Employer looking for advice

centwistle

Hi there!

I'm writing here hoping to get some advice on the best way to approach hiring inclusively with the disabled community. I'm in the fortunate position to work in the games industry, and recently our company moved to entirely remote within the UK - everyone works from home, we provide the equipment, and we've adopted somewhat flexible hours. We've got some new positions opening in the future (both entry level and senior) and I'd like to ensure that these roles are seen by this community and that we approach advertising and hiring in the right way.

To that end, what I'd like is some advice on is the following:

1. Is there any up to date reading material on work-from-home requirements for people who may have a disability, e.g.: how best to be flexible around people's needs, and what those needs might be, what we should be considering.
2. Is there any additional information we should be including in the job description to better help someone understand if they'd want to apply?
3. Are there any general lessons or pitfalls we should learn from this community on how best to approach advertising and hiring into these roles?

Video games have been my passion since I was a very young child, and I think that feeling is shared across the world in many, many communities worldwide. We'd love to have more diverse experiences in our team, so any advice at all on how best to work with the disabled community on advertising and hiring into these roles would be hugely received.

Also, if there's anything we should avoid or change about our approach (including in this post or any wording I've used) please feel free to help me understand and let me know if you're happy to. I'd certainly be appreciated by me, we'd like to be inclusive in the way we approach hiring as we fulfil these roles.

Thanks,

Centwistle

Reg

Hello

Welcome to the forum. Whilst I know absolutely nothing about gaming I do know a bit about employment law and working with a disability.

I left employment because of the commute and lack of part time work and flexibility- all important if you are disabled.

If you are advertising as well as inviting applications from all sectors it may be an idea to emphasise that the working from home is a permanent option , if you are offering part time work and how flexible you are over hours.

For example, as a freelance writer I rule out all full time work as I can not sit for that long . I also look for complete flexibility so no fixed hours. That works for me so I can work when I am well rather than at a set time each day. 

All the firms I work for have been great and say they get a far better service by flexibility on both sides . I don't know if you can be as flexible with your gaming job roles but I suspect an emphasis on that would be attractive.

As for reasonable adjustments, that totally depends on the job candidate's needs and of course your HS guidance on home working .

Hope your recruitment goes well. 

TheAlien

I'm so glad you're asking this question.  The issue around disability is that there is no one size fits all, even people with the same condition can have widely varying needs.  This is where a lot of organisations fall down, they look at the disabled person and assume what their needs will be as opposed to asking.  Trust me, it grates on a lot of disabled people because we end up feeling like we're not being listened to.

Its not unreasonable to ask at the interview stage what reasonable adjustments you can make to accommodate the needs of that individual disabled employee, but please keep in mind, that those needs could change over time.

[Deleted User]

Hi @centwistle

 

A warm welcome to the community.  It’s great to hear that you are looking to approach hiring inclusively, and I’m sure our friendly and knowledgeable community will be able to offer some useful insight. 

 

Just to let you know, Scope’s Support to Work service has an online job board. The team works with employers who are committed to employing more disabled people and provide guidance for attracting disabled candidates and building more inclusive workplaces.  If this is of interest, and you would like further information, you can contact supporttowork@scope.org.uk

 

 

Hope this helps - please do keep in touch, and let us know if you have any further questions. 

 

 

Tori_Scope

I'm glad you've got some responses to this already @centwistle It's great that you want to make sure your hiring process is accessible and inclusive!

Along with the above, you may be interested in getting in touch with our Get Inclusive team:

Through Get Inclusive, Scope’s disability employment advisers will work with you to help break down the procedural and attitudinal barriers disabled people face getting into the workplace.

centwistle

This has all been really helpful - thank you all! I'll be in touch with the Scope team too.

Garza

Just out of curiosity I was wondering what kind of roles you were advertising for? I have  been an avid gamer for over 30 years, almost since video games were a thing! I would really love to see more disabled people within the industry and certainly offering permanent work from home roles would be a boon to many I am sure 

centwistle

We're looking for a wide range of roles: programmers, artists, QA testers. We've got some entry level QA positions likely coming up in the next couple of months that'll anyone interested in breaking into the industry would be great to look at.

Garza

centwistle said:

We're looking for a wide range of roles: programmers, artists, QA testers. We've got some entry level QA positions likely coming up in the next couple of months that'll anyone interested in breaking into the industry would be great to look at.

I am curious about what would be involved in a QA tester role and could this be done by someone with little or no experience? 

I have just starting playing Farcry 6 with friends and we seem to be constantly picking faults with it, so is that the kind of thing a QA tester does? 

centwistle

Sort of. An example of what it's like to be a games tester can be found in this article here:
https://www.businessinsider.com/what-its-like-to-be-a-video-game-tester-2015-6?r=US&IR=T

Some caveats though:

1. Our company doesn't endorse "crunch", e.g.: more than a 40-hour week. It burns people out.
2. Our company pays better than average for QA because we're looking for people to stay around.
3. We do look for technical literacy as a basis, e.g.: the ability to use Word, Excel, and/or other examples of computer programs that show a better-than-basic ability with a PC. We can teach the specific tools we use, but we need people who understand how to use and communicate with a computer (we're fully remote).

Other than that - a strong love of games and a desire to work on a team building them is a good indicator of a good fit. You want people who are passionate about the job where possible, as they tend to enjoy learning about the craft.

Garza

I am really interested in this and possibly know others who may be too, I wonder what I may be able to do next to keep abreast of this opportunity? 

centwistle

I'm not sure what the rules are and if private messaging exists on this forum - if there's a way to DM me your email address I can reach out and talk to you more about it?

Garza

i am not sure about that either 

centwistle

Tell you what - drop me an email at [removed by moderator - email address]

I'll give you some more information about the role there.

Tori_Scope

Hi @centwistle @Garza You can start a conversation through private messages (PMs) once you have 25 points on the community. Points can primarily be gained through posting, commenting, and having people react to your posts and comments. @Garza, you have over 25 points so you can send a PM to @centwistle and they'll be able to reply.

Here's how to send a PM:

1. Locate the 'inbox' icon underneath your username
2. Click 'new message'
3. Type in the username of the person you want to PM in the 'recipients' box
4. Type your message in the box underneath 
5. Click 'post message'

@centwistle I've removed your email address from your comment, as we don't allow personal information such as email addresses and phone numbers to be posted publicly on the community. 

centwistle

Hey Tori - understood, thanks for clarifying! I'll get working on those points then.