By Jane N. Erin, Professor Emerita, the University of Arizona
Identifying a future career is a process of integrating personal qualities with the knowledge of jobs that fit well with your individual abilities and interests. If you have always been blind or had low vision, the most challenging element of the process may be increasing your own awareness of the many jobs available to you. It’s likely that you haven’t seen as many people doing jobs incidentally, but it is also possible that your school counselors and sometimes friends and family may not have mentioned some jobs to you because they assumed a blind or low vision person can’t do them.
Knowing yourself
Knowing yourself is the beginning of the process of learning about career options: what do you enjoy doing for extended periods of time, and what can you do better than many other people? Do you prefer working with groups of people or completing a task independently? Do you like a quiet work environment where you can focus on one task at a time or a busy environment with a contagious sense of energy? Do you prefer working with words, numbers, or both? If you have never taken an aptitude test to identify areas in which you perform well, you may also want to request this from your rehabilitation agency to confirm your assumptions.
It may also be helpful to ask others what marketable jobs they think you could do well. You may think you know what your parents, siblings, and close friends would say, but sitting down over a cup of coffee for a focused discussion may elicit more detail and a more thoughtful response. Having this discussion with people in your school and pre-professional world may also provide useful input: talking with your former teacher of students with visual impairments, a colleague from a summer work experience or sports camp, or a neighbor who employed you to babysit or shovel snow can provide useful feedback and include discussion of jobs that others do.
Learning about career options
Most students leave high school with some general ideas about careers they might pursue, if for no other reason than being able to answer family and friends when they ask, “So what do you want to do after college?” However, many of them do not enter the career field they planned for during high school. High school students often have limited awareness of available jobs, and the jobs they know about are often in larger, visible professional fields such as nursing, teaching, engineering, or law. As a student who is blind or low vision, it is even less likely that you received detailed information about career options from school counselors since these professionals are often unfamiliar with the abilities of blind or low vision students; the teacher of students with visual impairments is often the professional who facilitates job awareness.
If your high school experience did not include exploration of diverse careers, you may want to review information about specific fields to identify areas that are appropriate to your interests and abilities. The Occupational Outlook Handbook from the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Statistics is a useful resource for this (See References). Not only does the site provide information about job description, salary, and education or training, but it also projects growth over the next 10 years.
A website titled My Next Move (See References) also presents an array of careers that might help you to think broadly. Another useful resource for job exploration is the Job Seeker’s Tool Kit for Individuals who are Blind or Visually Impaired from the American Foundation for the Blind (See References). This is a free online course that provides guidance in the process of exploring and applying for jobs.
College preparation for a career
It is common for college students to change their minds several times about their future careers. At many colleges, it is possible to change majors or not to declare one during the first two years without greatly extending the number of courses needed for a complete degree. Colleges often have broad requirements for freshmen and sophomores that allow students to learn more about areas of current interest while sampling new topics. As you gain new information and awareness about jobs while you are taking courses, you should also seek information about the daily lives of people who perform the jobs that interest you.
Descriptions of career fields in university classes may emphasize the theoretical and universal aspects of a profession, but they may not address the real responsibilities required to do the job. Some people become forest rangers because they enjoy nature and the out-of-doors, only to find that much of their day is spent interacting with tourists and reinforcing park regulations. Others pursue jobs as university instructors because they like teaching, without realizing that most of their time will be spent grading papers, advising students, participating in college meetings, and conducting research. Before choosing a career field, it is important to have direct contact with several people who are doing the jobs that interest you, and college is a great time to make those contacts. The following activities may help you to become familiar with the responsibilities of the fields you are considering.
1. Job shadowing: Job shadowing means spending time with a person on the job to learn about his or her responsibilities. Ideally, job shadowing should involve the equivalent of at least a full day with the individual, with additional time for activities with which the observer is unfamiliar. It is helpful to interview the individual at the beginning and end of the experience to ask questions, reflect on observations, and discuss how typical their role is of others who do this job.
If you do not have enough vision to get detailed information about the employee’s activities from listening, ask if you can bring a describer with you. This might be a classmate who is interested in the same field or a volunteer from the disability resource center who can describe the setting and work activities. When arranging the job shadowing, be sure to briefly explain why you use a visual describer. Also, restrict your interaction with the describer to informational discussion to minimize distraction in the workplace.
2. Volunteer experiences: Students preparing for any career should have real experiences in the chosen field before graduation. Ideally, these experiences should begin in high school if possible; recent data shows that high school job experience is a strong predictor of later employment for students with visual impairments ( McDonnall & Crudden, 2009).
Once you have narrowed focus to one or two fields, ask an adviser or faculty member to recommend places that might be able to use volunteers. Even if the work seems menial (e.g., answering the phone, looking up library references), it gives you an opportunity to be part of the workplace, to decide if you want a career like the professionals in that workplace, and to make contact with people who can later serve as references or help to connect you with others in the field.
When you complete work in a volunteer setting, ask to meet briefly with one or two professionals who are aware of your work. Ask if they have any recommendations for you as you pursue work in the field and if they would be willing to provide a reference for you in the future. If so, include their contact information on a list of people who might be useful in future job exploration.
3. Advisement and placement: University advisers can provide information on the types of jobs which are available in your major field, and they often have follow-up data about where graduates in your field become employed. Many colleges host prospective employers at career fairs and jobs talks. It is important to ask advisers how this information is disseminated since it may be posted on bulletin boards that are often not accessible to students who are blind. For this reason, it is useful to get acquainted with at least one staff member in the advisement office and to contact that person occasionally to ask about upcoming events or positions.
4. Internships: Many university majors require an internship in the chosen field of employment. Internships usually have clear standards by which the student is evaluated. If you are not sure of the standards or how you will be evaluated, contact the faculty person who is responsible and ask for specific information. Also, talk with the faculty person about how the internship site should be made aware of your visual impairment and what accommodations, if any, will be needed for you to perform at your best. At the close of the internship, make contact with professionals who were aware of your work, thank them for any assistance you have received, and ask whether they might be willing to serve as future contacts or to provide a reference.
If the internship experience has decreased your interest in entering the field, talk with your faculty advisor and/or your counselor at the disability resource center. He or she can help you decide whether this field may not be the right professional fit for you or whether there are aspects of the specific setting that are not generally true of other work settings in that field.
5. Campus career events and interviews: The employment representatives who visit campuses can often provide information on national need and job availability. Even if you are still in school and not yet ready to apply for jobs, it is helpful to attend these events to talk with representatives about the nature of available positions. They can respond to questions such as: What is the salary range and benefits? What exams, certifications, and other requirements exist in addition to the appropriate degree? Is extensive travel required for the job?
6. Making contacts with employed adults, including those with blindness or low vision. Talking with employed adults including those who have low vision or are blind, about how they selected their jobs, what they like and dislike about their jobs, and what they might do differently in selecting a job can help you to make a decision. Don’t limit your contacts to those in your immediate circle. Friends and relatives, counselors at the disability resource center, religious leaders, teachers, and the personal trainer at the gym all have useful information, but so does the man sitting next to you on the bus and the instructional technology specialist who comes to repair your home computer.
Participating in meetings with members of consumer groups such as American Council of the Blind, Blinded Veterans Association, and National Federation of the Blind can put you in touch with adults who are blind or low vision who can talk about their career choices and experiences. Personnel in your state rehabilitation office can also connect you with employed adults who would be willing to talk with you about their experiences. They can offer insights into the process of obtaining adaptations in the workplace as well as their experiences in working with colleagues who are not familiar with the effects of blindness or low vision.
Online contacts with working adults can be made through the Career Connect website, developed by the American Foundation for the Blind (See References). This site will connect you with working adults who are blind or have low vision. Individuals who register on the site can communicate with adult mentors who are employed in fields of specific interest. In addition, the site provides guidance in job seeking activities such as building a resume and preparing for a job interview.
Conclusion
Identifying a career is not a momentary choice but rather a process that occurs over years, shaped by new experiences and contacts. Expect your preferences to change early in college; however, as you move into junior year, be sure your planned degree program will qualify you for one or more jobs of interest. Your high school dreams of being a singing star may have evolved into becoming a music teacher, or your ambitions of developing computer games may have morphed into being a data manager in a business firm. However, you will have established goals that can be reshaped as you gain work experience and demonstrate your effectiveness in your selected field.
References and resources
Career Connect. American Foundation for the Blind. Retrieved from https://aphcareerconnect.org/
Job Seeker’s Tool Kit for Individuals who are Blind or Visually Impaired. American Foundation for the Blind. Retrieved from https://aphcareerconnect.org/
McDonnall, M.C., & Crudden, A. (2009). Factors affecting the successful employment of transition-age youths with visual impairment. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 103(6), 329-341.
My next move. The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau, Employment and Training Administration. My next move. Retrieved from http://www.mynextmove.org/
Occupational Outlook Handbook. The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/#
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Envision’s College Success Program (CSP), a part of the William L. Hudson BVI Workforce Innovation Center, is committed to serving college and transitioning high school students who are blind or low vision. The CSP is a virtual program that provides a holistic support system and engages students through online resources, events, mentorship, and more, all at no cost to them. Contact the CSP at csp@envisionus.com.