Job hunting is single-handedly considered one of the most frustrating and daunting activities there is to do. With a disability in the picture, it can get tougher with additional challenges and hurdles to pass. Unemployment can be extremely difficult and stressful when the candidate not only has to pass the job role requirements but also has to beat the fallacy of ‘disabled individuals’. Sure, employers want to hire energetic and motivated people with a positive and enthusiastic attitude but does that apply to individuals with disabilities or physical challenges?
Let’s traverse through Shyam’s employment journey and find out the answers to various questions that people with physical challenges often deal with on the job front. Five years ago, Shyam graduated with exceptional grades with an eager and motivated mindset to land a job. Shyam realized that having a spinal cord disability that restricts his mobility and has him confined to a wheelchair, will not produce the brightest of job options. But he made his peace with that from a young age and looked forward to finding whatever employment came his way. He knew job hunting was going to be tough but he didn’t imagine that it would be this hard. He would apply online, or schedule interviews through ads in the newspapers, but the moment he went to the office for the interview, he would not make it past the first round, no matter how good he was, eventually resulting in getting rejected. Shyam stayed unemployed for over a year during which he applied for countless jobs and attended numerous interviews.
Despite the rejection he was constantly faced with, Shyam kept pushing through; hoping against hope that he would eventually land a job and be able to finally give back to his family. After a year of this, he got a job offered to him through a family friend who owned a supermarket close by for the position of cashier. Shyam was an MBA graduate and although he didn’t graduate from a top tier university, he was way too overqualified for a job as a biller. Shyam eventually accepted this position although reluctantly, hoping he could still apply for other opportunities. Four years later, Shyam was still working in the supermarket with a dejected view of life. He was at a point in life where he believed that nobody would see past his wheelchair. He would scroll through various digital business newspapers to keep track of the economy and if physical abilities were being accepted.
Shyam thought he was aimlessly searching for something he believed he couldn’t attain. That was until he stumbled upon VOIZ’s feature on Business Today, announcing gig opportunities in the remote workforce. He had tried the remote work option previously only to be met with disappointment. So he researched VOIZ and got in touch with our support team. After getting some of his doubts clarified, he got on board with the application process and applied for jobs. He had two questions for the support team. One of them was “ I haven’t worked a proper desk job since I graduated from college, will that be an issue?” and the other was “Is having permanent damage to the spine a deal-breaker?”. For the first time in his life, he was received with “No, both of them don’t matter. Just get on with building your profile and start applying for jobs.” Shyam was ecstatic and completed his profile and applied for jobs within the next hour. Over the next week, he was selected to be a part of two processes for two different projects. Through his interview process, he realized that for the first time he was evaluated past his disability and strictly based on his skill and assessment results. He even found strength in being a physically challenged man with aspirations and dreams just as large and vibrant as any other regular person. He opted for customer service which involved receiving customer calls and helping them find resolution and making them happy. Shyam was in conversation with over 100 callers per day with one of the highest CSAT scores and call resolution rate. He found liberation in resolving customer queries and complaints and found being the link between the client and company to be an indispensable building factor.
In Shaym’s own words; “While it is extra challenging for someone with a physical ability to find employment, this particular platform called VOIZ has given a man like me the opportunity to find myself again and to look past my limitations. I will always be grateful to VOIZ for helping me not only get a job that doesn’t question my capability and calibre based on my birth defect but also in helping me work with informed employer attitudes and with the right workforce awareness giving me the experiences that I would normally never have experienced and providing me with everything to regain my lost time and become a better agent and an individual”.