{"id":7463,"date":"2022-07-16T11:14:30","date_gmt":"2022-07-16T16:14:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=7463"},"modified":"2022-07-25T10:07:54","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T15:07:54","slug":"sarlie-drakos-disability-employment-coach-helping-people-get-past-their-limiting-beliefs-and-get-their-dream-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=7463","title":{"rendered":"Sarlie Drakos &#8211; Disability Employment Coach: Helping people get past their limiting beliefs and get their dream jobs!"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--powerpress_player--><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_3175\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-7463-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/blindabilities\/SarlieDrakos.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/blindabilities\/SarlieDrakos.mp3\">https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/blindabilities\/SarlieDrakos.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Podcast Summary:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie Drakos is a Disability Employment Coach helping people around the world reach their employment goals. Not just finding them any job, but teaching them how they can pursue their dream job.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie has experienced losing a job through sight loss, and the limited expectations people around her put onto her resulted in her becoming a passionate advocate for people with disabilities and fighting harder to better her situation. Since losing her vision, Sarlie has successfully landed a job as a rock climbing instructor, copywriter, and disability employment consultant. She then continued to enhance her skills to start her own company coaching others with disabilities.&nbsp; Sarlie draws from her experience&nbsp; to fulfill her passion to coach people how to strengthen their resumes, explore careers, conduct mock job interviews and increase their odds in landing the job they want. Through well planned modules and workshops the positive feedback and results are keeping Sarlie motivated and doing her dream job while helping others reach theirs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Join Sarlie Drakos and Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to learn more about what Sarlie does and offers through the services she provides. You can find out all the details on Sarlie&#8217;s web site at&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/sarliedrakos.com\">SarlieDrakos.com<\/a> and inquire how she can help you land that dream job. <a href=\"https:\/\/sarliedrakos.com\/book-in-a-call\/\">Book in a call today!&nbsp;<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Full Transcript Below<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"contact-your-state-services\"><strong>Contact Your State Services<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Pre-ETS Program and Transition Services Manager Sheila Koenig by&nbsp;<a>email<\/a>&nbsp;or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"contact\"><strong>Contact:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You can follow us on Twitter&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/blindabilities\">@BlindAbilities<\/a><br>On the web at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/\">www.BlindAbilities.com<\/a><br>Send us an&nbsp;<a>email<\/a><br>Get the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/blind-abilities\/id1085849859?l=es&amp;mt=8\">Free Blind Abilities App&nbsp;on the App Store<\/a>and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.blindabilities.android.blind&amp;hl=en_US\">Google Play Store<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093 we would love to hear from you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Check out the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/607027582712671\/\">Blind Abilities Community<\/a>&nbsp;on Facebook, the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BlindAbilities\/\">Blind Abilities Page<\/a>, and the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/jobinsightsgroup\">Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impaired<\/a>&nbsp;group<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Full Transcript<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you don\u2019t even have the right skills to be able to communicate and advocate for yourself, then there\u2019s a very high likelihood that the employer\u2019s just gonna completely disregard your application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please welcome Sarlie Drakos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So resumes are still very important, I think a lot of people don\u2019t realize exactly how important it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Disability employment coach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Try and work on your job readiness skills, so things like learning how to touch-type, working on your orientation and mobility skills, just trying to build your independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Teaching around the world from life\u2019s experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just head onto my website, sarliedrakos.com, which is s-a-r-l-i-e-d-r-a-k-o-s.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now here\u2019s Sarlie Drakos. Hope you enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I first lost my vision, a lot of different employment agencies were just trying to push me into doing any type of job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Welcome to Blind Abilities, I\u2019m Jeff Thompson. Today we\u2019re going to travel halfway around the globe, we\u2019re going to Australia. We have a disabilities employment coach with us; Sarlie Drakos. Sarlie, welcome to Blind Abilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you so much for having me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, Sarlie, thank you so much for taking the time to come onto Blind Abilities. Could you tell our listeners, what is a disabilities employment coach?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, for me, I work virtually, so I run my business online, and I support people with disabilities to help them get jobs that they love, so we run through all different things, we help people understand what type of career would be best for them based on their different sets of skills, their educations, and their interests. We go through all different recruitment skills, like cover letters, resumes, all that sort of stuff, and then for me, because I\u2019m a disabilities employment coach, I also help people with the self-advocacy side of things, so how to talk to an employer about your disability, when\u2019s the right time to do this, also all the different types of adjustments you can get at the workplace as well, so we go through from the very start to the very finish when it comes to finding a job through that whole entire journey together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So Sarlie, let\u2019s unpack this a little bit. Can you tell the listeners why self-advocacy is so important?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s important because at the moment there\u2019s still a lot of misunderstandings and a lot of lack of education when it comes to disabilities, so when it comes to employment specifically, if you\u2019re speaking to&nbsp;&nbsp;an employer, the chances are they might not have hired someone with your condition before, or even met someone with your condition before, so if you don\u2019t have the right skills to be able to communicate and advocate for yourself, then there\u2019s a very high likelihood that the employer is just gonna completely disregard your application, not necessarily because they\u2019re trying to be discriminatory towards you, but just because they don\u2019t understand exactly how you\u2019d be able to do the job and why you\u2019re an asset, so it\u2019s really important to be able to communicate and have that conversation clearly and effectively with an employer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think one of the biggest questions that comes up is do you disclose before your interview or do you disclose at the interview?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, that would all depend on what your condition is. If you don\u2019t need any reasonable adjustments for the interview, for example, if you don\u2019t need an interpreter or anything like that, then I usually say to disclose at the end of the interview, so go through the entire interview and then at the very end they\u2019ll ask you if you have any questions, and I always say ask two to three questions which are well-thought questions about the company, and then after you\u2019ve done that, then at the very end that\u2019s when I would disclose that you have a disability. However, if you do go to an interview and you have a very visible disability, for example, if you\u2019re blind and you use a long white cane or you have a guide dog, then I would disclose after you\u2019ve been offered the interview, so if you get a phone call or an email, lock in the date and time for the interview and then that\u2019s when I\u2019d have that conversation, so it really depends on your situation and what you feel comfortable with, and I work on how to build a really strong disclosure statement, so how to have that conversation with an employer and we workshop that a fair bit because it\u2019s so important to have the right things to say, what not to say, that kind of thing, because it\u2019s a bit of an art form and I think that\u2019s something that people don\u2019t really think about either, it\u2019s not something that I would ever suggest a client just have a conversation with an employer without us going through the dos and don\u2019ts and the ins and out of that conversation because there is a bit to consider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you meet someone or someone contacts you, on your first intake, let me say? Walk us through that, what is that like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s typically me just trying to understand where the client\u2019s at, what their level of experience is, what they\u2019re wanting to do in terms of a career, and just for me to get an understanding of what their main barriers are. For me it\u2019s just a lot of talk about what their goals are and what their barriers are, and then we\u2019ll go through and set a roadmap or a plan of what we would work through together. So it is very individualized, each conversation I have with a person. The coaching program, it does have set modules that we\u2019ll work through together, but then that\u2019ll all be tailored towards the client and their needs as well.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What is the importance of a resume?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So resumes are still very important, I think a lot of people don\u2019t realize exactly how important it is, but a lot of employers will get thousands or maybe hundreds of resumes per job application, so I\u2019m not sure if I explained that very well, but if you\u2019re applying for a job you might be competing against thousands of other people. So recruiters and employers are very choosy, and they don\u2019t have much time to spend looking at each resume. They typically only spend about six seconds on each resume, so that\u2019s why it\u2019s really really important that you have a great resume that\u2019s able to stand out from the crowd. Also with resumes, one thing that a lot of people don\u2019t know is in a lot of big companies and organizations, they use something called applicant tracking software, so what that does is it will scan your resume and look for keywords, so that\u2019s why it\u2019s also really important to have a really good resume that\u2019s tailored for a particular position or industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s really cool. Applicant tracking system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ATS. Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cool. Here\u2019s an example for podcasting. During the publishing process, there\u2019s an edit box where we can employ keywords, and these are all the keywords that would grab the attention of the listeners, especially if you\u2019re doing a search through Google. And similar to putting a hashtag in a tweet, Apple Podcasts does not use this isolated area where you can put in keywords, what they do is the same thing you just mentioned about the resume. They search the entire show notes of a podcast, and that\u2019s how they pull out the keywords. This is exactly what you want that ATS machine to be doing on your resume, and that\u2019s why it\u2019s so important, like you said, one should have significant keywords slathered all over their resume, because without those keywords, your resume may not even get past the first glance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, exactly. Yeah, you want to have as many keywords as you can, and I think a lot of people often feel intimidated by the idea of tailoring their resume or their cover letter to each job they\u2019re applying for, but the thing is you really need to spend that time tailoring it, because it will significantly increase your chances of it being seen. If you don\u2019t do this, then it won\u2019t even make it past the applicant tracking systems and it won\u2019t be seen by a person, and at the end of the day it doesn\u2019t have to take a really long time, you just- like you said, you need to copy and paste particular keywords and slot it into your resume, and if you\u2019re applying for the same types of jobs over and over again then often they\u2019ll have the same keywords, so it doesn\u2019t really end up taking too long once you spend that initial time doing it for the first job that you\u2019re applying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just make it fit.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, yeah, exactly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s really cool. Sarlie, I really love your energy and the service you\u2019re providing, this information that you\u2019re giving us, is really a great resource, \u2018cause with the struggles and challenges of searching for employment as someone with a disability, it\u2019s really challenging, and yet there possibly could be a little silver lining to this pandemic, of people going virtual, working from home. I think it\u2019s really opened up the doors just a little bit for people with disabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, definitely. I think that\u2019s the one good thing about the COVID pandemic is we saw a lot more jobs which are remote-based, which really helps people who are parents or people with disabilities, or people who are carers. It forced companies to become a lot more flexible when it comes to staff, so now when we\u2019re having that conversation with employers and discussing reasonable adjustments, it\u2019s not seen as being something that\u2019s far from the norm anymore. A lot more companies are a lot more flexible in allowing staff to work from home and having that infrastructure set up now, which is really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Exactly, yeah. Seen a lot of that lately, and as well as virtual job interviews, which can be done on Zoom, Teams, or on the web.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, so that\u2019s happening more and more often now, so I speak to a lot of clients who have interviews over Zoom or Microsoft Teams, so usually what I would do is I would do a mock interview with them, just so they can practice, and we can make sure, particularly if they\u2019re blind or have low vision, I would make sure that they\u2019re set up properly so you can see them framed really well in the camera or on the screen, and don\u2019t have anything in the background that\u2019s an issue, but the thing with that is that people need to remember is it\u2019s very different than if you\u2019re speaking face-to-face with someone. A lot of our communication and the messages we get from someone is from nonverbal communication, so it\u2019s really important, I guess, when you\u2019re on a Zoom call or a virtual interview, just to keep that in mind, and I don\u2019t like telling people to smile, but that becomes really important because it\u2019s that much harder for people to get an understanding of who you are as a person and to build that rapport. I guess it\u2019s also a lot easier for clients because they don\u2019t have to travel and worry about all that sort of thing as well. Yeah, my main thing is just to make sure you\u2019re framed really well, and to make sure you have a clean background, and then like I said, just try and have that good body language, and that good energy coming through the screen if you can as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How about the typical question that the interviewer may ask the interviewee, what is your greatest weakness?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, that\u2019s a question that I always go through with my clients just in case it comes up, it doesn\u2019t always come up, but it still does get asked sometimes. So that type of question I would always recommend talking about something that you\u2019ve actually worked on. For instance, talk about a skill instead of a personality trait, because skills can always be improved on. So a good example could be, one thing that I really struggle with is public speaking, however, I realized that this was an issue for me and so I started going to Toastmasters workshops which happen once a fortnight so I can build on my public speaking skills, so for that example you could see how I mentioned what my weakness was, but then also that I was taking active steps to improve on that skill, and that\u2019s how I would always recommend answering that question. So you\u2019re still acknowledging that it\u2019s a weakness, but you\u2019re showing that you\u2019re actively trying to improve on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How can people find out more about Sarlie Drakos, the disability employment coach, and the services you provide?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, so I would suggest they head to my website, which is sarliedrakos.com, and there\u2019s a book in a call page, which I can send you the link to as well, and they can just book in a call with me and we can have a chat over Zoom, and I also have the option with captions as well if people are hard of hearing as well, so that\u2019s the best way to go and then I can have a chat with you and we can discuss what your main goals are, what your main barriers are, where you\u2019re at at the moment, and then work out whether I\u2019m the best person to assist you and if you feel like it\u2019s a good fit for you, and if not I\u2019ll recommend you to someone else or refer you to a different organization, but otherwise we can chat about the next steps to help you get your dream job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie, I know you\u2019ve thought about having a dream job, and you\u2019re probably living that dream right now, can you tell us what led you to become a disabilities job coach?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I just fell into it to be honest with you. I have a background working in marketing, so I used to work doing marketing, communications, and advertising, and I did a lot of copywriting, so I used to write a lot of content, websites and blogs and print advertisements, and that sort of thing, but a few years ago I started losing my vision, so I have a condition called Stargardt disease, and I really struggled myself with my work, I was finding it very difficult to complete all my editing work that I was doing, and ended up losing my job as a result of that, and it took me about a year to really come to grips with the different types of support services that were available, because I\u2019d never met anyone with low vision before. I\u2019m the first one in my family to have this condition, so it took me a little while to understand the different support services and everything that are available. Once I did, I went straight back into work again, but it was a really big journey for me because a lot of the messages that I was receiving from my friends and family and people that I had met were that I would never be able to work again because of my vision condition, I would never be able to do the hobbies and all the interests that I enjoyed, and for me I\u2019m quite determined, so I never really let it stop me but it just got me thinking there\u2019s gonna be a lot of people that are being told these messages, there\u2019s gonna be a lot of people that don\u2019t really know how to get jobs, and I\u2019ve spoken to heaps of people who have experienced discrimination at the workplace or have had to deal with other people\u2019s misconceptions when it comes to their abilities, so I really felt like I wanted to help people get the jobs that they wanted to do because we all deserve to have a career that we love, we all deserve to make, you know, good money and not have to have that financial stress, so for me it became a bit of permission for me to use all the skills that I\u2019ve gained through marketing, to learn more about the recruitment sector and then to use all those skills to help other people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh, wow. So the limited expectations that were thrown upon you kind of energized you to do more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, it did. It kind of gave me a lot more purpose and drive to prove people wrong and then to use that to help other people, because I realized after talking to a lot of my clients as well that they\u2019ve been told the same kind of messages, that they couldn\u2019t do this, or they couldn\u2019t do that, which wasn\u2019t the case, it wasn\u2019t true, they just hadn\u2019t been exposed to the correct information or the correct strategies and didn\u2019t have the support that they needed. I\u2019ve always been very career-driven, and I wanted to help people have the careers that they wanted to have, because it\u2019s so important. We spend so much time at work, why not do something that you love?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well put. But this hasn\u2019t limited you to just the workforce or your education, you just went scuba diving, and you do rock climbing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. I\u2019ve always been pretty active and adventurous, I think that\u2019s one thing that I\u2019m really grateful for, is that once I started losing my vision, I didn\u2019t stop doing those sorts of things, so I\u2019ve been able to continually go scuba diving as my vision has been changing, and sometimes it\u2019s been a little bit anxiety-provoking, I guess, when I haven\u2019t been diving for a while and then I\u2019m trying to set up my oxygen tank and everything like that, but it\u2019s something that I really enjoy doing and I don\u2019t want to let anything stop me from doing it, and it doesn\u2019t have to, so it\u2019s been really great. I just recently got back from scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef, which was my second time doing that, and it was just such an amazing experience, it was really really fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, with Stargardts, you have peripheral vision somewhat. So you can paint the picture, you can get the idea of what\u2019s there, you\u2019ve seen it before. It\u2019s a little different than like RP, where- they both have their perks, don\u2019t they? RP, you only see a little bit, you can see a lot. Your depth, it\u2019s just different, but you keep accepting the challenges. I guess I want to ask the question, like, what is it that keeps you motivated, because so many people- you said you took a year off, kind of like to gather your thoughts and start going again, some people it takes a lot longer than that. What do you say to those people who were just recently diagnosed, are starting to lose their eyesight?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I would say that don\u2019t lose hope, you can still have an amazing career, you can still have a really fulfilling life, it doesn\u2019t have to stop you from doing what you want to do. There may be days where it\u2019s challenging, but I think we\u2019re living in a really good age at the moment, so if you\u2019re gonna go blind, although it\u2019s not a great thing to happen, but it\u2019s probably the best time for it to happen because there\u2019s so much technology available now. Even using just a smartphone, like that wasn\u2019t available when my parents were my age, so I think there\u2019s just so much technology and support out there, it doesn\u2019t have to stop you from doing anything that you want to do, and there\u2019s definitely a lot of people out there who will be willing to help you as well, so just reach out if you have any questions or if you need more support, there\u2019s definitely a lot of people who can help you and give you advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So are you an Android or Apple iPhone user?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I\u2019ve always been an Android user but I\u2019ve recently started using Apple phones because my vision is still continuing to decline, and that\u2019s- what I\u2019ve heard a lot is about the accessibility features on Apple and how easy it is to use, so I\u2019ve started moving towards Apple products, but I\u2019m kind of in between, so I\u2019m kind of using both, and just seeing what I feel suits me best, but I\u2019m still learning. When it comes to technology I don\u2019t know what one I prefer yet, I\u2019m still trialing them both out, I guess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<br>Well, you said it, there\u2019s a lot of technology out there, and I think whatever works for someone works for them. It\u2019s nice if people can get their hands on some technology and check it out to see what\u2019s best for them, because you can hear other people using it or doing it, and you don\u2019t know, and it\u2019s not cheap equipment either to really guess at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Definitely. And I think even with YouTube, you can just search on YouTube and lots of people will do different demonstrations of different technologies, and that\u2019s a good thing to help you get a bit more understanding and a bit more of a feel for what you think is best as well, which is really helpful. Or they can listen to your podcast, \u2018cause I know you talk a lot about tech as well. So yeah, there\u2019s just so much out there that can help you now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, thanks for that shout-out.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One thing that I would suggest to people who don\u2019t have much employment experience or have recently lost their vision is to try and work on your job readiness skills, so things like learning how to touch type, working on your orientation and mobility skills, just trying to building your independence, that\u2019s something that I would always recommend and you can do that alongside with looking for a job as well, because you want to feel really confident when you\u2019re going to a job or going to a job interview, that you can do all areas of the job and you can travel to the workplace. Even if you\u2019re working from home it\u2019s still good to have that confidence and have all those skills before you start looking for a job or in addition to looking for work as well.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You remind me of something that just like in college, before college starts, you usually do a tour of the campus, that before an interview it\u2019d be nice to go the day before, take a test run to get there, to see what it\u2019s like. Are the buses open? Are the transportations working? Does it drop you off a parking lot away, or something of that nature, how do you get to the front door? And just scope it out, it\u2019s always nice to have that confidence behind you on the day that you\u2019re gonna be nervous, a little bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, yeah, definitely, because job interviews are so nerve-wracking already, you don\u2019t want to be stressed about trying to get to the room on time, or to find the building because sometimes, you know, things might not be signposted very well, or like you said, you might get dropped off at a location that you\u2019re not really expecting if you\u2019re catching a bus or a train or something like that, so I would always recommend trying to do a test run like you said. It really eases a lot of that nerves and that worry that you might have on the interview day, it\u2019s one less thing to worry about, I guess. Makes life easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I like that you mentioned mock interviews, because once an interview starts, it\u2019s painful, in a sense, that anticipation, the anxiety and all that, but with a mock interview, your expectations will change because you\u2019ll be prepared, like you said, all the stuff that you do. So I\u2019m glad you do what you do. It\u2019s neat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. I think the&nbsp;&nbsp;mock interviews are something that a lot of my clients really are interested in. As soon as I tell them, they\u2019re like oh yes, I\u2019d love to do that, because it\u2019s something that a lot of us struggle with. It\u2019s a very awkward situation when you\u2019re sitting in front of an interview panel, it\u2019s not like a normal everyday situation and a lot of people aren\u2019t used to really talking about themselves either, yeah, it\u2019s something that definitely can be very nerve-wracking for people, and when I do a mock interview with clients, I try and make it as close to what the real interview will be as possible. I don\u2019t have all the questions that they\u2019re gonna give you, but usually I can anticipate around 8 out of the 10 questions and then we\u2019ll workshop how to answer tricky questions like you mentioned before, like what is your biggest weakness and that sort of thing, so we\u2019ll workshop answers so you know how to respond to them, and then I\u2019ll prepare you for how to answer any other curveballs that might come along as well, as well as things like, as I mentioned before, how to tell the employer about your disability, we\u2019ll workshop that together during the mock interview and get you to practice that as well so you\u2019re really confident going into the interview beforehand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Is there such a thing as a follow-up letter back to the company?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, so I would definitely recommend after your interview, try and get the interviewer\u2019s details and definitely send them and email just thanking them for their time, it doesn\u2019t have to be really long, just a quick email just to say thank you, I really enjoyed meeting you, you can mention a few things that they said during the interview that you really liked as well, but that can leave a really good first impression because not many people do that, so just taking that little bit of extra time and effort can go a long way, and then also if you send it the next day, it can also put you front of mind again, so your name will pop up again in their email and they\u2019ll think about you again, so it\u2019s a really good way to make sure that you\u2019re still ruminating in their brain after your interview\u2019s finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I really like that, ruminating, I like that, I like those words. The other thing I really like, and you mentioned this way in the beginning, it\u2019s like you help people find the job they want. You\u2019re not trying to fit them into a square hole or a peg or something like that, like a lot of blind people are pigeonholed into these jobs that other people think would be best for them, where you take the approach is what do you want to do? Where\u2019s your passion, what do you want to get up and go to work every day and do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, exactly. And I think that\u2019s one of the main reasons why I decided to start this coaching business, because I know from personal experience when I first lost my vision a lot of different employment agencies were just trying to push me into doing any type of job and there were jobs that I really didn\u2019t want to do, there were jobs that I wasn\u2019t personally really even suited for because they wanted me to be, like you said before, like working in a call center or working sales. It just wasn\u2019t really suited for me, it wasn\u2019t something that I wanted to do. Like I said before, we all deserve to have a career that we love, and that\u2019s what motivates me is working with clients and getting them into jobs that they love and hearing back from them and hearing about how much they\u2019re loving their jobs and how amazing everything\u2019s going for them, it really pushes me forward and motivates me to keep going with this business and what I do in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And with your coaching, rock climbing, you\u2019re helping people climb their own mountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, yeah, exactly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I can see your branding logo right now. How did you come across Blind Abilities?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through searching on Facebook for different groups. So I joined a lot of support groups when I first started losing my vision, then I started joining a bit more recently as well, with my business, just because I noticed in a lot of groups people were asking for different employment advice and I saw a post recently where someone said she was applying for I think 450 jobs or something within the last year and hadn\u2019t gotten hired, so I just wanted to try and put out there that there is help and support for people. I do a lot of free advice and information through emails and social media as well, so I just wanted to try and reach out to people, and then I saw your page and all the different advice that you give in terms of technology and other areas as well, so I just started following you, and yeah, I really love your podcast, I\u2019ve listened to quite a few episodes now, and it\u2019s really great what you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, I wasn\u2019t trying to get a shout-out there, but Sarlie, I think it\u2019s really great what you\u2019re doing. You\u2019re motivated, you\u2019ve experienced it, and you\u2019re trying to teach others, helping others. I always thought that the best teacher was experience, here you are, your experience, bringing it to everybody else. I really like that. Once again, can you tell people where they can find you and what services you provide?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, absolutely. They can just find me if you just google sarliedrakos.com, which is s-a-r-l-i-e-d-r-a-k-o-s.com, then that\u2019s my website, and you can just book in a call with me, and I can help you with all stages of the employment, so if you have no idea what career you want, I can help you with that, I can assist you with all the recruitment stuff, self-advocacy as well, which we discussed before, just head onto my website, you can book in a call with me, and I can have a chat with you and just see what kind of support you need and then we can go from there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So everyone that has a visual impairment doesn\u2019t have to work in a call center?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh no, god no, I could not do that. I mean, if you want to work in a call center then you definitely can, it\u2019s all based on what type of jobs you want to do, and I\u2019ve worked as a rock climbing instructor with low vision, and I know people who work as lawyers who are blind, so really whatever type of job or career you want to do, just have a chat to me, you might not be able to get your dream job straight away if you don\u2019t have any kind of experience or skills in the industry, but we\u2019ll definitely work out a roadmap to help you to get there, so definitely it\u2019s all based on what you want to do, not gonna push you into any type of career that you don\u2019t want to do, so yeah, we\u2019ll definitely figure out what\u2019s best for you and work out a plan together to help you get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie Drakos, disability employment coach. Thank you so much for coming onto Blind Abilities and sharing with us what you do, what you know, and giving us the information where people can contact you so they can find out more about their possibilities in the job market and their future, so thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarlie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you so much for having me, it\u2019s been wonderful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Such a great time talking to Sarlie Drakos, and be sure to check out Sarlie\u2019s website at sarliedrakos.com, we got links in the show notes, and don\u2019t miss the upcoming Blind Abilities job insights, where Sarlie and Serina and myself will be hosting and bringing you tips on the job market, employment, job readiness, and much much more to enhance your opportunities on employment. And for more podcasts with a blindness perspective, check us out on the web www.blindabilities.com, on Twitter @BlindAbilities, and download the free Blind Abilities app from the app store and Google Play store. That\u2019s two words, Blind Abilities. And if you want to leave some feedback, give us some suggestions, give us a call at 612-367-6093. We\u2019d love to hear from you. A big shout-out to Chee Chau for his beautiful music, you can follow Chee Chau on Twitter @lcheechau. And from all of us here at Blind Abilities, stay well, stay informed, and stay strong. I want to thank you for listening, and until next time, bye-bye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[Music]&nbsp;&nbsp;[Transition noise]&nbsp;&nbsp;-When we share<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>-What we see<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>-Through each other&#8217;s eyes\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8230;We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<!--powerpress_player--><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_3177\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-7463-3\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/blindabilities\/SarlieDrakos.mp3?_=3\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/blindabilities\/SarlieDrakos.mp3\">https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/blindabilities\/SarlieDrakos.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p>https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/blindabilities\/SarlieDrakos.mp3 Podcast Summary: Sarlie Drakos is a Disability Employment Coach helping people around the world reach their employment goals. Not just finding them any job, but teaching them how they can pursue their dream job.&nbsp;&nbsp; Sarlie has experienced losing a job through sight loss, and the limited expectations people around her put onto her resulted [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17,373,519,514,512],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bapresents","category-career","category-jobinsights","category-transcribed","category-tvitoolbox"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6rcRg-1Wn","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7521,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=7521","url_meta":{"origin":7463,"position":0},"title":"Job Insights: Accepting Blindness, Job Readiness and Building Confidence&#8230; Let&#8217;s Get that Job!","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"August 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Podcast Summary: Full Transcript In this Job Insights episode, Serina Gilbert and jeff Thompson welcome Sarlie Drakos to the Job Insights Team. We are excited to have Sarlie on our team and excited to bring back the Job Insights show after a 2 year hiatus during the pandemic. 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