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- I studied Graphic Design at mainstream art college. My dream was always to work for a big London design company.
I have SMA type 2 and I use a powerchair to get around.
This is my story about how I started my career and where I ended up.
- Cool. Thanks for the introduction Katy so the viewers can get a grasp of who you are
and a bit of your background. Obviously I pulled you in to talk on this module as I know all people
with a disability going into work had that quite scary first day going into the office
when you haven’t been employed before. So if you could share the job you were in
and were starting as a general sentiment, and then some of the barriers you came against
and then the way you and your employer overcome them yea?
- Yeah sure. I don’t know if any of you know but design is quite a competitive industry.
When I left college I was competing with thousands and thousand of other students who had just graduated.
Most of them weren’t in my position, so I had to try and better than them.
I started by sending my CV out and doing the usual kind of thing.
I wanted to share my portfolio with as many people as possible, even if there was no chance of a job.
I was trying to get myself out there and most people were impressed with my portfolio
which was great but nothing really came of it. It took me two years in total to actually find a job.
- Ok
- It was a company not far from where I was living who gave me a break.
It was quite funny as a couple of people there I went to college with so that probably helped.
- Yea sure
- They loved my portfolio which was great as it was what I was needed for – creativity.
They were a bit nervous as they probably had nothing to do with a disabled person before in their life.
They gave me a job on the strength of my ability which was great. Everything else we worked out as went along.
- In terms of going in on those first days was there any issues with the building or the work space that wasn’t suitable for you?
- Yea, there was a big step to get in.
- Ok
- That was the first obstacle (laughing). I had a set of ramps so I brought them along and that wasn’t a problem.
They didn’t have any toilet facilities so that was another problem.
Which we overcame by nipping home as my house was 15 minutes away and then rushed back again.
We only had an hour for lunch so it was bit stressful but we managed.
Another problem was I didn’t have any live in PAs at the time, just a home care that came in the morning,
so that had to change. I ended up recruiting people to drive me and tying it all in with home care.
It was a bit of a juggling thing.
- You have to become a logistics expert don’t you.
- You do but obviously things got easier after that when I got my live in PA.
That took 6 months so it was a struggle for that length of time, but when you’ve got this job
that you’ve been searching for so long nothing else mattered.
You would do all that you can because you’re so pleased and happy to be in that position you have always dreamed of being.
Then you just work through things.
- Did you use ‘access to work’ at all for any of your support?
- Yes. My experience wasn’t that great with them. I’d had contact with them before I had found my job
but they’d never really given me any leads anywhere else. I’d finally got this job
and met the access to work supervisor. They suggested I took another job
they’d miraculously just found with Yellow Pages, which was inputting ads.
I turned the yellow page fingers upside down to them as it wasn’t very helpful.
When we realised I wasn’t going to move, this was job and I had found it and it was what I wanted to do.
They didn’t really help much. They said about putting a portaloo in the car park so I could go to the loo.
If you’d seen the size of the car park you’d know that wasn’t going to happen.
- So it wasn’t the most positive of experiences, but I know with some of the other interviews
I have done there was a more forward footed practical support from access to work.
I guess like you said, you knew what you wanted and had the confidence to stand your ground.
- I think it is to do with luck as well to be honest. As with everywhere, you get
some people who are great and good at their job and some others aren’t.
This was proved because a couple years later my company moved to a specially converted barn.
That was Hertfordshire and access to work were so helpful, they couldn’t do enough. Its just luck of the draw I guess.
Cool. We will wind this module up. We will be talking later about career progression and self employment.
Is there one thing that you would pass onto anyone worried about starting their first day in a new job?
If you are starting then you’ve done the hard work. It is very daunting but you can work through things.
Once you are there and know what to deal with it is easy to work through it and get the stuff you need.
If you have a good boss, which you will have if they’ve given you a break, then they will understand.
You have done the difficult bit getting the job. Anything after that is…
A breeze (laughs)
Workable. Yea (laughs)
Well thanks for your time Katy and we’ll catch up with you later on.
Thank you