Tickbox Interview

JonathanDK

I have had a good career with a global employer. My disability was not an impediment to progress. But, I decided to step back from the stresses of it a year ago. I recently applied for a lecturing post at a local college as have some experience of lecturing at a number of universities and it claimed it welcomed applications from non QTS and disabled candidates.

The interview was embarrassing. There was a question that asked me how I linked my teaching qualification (I have none) to my experience of teaching at A level (I have none). Subsequent questions made it clear that only a QTS candidate could be successful in getting this post. 

My CV was clear regarding my qualifications and experience. It seems non-sensical to ask me questions they must have known I could not answer. I should not have been invited to interview. I don't mind not getting a job - that is life, but I do mind being needlessly put on the spot.

They claim to be "Disabiliy Confident". I am certain that it not the intention of this to put people with disability through a process in which they have little or no chance of success. Inviting candidates with a disability to simply use a process to exclude them from employment feels very much like I was merely a token candidate to tick their Disability Confident box. At no time was I asked about any reasonable adjustments for the interview either - so I would suggest they aren't Disability Committed either.

Any thoughts? I've been turned down for other work and haven't minded. Tjis just felt like a total waste of my time so they could say they'd met some targets.

   

janer1967

Hi and welcome 

Sorry to hear about your interview experience 

Unfortunately some employers have set questions they use for every interview for the ability to benchmark all candidates against and they are not always reviewed against the role and person spec for the job they have advertised 

I understand why you think it is a tick box . It may not be a case of not being disability aware as other non disabled applicants without the qualifications may have applied 

However it may be that as a disability confident employer you got an interview under the guaranteed application rule that ic you met the min requirements you are guaranteed an interview which yes sometimes is just a show that they follow the guide for disability confident 

Dont let this put you off and keep applying 

wilko

personally I think any body applying for an employment position should have an understanding of what qualifications and abilities to take up the position before putting their selves forward for an interview. It was for a teaching post, did the advertisement state what qualifications that where required and what age range you would be expected to teach or lecture. It may have been a it looks good exercise but how many disabled staff did the education Center  actually employ.

Caz_Alumni

Hi @JonathanDK

Welcome to the online community - and thank you for your post

Sorry to hear about your interview experience on this occasion, and I can understand why you're feeling frustrated with the process. 

I'm not sure whether this would be a possibility now - but did you manage to get any feedback on your application? I know that's not always on offer for every job that you might apply to, but I wonder if that might give you some more insight into how they assessed your application and potential suitability for the post? At least that way, you still get some return for the effort that you put into applying for the job in the first place!

Please do keep on exploring the community and feel free to get in touch if you have any questions or we can help you in navigating the site. 

@Caz_Scope