Advocating For Yourself: From Education To Professional Success

Harmanpreet

Harmanpreet Kaur is our guest blogger on nAblement.com. She is an IT consultant with nAblement.

Back in 1999, when I first became hearing impaired, I could never have imagined that my life would be as productive and fulfilling as it is now.

Despite all the challenges, I came to the United States to pursue a master’s degree in computer science at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. My language and background created significant challenges for me to follow lectures, as well as for living in the U.S. My hearing loss created great difficulty for me in situations such as classrooms, restaurants, movie theaters, meetings, telephone conversations and listening to music. I just felt as though I didn’t fit in. I had to work really hard to understand what was being said in the classroom. I had to invest all my energy into lip reading as well as understanding what new subject was being discussed. I overcame this difficulty by becoming familiar with the topics that were going to be discussed. I would sit up front to make sure that I understood everything. I took careful notes every day and I never hesitated to discuss my classroom challenges with my professors after lecture.

It takes a great deal of courage to face our disability. As a hard of hearing person, I had to face a particularly rough road. My first job attempt was at an on-campus job. It took six months to find that job to support myself. The thought of not getting the job due to a disability was frightening and uncomfortable. Upon my graduation in 2007, I bagged a job as a software engineer intern at an insurance company. It took me nearly a year of searching!

In the past, I left a few jobs due to being told that If I could not understand, then how could I be expected to work productively. I was not being provided with reasonable accommodations and only offered a poor salary that did not reflect my qualifications or background. It was heart-breaking and very frustrating, since I felt the employer had discriminated against me.

Starting at an entry level job while managing a disability made me realize how much harder I needed to work to thrive and survive. I was both driven and compelled to find a job. This situation helped me to overcome most of my discomfort and helped turn all of my positions of employment into joyful, productive, and rewarding experiences.  It was important for me to listen effectively, present myself strongly to employers and develop my own work strategies based on my hearing loss. Ultimately, my drive to succeed led me to undergo a binaural cochlear implant procedure. I was 27 years old. Today, I work as a software consultant and I have worked in multiple industries successfully.