Summary
Advice on how to manage a job interview as a person with a disability or medical condition.
Well done! You’ve just landed a job interview at a company that you’ve always wanted to work for. You spent so long writing the perfect cover letter and perfected your application to let the employers know you’re keen. And it all paid off. Now is your chance to showcase your personality at an in-person interview.
You’re sure that they’re going to love your personality, and your achievements that you’ve gathered over the years. Everything seems like it’s going to work out perfectly, except there’s one thing you’ve left out. You need reasonable adjustments to accommodate your medical issues and you’re not sure when is the perfect time to bring this up.
Never had this problem before? I have. At first, it doesn’t seem like it should be a big deal, companies always seem relatively open to welcoming adjustments to ensure their employees are suited to and feel welcome in their professional environments. Although for most jobs this may be the truth, the uncomfortable feeling of having to let interviewers know about any accommodations needed never really goes away.
If you’re in this boat too, I have been through this enough to give you a little bit of advice.
First of all, your adjustments are not an inconvenience, you deserve to work around your medical issues and any company should respect this. Whether you need to take more breaks or you simply can’t work as many hours as other people can; that is not your fault. Learning how to approach this is key to how the company reacts.
Of course, you can let the interviewer or manager know about these things. It’s important to remember that you do not have to disclose a disability to an employer and if you do, that should be met by the employer’s support and reasonable help. Jobs cannot turn you away because of a disability or medical condition.
Although you don’t have to disclose any medical information, it may be easier to do so if you do need adjustments put in place. It’s just hard to decide when the best time is to let them know.
When I first started applying for jobs it was incredibly scary for me to mention that I needed adjustments. I had a fear that employers would see me as a “nuisance” and wouldn’t employ me because there are people out there with plenty of experience who don’t need different requirements. While this may be true it doesn’t always have to mean that you won’t get hired because of your differences.
I have learnt that by being honest and upfront about these things, not only does it become easier to explain but it also makes you more confident in your ability to actually work in a professional environment and could even improve your chances of getting the job because you are showing that you don’t let that difference change your ability.
Don’t let rejection stop you from needing adjustments, nor should you let the adjustments stop you from applying for jobs.
If employers have a problem with your requirements, then they are the issue, it is not up to you to lower yourself and minimize the issue just to get into employment. I know this because I too have done this, but it didn’t work. In fact, it ended with the issues becoming more of a problem because the company was left clueless on how to navigate the situation as they didn’t initially let me explain. Long story short; I didn’t enjoy that job.
So, before you go into any interview know that you are just as valid as any other interviewee and that you deserve the opportunity the same amount and that no change of requirements should ever affect that.
Feature Image Credit: Pexels
Writer at Brig Newspaper
2nd year Journalism and English student
