Deaf person and phone number for text messaging in resume

Question

I'm profoundly deaf and wear hearing aids. As such, I don't have a problem talking face to face when I'm able to lip read, whether it is one-on-one, in person group meetings or video chats with low latency and good video/audio synchronization. Essentially the problem for me is without lip reading, I have a hard time placing a value to a sequence of speech sounds, so the end result is you can be speaking English to me, but it might as well be Russian for all I can understand. So, I prefer text-based communication like email, IM and text messaging.

On my resume, beneath my address for contact information, I have

Phone: 012-345-6789, Text Message Only

I'm wondering if this is a good idea. My general course of action is to include a couple sentences about communication and my deafness in the cover letter. However, if someone is reviewing the resume independent of the cover letter, and sees that 'Text Message Only' block, that may give a bad impression.

So, include or not?

Answer 1

Don't include a phone number on your resume if you can't receive phone calls.

In my experience, recruiters use some combination of phone calls, emails and IM's here and there, they very rarely, if ever, use text messages. And, even if they do, I'd expect them to start with an email or phone call. Text messages are generally considered to be fairly informal.

I'd recommend using email as your primary method of text communication with recruiters or potential employers, unless or until they communicate another preference.

Answer 2

So, include or not?

I would say that you could leave it, but you should also be more clear on the reason why text messages only.

What you can do is to mention that in your resume again, just like you did on your cover letter.

You can also specify it in a more brief manner right besides your phone number, something like "Text Messages Only please, due to hearing problems".

Anyways, however you do it make sure it is understandable in both your resume and cover letter. It is better to repeat yourself on this remark than having problems with potential offers you may receive. Hope this helps.