A few simple, proactive steps will help reduce the chance of this terrible event from occurring on your watch. I recently attended a large public event hacked by someone making racist, sexist, homophobic remarks. It was the kind of event…
Transitioning from being a manager to an individual contributor
There are plenty of articles on how to move from an individual contributor role to being a manager. Not so many the other way around. Nine months ago, I was presented with a choice. My job responsibilities had grown beyond…
Received an accommodations request? Think twice before turning it down.
This is Part 2 of a two-part article. Read Part 1, The Manager’s Practical Guide to Handling an Employee Newly Diagnosed With a Disability here. What are accommodations? An “accommodations request” is as simple as an individual communicating the following type…
All the reasons you might not have gotten that job
Many of which have nothing to do with you. I have spent some time over the last few months mentoring people finding themselves out of work courtesy of COVID. Some of them have applied to jobs at VMware; others are…
Building an “accessibility brand”
Meaningful accessibility discussions happen when you are not in the room. Having a personal accessibility brand can help deliver your message in your absence. Branding isn’t just for companies anymore. Post-pandemic, in our almost-completely digital world, a personal brand is…
Online Mentoring
Why giving back should be the obligation of everyone who has had the privilege to be successful. The better part of three decades ago, I was a UNIX geek in Calgary, Alberta, with a couple of part-time jobs — CS…
Job Hunting while Disabled
PwDs are 18 % of the population and 9.5 % of the workforce. Here’s how not to illegally jerk them around during the recruiting process. Note: every “bad” HR behavior listed in this article, I have had personally happen to…
An award-winning business product that is the opposite of inclusion
If you work for an American company that prides itself on inclusion, stay away from Q.workntine or anything like it unless you like getting sued. On paper, “Q.workntine” is the kind of innovative product people fawn over, and investors throw…
The majority of people with disabilities can’t file an unemployment claim without help.
There’s no excuse, but plenty of blame to go around. Deferred maintenance on state unemployment systems is the common denominator. Unemployment applications are skyrocketing due to COVID. All of these state unemployment systems were built with public money, which means…
Post-COVID employment changes that will benefit everyone, but especially people with disabilities
Who wants to “go back to normal” when “normal” wasn’t so hot anyway? I’ve been accused of being a glass half-empty kind of person, but I have a good reason for how my personality was shaped. I spent 25 years…