[johnh-hn]

I've been out of work coming up to six years. I had to look after my dad during the pandemic. I've been looking for work in London, UK, since January. During that time I've had a total of 2 interviews. Recruiters, who seem to do a keyword search only, message me from time-to-time on LinkedIn. I reply and they almost invariably never respond, presumably because they look more closely and see the large gap in employment.

What complicates things for me is being legally blind. I have enough vision to use a computer, but not much else and so I don't have the breadth of career options available to me that most people do. I need a way back in.

I keep reading, and I keep playing with code like I always have. I'm comfortable with C#, JavaScript and their respective ecosystems. It's like riding a bike. But convincing other people of that, recruiters especially, is proving to be a problem.

As for how I'm coping, I'm very up and down. It's hard not to feel that my career might be over. So when interviews have come up, I'm extremely nervous despite never having that problem in the past where I'd usually interview well.

Somehow, at least for now, I've kept going. Thanks for starting the thread.

[Dayshine]

You're in the UK: take advantage of the various schemes that allow people with disabilities to get guaranteed first interviews.

If you need any software job you might even have luck with graduate schemes at companies like BT who I believe will have similar shortcuts through recruitment for those with disabilities.

[johnh-hn]

> You're in the UK: take advantage of the various schemes that allow people with disabilities to get guaranteed first interviews.

I didn't know about this! For anyone else who might benefit, it looks like it's the Disability Confident Scheme: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/disability-confide...

Thank you so much.

[NGRhodes]

Also access to work: https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work.

[w10-1]

FWIW I’m Hoping that the combination of AI and ridiculously powerful small devices will finally get us to the point where we can interact with computers primarily through voice. A limiting factor seems to be misunderstanding what’s actually required, and you likely have insight and can build experience there. So if you were able to on your own time, build some small systems and demonstrate effective voice interaction, that might lead to some interesting work, and benefit others. From C#, you might be able to transition easily to Swift and target the Apple ecosystem, which has an a lot more accessibility support, and also has the possibility of becoming an independent developer.

[johnh-hn]

Thank you for the thoughtful comment. It's funny you mention this, because I've wondered about something similar. But I'm not sold on computers being controlled primarily through voice while CEOs demand a return to the office. It would make an office too noisy which makes me think remote work would be a necessary precondition for it.

You're correct about becoming an independent developer though. This whole experience made me realise that needs to be my goal if the tech industry can toss me aside at a moment's notice. I need a job to do that safely though. It's too risky on its own.

[mrbombastic]

Fwiw and you probably know but being almost legally blind puts you in a protected class, most employers would make exceptions to allow you to do your job. And it would be entirely reasonable to say that you need speech to text tools to work and don’t want to bother other coworkers.

Edit: was speaking from a US perspective before realizing you were in the UK, but would be surprised if you didn’t have even better protections

Extra edit: this hit the front page a while back about a blind developers dev setup: https://www.vincit.com/blog/software-development-450-words-p... it may be outdated at this point but maybe worth reaching out for best practices these days?

[johnh-hn]

Sorry for the late reply. Thank you for the consideration and for your research too. I am actually largely fine with development as a whole. I've created many workarounds that make working about as comfortable as it can be.

My current problem is different: getting interviews at all.

[mrbombastic]

no worries, I kind of figured you had this all figured out already re: dev workflow.

Wishing your best of luck on your search in any case.

[rhetocj23]

"I reply and they almost invariably never respond, presumably because they look more closely and see the large gap in employment."

Ive long thought about this problem. I think the issue is we dont have an objective mechanism to understand ones capability. Because thats really what matters.

Two people can have the same YOE, but how do you know which is more capable? Interviews are a terrible way to guage this, but is the present day mechanism thats used.

[johnh-hn]

It's not obvious what a better method would be.

[rhetocj23]

Personally I think it is obvious what a better method could be if it could exist.

The question is how to get that thing to exist.

[johnh-hn]

If you think there is a better way, explore it and find out. I mean that sincerely. What is obvious to you isn't necessarily obvious to anyone else. You never know what may come of it.

[rhetocj23]

Thats exactly what im doing. Im working on a project with the UK govt.

[bix6]

You looking at startups? I’ve seen a few started by people who turned their deafness or blindness into a new idea / product.

[johnh-hn]

I've had one idea in mind for a few years now. It's outside of my normal skill set so it's risky to pursue at the moment. But maybe I should start putting a little time into it even if it's just to help recharge my batteries somewhat.

[hypito]

A11y is a field with a high economic potential and with an incredibly supportive community.

For recharging batteries, I warmly recommend to join the A11y Slack: use its search function, explore your idea further, or find interesting new contacts.

I’ve requested an invite link for you. When it gets accepted, you should get an email – feel free to click (or ignore) it!

[johnh-hn]

Thank you!

[bix6]

No risk no reward. Might be an energizing challenge for you.