100 job offers in a week
‘Astounding’ support for top student after Herald on Sunday highlights discrimination
Few people can say they have received 100 job offers in less than a week, especially when they’re just getting started in their career.
But keen gamer and artist Evie Randall, from Lower Hutt, has been overwhelmed with opportunities and support since her story in the Herald on Sunday last week about her search for work as a young woman with a disability.
Some of the messages have been of encouragement and well-wishes, others active job offers, from all corners of the world — everyone from the CEO of known tech corporations to small family businesses.
Maori and disability organisations have also been in touch, asking Randall, 19, if she would be an advocate to help inspire others.
Randall had an interview on Thursday with an employer so eager they had contacted disability support organisation Choices NZ multiple times to get in touch with her.
“It felt pretty exciting but also quite nerve-racking at the same time, because I haven’t really gone through that experience before,” Randall said.
“It was pretty cool to see someone was interested in wanting to talk to me more about what they do.”
Randall, who is a straight-A IT student who dreams of building her own computer, and is described by her teachers as a “quick learner, a team player and hugely motivated”, had been struggling to find part-time work for several years.
Being upfront about her diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and ADHD had often caused employers to “put her to one side”, her mum Hanna said.
“As a person with a disability, sometimes you can feel invisible,” Hanna said. “And what happened with Evie is that she suddenly became really visible. The story put a face to the disability.
“When someone’s looking through your CV, and they don’t know who you are, they can’t see a picture of you, they just see the disability.
“Evie’s amazing and she’s worked really hard to get where she’s at, but there’s so many other people in the same boat as her.”
Hanna thanked everyone who had contacted them, and those who had supported her daughter throughout her studies — helping to make her the hard-working, employable person she had become.
Choices NZ facilitator Rosie McRobie, who has been assisting Randall’s job search since last year, said the response had been “astounding”, unlike anything they had seen before.
“It’s super exciting for Evie and her job hunt and also just restores faith in the supportive employment sector.
“So many employers are open to discussion around employing people with disabilities, and perhaps just hadn’t known how, or perhaps hadn’t even been aware of their own perceptions and biases until now.”
Not all the employers that contacted Randall would be able to hire her. But they could hire someone else with a disability, McRobie said.
“Evie’s story is inspiring, but one of so many. Choices NZ supports over 200 people country-wide, in eight regions, into employment. [They] all have similar qualities that Evie has that employers are looking for: work ethic, tenacity, willingness to learn and grow and give so much to their work.”
And some people with disabilities face barriers to employment far more significant than Randall’s.
“We support people of a range of ages, and often those who are older or haven’t been in employment before, or who are in and out of employment because they haven’t been given a chance. And employers are less likely to take a chance on someone who’s older.”
Although people with disabilities faced varying challenges in their search for work, McRobie said they all had highly employable attributes.
“People with disabilities have a higher retention rate at work than people without — they’re more likely to stay in the job and have less absenteeism. They’re keen, they’re focused, they’re reliable, they’re on time, they’re motivated.”
What happened with Evie is that she suddenly became really visible. Hanna Randall