As a person who is blind or visually impaired…
A transition team goes to bat for you while you’re in high school. They aim to instill the skills you need for future success as an adult.
A Vocational Rehabilitation counselor may further train you and assist with purchasing assistive technology for job use, looking over your resume, and directing you to job leads.
As a transition specialist myself, I am a witness to the benefit of these services. I recognize an individual with a visual impairment needs assistive technology and other accommodations, and certainly benefits from direction instruction in conducting a successful job search and maintaining employment and advancing in a career.
So these services are all you need for a successful job search, right?
Not so fast.
These services are important for leveling the playing field between a potential employee who is blind and one who is fully sighted, but these services are not the ticket to employment.
While attending the 2016 AFB Leadership Conference, I heard several presenters discuss preparing teens and adults with visual impairments for employment. I noticed that the majority of them were concerned with a high number of clients asking “How will you get me a job?” or other similar question.
So here I am reminding you that YOU are the ticket to successful work. You do have employable skills; you can train for gainful employment; you can be a valuable asset to a company; and you may even run that company in time. There are no limits.
You are responsible for your job search. Train. Network. Apply. You’ve got this and we’re here to support you. Here’s to a successful job hunt!