[blindlaw] Cover Letters

[McCarthy, Jim]

When I have been looking for work, I basically followed Noel's advice.  The reason was that my volunteer work for the NFB was quite credible.  Tim and the others who have commented are right to though.  I tried to get legal work in a new town and ended up settling for nonlegal work at a disability service agency.  I imagine that the reason was in part that there was too much reference to blindness in my resume.

Tim's point is critical though.  When you have the interview in hand, you had better be prepared to explain how you will do the job and use your blindness as an asset.  You are a problem solver; you find ways to get done what needs doing; assure the employer that you will be there and will do what is required.  As for when you drop the blind bomb, prior to the meeting, or let it fall when they see you, I think Tim makes a good point.  On the other hand, it may be valuable to say, "I am sorry you are surprised by this. However, I work under a system that assures my application would have made the circular file as soon as my blindness was known."  The unanswerable question though is would the interviewer in most cases recover from the shock?  The shock is probably not in the applicants best interest even though it allows the applicant to make the point I stated above.
Jim McCarthy

-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org]On
Behalf Of Noel Nightingale
Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2006 12:13 PM
To: 'NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Cover Letters


The question of what to include in a cover letter is near and dear to my
heart at the moment since I, too, am engaged in an employment search.

I would not include information about being blind in a cover letter
unless it is relevant to the position being sought.  However, I would
include membership in the National Association of Blind Lawyers in my
résumé as it is relevant to legal jobs, shows professional involvement,
and will give folks a clue so that they are not surprised when you show
up with cane in hand or dog on leash.

Noel 



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