Krissy’s world

Early this year, an executive of a computer school for the blind was crossing her fingers, wishing that one of their female graduates could break into the mainstream job market. And in April, it happened, and last Wednesday, NetWorks got the chance to talk to this young achiever, whom Carol Catacutan, training director of ATRIEV, or Adaptive Technology for Rehabilitation, Integration and Empowerment of the Vi

sually Impaired, described as "the first blind person to qualify and work in a corporate environment."

That corporate environment is TeleTech, a global provider of business process outsourcing and customer management solutions, where Criselda "Krissy" Bisda works as a recruitment associate.

Krissy signed an employment contract with TeleTech on April 15, "a milestone in call center history," as Carol, herself an ATRIEV graduate, put it.

"I feel very happy about it because not too many get that chance. I was able to reach my short-term goals that is, to work and it’s related to the course I took up," Krissy recalled in fluent English to NetWorks in an interview at their office in Robinson’s Plaza in Novaliches, Quezon City.

Krissy, a towering 21-year-old at 5’7", graduated with a degree in psychology at the Philippine Women’s University in Manila. "I chose psychology because I like studying people and I am curious about human behavior and to try and understand it."

Krissy’s condition never stopped her from pursuing her dream of practicing her degree in the so-called real world. Her perseverance, coupled with her smarts and confidence, led ATRIEV to make her a candidate for employment at Teletech.

Krissy, who was diagnosed with a progressive degeneration of the retina called retinitis pigmentosa at age three, was one of five pre-screened visually impaired applicants recommended by ATRIEV to TeleTech.

It was TeleTech vice president and general manager Craig Reines who identified the recruitment associate position that may be fit for the blind.

"We should not be limited by the screen reader software. There’s a host of other jobs that a blind person may be able to do that may not require the software interface," Reines explained as a screen reader software that allows blind people to manipulate the computer through a vocal response unfortunately did not interface with the call center’s proprietary software.

Having graduated from ATRIEV where she took up a basic computer literacy program under the Adaptive Technology for Training, Resource and Access Center last year, Krissy was well-versed with the popular software called JAWS, or job access with speech, which ATRIEV uses as a text-to-speech voice synthesizer application and screen reader program.

"ATRIEV honed my skills in computers and I became productive with JAWS," Krissy said.

"It (JAWS) reads everything. It has a lot of features like telling us the color of the texts and the background. I can use it in Excel, use it for chat, to join fora and I don’t have to use a mouse. There is a lot of software for the blind although JAWS is the popular one," Krissy said. "JAWS though would be enough for the type of work that I’m doing."

As a recruitment associate, Krissy explained, she interviews applicants in the initial stages involving the assessment of their communication and behavioral skills.

Another software, though not specifically for the blind, but friendly to the visually impaired is the Avaya softphone," Krissy said.

"It acts like a receiver of the phone and we use it for phone screening. It is installed in a computer and it is connected to a hard phone," she said, explaining that part of the hiring process at TeleTech is for her to conduct phone interviews.

"One of the interviews is pre-recorded wherein TeleTech has a language assessment line and the applicant’s voice is recorded, assessed and graded," she said.

Krissy’s present status was borne out of productive meetings between TeleTech and ATRIEV, through its chairman Peter Wallace who introduced Carol and ATRIEV founding chairman Tony Llanes to Reines. And it is through ATRIEV that Wallace actively campaigns for the employment of qualified visually impaired persons among multinational companies.

Driven To Succeed

Despite the demands of the job amid the stiff jostling of applicants to get into the call center industry, Krissy keeps her composure and doesn’t mind working long hours.

She noted that a huge amount of patience is required for what she does as she encounters all types of people every day.

"A lot (of people) don’t follow instructions or are impatient," she amusedly explained. "Usually, I don’t take it negatively. It’s really part of our job because we are exposed to people. In this job, you need to be strong and not too emotional. The key being I enjoy what I do."

Her motivation in spite of the obstacles of her condition, she said, comes from "internal and external factors."

"My family inspires me as well as (I inspire) myself," said Krissy, the eldest of three siblings, who went through eye surgery when she was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa that saved her sight until she gradually lost it upon reaching elementary grades.

In college, Krissy continued to be an achiever as she won writing contests and quiz bees. Even in sports, Krissy excelled, and swimming became her favorite. Krissy was twice awarded the title Female Swimmer of the Year by the Resources of the Blind Inc. during summer camps in 1991 and 2001, Carol wrote of Krissy. She also won first prize in swimming competitions organized by the Philippine Blind Sports Association.

In 2002, Krissy participated in a leadership seminar for the blind in Jahor Baru, Malaysia. "They made us understand that even when you are blind, you could be a leader not just to blind people but in any sector really."

"With my condition, I have to be inspired by myself, by my goal that I want to reach. You have to go out of your way to find opportunities for yourself. I earned a degree in college and what would I do with that if I don’t seek out these opportunities?" Krissy said.

One of the external factors that inspired her, she said, was her fulfilling experience at ATRIEV where she also volunteered to spearhead its personal development program. In her article on Krissy, Carol said she coordinated seminars and workshops on improving self-esteem for people with disabilities (PWDs) and for parents of PWDs or who themselves are visually impaired.

"I became more assertive with my stay at ATRIEV and learned how things are like when you are working when I became a part of the counseling group," Krissy fondly recalled.

In whatever she does, Krissy wants to be successful. Notwithstanding her blindness, she truly stands tall, more than literally, among both persons with disabilities and the so-called regular people.

"I promised to myself that no matter what happens I would find work in whatever type of environment. I don’t want to be idle because I know I can do more in spite of my condition. If I would mind my condition, I won’t move ahead and develop myself," she said. - With Carol Catacutan (training director of ATRIEV, or Adaptive Technology for Rehabilitation, Integration and Empowerment of the Visually Impaired).