Develop a Good Answer to Questions About Your Disability

Summary:
A "good answer" to questions about your disability directly addresses the main issue of your disability in the questioner's mind and quickly turns your specific disability's assumed key negative into a positive.

Extra Work

Anatomy of a Good Answer

Examples of a Good Answer

Extra Work

At a recent workshop for updating skills in career development facilitation, I heard two individuals who help technical college students with disabilities develop career management skills concur on this observation:

"We don't know where this comes from, but we find students with disabilities generally have some catching up to do (compared to the general student population) when it comes to knowing how to sell themselves to employers as viable job candidates."

I was not surprised to hear that lament, but I was surprised to hear two in-the-trenches people actually question why students with disabilities have difficulty "selling themselves" in this age of self-promotion.

After all, turning a disability into a positive in the eyes of an employer is not easy. It requires insight. It takes extra work.

Here are a couple of extra questions non-disabled job candidates usually don't have to ask themselves as they develop their job marketing programs:

• How do I gather enough self-esteem to look at my disability as a strength instead of a weakness?
  
• How do I describe that strength in a way that is meaningful to a prospective employer?
  
• How do I get that whole disability issue out of the way first during a job interview so I can then focus on my strengths for the job at hand?

That kind of preparation for a job hunt is well worth the extra effort. The keys to getting it done are introspection, perception and projection. Again, it's not easy, but it's doable.

Debra L. Angel and Elizabeth E. Harney are authors of No One is Unemployable: Creative Solutions for Overcoming Barriers to Employment.

Their response (in capsule form) to the above questions: Develop a "good answer" for a reply to questions about your disability and your ability to do a job and plant it in the back of your mind in case you need to use it -- something short and sweet that comes off the tip of your tongue naturally during a job interview.


Anatomy of a Good Answer

Ideally, your "good answer" can act as a transition from talking about your disability to describing your work skills during that job interview so the interviewer can focus instead on what you can offer the company or organization.

To develop your "good answer" to a real and/or perceived disability barrier to employment, the authors first ask you to consider these two questions:

• How do you perceive the barrier to your employment?
  
• How do you think the employer perceives that same barrier?

To find the key to your "good answer," the authors suggest that you search for reasons why the barrier should no longer concern the employer.

Can your barrier be used to further qualify you for a particular job? Or, can you show how overcoming the barrier has helped you develop skills or knowledge that a prospective employer needs (such as resourcefulness, planning or persistence)?

By developing a "good answer" for yourself, you'll minimize your fear of job interviews and exhibit more self-confidence because you'll begin to see yourself and your situation in a positive light.


Examples of a Good Answer

Here are three examples of "good answers" I've collected during the last year or so:

First from Mary:

"I have some sight, but I'm legally blind. However, my visual impairment has become more of help than a hindrance to me as an online content editor because I use computer screen magnification and screen reading software to enhance my ability to thoroughly proof text before it goes online. In some instances, I pinpoint typos - little things in the text that my current supervisor, who is sighted, misses."

Second from Tom:

"I don't drive because of my limited sight, but, under a range of work situations, I've learned how to team up with other workers to carpool. I usually volunteer to keep track of weather and traffic reports each day so we can avoid delays. I often keep track of ride-sharing expenses for the group, too. It's quite easy because I have screen reading software on my laptop, which I often carry with me. These ride-sharing experiences, by the way, have also taught me a lot about team work and group problem solving -- things I can apply when I'm at work."

Third from Bev:

"I'm sure you've noticed that I talk with some difficulty. This has not had an impact on my ability to manage a communication department, however, because I know how to effectively delegate the functions I cannot do well myself to others on my staff who can. In fact, I've found that, by developing my delegating skills and recognizing excellent performance among my staff members, I've been able to develop strong teams and future leaders for employers."

Each of the three "good answers" above directly addresses the issue of disability and quickly turns a specific disability's assumed key negative into a positive -- and provides a convenient transition into a discussion about what the job candidate can offer the employer in terms of relieving a pain or obtaining a gain.

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