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Ask HN: What is a physiically disabled person to do in this job market?

41 points amathew | 1 comments | 14 Jul 25 22:50 UTC | HN request time: 0.208s | source

I am a 39 year old with cerebral palsy (use a walker due to mobility issues) who lost their job in late January 2025. I worked as a senior data scientist in the past and have been applying to analytics, business intelligence, and data science roles.

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/

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giantg2 ◴[15 Jul 25 01:40 UTC] No.44567092[source]▶
"What is a physiically disabled person to do in this job market?"

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.

replies(1): >>44567465 #
bluefirebrand ◴[15 Jul 25 02:56 UTC] No.44567465[source]▶
Please don't give up and just go work at Walmart

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

replies(3): >>44567633 #>>44568175 #>>44570456 #
1. th_1002 ◴[15 Jul 25 05:43 UTC] No.44568175[source]▶
I've been looking since 2024 layoff. Was lucky to set aside a year of emergency savings ... and now that year is up, nothing to show for 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