A Story of Allyship: It’s Amazing What Encouragement Can Do To One’s Confidence

Is equal-opportunity-employment really equal? Sandeep K. shares his experience and how he and his fellow SymABLED leaders created a group that aims to help all employees gain truly equal access to opportunities.

"Are you really the same person you say you are? Has someone been impersonating you over the phone?" asked the suave, soft-spoken man from the Symantec Chennai HR team as I was waiting in the cafeteria for my penultimate interview.

I smiled. I had expected this question, albeit much sooner. With a bit of hesitation, I answered, "Sir, I am indeed the same person. And, yes, my friend has been impersonating me over the phone."

I am indeed the same person. And, yes, my friend has been impersonating me over the phone.

For a moment, he looked shocked, before quickly regaining his composure. Hiding his displeasure, he asked gently, "Why would you do that?"

I closed my eyes for a few seconds and visualized the conversation I had with my friend when we came up with the idea of impersonating. We both worked in the same company together and had both decided to switch jobs. After a couple of interviews, he tasted success and was set to join a company closer to his home. I, on the other hand, hadn't gotten a single interview scheduled. We both had registered in the same job portal. Whenever I got a call, I would ask my friend to talk on my behalf. Every single HR person he talked with stressed that they were an equal opportunity employer, and that they would get back to me soon. None of them ever got back. Frustrated and dejected, we hit upon an idea. Since he had already got his offer, I replaced my mobile number with his on the job portal. I wrote my skill sets, experience, and everything else on paper and he kept this in his wallet. He would get calls meant for me and pretend to be me. The idea worked like a charm and interviews began to get scheduled.

One such call came from the Symantec Chennai HR who suggested a telephonic screening round but my friend insisted that he would like to be interviewed face-to-face. The gentleman from HR agreed and I entered the Symantec Chennai office for an interview with a million butterflies in my stomach. The call that HR would make would go to my friend and he would guide me via a text message to which floor I needed to go for the next round. I successfully made it through a couple of rounds. All worked well until my friend was called impromptu into a meeting and left the phone on his desk. The HR must have dialed him quite a few times and when it went unanswered, he came to the cafeteria, saw me waiting and asked, "Why aren’t you receiving the call?"

I need to lip-read. What this means is that in order to follow what others speak, I need to read their lips. This is impossible over a normal (non-video) phone call.

"Sir, I have sensorineural hearing disorder. In layman terms, I need to lip-read. What this means is that in order to follow what others speak, I need to read their lips. This is impossible over a normal (non-video) phone call. That is why I needed my friend to impersonate me just to facilitate the interviews, so that I could give myself an opportunity to answer the interview questions in person. I had to find a way around the so-called-equal-opportunity system that wouldn't give us the opportunity of attending interviews in the first place, dismissing us without even giving us a chance."

The gentleman had an amused smile on his lips. "Please go to seventh floor for your penultimate round. I know you will clear it with flying colors. And do not forget to say my thanks to your amazing friend."

This was a red-bull moment for me. The next two rounds were a breeze, courtesy of my new-found confidence. It’s amazing how much a little pat, a little encouragement, can do to one’s confidence. A few days later, on a pleasant evening, the gentleman called up my friend with the words, "Welcome, Sandeep, to Symantec!"

It’s amazing how much a little pat, a little encouragement, can do to one’s confidence.

It's been six years for me in Symantec and the journey has been truly wonderful so far. I've been blessed with countless and priceless friends who have been more than willing to transcribe for me in meetings. I have a genuinely empathetic manager who always asks me to scale boundaries and go out of my comfort zone. I can never thank them enough.

Why then the need for a separate ERG?

The idea for starting an ERG germinated last year in one of the conversations I had with Pride India Chapter Lead, C Moulee. However, because I had just taken a personal relocation to Symantec Pune after a 5-year stint with Symantec Chennai, and because work had kept me quite occupied, I missed the chance to convert that idea into action.

Fast forward to June 2018. The DEI team came up with a proposal to start an ERG and began laying the groundwork at breakneck speed. Rather than me having to fish around for information, they gave me all that I needed – including bringing on board the adorable Gail Terman and the engaging Dave Graham. The three of us hit it off well in our very first meeting. I fell in love with Gail's ability to conjure up taglines and Dave's capacity to coin acronyms. Together, we arrived at the ERG Name: SymABLED.

SymABLED is the Symantec Disability Allyship Network.

We strive to enhance abilities and leverage disabilities through education, outreach, and assistance. We want to drive recruitment, retention, and advancement for people with all types of disabilities, whether visible or invisible.

As the word allyship states, this ERG is not restricted to disabled people alone. In fact, we very much value the contribution that allies and non-disabled people can bring. Symantec is the world leader in security and we want it to be the world leader in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity as well.