Ten Ways to Lose a Job: What Not to Do as an Employee Who Is Blind or Visually Impaired

In an effort to provide tips for maintaining employment, I decided it would be far more engaging to read a "what not to do" list. Enjoy the list and please don't try these at home… or at work!

Without further ado: In order to lose a job….

• Prove to be dishonest. Lying, cheating, stealing—take your pick. This includes lying on a job application or resume.
• Make a habit of showing up late for work and/ or meetings. Choose the snooze button instead of ensuring you make the bus and definitely don't have a plan B for getting to your location of employment.
• Miss deadlines and skip important meetings. Go on, delete your virtual calendar.
• Demonstrate poor communication skills. You can do this any number of ways. Ideas: Forgo eye contact or directing your face to the speaker, use closed body language, fail to speak articulately, be passive or aggressive, gossip, and dominate every conversation.
• Abstain from problem solving. Don't show your employer you're innovative and efficient in solving problems. Any time a problem or issue arises, ask your employer to fix it for you. Seriously, every problem. It will irritate and overwork him or her.
• Refrain from continued job education and development. Do not increase your value to the company by learning skills used to meet its needs and fill its gaps.
• Refuse to learn technology which would make you more efficient and accurate on the job. Don't become proficient in typing, using the internet, or using a word document. If you are blind or visually impaired, be unwilling to learn assistive technology.
• Mentally check out while at work. Constantly text, chat, surf the Web, and lounge around on the job. My husband is in the United States Air Force. The Air Force has an acronym for mentally checking out at work, called being on "ROAD" status. R.O.A.D stands for "Retired on Active Duty." Active duty means full-time military service. In other words, if you want to lose your job, act retired at work.
• Don't assume personal responsibility. Never admit a mistake and always blame errors on others. Allow others to assume responsibility for getting you to work, for creating your work-related goals, and for providing your motivation to work.
• Appear unhygienic. Don't bother with frequent bathing, using deodorant or an alternative when it's needed, or wearing clean and neat clothing. You will appear unmotivated, insecure, and unprofessional.

Now please, reverse these tips and maintain employment!

Teachers and Specialists working with youth who are blind and visually impaired, please use the Leadership Training lesson series, Assertiveness Training lesson series, Social Skills lesson series, and the Problem Solving lesson series as tools for instructing students in maintaining employment.