American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
Future Reflections Winter 2020 EMPLOYMENT
Breaking into the Workforce
by Nadia Montanez
From the Editor: In the National Federation of the Blind we often focus on academic skills, success in college, and entering a profession. However, like their sighted counterparts, some blind students choose to pursue careers in fields that do not require a college degree. In this article Nadia Montanez, a recent graduate of the adult training program at BLIND, Inc., shares her story.
I graduated from Walter Payton High School, one of the most rigorous academic high schools in Chicago. I survived the program, but I struggled with math and some of my other subjects. Although people encouraged me to apply to college, I never felt comfortable with the idea. I had always wanted to work with my hands. During high school I thought about becoming an auto mechanic, and I even met a blind mechanic who works in the Chicago area. Unfortunately I learned that it's becoming more difficult for blind people to enter the auto-repair field because so much of the work now relies on inaccessible touch screens.
A couple of years after high school I enrolled in the adult training program at BLIND, Inc., in Minneapolis. The program totally changed my life! I gained more confidence than I ever thought possible. I especially built strength in two areas, cooking and independent travel. I used to be pretty scared in the kitchen, but now I can deep fry with the best of them! I learned to travel throughout the Twin Cities in Minnesota, and I use those skills every day now that I'm back in Chicago.
After BLIND, Inc., I still wanted to work in a trade rather than go to college. I did some research to figure out what career would suit my interests and skills. Finally I decided to enroll in a trade school where I could learn to install and maintain heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems (HVAC). Most of the work in HVAC is still done by hand, and I thought I'd really enjoy it.
I applied to two HVAC programs in the Chicago area. As I worked on my applications I struggled with the question of when to disclose that I am blind. I told them before my interview with the first school, and they never called me back. That was pretty discouraging!
As I prepared for my interview with the second school, I faced the same looming question. After my last experience I worried that this school might write me off, too. Finally I decided to be frontal about my blindness and to disclose it before the interview. They were going to find out sooner or later anyway.
To my relief the second school was very open to considering my application. They asked some good questions about how I would do things, and they accepted my answers. Now we're working out a few issues around accommodations before I start the program.
When I returned to Chicago I moved back in with my mother, and I wanted to help cover my expenses. I decided to look for part-time work while I applied to trade school. Applying for jobs was very, very challenging! I applied for many, many positions, everything from telemarketing to being a pizza chef. Over a period of three months I went on interviews nearly every day, and sometimes on the same day I went to two interviews. I quite literally went on one hundred interviews. Sometimes I didn't get hired because I simply was not qualified for the position. Many employers clearly were not interested in hiring me because of my blindness. It was all very discouraging, but I knew I just had to keep going. I couldn't let myself think of giving up.
I'd always heard that networking is important when you look for a job, and in my case it turned out to be true. I remembered a woman I had known when I was a child. Back then she ran a restaurant, so I decided to look her up. I found out she runs a barbecue restaurant on Chicago's South Side. When I contacted her she remembered me, and she was very receptive to hiring me. Now I work three days a week as a dishwasher, and I'm very grateful to have the income.
In my job I work alone most of the time, running dishes through a big commercial machine. The staff helped orient me when I started my job, and I learned other parts of the work on my own. When the dishes come out of the dishwasher, I have to put them in their proper places, which means I have to move around in the kitchen quite a lot.
Sometimes other members of the kitchen staff get very anxious when I do certain things. This was especially true in my first few days on the job, but it still happens every now and then. One day as I was about to put a serving platter on a shelf above the stove, the chef tried to stop me. He said he was afraid I would burn myself. I explained that I could feel the heat, and I said there was no way I'd ever put my hand on the hot burner! Another time one of the waitresses was afraid to hand me a sharp knife. She kept saying, "I don't want to give this knife to you. It's very, very sharp, and you might cut yourself." Most of the time, though, I'm just another member of the crew. I do my job just like everybody else.
Washing dishes is fine for now, but I'm eager to start school and prepare for a real career. Whatever happens, blindness isn't going to stand between me and my dreams!
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