Deafness in the work place and employers

glomar

Hi all I am just submitting this post as a query , while I am not deaf I do have a sister that is deaf . I have a few questions about employment for deaf people and I am also looking for some honest answers from employers .

My sister has currently completed a VTEC certification , while she doesnt have a leaving cert she finds it difficult to even obtain an interveiw for any type of job .

I have spoken to friends of companys I know regarding the employement of staff with phyiscal disabilitys and there answer with regards to employing people of this nature is "that it is not worth the effort employing people that are disabled it is too time consuming and cost ineffective " to employ anybody like that . I have seen this attitude with even some of the larger multinational companys and they seem to have the same approach after speaking to some of there HR managers .

My sisters carreer officer advise's that she should mention her disablity on her application / cv and in my opinion this is something that should not be mentioned on an application form , as I any position applied for gets the usual response saying that the position has been filled .

Employers - HR managers here is a question for any of you who are reading this post ? When you receive an application for a position and you have seen a mention of a disablity in the application , do you ever call that person in for an interview or do you discard the application ?

For people with disablitys reading I have 2 questions .
1) Do you mention your disability on your cover letter when applying for a job or do you wait for the interview ?

2) If you do mention your disablity on your cover letter / application how may of times do you get called for an interview ?

While irish employement law says that a person cannot be discriminated against any disability they may have , how many companys actually practise this ?

I looks forward to honest response from both employers and people looking for work .

RainyDay

My suggestions would be;

1) Don't declare her deafness on applications forms or CVs. Wait until she is called for interview. This eliminates any chance that the is being discriminated against at shortlisting.

2) She should aim to take any job she can get, even stacking shelves at minimum wage. It may be that employers are nervous about her ability to keep down a job, rather than her deafness. Showing that she has been in steady employment for a few months can make a big difference.

She has a legal entitlement to a 'reasonable accomodation' from an employer to accomodate her disability. FAS operate a Wage Subsidy Scheme to support employers on any additiional costs arising form her disability.

CtrlSource

1) Do you mention your disability on your cover letter when applying for a job or do you wait for the interview ?

Agree with RainyDay on this one. i have never made mention of disability in covering letters of application or my CV. It's not relevant prior to the interview stage anyway. Obviously, i wouldn't apply for a job knowing that i physically couldn't do it, but that's the only consideration i'd give them. This strategy has served me well in the past and i have got to interview and been offered jobs with no recognition of my disability other than in the slightly widened eyes of an interviewer once, who told me afterwards (when we had become friends) that she got quite a shock when she first came into the room. The recruiter hadn't mentioned my wheelchair confinement hehe

2) If you do mention your disability on your cover letter / application how may of times do you get called for an interview ?

Have pretty much covered this above, but on one occasion, i recall applying for a part time job in a publishing house and speaking to the manager on the phone about the interview. From the address of the offices, i suspected that the building might not be accessible, so i asked him. He seemed pretty keen to bring me in for interview, even after i'd mentioned i used a wheelchair, but in the end it was just too awkward and i didn't go. Didn't feel discriminated against though.

Silent discrimination is covert and insidious and i certainly won't allow any potential employer the opportunity to practice it before i am afforded the courtesy of having my application considered fairly and equally, with all the others.