A quick episode this week, catching up on the ups and downs of the past two weeks of job hunting.

Show notes:

https://normalness.com/2026/08/07/the-second-time-podcast-episode-10-week-16/

Recorded and edited by myself, Vanessa Smith.

Intro and outro music by Ben Dawson.

I’m pleased to say that yesterday I released my newest book - the First time. A memoir about job hunting for the first time as an openly disabled person. 

https://normalness.com/2026/07/27/the-first-time/

Last week I wished for a quieter week, and I got it this week.

I spent a lot of of time trudging through temporary recruitment pools - lots of them closed with the end of the financial year which means you have to reapply to be in the new pool each year. That was half this week - applying for a lot of government jobs. They're very fiddly and take time, even with my fairly efficient ways to apply. Most of the fiddly parts are the manually typing information into their database fields. Actually, maybe it's the unpaid data entry that is the feature of this week.

Recorded and edited by myself, Vanessa Smith.

Intro and outro music by Ben Dawson.

Show notes and episode script:

https://normalness.com/2026/07/24/the-second-time-podcast-episode-8-week-14/

Settle in for a doozy of a week, including an interview, being invited to apply for entry level work, a cameo from some kangaroos, and possibly the most useless job coaching session ever held on the planet.

Episode script and show notes:

https://normalness.com/2026/07/17/the-second-time-podcast-episode-7-week-13/

Recorded and edited by myself, Vanessa Smith.

Intro and outro music by Ben Dawson.

Welcome to The Second Time Podcast. I'm Vanessa Smith. This is my weekly update on how job hunting is going - it's the end of my 12th week of job hunting.

Objectively Pointless is my phrase of the week. That's how it feels, knowing that less than 1% of what I do each week is likely to have the desired outcome (you know, a job).

Anger is also a large feeling this week. I find it weird people don't acknowledge they feel anger. Anger doesn't have to mean violence or anything like that, only some definitions of the word anger include violence. Some days, anger is just anger. Another feeling, the same way joy is another feeling.

Episode script and show notes:

https://normalness.com/2026/07/10/the-second-time-podcast-episode-6-week-12/

Recorded and edited by myself, Vanessa Smith.

Intro and outro music by Ben Dawson.

Welcome to The Second Time Podcast. I'm Vanessa Smith. This is my weekly update on how job hunting is going - it's the end of my 11th week of job hunting.

I felt particularly unenthused this week. It is incredibly hard toconvince yourself to spend all week doing tasks which have a very low percentage chance of having any actual value or outcome. Think about it, spending your entire week doing working knowing that less than 1% of it will mean anything. It's illogical to expect someone to feel good about this situation.

The problem with expressing frustration at this situation is that people will suggest I take a day off. And I know this is done in a caring way. But a day off solves nothing. It doesn't remove systemic discrimination. It just makes me feel like I've done less work than I could have and therefore I feel crappier.

Show notes including episode script:

https://normalness.com/2026/07/03/the-second-time-podcast-episode-5-week-11/

Recorded and edited by myself, Vanessa Smith.

Intro and outro music by Ben Dawson.

Welcome to the Second Time Podcast. Now that the introductory and background episodes are done, these weekly update style episodes will probably be the main format and frequency going forwards.

It's the end of my tenth week of job hunting.

I didn't apply for much in week nine, because my chronic conditions were flaring a lot and I decided that after eight weeks of hard work, I would do only the bare minimum and focus on my health. However, also in that week, and somehow I'm calling this the bare minimum, was an initial interview or screening call.

I started week ten with a follow up interview to the initial screening I had last week. The job genuinely had some in person requirements, but they seemed to really like my resume and want to work with me. I don't think they knew how it would work - for example, would the job be split into on site and remote tasks - but they didn't view disability as a barrier and even though they seemed somewhat unfamiliar with remote work, they kept me in the short list.

Show notes:

https://normalness.com/2026/06/26/the-second-time-podcast-episode-4-week-10/

Recorded and edited by myself, Vanessa Smith.

Intro and outro music by Ben Dawson.

This is a short episode. It's a blog post I wrote in 2024. What if I don't want to work anymore? This episode doesn't have answers, it asks questions.

Show notes and show script:

https://normalness.com/2026/06/26/the-second-time-podcast-episode-3-what-if-i-dont-want-to-work-anymore/

Recorded and edited by myself, Vanessa Smith.

Intro and outro music by Ben Dawson.

Last episode I covered the HOW of how I job hunt, and this episode it's time to share some of my philosophies.

Many of these I've also written about, and links to the full blog posts will be in the show notes. I will be quickly going over them here.

First up, pay disabled people more because disability is expensive. People are really into equity until it comes to money. For some reason, money is where people really freeze up on equity.

March 2022 data suggests that people with a disability need between 50% and 102% more income than non disabled people.

And yet, this doesn't show up in employment, even in disability focused employment or companies who pride themselves on being equitable.

It's time for them to put their money where their mouth is.

Recorded and edited by myself, Vanessa Smith.

Intro and outro music by Ben Dawson.

Show notes and show script:

https://normalness.com/2026/06/25/the-second-time-podcast-episode-2-philosophies/

First up today I want to share with you WHY I am open to talking about things like job hunting as a disabled person.

It's quite simple.

It's because the fault does not sit with me, the fault sits with inaccessible employment and lack of appropriate disability supports. I am not ashamed to be unemployed, disabled, and looking for work. This situation is merely facts to me. Exhausting facts, most certainly, but merely facts. I know many people do not feel safe to speak up on these topics and that's why I think it's even more important that I do speak up.

On that note, while I am a member of the disability community, disability is not a monolith. I am only speaking for myself and what suits me.

Show notes and full episode script:

https://normalness.com/2026/06/23/the-second-time-podcast-episode-1-tactics/

Recorded and edited by myself, Vanessa Smith.

Intro and outro music by Ben Dawson.