Hiring managers of mumsnet give it to me straight

[trekking1]

I have an interview coming up. If I ask for an accommodation due to having autism will that lower my chances of getting the job? The accommodation is I would like the interview questions sent to me in advance.

I know a lot of companies these days like to say they are accommodating and non-discriminatory, but I just can't help but believe it will actually lower my chances of getting the job.

I can only speak for where I work, but it wouldn’t make a jot of a difference to the decision. We would always rather know so we could make any accommodations to the process - and giving questions in advance is something we often do (I’m trying to encourage people to do so as a matter of course as I just think it’s better when people can prepare).

I think we’re a good employer though, and I know there are many who wouldn’t be so open. But think of it this way - you’ll find out a lot about them by how they respond and that’ll tell you much of what you need to know about working with them. It’ll either be a good sign or a bad sign!

I work for a large employer and no it would not make a difference in decision.

We are happy to make accomodations where possible and always ask that candidate let us know if they need a reasonable adjustment.

All the best for your interview

It depends on the company. But would you want to work for one where you had to hide it?

I give questions in advance as a reasonable adjustment - though I would give to all candidates if one asked - and wouldn't know who had asked as HR would have dealt with the initial request. Even if I did it wouldn't impact anything for me

OP depending where the job is, most public sector interviews will have the questions they may ask in the shortlisting requirements

To ask for them is a lol, FGS, WTF job.

I don't know where the others work but how would that be fair on the other candidates

FYI, I've never been a manager as I did not want to be one but could have easily manged the role with my eyes closed where I worked

It shouldn't make a difference (tho I am not a hiring manager just now) - DD asked for this on an interview last year and was told no (public sector - I thought this was poor).
In the NHS it's common to send out questions tbh. It's not supposed to be an exam after all.

To the PP who says how would it be fair - how about sending them to everyone?

I think it depends, we wouldn’t have a problem with this request for some roles but I have refused this request on one occasion when the job required being able to react quickly and answer unexpected questions and part of the interview process was assessing how well candidates could do that

I think it probably depends whether the job you are going for requires you to be able to answer difficult questions under pressure without prior knowledge of the questions.

I am ASD and I used to be really good at giving talks, but struggled to field questions from the audience. I always paired up with someone on my team and asked them to field the questions while I gently steamed at the front of the hall after giving quite the performance during the actual talk.

If answering questions without notice is a struggle, you might want to talk to them about what they actually want from the job person so you get a job you will enjoy and feel a success in.

Like others it depends on the role but if someone asked, we’d send the interview questions to everyone so I wouldn’t necessarily know who asked and it wouldn’t influence my thinking other to be glad the person felt ok asking for what they needed - it bodes well in terms of having a transparent relationship with staff.

Yeah, what a previous poster said. Generally I don't think this would be a problem at all unless ability to think on feet , very fast decision-making on issues of welfare, health or safety, or to blag convincingly was fundamental to the job.

Maybe if you could indicate what type of employer/role etc people could give more tailored advice.

Like a PP, where I work if one candidate asks for the questions for reasons of reasonable adjustment, we send them out to all candidates. We wouldn't know who had asked, just that someone had. This is public sector (Education).

It would not make a difference in my company, we would give you the questions and be happy to try and accommodate any adjustments you may need.

all the best with your interview!

You can ask but it seems unfair for the me candidate to have questions in advance so I would send to all candidates however I can't guarantee I wouldn't ask others as some questions lead on from others, my interview style is a discussion and they don't always lead the way expected, my prepared list is only a guide not a precise list

If you needed the questions in advance I would worry that you would not be able to work in my industry/function. I would never put anyone in a position that they didn't have a good chance to succeed in.

I'd be concerned that if you can't answer questions in an interview, you wouldn't be able to do the job where being put on the spot is the norm - it's quite industry dependent

It would make no difference but we would have AI produced scripted answers. If you used AI, that would make a difference.

This is the best way for it to be handled

My company sends the questions out a week in advance and is happy to consider other accommodations.

Like a pp, my interviews are meant to be a discussion, depending on how talkative the interviewee is. I can send you the questions I'm planning to ask but depending on your answers I'll almost certainly ask more (probably for clarification, or because you've opened the door to talking about a specific skill). Is that going to cause a problem?

I'd also want to know if being put on the spot would be a problem day to day because I ask my staff questions all the time. So that would probably be Q1!

I wouldn't have a problem. We now send questions in advance to all candidates.

How much in advance would you need them ? I agree with PP, I'd want to send to all candidates but I'd then be worried about chatGPT answers too. So I may want to ask follow ons.

This really depends. I am hiring people at quite a senior level. The structure of the interviews and a guide is given to everyone. I tend to be looking for very specific skills.

If the company don’t do this, usually, it may be seen as giving an unfair advantage. Accommodations are to help equalise things not give an advantage. And there could be good reason they don’t give them in advance. But many will give a guide to what sort of things will be asked.

Some roles on my teams need someone who can make quick decisions, know what needs to be communicated very quickly etc so I would worry you weren’t suitable for those roles. Some it wouldn’t impact at all.

I have adhd and have 3 people in my structure who are neurodiverse. Everyone is different and different jobs suit different people.

Oh and yes there’s likely to be follow up questions that can’t be planned in advance. Because it depends on your response

I guess it depends on the job.

Our interview questions are technical so no we wouldn't be able to give them (way) in advance as the idea is to see how a candidate thinks logically through problems. I may consider giving them 30 mins in advance, say, and on our premises on paper.

BUT to answer your question - you asking wouldn't itself make you less likely to get the job, no. If you showed you were more competent than others, we'd still hire you.

Perhaps they could give you topic areas that may be discussed?

Not a hiring manager, but I’ve asked for this at a lot of my interviews due to autism, I’ve found for largest corporations they’re much more open to it vs smaller type ones.