Gaps on your CV: Advice for Sight-Impaired Students
Guest blogger Jessica Luke from Blind in Business shares 10 tops on boosting your CV …
It can be tricky to find accessible work experience or internship opportunities when you can’t see well. I work for the charity Blind in Business, which helps visually impaired graduates to get into work. We support talented sight impaired students, with strong academic records, but increasingly candidates come to us with gaps in their CV.
Here are some practical ways to gain experience and pad out your CV:
- Join Societies
Universities usually have a society for just about everything, from quidditch to curry appreciation. While the Assassins’ or Jailbreak Societies are pretty eccentric, being part of a society can enhance your CV. If you’re interested in law or journalism, for example, it’s good to sign up and document your enthusiasm for your chosen career. Whether you’re writing for the student paper or managing a budget as treasurer of the cricket team, showing your enthusiasm, taking on responsibility and developing professional skills will reflect well on you.
- Apply for University work placements
Many universities prefer to offer flexible, part-time work opportunities to support their students. Find out if your university has a job agency for casual work and whether they are able to support disabled applicants.
- Ask local charities about work experience
If you want to gain practical work experience in an organisation that will understand your access needs, it could be worth asking local charities whether they offer work placements. They may be more open to employing a visually impaired applicant. Even if the third sector is not where you would like to take your career, it is worth having practical work experience on your CV.
- Attend conferences, workshops and talks
Universities offer plenty of extra-curricular opportunities and attending talks, conferences and workshops can help to enhance the work section of your CV. If you want to be a translator and your university runs a ‘translating children’s literature’ workshop or if you want to get into big tech and a visiting lecturer is talking about the industry, sign up. We would advise contacting the organiser of these events or your university disability department to discuss access requirements.
- Volunteer
It might be easier to find work opportunities that you can do in the voluntary sector. Most universities run a volunteering scheme that can bulk up your CV; from teaching national curriculum subjects through baking to producing social media content for Missing Persons UK, there will be an opportunity that appeals to you.
- Apply for internships for disabled students
Organisations:
Change 100 https://www.leonardcheshire.org/what-we-do/change100
EmployAbility https://www.employ-ability.org.uk/
DABD UK http://www.dabd.org.uk/vacancies
Business Disability Forum (list of accessible internships) http://www.businessdisabilityforum.org.uk/talent-recruitment/internships/
Schemes:
(please note the schemes below may not currently be open for applications)
BBC Extend http://www.bbc.co.uk/careers/trainee-schemes-and-apprenticeships/extend/extend
Channel 4 Disabled Talent http://www.channel4.com/4disabledtalent/index.html
Google BOLD (EMEA) https://www.google.com/edu/resources/programs/bold-immersion/
Civil Service Summer Diversity Internship https://www.gov.uk/guidance/civil-service-fast-stream-summer-diversity-internship-programme
- Make your experiences count
Often students overlook life experiences that have taught them important professional skills. If you have been asked to speak publically or to be a mentor for a sight loss charity, if you are the coach or captain of a sports team or if you have lived or studied abroad, you should mention it in your CV. These life experiences are evidence of strong communication skills, leadership and teamwork, budgeting and time management. Use your experiences to demonstrate how your skills, personal qualities and achievements make you the ideal candidate.
- Present your disability in a positive way
If you have chosen to disclose your sight loss, there are several skills that living with a visual impairment may have taught you. Perhaps you have a great memory, because you cannot write everything down. Maybe you are a good problem-solver because you have to find alternate ways of doing day-to-day tasks. If you are applying for a commercial role, knowledge of assistive technology and disability needs can be helpful to a company serving a diverse and ageing population.
- Be proactive
If you are interested in journalism or communications, take the opportunity to produce blogs or other online content and build a portfolio of your work. It’s a great way to self-promote, especially when so many organisations are using social media to recruit talented graduates. This counts for vlogs, videos and newspaper articles. Alternatively, learn a language or sign up to free training courses to show willing for professional development.
- Contact Blind in Business
Blind in Business has an extensive network of employer contacts and while we cannot guarantee you a work placement, we will write to employers to see if we can find you some industry-specific experience.
Contact us:
Website: www.blindinbusiness.org.uk Subscribe: http://eepurl.com/bFDnLv
Email: info@blindinbusiness.org.uk Telephone: 0207 588 1885
Facebook: /blindinbusiness Twitter: @blindinbusiness
Article by Blind in Business, helping blind & partially sighted people in to work www.blindinbusiness.org.uk
Pictures: the Italian voice,Francisco Osorio, Proctor Archives , Thomas Hawk via Compfight
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