you want to be on a even keel with them. Let the employer find out when you turn up for your interview. You then have the chance to sell yourself to them in person.
When attending an interview make sure you present yourself very well. You need to ensure the clothes you are wearing all match and look professional. Always remember the first impression is the lasting impression. You need to go into an interview with confidence, which will show through in an interview.
I would just like to finish in saying all of the positions I have obtained since loosing my sight have been gained through no assistance from any employment agency or any other source. The first position with the GESB I had, I received some assistance from an employment agency but that was the only one.