Transcript of the interview with Kevin Murfitt

Part 2. The Job Search Experience

In part 2 of his interview Kevin Murfitt gives advice about how best to approach potential employers and tackle work place challenges while also discussing his own personal experiences.

Kev: The main challenge for graduates who have a disability is really the attitudinal barrier. It's often not deliberate but people, the community and throughout history people who have a disability have been viewed as less able than others. And so there's a lot of myths out there in the community that people who have a disability wouldn't get on with their work mates as well, they would be a higher safety risk, they would have more costs in terms of work place modifications or lower productivity. And when I looked at this in my Phd studies I found that there's a lot of those papers out that reported those perceptions of employers but there is very little evidence to support it. In fact the evidence that's really coming out now is that the opposite is true. For example there was a report put out there by Compensation and Safety Commissions in Australia this year which showed that actually that people who have a disability are less of occupation health and safety risk. They stay in their jobs longer, they take less sick leave and they are very committed to their jobs. And so when you balance out those positive aspects (with the fact that sometimes there might be some minor work place modifications and some lower productivity in a few cases) even when you add that in, people who have a disability actually come out as a cost benefit in comparison to their peers.

How do you think a graduate with a disability should approach a potential employer in the application process?

Kev: In the application process it's a bit of a tricky one at the moment. There is a lot of organisations now that have very positive and proactive about employing people who have a disability, IMB, Westpac, Telstra, they are very positive and they have very clear policies on encouraging applicants who have a disability. But unless you know that for sure, if you disclose your disability on an application form then you wont know if you didn't get an interview because of your disability, because of a negative stereo type, or just because you weren't as good as other applicants. So my advice is that unless you are really sure the organisation is very positive about employing people that have a disability, I wouldn't close on an application form because you are not required to legally. And then at an interview point, it really for me the decision is if your disability is going to negatively affect your interview performance, or you require access for example physical access or support in an interview for example a sign interpreter, then of course you would need to disclose. And the secret to that is, I have to disclose as blind person using a guide dog, and what I do is I really talk about how I get around any challenges for my disability so in a very positive way you talk about the strategies you have learnt that actually minimise any affect of your disability in a work environment.

How willing do you think employers are to modify a work place an employee with a disability in a physical sense with a physical environment also if some students have disabilities which prevent them from working long hours?

Kev: Increasingly these days because we are such a diverse culture, employers are realising they need to have a family friendly and inclusive work environment and actually by law they are required to make reasonable accommodations for employees who have a disability. So that might mean for example flexible working hours, it might mean some minor work place modifications for physical access for example. In my case I required some speech software on my computer, (I can touch type but I needed speech synthesis so I can listen to everything that comes on the screen because I can't see it). Now that costs a few hundred dollars, but that's very minor expense in terms of the productivity that gives me and gives that organisation. So there really is a lot of strategies that can be developed to actually make the work place inclusive and more and more organisations are really realising that it's very important. At the point where the disability is obvious or is being disclosed that's when you really need to be very positive and really advocate for yourself about the strategies you have developed and the simple accommodations that could be made in the work place (for example flexible working hours) that would make you achieve your full productivity. A graduate really needs to be fairly proactive about making sure that the potential employer isn't worried about things unnecessarily.

You mentioned you should really know how to advocate yourself, that does require certain level of confidence doesn't it?

Kev: It really does, and that's another benefit of the WAM program and other programs like Willing and Able Mentoring program in that it gives the students a great deal of confidence. One of the things that I found in my Phd studies was that it wasn't just the negative attitudes from employers, it's also because of the disadvantage students who have a disability or young people who have a disability, have as they are going through school and in to tertiary studies. They often take on board those negative stereotypes (it's called learned helplessness in psychological terms) but what it really means is that they don't actually present as positively as they could say on their application form, or in their interviews, and so they don't actually achieve their full potential and the employers don't really see what they really can do because they are not presenting as confident or you know with a good professional profile as they can. These sorts of programs (i.e. WAM) really give them that confidence, but also gives them a good idea, e.g. ok a lawyer usually dresses in a suit an IT person not necessarily, and they all have a different way of communicating. So you get a really good idea of how that profession really works, which helps you when you are applying and interviewing for jobs.

So can you give any further advice to graduates with disabilities in applying for positions apart from what you have talked about?

Kev: In applying for positions I think graduates who have a disability should really access their careers services. There is a real wealth of support out there in terms of getting access to the networks that might really help them get a job and getting exposure to the work place. Going out there and getting on the websites of the different organisations, seeking information about recruitment and just showing an interest because that sends a very clear message to employers that person is really enthusiastic about having a career in this field. So I think access all your support services and really show your interest and really try and broaden the networks, because most jobs that you get in your life are really through the contacts that you make as you go through your schooling and also then in accessing the workplace.

Do you have an advice for graduates with disabilities when actually entering and settling in to a workplace?

Kev: For graduates when they are actually settling into a work place really be clear about what sorts of accommodations or modifications would really help you. The worst thing a graduate can do, and unfortunately this happens sometimes, where a person won't disclose their disability because of fear of being sacked and unfortunately sometimes there is good reason for that and so then they don't perform to their full potential or worse, they actually try to work full time and inflexible hours and actually become ill. So really it's important if you can positively talk about your needs as an employee to actually firstly, perform at your top level, but also to be safe and healthy in the work place. And that's no different from any other employee, for example a mother with small children, a person with an illness, or sudden illness. The workplace is a flexible environment as long as you are positive about it and make sure your messages are clear. Finally I will just say that the disability discrimination act has really helped develop legal protection for people who have disability getting employment and also a lot of organisations as I have said are developing very positive policies and procedures to attract people who have a disability in the workplace. Unfortunately the statistics at the moment aren't reflecting that at the moment, so people who have a disability over the last ten years, their employment has decreased whereas for others in the community employment opportunities have really increased. So it's really important that we all are very positive about the potential of people who have a disability, and really access all the opportunities you have, for example a mentoring program or your careers service, because by you gaining employment and exposing yourself to the work place, you are going to be the that person that actually changes those negative stereotypes.