Should Deafness/HOH Be Mentioned on Resumes?

[jm1972]

Yes, it should be.

There is a question on the job ap, asking about can you do the job with or without reasonable accommodations.

From experience....I went through 9 months of legal Hell after trying a new job. I won. Why? Because the employer tried saying I never told them about my hearing impairment.....and yet I had put it in writing on my application. It could have cost me 6 months of Unemployment Insurance had it been "They Said/I said"....but having it in writing.....that won my case.

 

[dereksbicycles]

No. Just tell people that you're fluent in ASL. Let them see you first handed in person how you can be a vital part of the team.

 

[DeafCaroline]

Here's what I posted on someone's blog on Deafread.com and this comes from the experience of being unemployed for two years:

My opinion:

1.) Never ever reveal that you are deaf. The idea is to make it irrelevant to the job you are applying for.

2.) Get an answering service that E-mails you texts of messages received. Never answer the phone.

3.) Call them back yourself using VRS, but requesting a VI that is male/female (depending on your gender) and do three important things:

a.) Tell the VI to NOT announce that it is a relay call.

b.) Give the VI context on the call so that he/she can interpret better.

c.) While having a conversation, mention that you are calling from a satellite phone with poor reception because you are out of town, but you were interested enough to call. This makes the person on the other end think you are a hearing person using a satellite phone and explains why you had an answering service.

4.) I don't recommend showing up for the interview with an interpreter. It has been my experience that most hiring managers will look at you and the terp then wonder how you can possibly do your job without a terp. Bring a laptop computer instead and communicate with it using MS Word in large fonts or something like that. Now if it is a PANEL INTERVIEW, you have to bring a terp though...but during the interview stress that you don't need a terp in one on one situations.

Basically, try to make your deafness irrelevant to the job itself. Make it a non-issue. At least, that is what I learned from being unemployed for nearly two years (not counting work outside of my career path).

-J.J.

Are you employed now?

 

[Lily7]

I voted "No". My experience has been that if they know I am deaf/hoh, they chuck it. On the few job interviews I've gotten, it doesn't even matter that I read lips really well and speak almost as good as a hearing person, I never get a call back or get hired. The sad truth is, most of the time if an employer has a choice between 2 people with the same skill set, but one is deaf and can't use the phone and the other is hearing and can use the phone they will choose the hearing person every single time. It is very frustrating and since I can't do physical work because of other health problems, it is the reason I don't have a job. So if I am ever healthy enough to work again, I plan to keep my deafness a complete and total secret for as long as I can manage so I can maybe actually get a job.

 

[kellycat]

I'd echo the no. My guess is that most managers see "deaf" (or any other sort of potential "needs accommodations" situation) as expensive and an hassle. You'll never get in the door.

A parallel story: Many symphony orchestras, when holding auditions, have potential new members, identified only by a code number, audition behind a screen. That way the panel can't see if it's a guy or girl, old or young, or anything. They put carpeting on the stage so they can't hear a woman's high heels clicking on the hard floor. All to keep it as equal as possible. The same should be true for your resume. What you write should be absolutely relevant to the job you apply for. If deaf is relevant, that will be clear at the interview.

As for bringing an interpreter to an interview...you should do what you need to do. I would guess that you could let the interviewer know if/when you would need an interpreter hired. Every interview has a point where you get to talk freely about yourself. This is where you can plug in your experience at other jobs and calm any fears about you being inconvenient or expensive for them. Granted I'm a total optimist, but if a manager sees that you are not a problem that they will have to deal with, then you stand a great chance of being hired. You just have to get past that hurdle.

Another parallel: My friend's brother applied for a job and was told to bring ALL his college transcripts. He brought the transcript from the college where he graduated, but not from the one he went to before that, failed a couple of classes, and dropped out. He had some big things happen that year, and a couple of years later when he went to the 2nd college, he was ready to focus and did well. But the interviewer needed ALL his transcripts. So he sent the first ones along. That just cut him off from being able to explain what happened. (Perfect answer for the "tell me about how you dealt with an obstacle" type question). So all the interviewer knows is that he screwed up his first year or two of college. No context, no chance to spin it. You need to be able to spin "deaf" into "no big deal" or even "advantage" in the mind of someone who may have never met a deaf person before ever.

 

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