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deaf job opportunity

Is Becoming a Virtual Assistant a Viable Deaf Job Opportunity?

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deaf job opportunity

Photo: William Iven

A deaf job opportunity worth exploring

The old adage goes ‘do what you love and the money will follow’. A friend of mine loves organising, managing events, and scheduling appointments. Being asked to make lists and colour coordinate files make her giddy with excitement. She would love nothing more than being a personal assistant or office administrator, a humble yet fulfilling career.

My friend is almost completely deaf. She’s unable to get a job as a PA because managers don’t want to take the time to clearly communicate with her. They believe that taking notes, answering phones and making their jobs easier is her responsibility, not theirs.

Equal opportunity employment for hard of hearing and deaf people has always been a struggle. Even though many would say you should focus on your ability and not your disability, the truth is the job you get is dependent on whether hearing employers hire or reject you.

The easiest way to avoid this is by cutting out the middle man and becoming your own boss. Many deaf and hard of hearing individuals have ventured into the landscape of self-employment, most recently the profession of Virtual Assistant – opting to work online from home, instead of in an office.

remote captioning services

Get your dream job with our remote captioning services

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remote captioning services

Remote captioning services are so much more than captioning provided from a different location to the event, meeting or teleconference you’re taking part in. They’re a life-changer.

Here are 5 ways the remote captioning services from 121 Captions can revolutionise your life at work.

1. Our remote captioning services keep you up to speed

Are you frustrated at not being able to understand or keep up with conference calls or meetings? With our remote captioning you don’t need to strain to hear people dialling in from train stations, or struggle to lip read the on-trend guy with the beard and moustache. Instead you can sit back, follow the captions streaming onto your laptop, smartphone or tablet and contribute just like everyone else.

2. Our remote captioning services become a contemporaneous meeting note

Another bonus with using our remote captioning services is that as soon as your call or meeting is over you’ll receive a transcription of the captioning. So you can check your understanding and recollection of the meeting and, if you’re feeling generous, share the transcription with your colleagues as a meeting note.

3. Our remote captioning services give you access to the latest thinking in your field

How many times have you looked at a conference agenda and thought, “I’d love to attend, but I won’t have a clue what’s being said”. No more! Our expert captioners can dial in to conferences and events from around the world and stream the presentations either just to you, or on the venue screens for the benefit of all delegates. What’s more, thanks to the market-leading software 1Fuzion, you can read the captions on top of any presentation slides or videos, meaning you don’t have to watch two screens at once.

4. Our remote captioning services can get you a better job

Have you always wanted to study further in your area of expertise? Perhaps an additional qualification would mean a pay rise, or the chance to get a better job? Well, now you can.

Our remote captioning services enable you to keep up with seminars, tutorials and online webinars just like anyone who doesn’t have hearing loss. And it’s so discreet your fellow students won’t be able to see the extra support you’re getting.

5. Our remote captioning services let you focus on what you’re good at

Using our remote captioning services mean that you can focus at work. No more struggling to hear. No more worrying about getting the wrong end of the stick. No more anxiety about your manager thinking you can’t do your job. Instead you can concentrate on working to the best of your ability, with the same opportunities as your hearing peers.

Book a free demo of your remote captioning services today!

Would you like the chance to focus on your job rather than your hearing loss? Get in touch today to find out how our remote captioning services can revolutionise your life at work.

Has 121 Captions changed your life? Tell us how!

 

lisaLisa Caldwell works freelance as an accredited Phonak Roger Pen trainer with Credo Communications. You can catch up with her at credocommunications@gmail.com

The complete beginner’s guide to employing deaf people

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Employing deaf people means a few simple adjustments

employing deaf people

So, you’ve recruited a new employee who’s deaf. What next?

Here are six simple strategies to ensure effective communication in the office, meetings and on the phone.

  1. Ask about their communication preferences.

Pick a random sample of 10 deaf employees and you’ll find ten different preferences for communication. Some deaf employees will need communication support such as a sign language interpreter, but many won’t. Some people prefer email communications rather than face-to-face, especially if working in an open-plan office where there’s background noise. Others prefer to speak face-to-face as they use body language to help understand what they hear. Don’t assume, just ask.

 

  1. Find out what it’s like for your new employee at work.

Working well as a team depends on successful communication. So, it will make a big difference if your new recruit’s colleagues receive professional deaf awareness training. As well as being an eye-opener, it will also teach some basic ‘etiquette’ that will help everyone feel comfortable together.

 

  1. Plan your office.

Being deaf at work can be isolating, so it makes sense not to give a deaf employee a desk facing a wall, or with their back to the rest of the team. Being deaf also has safety implications, so ensure at the very least that your new recruit has a couple of buddies who will alert them to any fire or bomb alerts. A better solution when employing deaf people is to give them the independence of a flashing alarm or pager which activates if they need to clear the building.

 

  1. Manage your meetings

When you’re employing deaf people, meetings can be fraught with misunderstandings if they are not managed properly. Deaf people manage meetings in a variety of ways. Some can hear well enough with a combination of lip reading and assistive devices, such as a loop or Roger Pen. In this case establishing a meeting etiquette will make a big difference to their experience, such as ensuring participants raise their hands before they speak and don’t talk over each other. Other deaf employees need additional help, such as live captioning, sign language interpreters, or lip speakers. Find out your employee’s preference well before the first meeting.

 

  1. Don’t assume they can’t use the phone.

Some deaf employees are comfortable using the phone either with just their hearing aids or using assistive devices. Others need extra help to understand what is being said. Remote live captioning via a Skype call or teleconference call enables deaf employees to relate to any number of participants, and participate fully. All they need is a tablet, laptop or smartphone to receive real-time captions word for word, with a time gap of less than one second.

 

  1. Don’t panic about the cost of these adjustments.

Depending on the country you’re in, there may well be funding available towards the cost of the captioning, assistive equipment and communications support you’ll want to consider when employing deaf people.

 

To find out how remote live captioning can help your deaf employees communicate well by phone and in meetings, email us at bookings@121captions.com or call +44 (0)20 8012 8170.

Deafness at work

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Working well in the hearing world

My initiation into hearing loss was sudden and completely unexpected. In October 2005 I had to head home early from a girls’ night out after feeling exceptionally dizzy and rather sick. Blaming it on the wine and feeling a bit of a lightweight I crawled into bed, expecting to feel better – if somewhat hungover – in the morning.

When I woke up I sat up and promptly fell back down again. I realised, too, that I couldn’t hear much.  I kept trying to sit up, but my body had a strong inclination to remain flat. So, that’s how I stayed for the day, deciding this was either an extreme version of flu or one hell of a hangover.

No return

But it wasn’t either. Three GP visits and one demand to see an ENT consultant later, I was diagnosed with sudden sensorineural hearing loss in my right ear. In a nutshell the auditory nerve had stopped working. They couldn’t tell me why it had happened, but what they could tell me was that it was permanent.

im deaf

Cue swearing and shouting (usually at my poor, bewildered husband who was trying to cope with this too). And tears of loss, anger and frustration.

But mainly I sat in shock. It had all happened so quickly. I’d gone from having supersonic hearing (so I’d been told) to being, well, defective. I didn’t like it.

And then the worries started…

Would I wake up one morning and find I couldn’t hear at all?

How was I going to hear the phone, the doorbell, my alarm clock?

Would friends start treating me differently?

And how on earth would I cope at work?

I work in communications, and that means meetings, teleconferences, phone calls and networking. All things that had suddenly become significantly more challenging.

Deaf at work

Since losing my hearing I have been promoted, led a team of 12, been made redundant (twice), worked for myself, met many lovely people, worked with some complete idiots, and learnt a few important lessons.

The first one of these is that I could not have coped at work over the last 10 years and one month (not that I’m counting…) without the advice and support of people who were on the same journey. And I‘m hoping that my experiences of being deaf at work can help others who are on the same path.

So, over the coming months I’m going to be exploring the challenges – and opportunities – that arise from being deaf at work. And I’d love to hear your experiences, whether good or bad.

Let’s see if we can help each other not just to cope with deafness at work, but to flourish!

 

lisa

 

Lisa Caldwell works freelance as an accredited Phonak Roger Pen trainer with Credo Communications.

You can catch up with her at credocommunications@gmail.com