Work and School

I take drafting at a local tech school and i'm graduating this semester. You would expect me to be happy about it, and your first thought was to applaud my courage, commitment, etc... and it's true, I am happy and accept your compliments but unfortunately, school is shaping up to be about as far as it goes. You see, I have completed my fundamental courses 7 months ago and have been job ready since. That means for 7 months now, I've applied to numerous jobs and am without employment still.

Sit back and imagine this: You run a business that manufactures some good and your present draftsman is retiring and you need a replacement. So you release an ad for the opening and the resumes start flooding in. 90% of these resume's you'll throw away because they don't even know what drafting is. The other 10% you've narrowed down to 2 people. So, you call them in for an interview. The first person is presentable, interviews decently, does ok on the CAD test but he's not too enthusiastic about it... seems like he doesn't care. The second person calls before the interview and thank you for the opportunity and looks forward to meeting you... you're impressed. He also goes on to tell you he has a physical disability but not to worry as this in no way whatsoever hinders him from doing the job. You tell yourself you're not worried about that and you're better than that to feel any kind of doubt. So, this disabled person comes in 15 min early, he's presentable, he interviews well, does the CAD test fine. He sounds passionate about drafting and seems to want to do nothing more than please.

Well you sit down later that night and go over the 2 candidates... the obvious answer is the guy in the wheelchair, so you start to email him that he got the job... but wait. A thought creeps in. What if he needs help doing every other little thing like handling papers, going through doors constantly, etc... someone will have to stop and help him. That's no biggie... really. Hmmm, what if he needs to take a leave due to his medical condition? I didn't ask... couldn't ask, it's against the law. These thoughts creep in and you start doubting his abilities... the very thing you told yourself you're not going to do. You eventually come to the conclusion that you'd rather not deal with it, so you hire the other guy.

That's about what it's been like for me getting a job... Most of the time, I don't even make it into the door because I make the mistake of being too nice and tell them I have a disability before they call me in for the interview. I understand that it's hard getting a job in the first lace, but try getting one while being disabled... It takes nothing short of a miracle.