Hi David,

I’m sorry to hear treatment and recovery have been challenging. It sounds like you’ve been through a great ordeal and just the fact that you’re ready to hit the ground running with your job search is a major accomplishment. I will pass along your question to a career coach but in the meantime, I wanted to address some of your concerns and offer some resources.

It sounds frustrating that you feel you haven’t been given the chance to prove yourself because of the loss of your larynx. There’s no denying things will look different and you may need to take some alternative approaches in this case. Particularly because it does impact some aspects of what you can and cannot do. However, it might be worth addressing it head on, perhaps in a cover letter? You can speak to the changes but also point to what you’re still able to accomplish. It’s a little hard to say the exact approach since I don’t know what kind of work you’re doing. That said, it’s clear you have experience, skills and potential that are benefits since they are showing interest in your resume, which is the first step. I’d recommend taking a look at our article on Managing Disclosure When Looking For a Job to get some ideas as to how you might disclose and what that might look like.

There is a great organization that Cancer and Careers presented to recently called the Laryngectomee Club of Montgomery County, MD (https://www.theial.com/newpage). There are many members who are in various stages of recovery from laryngectomees and have been navigating their lives without a larynx. It might be helpful to connect with them to understand some ways to approach your situation and what has worked for them.

How have you approached the job search? Mostly online searching? Take a look at the Looking for Work section of our website to see if there is anything you could be doing differently, or perhaps try something new since you’re running into some roadblocks. If networking has not been a part of your process yet it may be a good time to incorporate that. This way you can learn a bit more about the company, their environment, the culture, which could color the way you approach the employer with this type of information. LinkedIn is an excellent tool for networking. If you happen to know someone who can speak highly of you prior to an interview, this could also alleviate some of the concerns a hiring employer may have due to your condition because someone will be able to vouch for you. These are just some ideas as networking has proven to be the best way to get a job. Take a look at our website section on Networking.

We’re always happy to answer any questions or address any remaining concerns if you feel the above resources are not hitting the mark. You can reach out to cancerandcareers@cew.org.

Best of luck to you! It’s really about getting to the interview phase so you’re able to really win a prospective employer over with your skills, experience, and the potential you hold for furthering their success as a company.

Warm regards,
Nicole Jarvis, LMSW

Hi David,

First, I am so terribly sorry about what you have and currently are experiencing. I wish I knew what your profession is so that I can be more specific in my feedback. Perhaps you will consider writing back to us to share more information about your experience. The other thing I don't know is whether you have had a TEP inserted with a voice prosthesis, you have been learning esophageal speech, or if you are using an electrolarynx or any other speech generating device. 

This said, Nicole makes some great points that it would be much more productive to rely on your network, especially former bosses and colleagues to uncover leads and provide testimonials for you. I have a lot of experience working with blind and visually impaired people who are looking for work and a big part of their job search process is helping people feel comfortable and educating them about their capabilitiees in spite of being blind. It's not fair, however the more people learn about your specific situation and strengths, the more likely they will be open. And this is almost impossible to achieve by just applying to on-line positions.

It is also significant to note that so much of working is done through email, Slack, texting, and chat boxes. When you are applying for jobs and you disclose your situation, it is a good idea to outline the aspects of your work that you can do through these formats. 

Also, there are companies who prioritize hiring people with disabilities. You may have done this already, however I would do research to find these companies and reach out to their HR departments and people in the functional area you'd like to work, whether or not there is an actual job posting.

Finally, if you do selctively apply on-line for a job, I always recommend finding one or two people who work at the company or did in the past to ask if they can help facilitate an introduction as well.

Please do write back with more information about yourself and any questions you may have.

Take care,

Julie

Thank you for getting back to me. Prior to getting sick i Was in the transportation Safety management. I ran a Safety department for a trucking company. we had approx 90 over the road professional truck drivers. Mix of company drivers and Owner Operator drivers. My main responsibility was keeping the company Current and accurate based on guidelines set forth by the FMCSA (federal motor carrier safety administration) I kept employee paperwork Driver Qualifications files up to date and in compliance. I also audited drivers E logs making sure our drivers were meeting all DOT (department of Transportation) rules and regulations regards to Hours of service.. I performed random audits of our company to keep up with compliance. Maintained all fleet tractor and trailers making sure those company vehicles were up to date with FMCSA. along with many other aspects of the Safety department. investigations accidents, resolving conflict Hiring and discipline of employees.

Sadly last month November i had been working for a company for about a month, they were well aware of my disability because i did interview face to face. using text so they could read my responses to their inquiries.
I received a text on a Saturday morning, he was letting me go because (business is slow). week later i found out and was clairied he hired another person. I have found out they are extremely busy. he didnt say it but it was obvious i was terminated for my disability. no other reason

Hi David,

Thanks for getting back to us. I am so disappointed for you that you experienced the termination and learned that your former employer was dishonest. On a positive note, you obviously did well in the interviewing process despite your disability because you were hired which speaks volumes. And, you are extremely marketable with very transferable skills and can totally handle all of your job responsibilities virtually. 

So, Nicole's and my advice is spot-on in that you need to rally people who know and respect you to champion you through their network. And you can work on building your network in your industry as well.

David, please don't feel that your situation is hopeless because it isn't. You need support in your job search and there are so many resources out there. It is hard to ask for help and it may take longer than you  would like however with your skills and experience, I have faith that you will get hired again.

Once again please don't hesitate to write again if you have questions.

Take care,

Julie

i am still being ghosted, to the point i have practically given up on job search..... there was a mention of companies who make it a point to hire disability persons.... how do i find these said companies...

Hi David,

When you say that you are being ghosted, does this mean that you are applying for jobs and telling companies that you have a disabilaty and then they stop communicating with you? If so this is aggregious unfortunately. However if you are applying for jobs and not getting a first screening interviw, this is something that is common for everyone if their resume and application don't have the right keywords.

If you Google "companies that prioritize hiring people with disabilities" many links pop up. There are many big companies listed and they aren't necessarily in the transortation industry. So, given that you have many transferable skills, it may be time to identify jobs that you can do that are different then what you have done in the past. 

Have you considered hiring a career coach or going back to your alma mater's career services and getting some guidance from them? 

Please don't give up unless you just think that you need a break from job search. 

Take care,

Julie