Why Attend the 2020 NFB Career Fair?

by Dick Davis, Chairperson, NFB Employment Committee

From the Editor: Dick Davis has a distinguished career helping blind people. He has worked as the assistant director of BLIND Inc., our training center in Minnesota. He also worked for Dr. Jernigan at the Iowa Commission for the Blind. But what really impresses me about Dick is that all of this has been more than a job for him—it has been a crusade to improve the lives of blind people and has been more than a salary. In fact, it has been a life’s goal.

Dick currently serves as the chairperson of the NFB Employment Committee, and he is active in the work he leads. Here is what he has to say about the two career fairs the NFB holds each year:

Frequently, people call me and tell me how much difficulty they’re having finding employment. They apply online or send out cover letters and resumés, sometimes without getting any kind of response. Frustrating! Then I ask them if they are planning to attend one of our upcoming career fairs, either the one at our national convention or the one at our Washington Seminar. Some say, “Great idea; tell me more!” And I give them the information, and they go.

But too many offer some kind of excuse: they weren’t planning to go this year, the convention is too expensive, or they went to the career fair once and didn’t get a job. Sometimes they blame discrimination or the 70 percent unemployment and underemployment rate among blind people, which is just a statistic and has nothing to do with an individual’s likelihood of success. So they just keep spinning their wheels, sending out unanswered resumés.

People, people! There is no easy way to get a job, especially if all you do is send out resumés. If those resumés don’t result in job interviews, you’re using the wrong method. The only way you will ever get a job is if you meet and talk with employers face-to-face. And with increased emphasis on diversity hiring, many employers really do want to meet you.

That is what our NFB career fairs offer you–an opportunity to talk with employers we’ve pre-screened, employers who actually want to hire you. This year in Houston we plan to have more than fifty employers from throughout the nation in attendance. We have expanded the length of the career fair to three hours, and there will be more space too.

The career fair will be Wednesday, July 15 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. The Job Seeker Seminar, which will prepare you for the career fair by allowing you to meet many of the employers and give you lots of other useful information, will be Tuesday, July 14 from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Its focus this year will be full inclusion.

We will also have an employment committee meeting on Tuesday, July 14 from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. Dates and times for the Upward Mobility Seminar and Etiquette Dinner are still under discussion. Jobseeker/employer networking sessions may occur over some lunch hours.

To sign up for the career fair and get more information, keep watching this link: https://www.nfb.org/get-involved/national-convention. It also has information on Kenneth Jernigan scholarships for first time convention attendees. Keep in mind that many NFB state affiliates and local chapters can offer some financial assistance to members.

Finally, remember that you’ll be in the presence of over 3,000 other blind people, and since NFB members have a higher employment rate than blind people in general, most of them will have jobs. They may know of jobs where they work and jobs with other places. Our convention has many division meetings that may cover your field of interest too. So what’s keeping you? See you at the 2020 NFB National Convention and career fair!