I wish I took karate classes when I was little...

So I could break down those barriers that comes with being a Deaf person in the job search world.

I've been actively looking for a job for eight months. There has been no luck for me, mostly because when I get an phone interview they're connected to an interpreter... When I get an in-person interview, I kindly ask for an interpreter as an alternative to our pen/paper interview... Or a whole disregard of my experiences as an upcoming Social Media guru... I could go on and on.

When I'm connecting to a call with an interpreter, it is immediately known that I'm a Deaf applicant. It's not the phone connecting to an interpreter that bothers the potential employers but the concept of the "hassle" of having an interpreter on stand by the whole time I'm working for them. I can't tell you how many times I've reassured them that I wouldn't need an interpreter 24/7 at work, just for meetings with more than one person. For one on one meetings, pen and paper or even typing on Word would suffice. Most of the time the interviewers are very eager to ask questions about how I would be able to function in their offices, and I'm more than always glad to explain. But then when the interview ends, they say they'll reach the HR office and get back to me...they never do. They always picks the other applicant.

When I get an in-person interview, the e-mails keep coming but when I put in a request for an interpreter, it's almost always radio silence after that. I don't go "hey, I need an ASL interpreter, bye" but I give detailed resource list where they could find interpreters and I provide a phone number for myself willing to help them find an interpreter if they struggle to do so. Radio silence.

People have asked me to keep quiet about interpreters and just show up with a pen and paper ready to talk. I'm not 100% comfortable with concealing the fact that I'm Deaf, but I did it for one interview--one bad interview and I'm never doing it again.

Actually, I thought it was a great interview, I connected with the interviewer and we had a great time chatting about the retail store I was interviewing for...then I get a phone call that they wouldn't be hiring me because I wouldn't be able to use the radio while working the sales floor and because the customers would be "annoyed" with my time-delay when I'm using pen and paper to communicate with them. I tried negotiating that it would be my responsibility to check in with the management instead of using the radio, but no luck. It was still "We're not hiring you because you're Deaf".

Wait, what? That's discrimination.

Yep. I decided to ask the interviewee if she wanted to use the reasoning why they're not hiring me against me, and she said yes. So I took the whole compliant to the HR offices, and guess what they told me? "Yeah, the radio use is required in the company policy. Sorry." Basically that, I tried asking if they were a Disability compliant company, they were, so why was I being discriminated. I explained to them that I've had multiple Deaf friends working in the retail field without being required to use the radio, we have extra responsibilities to check in with and such. They tried to steer me towards a stock position that wouldn't require any radio communications. This didn't work as seeing I didn't get the position still. I just let it go. Forget it. They didn't seem like the company I would have enjoyed working for if they were going to hire me against their own will just to meet the "disability" quota.

The third reasoning is purely on my own not because of my "disability", lack of experience. I think my resume looks FABULOUS with some incredible internship opportunities, but nobody is catching my bait. Why? I don't know. You know the saying that you don't have enough experience to get a job, but to get more experience you need to get a job...that's where I'm stuck at right now.

Often when I'm picking up a call from a potential employer, I'm always praying to myself that I don't have to "convince" them that regardless of my Deafness I can do the job. My resume is great, a few potential employers have told me that (and still doesn't hire me...I don't get it), but nothing is jumping into the Sara Jane pool. I dread getting "We've moved on with someone else" e-mails, because a part of me is anxious it's because I'm Deaf. Is it because I'm Deaf? I don't know, I will probably never find out--and I hope I never do, because if I do and if it's because I'm Deaf--I don't know if I can take being outright discriminated again.

With all this frustrations looking for a job for eight months, have I once wished I wasn't Deaf? Never. I keep rallying on, and I'm still pretty damn proud I'm Deaf. I'm a part of an incredible community and culture, I have incredible Deaf friends and even more incredible family. I'm damn proud.

Am I proud of the hearing community for the outright oppression of giving Deaf people a chance at working? No. Obviously. I wish the hearing community would ask more questions about us and be more interested, because we're probably gonna be the best damn employees you'll ever have at your company.

If you're an employer at a hearing company and you're unsure about Deaf people, message me and I'll be happy to answer any of your burning questions and to resolve your doubts of hiring Deaf people into your offices!

This is my experience searching for a job, in no way this reflects the entire community at large--but this is what most Deaf people will experience and struggle with. In no way this is okay but this is a part of our lives, our daily struggle to get noticed in the big bad world. Did you have a different experience with your job search, do you have tips or suggestions? Do share with me!