Part 2: The search in CT

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 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 officer 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, cousins, etc. 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 met a few local girls online who sold their clothes. I started cleaning out my closet, selling it online and met up with the girls to sell our clothes together. We hosted several events where we brought our ‘closets’ together and people came to shop from us. This motivated me to get out for a bit and interact with others, which I enjoyed especially with our common love of fashion. It was fun!

Stay tuned for the next experience which is when I finally got a job in a deaf environment.