Best of Blind: May 2023

Welcome to the Best of Blind, a carefully curated collection of posts that embody the “best” of the community and its positive spirit. Whether it’s a heartening success story, an encouraging comment, or a discussion thread filled with valuable insights and career advice, we want to showcase the incredible ways the Blind community supports and uplifts one another.

Check out the Best of Blind, featuring posts from May 2023.

Done working @ 28, thanks Apple

Our first post is a feel-good story from someone lucky enough to have their parent make a good investment on their behalf nearly 30 years ago. It’s done so well that it enabled them to retire in their 20s. While we won’t all have such luck, it’s great to see what’s possible.

“I got my undergrad [and] my masters at [an] Ivy [League university] while working. [I] grinded for a while [and] performed really well. [I was] promoted every couple of years. Now I’m at Walmart, and in my three years, I [was] never promote[d], despite objectively outperforming my peers…

“I’m just so sick of this flywheel of great output and only getting pointless shoutouts… I’m quitting in a month once my current project deploys.

“How? In 1997 my dad was a huge Apple fanboy. He bought $45,000 worth of shares for me… Its value is around $7.3 [million] now.”

STOP SUBMITTING .docx resumes

Another Blind community member advised avoiding automated rejections when submitting resumes or job applications.

“HR hates this one trick… .docx resumes cannot be parsed by some applicant tracking system[s], so your resume gets auto[matically] rejected for not meeting [the required job] qualifications.

“Only submit .pdf or .doc resumes, so HR [can] actually review it…”

TL;DR: Submit your resume as a .pdf file so that the job application and HR systems that employers use can read it.

Layoff Side Effects

Some consequences of the tech industry’s recent layoffs have reared their ugly head recently.

Let’s be honest. We can all enjoy a bit of schadenfreude every once in a while.

Layoffs nuked my mental health

Our final “Best of Blind” post came from a professional who recently lost their job in one of the tech industry’s many layoffs. They were open and honest about how their mental health was affected. It was inspiring to see the Blind community step up to offer support and helpful career advice to weather the stormy job market.

“I got laid off from Meta on 4/19 with a sick package, and honestly, I thought I’d feel great. It’s been f—ing miserable.

“I loved my job. I worked on some really cool stuff. All [of] the projects I was in the middle of will now be forever in a state of limbo. I wish I could have defended myself a little bit. I’ve got nothing but love for all [of] the coasters, but man, I actually enjoyed this s—t.”

A verified Nuro professional responded: “I feel for you, fellow human, and I’m sending positive thoughts your way. I hope things get better for you soon.”

A verified PAX Labs professional wrote: “When unemployed, I’ve found it helpful to only job search two to three days a week (if you aren’t in an interview loop), and the other days, make sure you’re having fun. You’ll go crazy job-searching five days a week.”