Autism and job interview failure

[Zoemalone]

I applied for my dream job a few weeks ago.

I applied under the Disability Confident Scheme as I have Aspergers, Dyslexia and Dyspraxia.

I was invited to attend an interview. If this is relevant - I meet 100% of the person specification criteria.

The recruiter asked if I required reasonable adjustments but I declined as I was really worried that they may discriminate against me or deem me incompetent.

The interview took place yesterday and it was awful. I am devastated. It consisted of a 15 minute role play and competency based questions.
I suffer from extreme social anxiety and I have social communication/interaction difficulties so as you can imagine the role play went downhill fairly quickly. It was a comprehension based assignment where I was required to recite the process of a policy. I’m confident I recited the Policy correctly however I know some of it was in the incorrect order (this is linked directly to the difficulties I face as a result of my learning difficulties).

I’m expecting to be told that I haven’t been given the job.

Just wondering if there is anything I can do? Is it appropriate to ask for a second interview with reasonable adjustments etc?
Or should I just cut my losses and move on.

Just wanted some opinions

Many thanks in advance

You were applying to an employer who has signed up to the disability confident scheme but you weren’t comfortable telling them you need reasonable adjustments? Oh dear!

You can certainly ask the question, you don’t lose anything. But there’s no requirement for them to agree to your request.

You should have told them what reasonable adjustments you needed and what interview format works best for you.

I do understand why you didn't want to, it is much harder to get a job as a disabled person, but I'm in the position where I would much rather know immediately if my disabilities are a problem for an employer rather than when it is too late.

And 'disability confident' is not always true, its just a label in most cases.

You lose nothing by asking!

I'm so sorry that you had such a rotten experience. Hopefully your interviewers will appreciate that interviews are stressful experiences and take it into consideration and put it down to nerves.

On a practical note I'm not sure that there's a lot you can do. If you're not successful ask for feedback and try and learn from it?

@Zoemalone although you can't wind back the clock on this experience, you could take a few 'lessons learned' to help you next time round:

1. When applying for any job under a scheme such as Guaranteed Interview, Disability Confident, etc, the organisation needs to know what your particular challenges are, because by knowing what to avoid or do, they will tailor their interview approach to put you on a level playing field with candidates who don't have the challenges you face.

1. Think about interview scenarios you can / can't cope with, so you can give the information to a prospective employer in advance to help them to help you.

For example: I find role play with many people I don't know is overwhelming due to my disability. I perform well if I can be interviewed by 1 or 2 people rather than a panel of 4 or 5. I appreciate some prep time to read through a document at my own pace, then I'm better prepared to answer questions about it.

1. If you are still keen to work for them, you may need to keep a look out for future vacancies and apply then. All is not lost, you just need to set yourself up for success next time round and give them the chance to support you better.

Where are you based op?

@PocketsForMe I'm in London.

I'd have to say that if they were going to discriminate against you, then they'd have done that before you ever got to the interview. They already knew you have a disability because you declared it!

It's really hard to make anything more than observations - we didn't shortlist or interview you, and your perspective may be, and probably is, one-sided. I've walked out of interviews thinking I did badly before now and still got offered the job. Equally, I have known organisations to shortlist people who declare a disability, whether or not they would have otherwise got shortlisted, simply to avoid getting called discriminatory - and you don't actually know for certain that they would have agreed with your belief that you met all their criteria, because I've had conversations before now with candidates who told me that and I had to tell them that they actually didn't!

Personally I wouldn't ask for another interview. If you do they may take that as you being difficult, or view it as potentially a threat to claim discrimination. You were asked if you needed adjustments, and said no - going back now and saying that you did looks really poor. From their perspective, maybe they say no and you will get noted on one of those lists that doesn't exist, and never get an interview with them again. I know it happens. Alternatively, they give you another interview and appoint you - will you ever know whether you got the job because you were the best candidate, and not because they were ticking some sort of disability box or feared legal action from you?

Currently your worst case scenario is that you don't get the job but have learned some valuable lessons about interviews. That puts you in a better position for the next one.

I think if you ask for another interview with adjustments you'd have to explain why you didn't say you needed any in the first place. It would be so awkward if you had to explain that you thought they would discriminate against you.

Did you ask up front what the interview format was? I always do that. I'm just applying for a job that says I would have to do a case study at interview - I called up to ask what the format would be. As I'm dyslexic I know I would benefit from some extra time if it's a written exercise.

Having already asked if you needed adjustments and you declined, I think as a recruiter I'd feel it was unfair to other candidates to give you a second go - I'd feel like I had done my bit and you didn't take the chance. I have literally no idea if this stance would be discriminatory but maybe someone else can chip in on the legalities of that.

You might get be job still. If not, I think the best thing is lessons learned and do it differently next time - you've had good suggestions here about working out what adjustments you need and what to ask for. If you ask for the adjustments at future interviews and they are declined, I think you'd have a good idea as to whether they'd be a supportive employer or not and they'd be doing you a favour.

Disability schemes are elective, not every employer signs up to them. Ergo if they choose to align themselves to such a scheme, then it's a reasonable indicator they take their employer role seriously, and recognise that an inclusive recruitment policy significantly increases the pool of talent available.

Disability schemes are elective, not every employer signs up to them. Ergo if they choose to align themselves to such a scheme, then it's a reasonable indicator they take their employer role seriously, and recognise that an inclusive recruitment policy significantly increases the pool of talent available

Oh silly me, of course you are correct. Because they volunteer to participate in such things, they certainly wouldn't ever do so because it is politically correct, and since they had already told the OP that they wouldn't be discriminating, how very unreasonable of the OP to think that they might. That certainly never happens in the real world. And all their managers and staff will follow the law and the policies of the employer absolutely, and never be bullies, bigots or prejudiced.

It makes you wonder what the hell employment tribunals do with their time.

I work with public sector employers, and every single one of them is signed up to every scheme going. And then some. And oddly, according to them and their HR there is never a single case of discrimination of any kind. Yeah, right.

Not sure there’s any need for the sarcasm @Moondust001

It’s a perfectly fair point that, on balance, an employer which has signed up to the scheme should be considered less likely to discriminate, and a disabled candidate should perhaps feel slightly more able to ask for adjustments.

Of course the scheme is no guarantee, but if the OP won’t even ask for reasonable adjustments from an employer that has taken the trouble to sign up for the scheme, she’s going to struggle to find a job.

@Moondust001 - we wouldn't be doing the OP any favours if we recommend they take a wholly cynical view to a prospective employer on a Disability-friendly scheme and say it's all just a shop-window and they'll discriminate anyway so don't bother applying. If a candidate with a disability can increase their chances of getting their proverbial 'foot in the door' at least they then get to show the recruiter what they're capable of.

You may well have anecdotal experience of your own, but I don't think it's fair bringing your cynical projection onto Employment Issues board and telling people with disabilities they may as well give up because these employers are all as bad as each other. That clearly is not true, and I know for a fact that many employers especially public sector genuinely want to support people with disability challenges and attract talent.

Echoing others who say I've had what I thought were terrible interviews before and got the job so fingers crossed for you.

I wouldn't have thought remembering the policy in the wrong order is a problem as long as you knew all the relevant parts (although obviously I don't know what the policy is of course so that's only my best guess)

Honestly, I suspect many employers wouldn't agree to a second interview as you have had an opportunity already. If you did ask, maybe draft a polite letter and run it by a few people (friends/family/on here etc) to see what they think. Perhaps word it asking about applying for future roles rather than re-interviewing for this one? If you don't get the job, it could be part of asking for feedback.

Next time it sounds like it would be useful to ask for reasonable adjustments to the interview process. Of course it's your personal preference and there are no guarantees that they won't discriminate but as pp have said, you have already told them about your disability and if it's going to cause problems, it might be better to know sooner rather than later.

Asking for another method of assessment instead of role play because of your social anxiety seems very reasonable to me (and actually potentially better for the other candidates too- not that that's your look out!) It's the kind of adjustment that would be fairly standard. Alternatives could be: extra time to prepare, talking through the situation with an interviewer instead of role play, role play with an HR rep instead of other candidates if that would help or a written exercise covering a similar policy/situation. It's a bit hard to say without knowing what they are trying to assess in that part of the interview and what the job actually entails.

It's their responsibility to decide what they need to assess and how to do it. It's your responsibility to tell them what your needs are so they can find something that works for you.

Have you looked at resources about reasonable adjustments online? A charity like Mind, Ambitious about Autism or a general employment charity for people with disabilities might be useful to look at what people commonly ask for and how they word it.

daisychain01 That may be your opinion but it is not a fact, and the evidence of public sector organisations who are regularly discriminating, not just on the grounds of disability either, is there for anyone looking. Including on these boards. You may not like my opinion or experiences but they are as valid as yours - insulting me and my very substantial experience of (public sector) employers doesn't make me wrong. Also, I didn't recommend that the OP take a cynical view - I commented on your rather, in my opinion, rosy tinted view that what employers say reflects what they do. If that were true employment tribunals wouldn't have waiting lists. Ticking a box does not make someone a good employer, and nor does it make their managers or HR act in the interests of good employment practices rather than the organisational self-interest.

You may have "anecdotal experience" of your own - actually, mine is professional experience. Perhaps yours is too; I don't know who you are and you don't know who I am. But there is often a huge mismatch between what people say and what people do, and I see this in employers every single day.