3 Ways To Improve The Hiring Process For Those With Disabilities

Inclusivity still isn't at the level it should be for those with disabilities. Although things seem to be changing for the better, plenty more still needs to be done. 

The hiring process needs to be adapted for one, and these are some of the alterations which should be made.

A job listing is supposed to tell someone whether a role is suitable for them or not. Unfortunately, many aren't as informative as they should be.

Not only do they lack enough information about the job, but they often fail to highlight how they plan to accommodate someone with disabilities. This might be because employers don't think to mention it in their advert. However, it may also be because they haven't put enough thought into helping people with physical disabilities.

To combat this, job listings need to clarify that people of all abilities will be accommodated in the hiring process and beyond. That might mean something as simple as stating that adjustments can be made during interviews to ensure that everyone's needs are met. Such recognition alone can go a long way to improving inclusivity at a time when disabled workers are facing an employment crisis.

Interviews are a stressful experience for most people, but they can be particularly difficult for anyone with a disability. Fortunately, there are things both sides can do to improve them.

For candidates, a simple solution is to do plenty of prep work beforehand. There are plenty of online tips for succeeding in an interview specifically designed to help those with disabilities.

As for employers, the best thing to do is to ask a candidate if they have any requirements before the interview. By putting this out there in the initial correspondence, you not only make the interview a more comfortable experience, but you also take some of the pressure off.

Plenty of people will hesitate to ask for changes because they're afraid of being seen as weak or demanding. So, if an employer takes the initiative, it has more impact than you might think. Plus, this makes it easier to adapt each interview to a candidate's individual needs, given the wide range of disabilities out there.

Online assessments can be a useful way for employers to identify whether or not someone has the right skills for a job. However, in most cases, they don't take into account a variety of essential factors, meaning they shouldn't define whether someone's application is successful or not.

For instance, the time limit set by these assessments might not be long enough for someone with learning difficulties. Even if they know all the right solutions, their test results won't look great because they ran out of time. Disabled people already face so many hardships regarding finding work, and hurdles like this only make things worse.

Various adjustments can be made to improve this, such as setting more time or making the assessments available in different formats. If such changes can't be made, then once again, communication with candidates is essential. Employers need to identify when poor results are due to a disability, rather than a lack of knowledge and understanding, to ensure they're inclusive.

The hiring process still has a long way to go before it's truly acceptable for everyone. With any luck, though, we'll start to see more of these changes sooner rather than later.