Six months later and I am still without a job.
How have those of you with disabilities overcome the difficulties in this market?
I'm totally lost and don't know how to proceed.
I've rewritten my resume and do get interviews
There were 4 instances where I went through the entire process and they ended up hiring another one of the candidates
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abraham-mathew-21221b29/
Same thing as a person with a social-emotional disability - get screwed. I'm being pushed out of an early career role even though I'm overqualified and producing similar numbers as my peers. I'll end up working at Walmart. Good luck.
If you have the skills, please do your best to keep applying them at a new job
It's really important not to let this wear you down and defeat you. You're worth it
Network did not get me enough interviews. I think this was fatal. Resume blasting is useless but I only kept doing it to not feel the despair of "doing nothing" each day, that was the only purpose. Menial jobs in-person just tell me to apply online
I got rejected from Walmart and related jobs (stocking/janitorial/cashier) even hiding/dumbing down all my tech experience. And it's been going on for months
Paid too much for therapy and insurance.
I now believe the market has concluded that they aren't looking for someone with my skills, too generic or something. Too intelligent for minimum wage, not skilled enough for industry. I work on certs but I figure what's the point if it isn't the difference between interview or no interview, a literal phone screen (setting aside an actual offer). It costs money and I'm following in the footsteps of an industry that offers me no path forward to survival. I have specifically been rejected on the basis of my employment gap regardless of explanation, all the shit I've attempted to make up for it. It's meaningless punishment for already being unemployable
Persistence is the key, but at some point you just gotta admit to yourself that enough is enough and no amount of screaming at a wall will change reality. I needed a win at some point, but I didn't get anything, zero. Lamenting the death of my career daily. This is not a feeling you can medicate or counsel away. Have all but accepted that homelessness is approaching for me and I'll soon have to downsize my life goals
Assuming it doesn't affect your typing, develop a shtick in case your Cerebral Palsy comes up in an interview, maybe say something that people could consider humorous such as: "It doesn't affect my ability (analyze etc) and (type out reports etc). If Usain Bolt had to run a race using his fingers, he would have to get used to being in second place behind me (and smile showing it's okay to laugh)"
You mentioned you use a walker, would a wheelchair (just for in-person interviews) be doable? I think people are less likely to be negatively judged for using a wheelchair than a walker. Seeing a younger person in a wheelchair is far more common than seeing a younger person use a walker. Seeing something strange (uncommon) will be treated negatively subconsciously. If you can locomote faster in a wheelchair, than people will subconsciously equate that with your ability to work faster, especially if you can roll faster than other people can walk.
If you do the wheelchair thing, and you get a job working in-person, use the wheelchair for a week or two, but tell people a white-lie such as your doctor says you can transition to a walker in the next week or two, which will help strengthen your leg muscles. Always spin stuff positively. That way when your coworkers see you using a walker, they will be supportive and think positively to themselves rather than thinking how terrible that must be.
(Just be sure to have a complete backstory ready to go for things like when people ask, how long have you been in a wheelchair. Or maybe have a reason why the wheelchair was just temporary and you used a walker beforehand.)
Hmmm... Would that be considered a "hack" good enough for Y Combinator's application? It's been a few years since I looked at their application.
1. No don’t say some lame joke
2. Any company that even asks about your disability during a job is a red flag. The company is unprofessional and doesn’t know how to interview.
3. You only have so much time to impress people during an interview. Don’t waste time talking about it. Besides no company with any interview training will talk about a disability during an interview.
You admitted that you don’t know anything about cerebral palsy. Just sit this one out.
OP, if you're not already, perhaps join some communities for people with Cerebral Palsy and ask them. As the comment I'm replying to makes obvious, we might be too out of touch to provide advice.
I suppose it also depends on your attitude. People can have different attitudes about the exact same affliction, and get experience different outcomes because of the difference in their attitudes.