Finding a job these days is a difficult task for anyone. If you have a disability, it can be that much more difficult.
Shortly after Christmas, I got a letter from a church where I’d applied for a secretarial position at the beginning of December. The letter thanked me for my resume, said my qualifications looked like a good fit and that the pastor (who I assume does the hiring) would contact me after the holidays. She looked forward to meeting me.
Needless to say, I was thrilled. For the first time in the eight years since I’d left my last job and after about 60 resumes (at least 14 in 2007 alone), I had gotten a response. I texted my fiancé at work to tell him that his advice to take so many mentions of disability off my resume (I ran a support group for teens with disabilitiesat my last job, organized disability awareness days in college, etc.) worked.
That was a month ago and I haven’t heard from them. I called to follow up on the letter and got the answering machine. I left a message and, a week later, haven’t heard anything.
The skeptic in me is inclined to believe that they heard my voice and immediately thought, “There’s no way that this girl can answer phones.” More than likely, what happened is that they found the perfect person for the job before they got to me. Or, when they said they’d get back to me after the holidays, they meant Martin Luther King Day and I’ll hear from them tomorrow.
How do you make your resume reflect who you are without going overboard on the disability mentions? How do you deal with not getting a job you had your heart set on? Stop by the forum and share with us.
