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Thursday, June 16, 2011
WorkWise Interactive™
Disability, Part-Timing
Disability
Question: Dear Dr. Culp, I am on disability and can only make $720 per month. Most part-time jobs either pay not enough or too much for me to consider. Additionally, potential employers are reluctant to hire someone who is disabled. Do you have any guidance? I own a business.
Answer: You haven’t mentioned whether your disability is seen or unseen. Either way, however, it shouldn’t be a topic of conversation until after you have an offer, at which time you should discuss an accommodation. Do the temporaries offer you a viable solution?
Are you certain that your disability is the main reason you aren’t finding work? Remember, lots of people without disabilities are having difficulty, and it’s easy to blame the obvious (age, inexperience, whatever). How much are you willing to confront your disability head-on? Are you willing to ferret out and update dinosauric attitudes?
If finding work you enjoy and are paid for is your main objective, go with the flow and build your business so that you can control the amount of money you earn and the time you spend earning it. Research a broader market than you’ve been exploring. Add new products and/or services. Market extensively and enthusiastically.
Strategy
Question: Dear Dr. Culp, I really enjoy my hobbies and want to work part-time, say six hours a day. For computer programmers like me, working two more hours a day isn't really that productive. However, very few people want to hire part-time. Help?
Answer: You present an informed employer a wonderful opportunity. You’re wiling to work so effectively that you can shave two hours off your day.
Don’t mention your hobbies, because that could turn employers off. Tell them that you work more intensely than most people and can give them the results they expect from others in a full day in six hours. Negotiate the opportunity to show them in the first month or quarter how much you can. Document every accomplishment to prove what you mean. If you’re getting as much or more done in six hours than co-workers, that should tell them something.
You want them to see that, in your case, two extra hours aren’t essential to meet their objectives. However, if your job requires you to be available to other people, be prepared to explain to everyone when you’ll be in the office. Make it easy to remember, with the same times of day five days a week.
(Dr. Mildred Culp welcomes your questions at culp@workwise.net. © 2011 Passage Media.)
