Interviews and Accessibility:
Interviews and Accessibility:
I attended an interview recently for an important job role co-ordinating disabled students with certificates.
A few things happened during the interview that concerned me in regards to lack of awareness of accessibility, I don't want to email them directly as I don't want to get their backs up so I'm going to blog about it instead.
When interviewing someone with invisible illnesses there are a few things you can do.
Asking to carry anything is a good start, but it's not enough.
When walking to the interview room I was stopped in the hallway and made to stand a little while, I have a dislocated pelvis and even though life is unpredictable, this was to me, definable as inconsiderate.
The lady hiring talked to a gentleman about tea bags and that was more important than leading me to the interview room and have me sitting comfortably.
Sitting comfortably, this again was an issue, they had me sat in a computer chair and didn't give me a choice as to which one to sit in. I'd have much preferred the one on the right but did as I was told and sat on the one on the left.
This was too high for me and therefore didn't support my pelvis or accommodated my disability as well as I would have liked, if the ladies had been kind and considerate enough to tell me how to adjust the chair I would have been more comfortable as my nerves prevented me from asking.
So the interview started, they changed the order of the questions but I'm adaptable and it didn't change anything for me. I had some notes to work from but the vast majority was from my mind and explaining in detail my skillset, which looking back was misunderstood and overlooked but that's okay. It happens sometimes.
When asking a candidate questions, please let them answer, I was explaining perfectly how a role in a marketing company I'd worked in, worked, and did so calmly and politely, when I was rudely interrupted half way through by a lady saying she "is not criticising", although this caught me off guard and was confusing I explained "I understood" and continued to answer but being on the spectrum, people with autism prefer the opportunity to be fully heard out prior to any interruptions, especially when we are answering questions in depth.
Thankfully it didn't side track me and my brain didn't go blank, and I continued even though she had said this twice in interrupting.
People need to understand when assessing candidates, they are assessing YOU as the employer too.
It's a two way street and social hierarchy malarkey should not be relevant in modern day society when seeking to work together as a team to do a job as important as this one was.
I feel they could have done better at taking notes as they were inaccurate with their response to my email about digital marketing webinars, as I had promised to deliver the information in the interview and my words are always in alignment with my actions, when they replied and told me I didn't have the skillset. This was not factual.
I had the skillset and a lot more.
I am in two minds of emailing them this as I am an independent disability advocate after all and I do want to improve others attitudes and behaviours towards invisible illnesses, however if I take into account the behavioural psychology aspects of how they did the interview and responded after, I feel they definitely have an issue listening to other people, their skills and perspectives and therefore it could fall on deaf ears. Which would be pointless.
Instead I'll put this section in my book as it will help other employers, and ones who read the book will definitely be ones interested in improving and eager to listen.
Of course I wish them well in their charitable ventures but they as individuals as well as organisations, have a lot more work to do in regards to themselves and some courses on disability and understanding autism, irregardless of some having it themselves, would definitely benefit them in their journey and occupations.
Accessibility is important and there are numerous factors at play that I've spend thirty years gathering perspectives and education in regards to, I can't expect society to be as aware as I am and I'm sure there will still be aspects even I could miss.
Invisible illnesses definitely need more awareness and it just shows how much more important my book will be to help raise such.
I shook all of their hands and thanked them for their time, even with the struggles of my walking stick and everything in life is a lesson, you gain insight and knowledge and learn from everything that happens so never let the bad get you down, learn from it instead.
~We can lead a horse to water but we can't make them drink~
Sarah Wingfield ❤️
#accessibility #disabledrights #inclusion #interviews #charities #organisations #accessibilityawareness #workingtogether
https://pgpandspd.blogspot.com/2025/01/interviews-and-accessibility.html
