Disabled box ticked - still no invite to interview

[PaulaTrilloe]

Hi there, I applied for a internal role recently as my current fixed term contract is coming to an end. I have a positive working relationship with the hiring manager which I thought was a bonus. Had a pre-application convo and was encouraged to apply given my specific skills, qualifications and industry experience. Spent a whole day tailoring my answers based on the role requirements. I have a iong term disability so I checked the Disability box. The Employer is a member of Disability Confident scheme. Role was externally advertised as well as internal. Hiring manager had advertised internally previously and didn't get strong enough candidates. I have a master's degree and relevant professional qualifications pertinent to the role. I received a rejection staying I lacked qualifications experience and skills which I have in spades!
How do I challenge this without burning a bridge with this employer?

Unfortunately the Disability Confident employer guarantee doesn't mean much in my son's experience.

He is high functioning ASD, ticks the Disability box. No interviews ever.

Spoke to an organisation that helps those with disabilities to get into work and their exact words were "in my experience, it's better if you don't tick the box or mention your Disability on your CV"

Absolutely disgraceful

Putting aside the disability issue, how are applicants, particular those who don't apply for many jobs, supposed to know that a pre-application/interview convo with the hiring manager, along with that manager's direct knowledge of the applicant's skills and experience will count for nothing? Do interviewers who know an applicant well really just 'forget' all knowledge of the applicant and just go with what's been written on the application and said on the day? Surely that could mean external candidate Bullshit Billy who has some experience but not much that's directly relevant, and does multiple interviews every month because he can't actually hold down a job could get it because he sounds great and knows what to write and say, but Nervous Nelly who has worked at the company for years and only ever applied for a couple of promotions will be rejected because she didn't 'score well' in the actual interview, despite having way more experience and ability than anyone else interviewed.
Recruiters - dont assume everyone knows how to 'play the game', you'll waste your time and theirs.

@iRun2eatCake Sadly my experience too, it's shit really because then you feel nervous about asking for help or adjustments and it shouldn't be that way. I always think yeah bollocks when I see a company has endless stamps of approval from charities/awareness groups now.

At my work you’d need to set out that you meet the criteria in your written application, the pre-application chat wouldn’t be taken into account in the sift although as a hiring manager if I’d spoken to you and your written application didn’t reflect what we’d discussed I’d speak to HR about how to handle this - hopefully getting more support with a written statement so you tick all the boxes.

In your case l’d speak to HR and/or the hiring manager to get feedback on your written application. If it does meet all the criteria I’d then gently remind them of the disability confidence commitment and ask for an interview.

In my place of work, all application forms are issued with a cover letter explaining the application process and the importance of including all relevant information on the form and at interview. We make it clear that applications are scored on information provided on the form to ensure fairness of selection.

@smileandsing the application form is the application, not the chat. When another candidate challenges why they didn't get an interview because they'd hit all of the criteria, the hiring manager has to be able to show from the application marking why some people got interviews over others. I can't think why you would assume you'd be given favour over someone who was a stranger to the hiring manager who had filled in the application better just because you knew the hiring manager and had a chat with them?!

Am I missing something here? Why do you think being disabled automatically guarantees you an interview? Genuine question because I didn’t think employers HAD to interview disabled people. I have a disability myself and don’t always get an interview.

The employer is claiming to be a Disability Confident employer, so yes they should be doing things proactively such as offering interviews.

There are some schemes (used to be called 2 ticks) which meant if you have a disability and meat the minimum criteria for a role you're guaranteed an interview.

One additional perspective, speaking as a disabled manager who recruits... it is amazing how many times I hear " but I met all the criteria..." from candidates (not just people with disabilities) and when I take them through their application, they really didn't. Sometimes it's a case of people overestimating their experience or skills - so if I ask for 2 years experience of XX, I really don't mean 7 months. But sometimes it frustratingly stupid omissions. For example, "demonstrate a commitment to our equal opportunities policy" (which is a requirement on all our person specs) is often not answered at. When pointed out the answer is usually something like "but it's obvious that I'm committed because xy and z" but they didn't tell me that!

I'm not saying this is true of every manager, but on occasions I literally rake through an application because I KNOW that the person has the skill, experience or whatever, but haven't said so. So I'm trying to find something that allows me to tick the box. Sometimes I can. Sometimes I can't. But I have to be able to justify each decision I make, and record why I have or haven't scored someone on every criteria. I can be called to account for my decisions by the organisation or by the law.

Yes, there's discrimination. Yes there's mistakes or errors. But there are also often explanations too.

I am disabled and advise organisations on the Disability Confident scheme regularly as part of my job. The most common mistake is thinking that the 'guaranteed interview' scheme still applies. It doesn't. It's now called 'offer an interview'. Nothing is guaranteed. If you have 50 applicants, 20 meeet the minimum criteria and 10 of them are disabled - do you give all 10 an interview? What about the other 10? Then there's the risk of selecting one disability instead of another - going for the percieved 'easier' disabled person for example. I tend to advise organisations that if lots of people meet the essential criteria, look at the desireable criteria as the next stage of the shortlisting process. 'Offer an Interview' is not perfect and can be difficult to apply. It can also make disabled people think "I'm disabled so I automatically get an interview" when that is not the case at all. HTH

Only the application form counts. Any pre-application conversation is irrelevant. I often shortlist for my organisation but I'm not the contact name on the advert. I'm only interested that you meet the minimum criteria or you don't.

As others have said, I've had many a conversation with applicants who say they have met the requirements in the person specification when they absolutely haven't. I re-scored someone this week three times, and got a colleague to double check in case I was being harsh. The applicant was adamant they had met the person specification but they really hadn't, they had expected the shortlisted would make assumptions.

I shortlist workout checking personal info. I'll go back and check equal opportunities info but those that are close to the shortlist cut off. I keep copious notes these days so I can defend my decision

We have "disability confident" in the civil service. If you score the minimum pass mark you get an interview regardless of where we put the cut off for interviews.

For instance if 3 is the pass mark but there are 20 people scoring 3-5 we might raise the pass mark to 5 to be interviewing less people, but anyone who ticked the disability box who scored 3-5 will also get an interview.

However - because of our recruitment methods you can meet what you might assume is the minimum criteria and still not get an interview because we don't tend to score CVs, we use mostly behaviour examples or personal statements unless it's a very specific technical job requiring qualifications. It's all quite confusing!

So I suppose it's also down to what they are assessing when they sifted the applications. I've spoken to many a well qualified candidate pre application and then been unable to sift them in for interview them because their application was either poor or didn't quite hit the mark somehow. In my opinion speaking to the hiring manager only pays dividends once you have an interview and then only if they are on the panel!

I don't understand why the note of your conversation is relevant? Unless I'm missing something (which is always a decent possibility) it's the application form meeting the criteria that is relevant. I would ask for feedback and review against the essential criteria before going any further.

Ask for feed back and take it from there

Ask for your scoring results , it does sounds as though you have missed the threshold for next stage

It never applied when it said it did, either.

I'm looking at you, Versus Arthritis.

I sought feedback from the hiring manager As some of you predicted I failed to meet the minimum criteria.
They had quite a few external applicants this time round with extensive facilitation experience (this would have been a development area for me and was a desirable not an essential).

Since then I've had an interview with the same organisation but with a different team but scored less than stronger candidates. Which is fair enough

Great you got some answers good luck going forward

@rwalker thank you for your encouragement. Onwards and upwards!