Deaf Job Searchers Try to Hide It
I am aware that to improve their chances of finding employment, some deaf and hard of hearing job searchers tailor their resumes to hide the fact they have a hearing loss. There is no way I can hide it on mine. It would take someone with the brains of a gnat to not be able to figure it out from my resume.
Personal Job Search Frustrations
I have experienced suspected job searching discrimination. When I finished my second degree at Gallaudet University in December 1996, I had an interview at a company that called me back for a "second" interview. The "second" interview wasn't really an interview at all - they introduced me to some people who worked at the company. Those people were clearly uncomfortable communicating with a deaf person, and an interpreter was not provided. Needless to say, I did not get the job. Eventually I realized I had to have interpreting services for the job search, and hooked up with Vocational Rehabilitation for that purpose.
Relay Services and Deaf Job Searchers
In addition, there have been companies that called the voice number on my resume, and then after discovering I was deaf and/or experiencing a relay service call, did not call again. I have lost some really good jobs as a deaf job searcher because of this. Plus, there have been times when companies said they would call but they did not. (Of course I can't be sure that all of this was because of my being deaf, but I think some suspicion is reasonable.)
Today deaf people have other options available to them; they can use personal relay phone numbers such as the My IP Relay Number (www.ip-relay.com). This number is a real voice number and employers who see it on a resume do not know that the applicant is deaf/hoh until they call. This avoids "giving away" the fact the applicant is deaf through having a TTY number and relay number on the resume because the deaf applicant can list the personal relay phone number instead. Most importantly, deaf applicants can have immediate communication with the employer calling.
CSDVRS also offers a personal 800 number. This personal 800 number enables the video relay interpreter to immediately connect to the deaf person's videophone or webcam. This number can also be put on resumes.
There has been discussion in the past on the internet that some employers apparently view deaf/hoh people as "walking interpreter bills." I put out a call in this site's newsletter, About Deafness , for other deaf and hard of hearing people to share their stories of suspected job search discrimination. Some people responded, as seen below:
Even VR Couldn't Get Me a Job
"When I was 24 I lost my hearing (all in one ear and I need an aid in the other). At 28 I went to College to take two years of Word Processing. After I graduated, (I was hooked up with the program DORS Department of Rehabilitation Services.) They told me to hand out a paper that stated to a prospective employer that DORS would reimburse them for four weeks of wages if after that time I did not work out for them. I was NOT taken up on that offer by a single interviewer. But how can you say it's discrimination? It might have been that I didn't type fast enough or my nylons had a run or some such thing! Who knows? But yes, it was very frustrating! Before my cancer, stroke and subsequent hearing loss, I never had a problem getting a job that I applied for!"
Deaf Employee Has Difficulty Getting Transferred
My girlfriend is profoundly deaf and both of us work at [a well-known chain]. She has worked in a sales department before, assisting customers. After working in the computer room and then as a cashier, she wanted to transfer into the garden department. She had to take a computer based test to move from cashier to a department. She, of course, did not pass cuz the questions were directed towards hearing people. I am hearing, and would have no problem answering the questions. but if she recieved questions such as "if you are helping a customer, others are waiting, and then your phone rings, which do you take care of first?" First of all, she can't understand voices even with her hearing aid, so she won't be on the phone. as far as the multiple customers, it is impossible to read 2 people's lips at the same time. so since most of those questions were like that, she failed. After telling me about it, i insisted that she speak to the one manager demanding a retest with fair questions.
This is in no way saying that the [well-known chain] is an unfair company to work for, but their "job preference program" needs to be redone to accomodate their deaf associates.
