How to Improve the Candidate Recruitment Experience for People With Disabilities
Job hunting hasn’t gotten any easier. From being asked to fill form after form only to get ghosted, to being told that entry-level jobs require ‘a minimum of three years of experience’, being a job candidate at the moment is, simply put, rough. For anyone with a disability, though, the challenges multiply.
But there’s hope on the horizon: plenty of companies are turning towards the idea of crafting a great candidate recruitment experience for everyone, including people with visible and invisible disabilities.
In this guide, we’ll get into the best ways to make the recruitment experience as disability-friendly as possible. But first, let’s break down the intricacies of that experience.
What Is the Candidate Experience in Recruitment?
The candidate recruitment experience refers to the things you go through as a candidate, including the requests companies make of you and the feelings you have about the whole situation.
So, a good candidate recruitment experience would be rewarding as it would help you feel like you’re being seen and valued as an individual – regardless of whether you get the job or not.
Conversely, a poor candidate experience is frustrating and often dehumanizing in some way.
Which Factors Influence the Candidate Recruitment Experience?
Whether it’s a good or a bad one, a candidate recruitment experience tends to come about through the following factors.
Communication
Businesses need to talk to the people they’re considering for a role. They’ll often do this using a mix of text-based and real-time communication methods, depending on the subject and the recruitment stage.
Strong communication is prompt and clear each time. To achieve this, your company should consider leveraging specific digital solutions, such as centralized virtual PBX systems that let you easily stay on top of your incoming and outgoing comms.
The above picture shows 2 women and 1 man at their work desks working on their computers. Free to use image sourced from Unsplash
Requests and Requirements
As above, these go two ways. Companies will make requests of their candidates, while candidates might explain their requirements to their prospective employers.
The easier this is for both parties, the better the overall candidate recruitment experience will be.
As a form of communication, requests and requirements benefit strongly from being made using the right tech, such as cloud phone services. These use the Internet as their means of connection, making them more accessible to people who might not be able to use a conventional phone.
Expectations
Lastly, candidate recruitment experiences rely heavily on a discussion of expectations. This includes recruiters setting out their expectations of candidates, as well as candidates determining whether the proposed workplace would meet their needs and expectations.
This is arguably the most important facet of the recruitment experience. A company that’s fantastic at letting you know when the interview is, but vague when it comes to explaining what they want from you, is not going to give you a great recruitment experience.
Likewise, candidates have to be clear and direct about their own expectations to make for a good experience. This helps businesses determine whether there’s a good match.
The above picture shows three people sitting at a table 2 are facing and 1 shows the back of a person. Free to use image sourced from Unsplash
Improving the Experience for People With Disabilities
Now it’s time to look at exactly how a company can start changing its candidate experience to ensure it’s optimized for people with disabilities.
As we consider these top tips, please bear in mind that making recruitment experiences more disability-friendly benefits everyone, not just those with disabilities. Some people might not realize, for example, that they have a disability. Others might not be disabled, but still appreciate the flexibility that comes with accommodating disabilities.
Center Diversity and Inclusion
You’ll have a much easier time crafting a great candidate recruitment experience for people with disabilities if you place their needs at the heart of your business ethos. In other words, it’s crucial to incorporate diversity and inclusion into your company’s DNA.
Doing this lets you create a workplace culture that values and uplifts the voices of disabled people. And when your culture emphasizes listening to those voices, you’ll find yourself making adjustments across the board that reflect the needs of people with disabilities.
For example, let’s say you’re looking to be more inclusive towards people who use wheelchairs. If your workplace already caters to the needs of wheelchair users, you won’t have to install temporary ramps before an interview, because the architecture will already be in place.
Plus, placing cultural value on the voices of disabled people helps candidates with disabilities see how they’ll be treated if they’re selected for a position at your company.
The above picture shows a woman in a wheelchair outside heading down a path. Free to use image sourced from Unsplash
Make Reasonable Accommodations
In some cases, employees with disabilities may need specific accommodations to enable them to perform tasks or activities. Your company can make all the difference simply by providing easy access to those accommodations.
These could take the form of real-time transcripts of conversations, for example. They might also involve flexible working hours that allow for a better work-life balance, while also making it easier for people with disabilities to see doctors during the work day.
The main point to remember is that accommodations should make a task or situation more accessible to the candidate in question. Also, different people will need different accommodations, which is why it’s vital to offer multiple kinds.
Don’t Make assumptions (and Do Ask Questions)
One of the biggest mistakes people make with regard to disabilities is to be afraid to ask. This mistake comes from a good place: people don’t want to cause offense, or be seen as rude or ignorant.
But ignorance is only a problem if it’s left untreated, and the antidote is learning.
If you approach every candidate with an open mind and a readiness to learn about their needs, you’ll find yourself creating a great experience for people with disabilities in no time. That’s because staying open-minded lets you avoid assumptions, while asking respectful questions about their needs and preferences helps them feel valued.
Offer Options
Disabilities are not a monolith. For example, people who have auditory processing disorders might struggle to watch movies without subtitles, while people with neurological conditions like ADHD might find themselves distracted by the presence of words on the screen.
The key here is that offering just one movie experience inherently excludes one of those groups. That’s why providing different options is so important: because it fosters inclusion instead of favoring one group over another.
Your candidate recruitment experience should be flexible and adjustable, providing options for diverse sets of needs at every turn.
The above picture shows 5 people sitting around a conference table with laptops. Free to use image sourced from Unsplash
Use Dedicated Tools
It might seem daunting to keep track of every candidate’s needs and preferences. However, with the right tools, you can easily log those details and pull them up with a quick click, ensuring you can provide a tailored experience for each candidate.
For example, an HRIS system (human resource information system) helps you draw up and update a database of all your employees, so you can quickly reference them and see what their unique needs might look like.
Incidentally, those tools also make it much simpler to implement reasonable adjustments.
Keep Learning and Listening to Improve the Candidate Recruitment Experience
The wonderful world of workplace accessibility is far from static. New advances are made all the time as people come up with great ideas that promote inclusion and help make the workplace more welcoming to all kinds of people.
This is why it’s so important to ensure you’re on a path of continuous learning.
The more you know about accessibility and disability, the better you’ll be at creating a fantastic candidate recruitment experience for anyone who’s disabled. That leads to a more inclusive, empowering, and productive workplace environment overall.