That's a very good question.
I have a pretty cynical attitude to life, so while I don't know how to
reason on what's ethical vs non-ethical, I would rather think in a
utilitarian fashion: which way would increase your chances of getting
job offer.
The reason to be cynical is that any company can fire you without
thinking too much what is ethical or what is not. When I first started
losing eyesight, my company (don't want to name the name) didn't have
any ethical dilemma, they just fired me. Maybe some people in the
company felt bad about that, but the company as a whole doesn't really
care, they are just making money and they don't care about what's
ethical, moral or stuff like that, I would imagine the paperwork trail
would say that this guy's performance went too bad as assessed by so and
so, and on that day according to internal rules his employment was
terminated. So when you're dealing with companies, I would say it
typically doesn't pay off to think what is ethical, because the other
side, being the company, often times won't reciprocate.
So from utilitarian point of view here is my opinion based on my experience.
If you think you can pass the interviews, it is safer not to disclose
that you're blind. You can always tell them later once you get job
offer. In my experience, there is certain percentage of people who make
decisions, who would rather play safe and not hire the blind guy. In my
personal experience the number is about 30%, at least for my current
company. I mean 30% of people would turn you down just because you're
blind without thinking about it, and definitely without thinking whether
this is ethical or not. I suspect that in many smaller companies this
percentage might be much higher. So by not telling this upfront you
might be increasing your chances of getting hired by at least 30%. Sure
they might be able to figure out that you're blind even if you don't
tell them, but sometimes they don't or at least they are not sure.
On the other hand, if you might need some accommodations for the
interview, it might be better to disclose this. Many big companies
(think of Google) are aware of blind engineers and at least from the
company training they are warned not to discriminate against them; and
during the interview they will give you more time to set up
screenreader, etc.
So decision is yours. If you agree about utilitarian approach, then your
decision should be based on your chances of passing the final round of
interviews.
HTH
--Tony
On 1/5/2022 3:30 PM, pablocmd2014@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
Happy new year 2022 for every one.
I think that this topic has been discussed on the list several times. However, every situation is different and now is my turn to ask.
Right now I am on the second interview for a position as Project Manager in a large bank here in US.
During the application process, I specified that I was someone with disabilities and all of that that appears on the applications. So, I said the true when I was asked.
However, on the first interview, no body asked me about disabilities or anything like that. Now I am going to the second and possible last interview and I am not sure when is the correct time to let they know that I am totally blind.
Of course, one of my concerns is if I say that I am blind, they might change their mind. It could happen or it might not happen.
Should I wait until they make an official offer?
When should I say that I am blind.
It is a difficult dilemma for me.
Any advice would be appreciate,
Best,
Pablo
