Image description: The words “The second time podcast” in black text on a purple background. There is also a sketch of a computer and mouse.

You can listen to this podcast in a number of places:

Spotify
Apple Podcasts
RSS feed (to open in your preferred listening app)
YouTube

This website is the only place which has the script for the episode.

I know some platforms and apps have automatic transcriptions but I cannot endorse AI and will not take responsibility for their accuracy.

Episode Script:

Welcome to The Second Time. I’m Vanessa Smith. This is a podcast about the second time job hunting as an openly disabled person.

In 2023 I had to job hunt for the first time as an openly disabled person, someone who couldn’t hide my disabilities and only disclose them later or if needed. I’m in the final stages of editing and cleaning up a book about that time, which will be published soon.

And yes, I’m writing a book about job hunting, about to publish a book about job hunting… while job hunting again. I was made redundant this year and as I draft the notes for this episode, it’s my ninth week of looking for work. The second time job hunting as an openly disabled person. I had been taking notes again on what job hunting was like this time around – spoiler alert, very different. But I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with the information.

Over a weekend, while I was pretending that simultaneously watching Stargate SG1 and playing power wash simulator was relaxing, the idea for a podcast wandered into my head and got stuck. It seemed like a good idea, so here we are, recording an introduction episode of The Second Time.

I have multiple disabling health conditions and can only work entirely remotely. Which should be fine, on paper. I do desk job stuff. I just need to do it at my desk instead of someone else’s desk. It costs nothing to accommodate me. In the lockdown era of covid, I was in the privileged “hey, take your laptop home overnight just in case we get put in lockdown, that way we can keep working” group of people. Mysteriously, now that non disabled people don’t need to work from home, disabled people get rejected for their needs. A tale as old as time within the disability community, our needs are only valid when non disabled people view them as necessary.

As to what this podcast will look like going forwards – my rough idea is a weekly update on what I’ve done, the tasks of job hunting. There may be smaller episodes between the weekly episode with the feelings of what I’m going through. However, my health and jobs come first, so they will take priority over the podcast at all times. This structure is my goal, not an ironclad promise.

There will be boundaries on these episodes – I don’t disclose all my conditions and I won’t be doing that here. Also, don’t assume that because I am a disabled person who can work, that all disabled people can work. Don’t ever use this podscast or any other work of mine to bother someone else. I will basically be sharing the aspects of myself and job hunting that I feel comfortable sharing. My boundaries are mine. It’s the internet, so I’m sure someone will do things like demand invasive personal information, or tell me I’m job hunting incorrectly, or other things I haven’t even thought about yet. But here’s the thing – you demanding doesn’t mean I have to share. You’ll probably get ignored or blocked, because I have a right to share only what I want to share. Respect does not require understanding.

That’s a strong philosophy of mine. Speaking of which, the next episode will be a bit of a run down of how and why I job hunt the way I do, and a few broader summaries of my philosophies on disability.

Last up for today is why I decided to actually start this podcast. I’ll put a link in the show notes, but it was a clip of NDIS Bill Hearing that was shared by Dr George Taleporos. It was Senator Jordon Steele-John interrogating various departmental staff on a disabled persons need to have a support worker to get them to a job interview. I watched the clip and I felt obligated to start this podcast. Not obligated in a negative way, it just felt right to start this.

I’ll talk more about my why in episode one.

I hope you join me there.