FULL TRANSCRIPT
Jeff:
As a blind, visually impaired student transitioning from high school to college to the workplace, there’s no better resource than what you’ll find at the American Printing House’s CareerConnect. The APH ConnectCenter includes FamilyConnect, CareerConnect, of which we will be talking about today, and VisionAware – a hub of websites that offer curated advice and resources to assist children, parents, adults, job seekers who are blind or visually impaired, and their associated professionals, leading to greater independence and success in their lives. And today I’m happy to have Richard Rueda and LisaMaria Martinez to help us navigate CareerConnect and tell us all about the opportunities that CareerConnect offers. Both Richard and LisaMaria are experienced in the blindness field as well as their experience with vision loss. So without further ado, let’s jump into CareerConnect from the American Printing House. We hope you enjoy.
Richard:
APHConnectCenter.org, you can find CareerConnect, you can find the Transition Hub, and you’ll get connected, you’ll learn, you’ll engage, you’ll grow.
Jeff:
Welcome to Blind Abilities, I’m Jeff Thompson. Today in the studio we have digital content manager Richard Rueda from CareerConnect. Welcome, Richard, how are you doing?
Richard:
I’m doing well, Jeff. And thank you for having us.
Jeff:
And we also have LisaMaria Martinez, and she’s the assistant to the Career Center, working on a project called Transition Hub. How’re you doing, LisaMaria?
LisaMaria:
I’m doing great.
Jeff:
That’s good. I’m glad you both could join us here because this is really something that our listeners on Blind Abilities is really interested in, transition age students, careers, employment. It’s really important. And your name, CareerConnect, seems to fit that so well. So Richard, why don’t you tell us a little bit about CareerConnect?
Richard:
Yeah. And thank you, Jeff, once again. CareerConnect is a product of the American Printing House for the Blind, in particular it’s part of the APH ConnectCenter. It came over from AFB about four years ago. And as a rehabilitation counselor myself, for many years, I used CareerConnect as a place for my job seekers to go to to find out information and to find a mentor, and you fast forward 20 years and CareerConnect in 2022 looks quite different than it did 20 years ago. And what I’m most proud of is all the resources and tools that we have up there, the legacy items that are relevant today, the interviews with blind people who are professional, who are successful, who are doing things out there in the world from ordinary, everyday jobs to the unique jobs out there from people who are just empowering our young people and people who are career changing midlife into, hey, it’s possible to have a job after vision loss or to change a career even if you’ve been blind all your life. One of the coolest things we’ve got up there, and one of the more popular products is our Job Seekers Toolkit. And that’s a document you can go to on CareerConnect, download it in its current form as a PDF and really research it and identify how do I want to search for a job? Do I need help disclosing my blindness during, before, or after the interview? What are the pros and cons? And we explain that there. How do I interview for a job? How do I interview for a job over Zoom? Eye contact, handshake, all those skill sets that you need to be successful to really sell yourself on the job. That’s one of the cool things about the Job Seekers Toolkit, so job seekers- it’s self-paced, it’s self-explanatory and rehabilitation professionals out there can really dive into it with their consumers and say, hey, this is the area you want to focus on. And I think that’s one of the coolest things about the Job Seekers Toolkit with CareerConnect that you can access. And all of this, Jeff, is free. There’s no cost to you. There’s no authorization needed from rehab. It’s just up there.
Jeff:
I was really impressed. I downloaded it and started going through it. And there’s three pages of table of contents, and I thought, wow, this, it’s not overwhelming because I started reading the topics and there’s examples and there’s modems, and also process, although all the way to even maintaining your job, once you have a job, it’s very thorough.
Richard:
And that’s something that’s not talked about. When you do interviews or webinars or you have content, maintaining the job is so important. You can get the job. That’s great. How do you keep the job? How do you make those social connections and those professional connections once you’re on the job, how do you accommodate yourself? How do you ask for accommodations and maintain? And that’s such an important under-discussed topic. So I’m really proud of that as well.
Jeff:
And when I saw that it was in a PDF, I hesitated for one second, but it’s successful. I have no problem in navigating that, and as just going through the, all the topics and stuff, and even the explanations at the end of it, really good. Really good stuff.
Richard:
You know, the other thing I can talk about that CareerConnect is embracing, we’ve done this just at the start of the pandemic and it really accelerated things is using the Zoom platform to host a lot of events. Prior to that we were doing in-person outreach and we still are. But I think Zoom brings together so many people and we get audiences, not just from the United States, but from Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico and elsewhere. And that’s really cool. With that we launched back in January of this year, Career Conversations, and that isn’t so new that we’re interviewing someone who’s blind and is professional, but the idea behind career conversations is to really put that in the hands of the job seeker. You and I can sit and talk about what it’s like to get a job and interview each other for the hour. And that’s great, there’s a script, there’s questions. What we do with Career Conversations is really minimize that to about 10 minutes of the hour. And then the remainder of the hour, we open the forum up to the job-curious out there and say, hey, it’s time for me to network and practice informational interviewing. So we allow that before the interview, so people are ready, and it’s been successful. We’ve had quite a few really good conversations. We’re only into our fourth month into it, but we’re going to go far with it. And as a spinoff of Career Conversations, and we were just talking about this earlier this morning is we’re going to do another one called College Conversations. So for the transition age youth, we’ll have quarterly conversations on preparing for college. That’ll be a forum for college curious students who are like, what does it take to be blind and go to college? And what do I need? Because I didn’t have that growing up. I was just told, hey, you’re college ready. But I wasn’t ready. So having these forums for college students in different themes will be really empowering for them, their parents and their teachers.
LisaMaria:
I’m excited about that.
Jeff:
I love that because I remember when I lost my vision, I was like, where do they keep the blind? I had no references, no one to go to, no mentors to let me know it’s going to be okay. Or, hey, we did it, and this is how we did it. So these conversations are organic, you know, just questioning, asking the question that, there’s no stupid question, because if you don’t know what you don’t know. But this gives them an opportunity to reach out and to connect up with people who have gone through the journey of transitioning from high school to college, to the workplace. Good stuff.
Richard:
You know, Jeff, it’s such a confidence booster. The more you interact and talk to blind people who’ve been there, who are doing it, the more assured you are. Like, I don’t have all the answers, but you know, I feel a heck of a lot better now than I did an hour ago. Just by talking to you, by learning from you, by engaging with you.
LisaMaria:
Right, I don’t think I would have nearly been as successful in college as I was if the disabled student services person who worked with blind folks wasn’t blind himself, and I had endless conversations with him. And if it wasn’t for him, I don’t think I would have been nearly as successful. So important.
Jeff:
LisaMaria, as an assistant to CareerConnect, one of the projects you’re working on is the Transition Hub. Can you tell our listeners all about the Transition Hub and what it has to offer?
LisaMaria:
Yeah! The Transition Hub started last year, well, it was built last year, and Richard was an important role in that. It’s essentially a one stop shop or one stop, go-to place for all things transition. And that’s what we hope it to be. So right now it is a database of 40-something agencies across North America, because we do include places like Canada and Puerto Rico and Guam, and it includes the programs that are year-long, that are seasonal, like for the summertime, for transition aged youth to participate in. And Richard was able to launch the Transition Hub last August, I believe it was with 43 programs. And my job this year is to expand that, not only to increase the number, but also get the current 43 to update and to find new programs that provide the skillset that we as blind people need to be successful in finding our jobs, getting our careers started. So it’s not just to be able to write a resume and make it look good. It’s not just how to do a fantastic interview, but it’s also soft skills of dressing for success and how to even get to your job. So orientation and mobility, and then when you’ve got your job or maybe you’re working a summer job, I know I did as early as the age of 14, I was doing summer jobs. You know, I had to pack my own lunches or figure out if I could budget enough. So all these soft skills are really important. And so we are also looking to add programs that teach this specifically to transition aged youth. And we take a broad definition of that, so we say about 14 to 26. And make sure that our blind and low vision youth are fully prepared to enter college and eventually the workforce. That’s kind of the overall look or the overall summary of the Transition Hub. It’s a place for resources, but it is also a place where you can go and find these programs, and it’s a very simple website that you go to and you can choose by state. So I live out here in California. Let’s say I grew up in southern California and I was eyeballing northern California. So if I were to rewind 20 years ago, maybe even a little longer than 20 years ago-
Richard:
You’re not that old!
LisaMaria:
I can search all of California, for instance, and see where there are programs. And if you are to do that, you’ll see things like the Braille Institutes, you’ll see things like Lighthouse or the Vista Center, the Society for the Blind, these are agencies up north. And if I were eyeballing northern California for school, I might want to apply to those programs and I can look at what they have to offer and see if what they are offering is indeed something that would help me in my pursuit of a career. So that is the Transition Hub.
Richard:
I may add, too, really briefly, that it’s like you said, it’s centralized, and the idea is teachers can put this in the hands of their students. You have five minutes to go in class. You have to achieve an IEP goal or it’s like, hey, what am I doing this summer? Well, here you go, LisaMaria, take out the Transition Hub and identify two or three programs that resonate with you, and then let’s discuss them tomorrow. And that’s a great tool for the TVI, for the student themselves and their family.
LisaMaria:
That’s right. That’s right.
Jeff:
I really like that, what you said about being a one-stop shop to go there for resources, because I’m not young, either, as we’re all confessing. It used to be, you had to either hear it from someone, find out something, or type it into Google and you don’t know what you’re looking for really sometimes. But when I went in there, the Vista Center was, there it was, right away. And I go, oh, now I know what this all was. It’s easy to navigate. There’s phone numbers, there’s contacts and everything. It’s really good. I’m really excited when I got the chance to go look at all this stuff because it’s fresh. And this isn’t something that, like you said, you’re not revamping. This is new stuff for today that I can’t believe we didn’t have it before, but it’s all in one stop. It may have been out there, but here it all is.
Richard:
Well, here’s the thing it has been done before, but because we’re APH, we’re dedicated to this year after year. There have been other attempts in the past, back in 2013, there was an entity that did this and I went and looked for it last year, and nothing had been updated after that first year. And it was probably a grant and it was a good attempt, but everything was outdated. Those programs didn’t exist anymore. And here we are going hey, we want this to be a real, livable, breathing, so that’s why LisaMaria is here to not just say we’re going to add, but we’re going to update. We’re going to remind those programs, hey Chicago, hey New York, hey LA. We know this was last year, can you please update your profile so it’s relevant to those searching the site.
LisaMaria:
Right. And one of the things too, that I think is important to point out is that by Richard and I and others talking with these coordinators, we’re building relationships and we’re always like reminding them, like, what else can we do to support you? How else can we help you shine and talk about your programs and how can we partner? So we really are trying to make the CareerConnect Center and the Transition Hub something that is going to be constantly updated and revived. And I think that we are doing a very good job in building relationships and learning what some programs are doing that are really fantastic and trying to get them to help others start or create transition programs elsewhere. So we really are trying to make this a one-stop shop, but also a place where coordinators and instructors network, yeah.
Jeff:
That’s what I noticed a lot, that it’s not just for the students. It’s also for the parents, the family, the friends, businesses, and the professionals in the industry to draw from it. There’s something there for everyone.
LisaMaria:
You got it.
Jeff:
And I like what you said about networking, because when I went to the Career Center, the umbrella there, there’s a calendar that they can actually click on and submit their activities that are happening. That’s huge because there’s so many things that, oh, that was last week, oh, that was this week, but you can go there and you can see the upcoming stuff for the month and that’s really nice.
Richard:
Dr. Craig Meador, our CEO at APH, he really wanted that calendar. He says, you know, there’s so much happening in the field and we’re APH, we do a lot, but we can’t do it all, but we want to be a hub for people to share information. So it was his idea with the ConnectCenter to have that Connect Calendar. And it’s just blossomed.
LisaMaria:
I was going to ask because I don’t know, I’m new to APH, but if I’m thinking it, I’m sure other people- is this a calendar one can subscribe to?
Richard:
It’s a calendar that you can go to through APH ConnectCenter, that org, it’s up on the homepage and you can submit items that are relevant to the blindness community and/or just read down the calendar and go, oh yeah, that’s a great event, I want to attend that, or maybe my students or my elder mom who’s losing her vision can benefit from this.
LisaMaria:
Right, okay, cool.
Jeff:
Yeah, I was excited to see it because I dug in right away and the first thing that was up there was the Vista Center again, it was like, and that’s when I realized this isn’t all about APH. This is a network. And I tell you, throughout my years of blindness, networking is key to success. I have to say.
Richard:
Oh, yes.
LisaMaria:
Yes, absolutely.
Jeff:
Well, this is really great. The CareerCenter at APH. Is there anything else you guys want to cover?
Richard:
I think those are the important takeaways for our audience here. I mean, I love Blind Abilities. I love your app. I think the fact that we’re getting this information out, and we just invite your listeners, your subscribers to visit APHconnectcenter.org. From there, you can find CareerConnect, from there you can find the Transition Hub and you’ll get connected and you’ll learn, you’ll engage. You’ll grow.
Jeff:
Oh, I’m so glad we can spread this news to everybody because it’s a resource that people need. They do.
Richard:
Yes.
Jeff:
Such a great resource and a resource for everyone. American Printing House CareerConnect, and that’s at APHcareerconnect.org. from the Job Seekers Toolkit, the Transition Hub, and the conversations to all the resources that you’ll find at APHcareerconnect.org. That’s APHcareerconnect.org. Big thank you to Richard and LisaMaria for coming on to Blind Abilities, and be sure to check out the show notes where you’ll find the links to the resources available from CareerConnect at APH. A big shout out to Chee Chau for his beautiful music, you can follow Chee Chau on Twitter @lcheechau.
[Music] [Transition noise] -When we share
-What we see
-Through each other’s eyes…
[Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence]
…We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities.
Jeff:
For more podcasts with a blindness perspective, check us out on the web www.blindabilities.com, on Twitter @BlindAbilities, download our app from the app store, Blind Abilities, that’s two words, or send us an email at info@blindabilities.com. Thanks for listening.
Contact Your State Services
If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Transition Coordinator Sheila Koenig by email or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361.
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