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Presenter(s)
Cliff Winters, M.Div.
American Foundation for the Blind, CareerConnect
949 3rd Avenue, Suite 200
Huntington, West Virginia 25701
304.523.8651/888.824.2184
304.523.8656 (fax)
Email: cwinters@afb.net
Email: careerconnect@afb.net
I. Introduction:
The National Center for Health Statistics in 1998 reported that, among visually-impaired people of working age, there is a 54% unemployment rate. Among legally blind people of working age, that number jumps to almost 70%. For anyone in career transition-either from High School, college, an unfulfilling occupation, or unemployment-being informed and prepared for the next stage in his or her career development is important. For those with a visual impairment, it's essential. This paper will investigate possible applications of AFB's web-based program, CareerConnect (formerly the Careers and Technology Information Bank or CTIB), to meet those transitional needs-and the online features that have made it a success.
II. Web-Based Discovery Tools:
Many who would come to an employment-planning website haven't had a great deal of exposure to the diversity of jobs available in today's labor market, so they may not know precisely what their goals are. This is especially true of people with visual impairments who, often through the socialization process, have had their occupational expectations lowered. What they will know is that they are unhappy in their present occupation-or their lack of an occupation-or they are hopeful about what the future may hold, but it is largely unformulated in their own mind. This also is the beginning point for AFB CareerConnect.
The first link that addresses a user on the CareerConnect website (http://www.afb.org/careerconnect) offers an "Overview" of the CareerConnect services available, and the first section within that overview is "Careers." The "Careers" link itself constitutes a direct benefit of being specifically an online resource. CareerConnect has strategically allied with the Department of Labor's O*Net online database (formerly known as the Dictionary of Occupational Titles). When the decision was made to download their data and incorporate it into the service, it became possible for CareerConnect users to search for careers, not just by key-word, but by general category and personal interests. Users can come to CareerConnect to help them discover their goals, and not feel like they have to "have it all figured out."
As a case in point, let us hypothesize that a given user is a teenager, she is artistic, and is fascinated by radio personalities. But would she enjoy that kind of occupation? She will begin at the beginning, with "Careers." Then she might choose to browse by areas of "Personal Interest." Not arbitrarily, she chooses "Artistic," and then finds that there is a category for "Radio and Television Announcers."
When our user clicks on the link, she is offered a generous list of tasks associated with that kind of occupation to help her decide whether or not it would be well-suited for her. If so, there is a listing of specific jobs in that category; and if not, then there is another list of related categories that she may not have considered. This is content that is all made possible through CareerConnect's use of O*Net's online database. If CareerConnect were a telecommunications-based service, none of that information would have been available.
Often people with disabilities are encouraged to ask, "What can I do?" Through the occupational descriptions available through the Careers page, they can begin to ask themselves, "What do I want to do?" That is one way in which utilizing web technology truly expands the possibilities of employment services to the blind and visually impaired community.
III. Web-Based Educational Tools:
Another way that the Internet has enabled new levels of service is in terms of the availability, and the amount and quality, of the content. This "content" takes two forms: the literature that is published on the website, and then the mentors themselves. If one considers the combined experience, knowledge, skills and histories of over 1000 working men and women, CareerConnect can claim to offer potentially limitless "content" for the education and preparation of job-seekers. The specific needs that an Internet-based program meets, then-that no other kind could-are ubiquity and depth of content.
There are still large sections of the visually impaired population who de-facto don't have access to vocational rehabilitation counselors. And even in situations where the client has a good working relationship with his or her counselor, no counselor is omni-competent. But there are mentors in the database who are carpenters and builders, who are farmers, who are doctors and scientists of various kinds; and the user has access to that wealth of human knowledge through the interconnectivity of the World Wide Web.
For those who already have experience in the working world-or for those who have long possessed the desire to work in a particular field, but who did not previously view it as possible-the component of CareerConnect that might prove the most useful is this e-mentoring component, which is the second option on the website.
To this end, CareerConnect has devised, truly, a tremendous web-based application. Let us now hypothesize that a new user has already been through the career discovery process previously described, and she knows that she wants to be a nurse. She a care-giver, she is conscientious, but she doesn't know how to be a nurse with her visual impairment.
This user might access the search screen and input "n-u-r-s," which, because the database is wildcard-searchable, will yield results for "nurse," "nurses," and "nursing." She would find that there are sixteen mentors who work in the nursing industry in different capacities-one might be a nursing home administrator, one might be a registered nurse, one might be a visiting nurse, one might run a nurse-staffing agency, and so on. This further refines and hones the user's specific goals, further educates her about her chosen field, and provides a breadth of perspective on the industry that no single person could provide.
And then, in the actual contact of protégé-to-mentor and vice-versa, CareerConnect is able to demonstrate a sensitivity both to autonomy- and to security-needs that previously would have been impossible. Once the user has registered, she can not only search for mentors autonomously, but also contact them autonomously-without recourse to a third party. And that contact requires no personal information to be shared, so potential security risks are nearly eliminated.
This process works through the functionality of the database. Mentors, when they register, submit their email address, as do users. When a user clicks on the non-identifying number for a mentor whose job description suits her needs, the website presents a secure email page into which the user can input whatever query she may have. The system then accesses that mentor's email address and forwards it, with the notification of how to send a reply-again, with no identifying information-through the database and back to the user. This extra security measure, obviously, has very great and positive implications for a program that works so frequently with school-aged users.
IV. Web-Based Employment Tools:
Once the user has gone through the process of discovery, and has a clear sense of how her natural gifts can be used in the workforce; once she has had contact with mentors in her chosen field, and has considered and implemented what those years of knowledge and experience have suggested to her; there is one more step: getting the job.
A computer- and Internet-based approach to career exploration, such as that which AFB has attempted with the CareerConnect program, has certain value just by virtue of the medium in which it exists. An online calendar, resume builder, and datasheet are available: the calendar to schedule relevant appointments, the resume builder to provide instruction to those with limited experience, and a personal datasheet that the user can keep ready-to-hand when the opportunity arises to employ a scribe to fill out an application or some similar information-intensive paperwork.
Associated with these free programs are numerous tips in the "Tips" section that provide guidance for everything from the interview process and negotiating assistance to the personal habits that help one keep the job one has already obtained. And then further links can educate the user on assistive technologies used in the workplace and their function, as well as an entire section dedicated to resourcing the user beyond what just the website provides-including some multimedia content, and a generous listing of actual job search engines and job-posting services.
V. Conclusion:
CareerConnect has opened up a whole new realm in the advancement of employment research services for the blind and visually impaired community by using the strengths of the medium in which it resides-the Internet. In terms of career research, in terms of the process of mentor contact, and in terms of helps for applying to specific jobs, AFB CareerConnect owes its very structure and value to the ubiquity, connectivity, and functionality of web technology.
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