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Reasonable adjustments for job interviews

NAS77241

Hello, 

I have Asperger's and I really struggle with job interviews. I have social anxiety anyway which makes me not talk much, and then I feel like I always say the wrong thing. I don't elaborate enough and I'm incapable of the kind of fake, friendly BS that you need to do in interviews. Sometimes I say things and I realize straight away that it was the wrong thing to say but by then it's too late. I had 10 Zoom interviews last year and being rejected over and over again really takes its toll. 

I have another interview next week for a job that I really want and I'm so scared about messing it up. My question is if anyone has asked for "reasonable adjustments" for interviews due to disability and what kind of things you asked for? 

Thanks

  • in reply to DiffidAnt

    "Being given the questions in a written form in addition to being asked them verbally."

    Great tip, thanks :)

  • I haven't asked for reasonable adjustments myself, but some of the things might include:

    Being given the questions a short time before being asked them.

    Being given the questions in a written form in addition to being asked them verbally.

    Making the room more comfortable if you don't like bright lights, etc.

    If there is an assessment, being given more time or making people aware that you have trouble spelling.

    Simply making the interviewers aware of any condition you have so they don't draw undue inferences from behaviour.

    This is just an indicative list. There will be the key things you need to do for the job, for which no accommodation can be made for, and things like sensory needs that can be adjusted for. If you ask for a reasonable adjustment, think of it in those terms.

    I've been an interviewer in the past; there are some ways to structure interview answers that might help you get over the problem you indicate. Send me a message if you want to discuss.

  • I have had exactly the same problems.  It is difficult thinking up good answers in the highly pressured interview situation. I haven't asked for any reasonable adjustments for interviews but I have encountered at job interviews some things that may have been adjustments that another candidate could have asked for.

    At one interview, I was given a sheet with the interview questions about ten minutes before the interview, I scribbled some answers down (allowing me to give better answers than I would otherwise would) and took them into the interview.  If I had known about this beforehand, I suppose I could have phoned a friend for advice about the best answers  I didn't get the job.

    At another interview the interviewers must have had the questions on a Power point presentation and each question was displayed on a large plasma screen.  This was useful to me as I sometimes forget the question and have to ask them to repeat it (which doesn't look good).

    I suppose people could ask for a quiet interview room with suitable lighting if the interview was a at the employer's premises.