Sharing your disability with an employer

Hi, and thank you for listening to this episode of the From Campus to Careers podcast. Today we are going to be talking about disabilities and how best to approach sharing a disability with an employer. I'm joined by my colleague from the Careers team, Samira, who will be leading on today's episode and she'll be chatting with Charlie from the Change 100 programme at Leonard Chesher. Samira, can I ask you to take it away from here? Yes, absolutely. Thank you very much. So hopefully some of you know who I am. I'm Samira, I'm from the Careers and Placements team. I'm one of the Careers consultants and we've got a really great guest with us today. Charlie, would you like to introduce yourself? Yep, hi everyone, and thanks for listening along. My name is Charlie Woodis and I work on the Change 100 programme at Leonard Chesher. My job title is Youth Employment Officer and I'm one of the different teams on the Change 100 programme. Brilliant, thank you so much. So today we're going to really focus on how to discuss your disability and Charlie's hopefully going to give us loads of advice and information. So I've got a few questions that I get asked quite a lot in the Careers Office, so we're going to get stuck in. My first question then, students ask me quite a lot, when should I actually tell an employer about my disability? So should it be on my CV in Covering Letter or should it be on the application interview or should I not mention it until I actually start? So if you could just give us a bit of a sense of what you think would be the best time. Yeah, absolutely. I think the thing is that it is so individual. So when a person wants to share about their disability or about the adjustments that they need, they should be really thinking about what are the barriers that I could be experiencing at this moment. So for example, I make it quite obvious, well, that I have a disability in some way on my CV even. I do, because all of my experience is around kind of disability, and working with disabled people. I would like to think that it's quite obvious that I may have a disability from that. However, when I'm going to or approaching an employer or thinking about an interview, I would say I would talk less about the specific condition that I have, and I would talk more about the specific adjustments that I need in order to do my best. So that is what I would suggest really. It's that kind of thing of how you share, and when you're thinking about the recruitment process, share as early as you feel comfortable that you need adjustments. However, the employer can't ask you specifically what your disability is at that point. So during the recruitment process, they're not allowed to ask you what is your disability, but they can ask you what are the adjustments that you need for the recruitment process. And then when you're in the role, I would still think about kind of what is the impact of my condition on me while I'm in this job, rather than this is the condition overall and this is everything that it means. Talk about it in much more specific areas. So talk about it in regards to if I need adjustments at a meeting or if I need meeting notes in advance, for example, that's quite a common one that we see. So that would be saying to your employer, just so you're aware, it will be really useful if you could share meeting notes in advance with me, so that I'm prepared for the meeting that we're about to have and that kind of thing. But it might be more specific to your role or more specific to kind of another element of your day. So I don't know, if you take regular medication, then you might need a specific area in a fridge, for example, that can be an adjustment if you're working in an office. Thank you. It sounds like the students, when they're thinking about applying, might need to actually have a little bit of more ownership on how they present their disability and what kind of specific adjustments they might need. So is there a way that they can build that confidence? I mean, I do see students who come and talk to me about it and then we talk through some ideas. But do you think there's any other way that they could feel more confident about how they present that information? So obviously, I would recommend that people apply to schemes that would generally build their confidence. Like, for example, change 100 and change 100 really does kind of work to build that kind of confidence and help people share in disclosures at a time that feels appropriate to them. And we can also share on your behalf when we're working with the employers directly. However, I think it's also about finding groups of like-minded people and talking and talking more honestly about disability and trying to think about what is the change that I need right now and what is the impact of my condition on me right now and how would I like to change that. Because really, once you recognize that society is the thing that creates barriers for, to say people in the way that society is built is why we are effectively disabled. And that isn't to minimise an individual's condition. Then you can start to find a sense of pride in your disability because you recognise that actually you want the thing that's a fault anymore. The way that society is built and how we talk about disability is the problem. So when we're thinking about barriers, I would encourage people to think about it in regards to what are the environmental barriers, what are the technology barriers, communication barriers, attitudes and all barriers and that kind of thing. And then recognise what could society do differently to remove those barriers. That's really helpful. Thank you so much. And I think the idea about networking and talking about disability is something that we could talk more about actually. Maybe not now, but something that I can take back to the careers and placements team as well. So thank you for that. So just going back on the more practical side of things. If somebody has been offered a placement or a graduate job, when would be a good time to start talking about adjustments? I know you said earlier that it's good to start talking about it as soon as possible. But can you actually turn up on your first day and say, oh, by the way, I need this type of chair or this type of software. I think again, it's come back to a bit of confidence, but when would you say is a good time to start those conversations? Like I said, I think it would be probably as early as possible. But most employers have in place things like a display screen assessment or an occupational health assessment that kind of thing. Might then go some way towards identifying things that you need that could benefit you from doing the work. I think from my perspective as someone has had multiple jobs, I effectively have a shopping mess of things that I say that I need an employer to provide or that I need access to work to provide. Access to work is a great scheme that can kind of pave for a lot of the adjustments that people need. A majority of adjustments are kind of free and things that flexible working or working from home whatever that might be. But then if there's kind of specific equipment like mouse or software or the chair that you need because of your disability or condition, then sometimes that access to work can be paid for that. And often the government don't necessarily shout about access to work as a thing that is there, but it is there for everyone and it can even pay for things like a support worker to help you with the role or it can pay for things like a captioner. There are limits on the amount and money you can spend. But you preempted my next question, which was where would the money come from? Because I'm particularly thinking about smaller medium-sized companies or startups. Often they are on a very limited budget, would it come from the individual that has to apply or is it from the company? So it's done on an individual basis. So you apply and those that technology and that tech then should belong to you. Depending on the size of the company, as far as I'm aware, smaller companies have nothing to pay. So access to work at a fund at all. Large companies may have to fund a little bit of the adjustment in any way that they would with any. other members staff. But I think I may be wrong on this. So do you check before potentially airing this message? But I think that if you apply within the first six months of a role, then access to work cover all of the adjustments. However, I might be incorrect. That's definitely worth checking out, actually, because that would be amazing. And that's really reassuring, actually, because I think a lot of our students do end up working in smaller companies. So if they reassure that there is some support through access to work, that is even more encouraging. Sorry, just to add, one of the things that I got in a previous role was specific coaching on how to manage my disability and condition in the workplace. So one of the conditions I have is this practice here. It was quite newly diagnosed. I was diagnosed as an adult, but I was diagnosed as a child, but I only found it out as an adult. And so then I got coaching with an external company on how to manage my time, whether how to ground myself, that kind of thing, how to make sure that my focus was in the right place. And that was provided by access to work as well. So it doesn't just have to be physical equipment or transport. That's really useful to know, actually, because again, that's one of the questions that I get, like, what are the adjustments? What can I actually get access to? So just knowing that it can include quite a variety of things, not, like you say, the physical stuff, but actually the kind of motivational and confidence building. So that's really useful to know. Thank you. So I'm going to move on a little bit and now focus on change 100 because we have a purpose. We know that change 100 have some amazing internships. So maybe tell us a little bit about the internship and then how it might help an individual with their future applications for graduate or placement roles. Yeah, absolutely. So change 100 is a paid summer work placement with a prestigious company or organization. We work with a number of different companies from corporate sector to third sector and first sector organizations. And we're working with companies across the UK. So it's, like I said, is a three months of paid work alongside a professional development program as well. And this professional development program is something that really sets us apart from other summer work schemes. And we're really trying to develop those kind of broader skills around kind of teamwork, communication skills, resilience, how to share and disclose the disability is one of our topics, how to problem solve that kind of thing. And people also get a mentor at their organization and network, sorry, access to a wider network of peers as well. Sounds amazing. And hopefully we'll get more of our students applying to it. So it sounds like it would be a really strong foundation then to apply for future roles. Is it for particular year groups or can any current student apply? So it so we normally say being your penultimate year or your final year of an undergraduate degree, all be studying a postgraduate or master's degree that's completely fine. So you have to have a graduation day of 2022 or 2023 or have recently graduated in 2020 or 2021. And it's any you can have any disability or long-term condition. We're using the broadest possible definition of disability there so that's including kind of mental health issues. I would say about 20 to 25% of people get their opportunity extended in some way. So that might be extended by a month so that they can finish a particular project or it might be to extended so that they then go on to join a graduate scheme, something that a company has. So it can really help that kind of, so I'll start off again. One of the ways that an employer talked about it is as a soft-in into employment. So it's really about providing that extra level of support that you get from the change 100 team, your mentor, the network appears, as well as kind of giving you that real experience of work and you aren't. It's not like you're doing small admin tasks. You'll be given a proper project or a proper contract with your host organisation. Brilliant. Thank you so much on that one. So I'm going to go really practical now. Any tips that you might have for the application form so that our students can feel really confident about approaching the application? Yes, although I'm sorry I've got my notes. And is it a CBN cover letter or is it an online application just so we're clear? It's not the method it is. So the way that you apply is through a written application form. We ask five competency-based questions. So each one assessing a different competency, about 200 words per question. We don't ask for CVs actually because we see that CVs are often a barrier to say people when trying to find work. So in terms of how to improve applications, I would say when answering our questions, applicants need to tell us what they did and how this displays the competency that we're looking for. For example, what was their contribution to a team? How do they plan their time rather than the wider group? Or how do they adapt to challenging situations? So we want to know what they did personally. We also want to know why something was important or why it mattered. So for example, I plan this project using a white board and a notebook and this allowed me to see every deadline I had coming up and visualise my work day. So in that example, someone has said why that the way that they plan their time was important. And also applicants should really be thinking about the wider programme. So not just the internship. People who engage fully with the professional development programme really get the most out of the Chamber 100 scheme. And so applicants should be researching and looking into all the Chamber 100 can offer. And also people should be thinking about how it can benefit them personally as well as professionally. So not just around, kind of, this will be a great start to my career, but also these are the skills that I want to gain. Brilliant, thank you. That's really in depth. So hopefully we'll get some really strong applications. And so one of the things that students are not exactly fearful of, but there is some anxiety, because some employers have gone back to having in-person assessment centres and some are running virtual assessment centres. And I think assessment centre is a part of your application process. So any advice or information that you give us around that? Yeah, sure, absolutely. So our assessment centres this year will be entirely digital again. So we know that COVID is obviously still a thing. So we're wanting to try and remove that as a barrier as much as possible. And we also kind of recognise that it's often a very good adjustment for a lot of people. In terms of our assessment centres, it's three different activities and they're all kind of equally weighted and we consider your written application as well. So it's a short presentation that you'll be preparing for, an unseen group task and an interview with one of our employer partners. But I think if people have anxiety generally about assessment centres, I think ask for the adjustment that you need in order to do your best. You know, going back to this idea of adjustments, asking for those adjustments, it's not special treatment. You're not being kind of treated differently. You are just asking for what you need to thrive and thrive within that role. Unfortunately, you know, if an employer doesn't implement the adjustments that you need when you're applying or when you're in the role, that could be a good indication of whether or not you actually want to work for this organisation. Obviously, the employer is that we work with work really hard to kind of implement as many of the adjustments that they can. can that people ask for, so does that answer the question? Yes, it does. Yeah, thank you so much. And I think it's just that we're all adjusting to sort of being normal in this strange world. It's not quite, you know, what normal is anyway. But it's just to try and get a sense of like how students can feel a bit more confident when approaching assessment centres. So thank you so much. I was just going to ask one more question and it's totally gone out of my head. So I'm going to just move back and say thank you so much for your pearls of wisdom, Charlie. Hopefully our students will get really encouraged by the advice that you've given and the fact that, you know, they can feel really confident about sharing their disability. I just remember my question. When you talked earlier about having the broadest understanding of disability, are you also including people who've self-diagnosed? They know they've had a mental health issue possibly to do with lockdown? That way, do they actually need to have a diagnosis? That's what I just wanted to clarify. That's a good question. So we use the Equality Act definition of disability, which is the something needs to have a long term impact on your ability to do day-to-day things. So that includes mental health issues. If there's something that somebody is expecting that they have and they're going through that process of diagnosis, then we can kind of also accept that. We're not actually looking for kind of any specific evidence. We're very much relying on people being honest and open about the disability that they have and asking for the adjustments that they need. Thank you. I just wanted a little bit of clarity on that because then we can advise more clearly to the students as well. So thank you. So I'm going to hand back to Adam now. Oh, sorry. Sorry. We're going to say something today. Before we. Yeah. I just want to say that applications close on the 6th of January at 2 p.m. So do get your application in as early as you can. It's not a rolling recruitment kind of system, but we get about 50% of our applications in the last four days. So be ahead of the curve and please apply as soon as possible. Definitely. I think what we'll do is leave a link in the show notes so that if you're listening to this episode, you should be able to find a link directly to the application process for the change 100 scheme. Yeah. Thank you both so much. Thank you, Charlie, for giving up your time today and talking about such important things and really useful, insightful insights there about not only sharing your disability, but about the scheme in itself and what students can do to kind of make the best of their approach to that scheme. And again, thank you, Samir, for leading on today's episode and asking some great questions. So yeah, as I said, I'll leave everything in the show notes. So if there's anything that you're interested in, are you on LinkedIn, Charlie? Yeah, I'm on LinkedIn. Would you be happy for us to share your LinkedIn in the show notes? Maybe just in case any issues, one of the questions. That's fine. Absolutely. Or people have been getting contact with us directly at change 100 applications at LeonardChesher.org. I'm also running some webinars that are open to students from any university way. You can also come along and ask any questions. And I think we're going to also be running some kind of specific drop-ins as well, but I'm not entirely clear on the dates and those where we can kind of help people with their applications and questions around that. That's great. So what I'll do, I'll put all of the relevant links into the show notes. So any students listening to the podcast that can find everything they need. So yeah, we'll wrap it up there. Thank you again both for taking part and thank you for everyone for listening. We'll see you next time on the next episode. Done. I'll just stop recording. Brilliant. Sorry, there was some bits where I am.