After Neil Heslop graduated from the University of Newcastle with a law degree in 1988, he conducted an experiment. Understanding that the fact he’d lost his sight could have an impact on his employability, he made 20 job applications. Identical in every other respect, half of the CVs he sent out mentioned that he was blind and the other half did not. The 10 CVs with that disclosure landed him one interview, while the 10 without elicited nine.
Heslop went on to spend 25 years in the telecoms industry, serving as CEO of US company Cincinnati Bell moving into the third sector, where he currently works as CEO of the Charities Aid Foundation.
He observes that his success is far from typical for blind people. “For anyone with my disability, it’s pretty unusual even to be in paid work. And it’s extremely unusual for them to have the kinds of careers that I’ve been fortunate enough to have."