Hi all,
Despite being officially diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome since childhood, and therefore perfectly entitled to utilise the Disability Confident Scheme when applying for roles, I have been reticent to do so for a few reasons. Partly because I am not entirely sure if positive discrimination is the way to go, partly because I feel as if I am taking an opportunity away from people with debilitating disabilities compared to my mild ASD, partly because I work in HR anyway and have developed enough cynicism to know that these schemes are used for the employers to look good rather than any genuine interest in increasing diversity, but mostly because of my own (probably foolish) pride - I want to be assured that any of my achievements in life have come entirely irrespective of my disabilities.
Even so, I have nothing to hide. I declare my disability, but when asked if I want to be considered as part of the Disability Confident Scheme, I say no.
But recently a role came up in an organisation that I have a lot of respect and admiration for, in a position for which I have considerable past experience (including in my current role.) I applied and declared myself as disabled. Shortly afterwards their HR team got in contact asking if I wish to be considered as part of their Disability Confident Scheme. I umm'ed and ahh'ed about this for a long time, considering how much enthusiasm I had for this position. I considered that, were they going to offer me an interview, they would not have asked that question, so my answer was probably the dealbreaker on whether or not I would be invited to an interview.
Even so, I couldn't do it. And indeed, today I received an email confirming I have not progressed to the interview stage. My feelings were that, if they didn't initially consider my application worthy of an interview, what could I do to convince them otherwise in the interview? Why would we be offered a job on a role they didn't want to even interview us for? But on the other hand, had I requested to be considered on the Scheme, would this have benefited them and allowed them to promote me as some great success courtesy of their faith in this scheme?
Apologies for rambling here, but I would love to know about your own experiences with this scheme and if you consider it something we should pursue? What is the end-game? Do we actually have any data on how many applicants (both generally and specific to ASD) have gained a paid position through this scheme?
Thanks in advance.
