[Jobs] Assistive Technology Specialist

Wed Mar 28 19:28:34 CST 2007

Liz,
    Your major in philosophy is one of the best majors you could possibly 
have. We are in the middle of the worst educational melt-down in the history 
of this nation. Technology is very important but it is training it is not 
education. Philosophy teaches you to think analytically, to observe to 
engage in inductive and deductive reasoning. Did you know that until very 
recently most of the ceo's of premier companies in the U.S. had liberal arts 
degrees (at the BA level) and not technology degrees? Part of what happens 
when one majors in computer sci is that there is a tendency to interact with 
the world in terms of 0's and 1's. The problem is that the world is made up 
of people and things in ADDITION to technology. Your philosophy degree 
should prepare you well to interact with individuals, to think cogently 
about career planning, interviewing and how to prepare for the interview. If 
you haven't cultivated professors which you can ask to write letters of 
reference to begin to think about this. They are capable of providing you a 
major ticket into a job interview if you are a strong student.

    Visit your campus career services office right away. Sign up as soon as 
you can for campus interviews with companies and recruiters. Schedule a time 
to meet with the director or assistant director or a counseling in this 
particular office. Ask the procedure for signing up for employer job 
listings and see if there are seminars on career planning and interviewing 
etc.

    You will be taken extremely seriously by any competent computer 
scientist who is legitimate and liberally educated vs. trained in a tech 
program. S/he will know that philosophy is where it all started. Remember 
that some of the most brilliant scientists in the world were philosophers. 
You need to also seek advisement from your academic counseling office, and 
philosophy dept chair. I don't know what school you are attending but if it 
is a reasonable sized school there should be career seminars for philosophy 
students. The major thing to remember is that your resume is your meal 
ticket into the interview of any job you want. It is your task to create a 
resume which identifies both your education and skill set in philosophy as 
well as core courses in computer science or other technology. Organizations, 
companies and angies who really want capable competent people look for 
liberal arts majors like you who have taken the initiative to broaden their 
education and skill set with technology and other courses. You have what 
appears to be an excellent potential resume and educational background. You 
are a philosophy major--a knowledgebase which relates to all fields ad will 
hold you in good stead for the remainder of your career even if you decide 
to seek graduate training.

    You might begin to research the kind of position you want at the type of 
agency you want. When the time is right you might begin sending letters to 
them with a resume as well as searching their websites for posted positions.

The best to you and it is grand to see a student select a challenging, 
thinking oriented major.

E.K. Miller, Ph.D.
caribou_yukon at msn.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Liz Bottner" <lizb at udel.edu>
To: "'Jobs for the Blind'" <jobs at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 5:17 PM
Subject: [Jobs] Assistive Technology Specialist

> Hi all:
>
>
>
> I have a couple of questions that perhaps some of you on this list might
> know how to answer, or in which direction to point me.
>
>
>
> I am a college senior who will be graduating in the fall with a major in
> Philosophy and a minor in Religious Studies.  At one time, I was double
> majoring in Computer Science, but have since dropped that.  My dream job
> would be to become an assistive technology specialist working in an agency
> for the blind, school for the blind, or perhaps even a college or 
> university
> overseeing assistive technology.  I would be interested in training
> individuals, consulting with businesses and other such work as it relates 
> to
> assistive technology and accessibility issues.  I figured that a Computer
> Science degree would help me, but it turned out to be a whole lot of
> programming, and I figured out that programming isn't for me; I'd much
> rather work with people than only with computers.
>
>
>
> I was still going to pursue the minor, but I honestly felt that I was
> putting more work into the minor than I was my major.  I guess my question
> is really where I should go from here after I graduate in order to gain
> experience to become an assistive technology specialist?  Do any of you on
> this list who might be in the field have any advice or suggestions?  What
> kinds of experience did you have leading up to your job placements?  I'm
> worried that because of my Philosophy major and Religious Studies minor, I
> won't be taken seriously, but I definitely have experience working with
> computers and the various assistive technology equipment that is out 
> there.
> I have taken some Computer Science courses as well, and do have some
> experience programming and in other areas of the computer, I just won't 
> have
> anything official like a major or minor.  Any help or suggestions would be
> appreciated.  Feel free to write me off list.
>
>
>
> Thanks, and take care,
>
>
>
> Liz
>
>
>
> Email: lizb at udel.edu Visit my LiveJournal:
> http://unsilenceddream.livejournal.com
> <http://unsilenceddream.livejournal.com/>
>
>
>
>

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