Trippin’ Down the Career Path

It has now come to that point in my life where I have to find a job. Virtually everyone will face this challenge at some point in their life too – unless they win the lottery or happen to have unbelievably wealthy parents who give you an allowance of £5000 a month.

This got me thinking – what were my life goals once upon a time when I never knew how difficult it was to find a decent job?

Well I found the answer in my primary school’s millennium album – I was no older than 5-6;

‘I want to be a policewoman to shoot bad people’

Looking back on this now, there are two major reasons why I never achieved my childhood dream career of becoming a police officer:

1) The attitude of ‘wanting to shoot bad people’ would not have got me past the interview stage

2) I wouldn’t be able to drive the police car, I’d probably pepper spray/shoot the wrong person and goodness knows how many bones I’d break running after bad guys on uneven ground!

So that option went out of the window.

I then had my heart set on being

• a famous singer – only problem is that I couldn’t and still can’t sing.

• an artist – even now my stick figure look like a slur of disjointed limbs (I blamed this on my eyesight, although I’m pretty sure it’s down to lack of talent)

• an actress – I loved acting but I wasn’t the triple threat (acting, singing AND dancing)

The opportunity arose for me to teacher drama at another secondary school for my year 11 work experience – it literally was my dream job!

But when it came to teaching my own class, there was this brat

…er I mean 12year-old boy…

who wouldn’t stop screaming out every swear word known to mankind.

I pulled him aside to politely ask him to stop, he looked at me frowned.

He asked whether I have Nystagmus – that his best friend has it, and his eyes wobble more when he’s stressed. From then on he was good.

Whilst trying to pursue my drama teaching career, I tried bartending at a night club during the summer after my first year of uni.

Let’s just say that pouring drinks, in the dark, under strobe lights, was not exactly the best idea given that I have no hand eye coordination.

At one point a guy I was serving moved my arm so that the Sambuca I was pouring actually went into the shot glass, rather than continuing to splash over the bar’s surface. He saved me from getting fired – I left on my own accord because I found it too stressful!

People told me to just wait tables to get through my second year of uni – I could if I would, but I can’t so I shan’t!

My nystagmus causes me to have lousy balance, I can’t even carry a cup of tea to my room without it spilling, let alone serval plates of food!

So I decided to give retail a shot annnnnnd I’ve been with the same company since 2013.

Okay, don’t get me wrong, working in retail is NOT what I want to do for the rest of my working career, but I am so happy I got a job in that industry.

• It boosted my self-confidence – turns out I can look a customer in the eye and sell them a pair of jeans without being self-conscious

• The shop I work in is relatively small, so it’s easy to locate things and navigate around (however the visual team LOVE changing the store around regularly which is a challenge

• My colleagues are aware of my visual impairment – they are incredibly supportive

• If there’s something I can’t do because of my eyes I joke about it – it’s not my fault!
I absolutely love my job (loved because I’m now leaving to concentrate on my career), so the only advice I can give to people with nystagmus looking to find a job is:

1. Try out different things until you find the job that’s suitable for you

2. Don’t be ashamed of your visual impairment

3. Spread awareness let your colleagues know if you’re struggling

4. Just go for it DON’T let your eyesight hold you back

REMEMBER it is ILLEGAL for employers to DISCRIMINATE against disabilities (visual impairment included).

(BTW if anyone knows of any PR/Marketing/Creative jobs going, let me know)
🙂 🙂 🙂

Sophie x