Programmer, Coder, Student

[nana_tech]

So this is my first post, but I was wonder if there was any programmers or coders on here who work in a professional environment. It's hard to get work because we are often discriminated and looked down upon due to our disabilities. If you are a deaf person working in any computer science, engineering, or technology related job, tell me how did you get it. Was it hard, do you have to know someone,etc.

 

[Mewtilation]

It's only a "disability" if you let it be a disability to you. I don't really much enjoy calling it a disability. I myself work in a hospital in triage. I do myself know I have seen a couple of members on here who work in computer technology. I also know of one of our IT support people that come in the hospital that maintains our internal servers who is Deaf as well. If you show the drive, determination and work hard at what you do, nothing will limit you.

 

[Simown]

That's me! I am an engineer/software engineer for a global company in the UK. I program every day and work mainly with hardware. I am extremely hard of hearing and use a cochlear implant. I have been working there just under a year after I graduated. Discrimination is always going to happen I think, but you have to try and make sure they have no justified reason for not employing you.

Programming is a sought after skill, and depending on the area you are working in, doesn't really rely on a high level of hearing to do the actual work. I went mostly deaf years ago, and learning to program was a field I thought I could excel in, regardless of hearing. Obviously, I enjoy it too. The difficult bit can be communicating with the rest of the team - but hopefully they are willing to adapt. If you are good at the work, that's most of the battle. If you are applying for programming jobs, why not ask the interviewers how they are going to integrate you? They would feel much more comfortable if they knew how best to get the message across.

I got the job basically by working my butt off during University and I had the credentials and skillset to get a decent software engineering job. I didn't know anyone in the field when I applied and it was pretty awesome landing the job was all down to me.

It is hard, but I think it can be a great job to get in to.

Let me know if you have any more questions and I'll see what I can do

 

[DeafDucky]

I am a QA Tester- profoundly deaf with hearing aids (OK ish functioning). Right now I'm unemployed and looking- believe me the looking for work is harder than the actual holding of the job...

Anyway- I was in my last position for five years before I was "let go"- the reason had nothing to do with my deafness either. I did have challenges but overall I was able to get many people to adapt enough to make things easier for me (I loved my white board). I find I see more ... 'discrimination' or ignorance in the job hunting process than anything else even though about half the jobs I've held.. I got via a phone interview- long before VRS (!!). Otherwise it's not that difficult- I didn't "know anyone", all of the positions came to me from recruiters who found my resume on monster.com or dice.com (Or one of those other boards). As I mentioned, ironically a few were phone interviews and I was hired based on that (just floors me every time I say that lol)- as at least twice I was on the other end of the country (GA-->AZ then AZ-->SC).

I really want to do more programming and I did a little in my last job (VBA macros for mainframe).

Similar to what Mew says.. it is what YOU make it to be. Even if people are ignorant or look down, it's what YOU make it to be and how you deal with it that will change things- especially feeling good about yourself and your job.
Now...where's that job of mine... *magnifying glass*

 

[nana_tech]

I'm so new to this, so how do I message you privately instead of replying back to you on the thread?

 

[authentic]

I know this deaf guy who work at Google HQ as supervisor for (unknown) dept, so he hired some of deaf geeks to get in, and they are still looking for program developers, software engineers, etc. What are your skills?

 

[nana_tech]

I know this deaf guy who work at Google HQ as supervisor for (unknown) dept, so he hired some of deaf geeks to get in, and they are still looking for program developers, software engineers, etc. What are your skills?

I have programming skills in c++, a little HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Python. I'm still in the process of learning and is trying to get hands-on experience. I'm open to learning new things also so I would love to connect with the guy via social media.

 

[Simown]

Hands-on experience doesn't necessarily have to be a job (although that would be nice). But, as you are still learning it might be preferable to contribute to an open-source project which would allow you to work with other people in your own time and learn as you go. Even discounting that there is a multitude of languages/frameworks that you could learn, and even brush up on your existing skills. An employer is bound to be impressed by any relevant extra-curricular development

 

[a l i v e]

The Federal government is pretty good about hiring deaf people up here. I personally know a few programmers that have promoted up in the ranks. GS-13++ levels.

 

[DeafDucky]

If you want to reply by PM, click (or tap) on the user's name- a drop down list should display. On that list there's an option to send a private message to the user.

I've applied to or been submitted as an applicant to Google several times. Never got far because I am guessing... "they may be concerned I don't have a Computer Science (or similar) degree" (might have been Amazon who said that though). Nevermind that I've been in the IT field for 12 years now...

As it is, I probably will never get hired by them anyway as they seem to lean heavily towards applicants under 30.