How Using a Disability-Friendly Job Board Can Land Your Dream Job

Finding the perfect job as a disabled person is not an easy task. There are a lot more things you need to take into consideration as a disabled person to make sure that you find an employer and workplace that is right for you and provides what you need.

Sometimes, the search for a new job can be exhausting and even overwhelming for disabled people. It can feel easier to give up when you are facing so many hurdles and setbacks. This is just one of the problems that contribute to the continuing disability-employment gap in the U.K. 

Thankfully, on the more positive side, we are seeing the emergence of more and more tools and resources that can help disabled job seekers on their hunt for the perfect job. Disability-friendly job boards are the current number one tool in this area. 

In this blog, we are going to talk more about what a disability-friendly job board is and how it can be extremely helpful in the search for your dream job.

First, let’s talk a little more about why this is necessary in the first place. 

Why Job Searching is Harder as a Disabled Person

Disabled people face different hurdles than non-disabled people when it comes to finding an appropriate job. This is due to many various factors, including (but not limited to):

• Inaccessible recruitment processes. Failure to provide alternative formats or make necessary changes in physical accessibility stops many disabled people from having a fair chance at applying to and interviewing for a job. 

• Unconscious bias. Many people who make up decision panels during recruitment processes may unconsciously be biased against disabled people. Certain stereotypes and misconceptions may hold disabled people back from being hired even when they are the right person for the job. 

• Discrimination. As well as unconscious bias, many disabled people come up against direct discrimination when looking for a job. While this is entirely illegal, it unfortunately still happens and can cause great stress and upset for the person involved. 

• Jobs made unsuitable to disabled candidates. Often unintentionally, jobs can be made suitable to being filled by disabled job candidates. If they are held in inaccessible offices, only offer certain contracts, have a lack of facilities, or have any range of aspects that could cause the job to simply not be suitable for disabled people. 

Ultimately, trying to find the right job as a disabled person can be very challenging. As such, it is important that disabled people know what tools are out there to help them find their perfect job. Just like a disability-friendly job board. Let’s talk more about what that is in our next section. 

What is a Disability-Friendly Job Board?

A disability-friendly job board is, in its simplest terms, a job board that is easier and more worthwhile for disabled job seekers to use. It is a job board with the best interests of disabled people at heart. One with a strong focus on being accessible and providing more opportunities to those who are often excluded.

Disability-friendly job boards consider: 

• The calibre and inclusivity of the employers posting the jobs. Including their dedication to disability inclusion and status within the Disability Confident programme. 
• The language used throughout job adverts – is it inclusive or exclusive to disabled job seekers?
• Whether the jobs are suitable for a wide range of people or not – i.e. are the positions themselves inclusive or exclusive?
• Whether the companies are willing and able to offer reasonable adjustments as early as the recruitment process so that the interviews held are fair and accessible too.
• Alternative formats and digital accessibility of the board and jobs posted there. 
• Transparency and honesty – through examples such as offering employee reviews of certain companies and employees publicly.
• Variation of contracts offered and the inclusion of flexible, part-time, compressed, and other accessible contract options. 

Overall, a disability-friendly job board is one that opens doors for disabled job seekers rather than shutting them. It allows disabled people to use a service comfortably and hopefully use it in such a way that it allows them to find a job that will be suitable for them and their needs, without being unnecessarily excluded or needing to jump through hoops. 

Everything is much more straightforward, accessible, and transparent when it comes to using a dedicated disability-friendly job board. As opposed to using a mainstream job board that does very little (or nothing at all) to consider the disabled community in the world of recruitment. Far too many recruitment services forget about disabled people, so it is important to take your time and effort to a platform that deserves it.

Disabled employees and job seekers are skilled and valuable and should be treated as such. 

Where to Find the Best Disability-Friendly Job Board 

You can find the best disability-friendly job board on the market right here at Careers with Disabilities. 

We have a busy and exciting job board filled with opportunities from accessible employers across the U.K. All of these employers are a part of the government’s Disability Confident scheme and we tell you exactly what level they are and what their stance on inclusivity in the workplace is. 

We know just how important is to feel safe and comfortable entering a new job as a disabled person. Therefore we care about which employers we endorse and what jobs we bring to you via our job board. We are transparent at all times and allow you to rate the employers you see there so we can keep up to date with how things are going. 

If you are a disabled job seeker in the U.K. looking for your dream job, check out everything we have to offer on our site. From our disability-friendly job board, directory of inclusive employers, and wide range of disabled job seeker support, we have everything you need to break into the market and get the job you want.

Anything else you might need? Don’t hesitate to get in touch.