Are these reasonable adjustments to ask for at interview?

[autumn1610]

I’ve got an interview for the first time in 5 years. I know I’m terrible at interviewing I’m an introvert and my mind goes blank especially when coming up with examples. It’s sort of within local government for a mid level role. I’m good at my job and I’m capable at my job, I just really struggle to get that across. Give me 3 months to settle in and you would see I’m not quiet and hold my own (male dominated field!) they have emailed and said please let them know of any reasonable adjustments and I have asked for example style of question (thinking will I need to apply the STAR technique) and also if it would be possible to take some notes which would be just be my key achievements so I can quickly pull examples rather than getting flustered thinking of an example and crashing out on the question. Do you think these are reasonable requests and would you judge me for it

Do you have a disability? You mention wanting this because you are an introvert, but not how it’s related to your disability.

You can take notes in, you don’t need to ask. I wouldn’t ask for questions. When they say reasonable adjustments, they mean for a disability, not just you are rubbish at interviews. Good luck.

I don't think it's unreasonable at all, to take some kind of portfolio with you. This is normal practice for lots of job interviews. You could prepare some kind of folder with your key skills and experiences and reference them as you answer questions.

I always have a notebook with me in interviews, I say it’s for my questions I’ve made but it also has some “must remember to mention” notes.
Good luck!

Absolutely reasonable. Taking in notes is completely normal and I wouldn't even consider it an adjustment.

It's becoming increasingly common for candidates to ask for (or employers to offer) the actual questions that will be asked, not just the style. Most companies have realised have how quickly a candidate can come up with a good answer has an extremely poor correlation with how good they are at a job, in the vast majority of cases.

What are the adjustments for?

I’d be a bit side-eye-y if you need reasonable adjustments for your personality. I’m also an introvert, but I’m quite good at interviewing so that’s not something that needs adjustments in an interview scenario.

I always take notes to interviews. Even if you don't refer to them in the interview, read through prior so your examples are fresh in your mind. Base them around the requirements of the ad. Add in some for when you've dealt with a difficult situation or coworker, and other examples that strongly relate to the role.

No
reasonable adjustments are for disabilities like a hand out in braille or a sign interpreter or a ramp or letting them know your service dog will attend

you dont mention any neurodivergence or disability do I'm assuming you don't have any?

taking flash cards of prepared notes into the interview shows you sre well prepared. Ive no idea wgar a star question is or quite what it achually is you have asked for but its done now so good luck , being quiet isn’t usually a negative in government work i assume quiet and methodical is a definite plus

Reasonable adjustments we often give are:
Extra time
Main questions 20 minutes in advance
Writing down the question

Taking in notes is quite common, you can check it's OK.

Taking notes in would be expected anyway so not sure why you’d think that would be a reasonable adjustment. As others have said though, reasonable adjustments are in relation to a disability - do you have one that you haven’t mentioned here?

I would also have assumed a STAR type interview. And don’t tell them it’ll take you three months to be fully up and running - three weeks maybe.

I worked at a firm for 10 years and moved up a lot during this time due to the knowledge I had and what I delivered and never had an interview

i went for a new external role and told the HR person this. He gave me a few pointers

after the main competency interview he told me that yes I hadn’t had a competency interview for years and it really came across in the interview but the fact that I’d told them before hand was good and I was moving to the next stage (I got the job)

Being an introvert is not a disability.

do your prep and anticipate likely questions, which is probably a job related skill anyway.

The HR advice was about googling the company, finding their values etc that I wouldn’t thought about after being in a role for so long

Sorry it came across wrong I’m not saying it is a disability at all, it was more a is it ok if I bring notes in with me and if possible could I see example questions so I know the style of question being asked, don’t even need a specifics. My last role I interviewed for was during covid and I just had notes pinned on my wall, it’s not something I’ve done or realised it was common thing so wanted to check with them if it’s ok and from the comments yes it is actually really common.

I do have anxiety and OCD both under the nhs for but wouldn’t class this as effecting my ability to interview more just I struggle under pressure and my mind goes blank and as much as possible I would like to reduce this happening.

It’s situation, task, action, result style questions/answers. But I spend half the time trying to think of a relatable situation that I then get flustered with the rest of the answer.

after interviewing for my last role I did get that tip of tell us what you know about the company so I had notes. With it being local authority I obviously know what they do, so will find out some more about the specific area and the values they work to.

As others have said, absolutely yes to taking notes in. You said its a government role, so the full job description, including the competencies they will interview you on will be on the job advert / description.

If you go through the job description and person spec you should be able to come up with the example questions yourself. Each part will tell you how they intent to glean information. Why don’t you spend some time going through those and preparing your answers.
they won’t give you the questions as it’s unfair for any others

Reasonable adjustments are specifically for disabilities, so if you do not have a disability it was wrong to ask really. As others have said though notes are fairly standard.

I wouldn’t bring it up though, if you are offered the job and ask if you need any reasonable adjustments just say no.

They have taken the job description down and stupidly I didn’t snip the job description. I have applied for another which is with another government service but they did have the full essential/desirable matrix which I have saved, this one didn’t. It’s not fully local government I.e. my council. It’s the mayoral authority in my local area. It was all on the advert itself, I have my cover letter so I know where I have tailored my current role to this one. And I’m going to see if I can get a copy of the job description. Yes I know I sound very unprepared but I applied on a whim after issues within my current role and I actually got shortlisted so it’s a bit of a surprise to me anyway.

Well OCD and anxiety are classed as neurodivergence 🤷‍♀️ and probably actually impact me more than I realise when it comes to stuff like this. I tend to downplay the impact on my day to day, hence me not stating it in my original post. I have already said I don’t need reasonable adjustments on the application for me to undertake the role as I don’t. I just checked the email I sent and I haven’t written specifically asking for reasonable adjustments either… just is it ok if I bring notes and if possible could I have examples of the style of question which maybe asked (obviously written better than that!)

I struggle under pressure and my mind goes blank

That's classic anxiety.

Just take notes in. No one will think worse of you for it.

As an interviewer, I have never batted an eyelid at people bringing in notes or their CV. Somebody once took notes during the interview and I was actually quite impressed. Your interviewer will expect nerves, but if they're good at it then they'll try to relax you. They're not trying to catch you out, just to understand your skills, experience and interest.

I know everyone says it and I need to remember it. The best interview I ever performed in was one where I had to do a presentation and because I had time to prepare and wasn’t stumbling over questions I was absolutely fine and got offered the job the same day. Just wish sharing questions ahead was more common practice! I’ll bring my notebook and take some notes as always struggle with the is there anything you want to ask us question.

Fair enough OP, hope the interview goes well