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Karen Smit (Supplied)
As a woman with a disability, Karen Smit of Professional Disability Services, Cape Town has always found it challenging to focus on financial wellness while also having to work her way through countless barriers. She tells her story and provides handy sites for bursaries:
Barriers meant I was denied opportunities, I was blocked, I was not seen as a competent employee and mostly other people decided what I was capable of doing or not doing.
When one completes matric, you look forward to either start studying or start to work. I also had the aspiration to study further, wanting to become either a journalist or a primary school teacher.
Back in the early 80’s I attended an ordinary high school in a small town and despite my good grades, I was told by my one teacher that because I have a disability, I will not be able to attend college or university. It would be too challenging, the buildings are not accessible and I would perhaps not cope.
I guess that overall the teacher felt that a bursary would be of more benefit to a so called “normal” person and did not want to take the risk of giving me that opportunity.
I needed the bursary to go and study, because I came from a single parent family and my mom could not afford to pay for my studies. She already had many expenses, having to often travel with me to Cape Town to see my specialists to get treatment for my condition.
So when I did not get the bursary, I decided to find a job in the town where we lived. I handed my CV to many local businesses, but none found the courage to not just see my disability, but to also see a person with potential.
Persisting
I persisted looking for a job and on my very own, and eventually after job interview number 13, I got a job.
The interviewer was not a local person and I started my very first job in the retail sector as an administrative clerk and cashier. I excelled in my job, but after doing this for six years, I had the urge to break free and to experience life on a bigger scale.
I then moved to Cape Town and only after three weeks, I landed a good position in the hospital industry, reporting directly to the managing director.
This bold step for me was the first step of starting to build a real career. At the age of 29 I got my very first opportunity to go and study full time after obtaining a bursary.
Studies
So ten years after I had written matric, my one dream realized when I got the opportunity to go and study full time at the University of Stellenbosch.
I studied social work, because I had a desire to assist people to uplift their lives. But a great shock awaited me, because although I now had a degree, it took me months to get a job in the field that I studied.
Once again I did not sit back and joined a community organisation as a volunteer. I managed my own project and was responsible to get my own funds for running it.
Although it was tough, I walked from business to business, telling them personally about my disabled recruitment project and in this way I obtained funds.
Starting a business
So I started the first recruitment agency for people with disabilities in the country.
This was prior to the implementation of the Employment Equity Act that promotes employment for disabled people.
But guess what – as soon as my clients had to pay for my placement services (which was agreed upon up front), they did not deem it necessary to pay me, because they felt that they did my disabled candidate “a favour” by employing them or they did me the favour.
When I insisted that they had to pay, they were not interested to take the candidate, even after being very happy with having selected the best candidate for the position.
So as a female with a disability and also being somewhat inexperienced in business, financial and negotiating skills, my small business made very little or no money.
I continued to place disabled candidates in positions, even though clients did not pay for my services, as I felt that I could not deprive a person with a disability of an opportunity to get a job.
I worked like this for one year, but then the financial burden just became too big and I realised that any organisation or small business must be financially viable in order to be successful.
Starting a business is initially mostly tough and one will sometimes fail, but then you learn from those mistakes and learn to do something differently.
It will be beneficial to use a mentor that can guide one on starting your own business.
Corporate world
After a year I got a job as a social worker, but I was retrenched when the organisation I worked for experienced budget cuts.
I found myself having to once again look for a job where I could build a career.
Eventually I was successful at getting a job at a telecommunication company where I started to work as a Call Centre agent.
So I went from being a social worker to a call centre agent, but the good thing was that my social work skills and knowledge of people benefitted me greatly and I excelled in my job.
All about attitude
I have found that my positive attitude and determination to make a success has taught me to be resilient and to go out and not just complain about how bad things are, but to take action to make things happen for me.
I started to love the technical and fast paced environment and I started to build my career and quickly excelled in my job.
I have held various management and received a few awards for successfully implementing disability initiatives and for delivering outstanding human resource practices within the organisation.
I have mentored other employees on leadership skills and always take every opportunity to grow and learn and to develop my skills.
It took me a long time, but eventually I found a job that I am passionate about and where my colleagues and I often forget that I do have a disability.
I have realised that when my attitude is open and inviting, it enables people to feel quickly at ease around me.
So I can now confidently say that because I consistently deliver, I am a performing employee with a disability, contributing to my employers bottom line – I am not a disabled employee.
Companies and institutions that provide bursaries:
Youth Village, Matric411, SA Study and Career Help.
And more:
- Fin24
* This is a Fin24 user submission. Add your voice to our Women's Wealth Issue and help empower others this Women's Month.
Write a guest post
Share your coping tips
Ask the experts
Barriers meant I was denied opportunities, I was blocked, I was not seen as a competent employee and mostly other people decided what I was capable of doing or not doing.
When one completes matric, you look forward to either start studying or start to work. I also had the aspiration to study further, wanting to become either a journalist or a primary school teacher.
Back in the early 80’s I attended an ordinary high school in a small town and despite my good grades, I was told by my one teacher that because I have a disability, I will not be able to attend college or university. It would be too challenging, the buildings are not accessible and I would perhaps not cope.
I guess that overall the teacher felt that a bursary would be of more benefit to a so called “normal” person and did not want to take the risk of giving me that opportunity.
I needed the bursary to go and study, because I came from a single parent family and my mom could not afford to pay for my studies. She already had many expenses, having to often travel with me to Cape Town to see my specialists to get treatment for my condition.
So when I did not get the bursary, I decided to find a job in the town where we lived. I handed my CV to many local businesses, but none found the courage to not just see my disability, but to also see a person with potential.
Persisting
I persisted looking for a job and on my very own, and eventually after job interview number 13, I got a job.
The interviewer was not a local person and I started my very first job in the retail sector as an administrative clerk and cashier. I excelled in my job, but after doing this for six years, I had the urge to break free and to experience life on a bigger scale.
I then moved to Cape Town and only after three weeks, I landed a good position in the hospital industry, reporting directly to the managing director.
This bold step for me was the first step of starting to build a real career. At the age of 29 I got my very first opportunity to go and study full time after obtaining a bursary.
Studies
So ten years after I had written matric, my one dream realized when I got the opportunity to go and study full time at the University of Stellenbosch.
I studied social work, because I had a desire to assist people to uplift their lives. But a great shock awaited me, because although I now had a degree, it took me months to get a job in the field that I studied.
Once again I did not sit back and joined a community organisation as a volunteer. I managed my own project and was responsible to get my own funds for running it.
Although it was tough, I walked from business to business, telling them personally about my disabled recruitment project and in this way I obtained funds.
Starting a business
So I started the first recruitment agency for people with disabilities in the country.
This was prior to the implementation of the Employment Equity Act that promotes employment for disabled people.
But guess what – as soon as my clients had to pay for my placement services (which was agreed upon up front), they did not deem it necessary to pay me, because they felt that they did my disabled candidate “a favour” by employing them or they did me the favour.
When I insisted that they had to pay, they were not interested to take the candidate, even after being very happy with having selected the best candidate for the position.
So as a female with a disability and also being somewhat inexperienced in business, financial and negotiating skills, my small business made very little or no money.
I continued to place disabled candidates in positions, even though clients did not pay for my services, as I felt that I could not deprive a person with a disability of an opportunity to get a job.
I worked like this for one year, but then the financial burden just became too big and I realised that any organisation or small business must be financially viable in order to be successful.
Starting a business is initially mostly tough and one will sometimes fail, but then you learn from those mistakes and learn to do something differently.
It will be beneficial to use a mentor that can guide one on starting your own business.
Corporate world
After a year I got a job as a social worker, but I was retrenched when the organisation I worked for experienced budget cuts.
I found myself having to once again look for a job where I could build a career.
Eventually I was successful at getting a job at a telecommunication company where I started to work as a Call Centre agent.
So I went from being a social worker to a call centre agent, but the good thing was that my social work skills and knowledge of people benefitted me greatly and I excelled in my job.
All about attitude
I have found that my positive attitude and determination to make a success has taught me to be resilient and to go out and not just complain about how bad things are, but to take action to make things happen for me.
I started to love the technical and fast paced environment and I started to build my career and quickly excelled in my job.
I have held various management and received a few awards for successfully implementing disability initiatives and for delivering outstanding human resource practices within the organisation.
I have mentored other employees on leadership skills and always take every opportunity to grow and learn and to develop my skills.
It took me a long time, but eventually I found a job that I am passionate about and where my colleagues and I often forget that I do have a disability.
I have realised that when my attitude is open and inviting, it enables people to feel quickly at ease around me.
So I can now confidently say that because I consistently deliver, I am a performing employee with a disability, contributing to my employers bottom line – I am not a disabled employee.
Companies and institutions that provide bursaries:
Youth Village, Matric411, SA Study and Career Help.
And more:
- Fin24
* This is a Fin24 user submission. Add your voice to our Women's Wealth Issue and help empower others this Women's Month.
Write a guest post
Share your coping tips
Ask the experts
