7 August 2015

This week Liz Dawes met with Julia Oliver of executive search firm Odgers Berndtson. Julia is a Partner, and head of the London-based Not for Profit Practice. She has extensive experience finding and placing professionals with disabilities into senior roles in the Not for Profit sector in London.

What was your career path to your current job, and how did you gain experience in recruiting professionals with disabilities and long term health conditions?

Prior to working in executive search, I worked for over fourteen years as a senior HR professional, leading HR teams and organisational change and development in both the commercial sector and in local government in London.

I started with Odgers Berndtson in 2009 and but have worked as an executive search consultant for fifteen years. I specialise in recruiting people into senior executive and non-executive roles in the Not For Profit sector, with clients such as the British Red Cross, Barnardo’s, Mencap, Samaritans, Leonard Cheshire Disability and the Charity Commission.

Those clients inevitably want talented candidates for senior roles, but they also frequently want someone with understanding of the particular issues they campaign about, be that a loss of sight, hearing or any one of a number of other disabilities or long term health conditions. Recruiting those candidates over a number of years has meant developing expertise in finding and placing candidates with disabilities at the highest levels of organisations.

You must have a lot of useful experience that you could pass on to candidates with disabilities as to how to perform at your best in an interview and secure the job that you want. Do you always encourage candidates to discuss their disability at an interview?

I employ people within my team at Odgers Berndtson who happen to have disabilities, and as an employer who has no issue managing a diverse work force, I would probably find it simpler if a candidate raised their disability before I employed them. This would enable me to ensure that any adjustments they need are in place before they start working, and to deal with any practical issues that might arise. Of course we can do this after employment has begun if the person tells me about a disability at a later date, but it is simpler and easier to have all the right things in place from the start, so personally I would prefer to know. That said, I accept that not all employers have the best attitude towards hiring candidates with disabilities, and I can understand that this creates a reluctance to disclose.

I also don’t see the need for a candidate to discuss a disability at interview if it doesn’t affect how they do their job. If it is not a work-affecting condition, then there really is no need to tell your employer unless you really want to.

If there is something that a person will need to assist them at work on a regular basis, then on balance I think it is better to be up front about that, so that an employer can work around that or put in solutions and make sure that things fit.  As with most things in a work context, managers prefer not to be presented with a surprise that puts them on the back foot.

I think this is about researching your potential employer, finding out as much as you can about their culture, and being realistic about whether and how your disability affects how you work. I would never say that a candidate ought to disclose as a matter of course.

Concentrate on showing in the interview that you can do the job, because that’s what employers want – someone who can do the job.

Assuming a candidate decides to tell an employer about a disability, how and when would you advise that this is done?

The purpose of an interview is to see whether a candidate fulfils the person specification. Like any candidate for any job interview, you should concentrate on the person spec, and on demonstrating in the interview that you can meet the criteria. Keep your interview answers firmly based around doing that.

If you are going to discuss a disability or long term health condition, it will be because you believe that it in some way impacts on the person spec. So the best way to raise it is during questions about the skills and experience that you are being asked about, and that are affected by your disability. So to use a very simple example, let’s imagine that a person has some hearing loss, and the person spec requires that they use the telephone frequently. When being asked about those skills and competencies, a candidate can say: “Because I have partial hearing loss, it can be difficult for me to hear conversations over the telephone.” They can then go on to briefly explain what practical solutions to that issue will work best for them.

Try not to highlight it as a big deal if you don’t need to. Put the disability into the context of the job you are being asked to do, and show how it is a practical issue, and how it can be dealt with. There is no need to make it a headline, or give the impression that it is an issue or a problem, when it isn’t. What part of the job does your disability affect, how does it affect it, and how do you propose to overcome that so that you can do the job you are applying for? You do not need to do anything more. This approach reassures an employer that you have thought about the job, thought about the person spec, are clear how you can fulfil the spec and so do the job, and will be a reliable employee.

Would you mention a disability or long term health condition on a form when applying for a job?

Some employers use the “two tick” method of recruiting, where basically if you fulfil certain criteria on the person spec and have a disability, you will automatically be offered an interview. If you are applying to one of those employers then you will probably want to put details of any disability or long term health condition on the form so that you are offered an interview.

Otherwise, any questions about disability should only be asked on an anonymised and separate equal opportunities monitoring form. If questions about disability appear elsewhere then I would ignore them. They should not be there.

And finally, how would you advise candidates who are worried about getting a negative reaction to their disability in an interview?

This is all about preparation. If you think there might be negativity, don’t be defensive from the outset. The interview is about your competency and your ability to do the job. There is a job description and a person spec, and that is what you should be focussed on – just like any other candidate should be. Have your answers ready for questions about whether your disability will seriously affect your performance in the job, have your solutions to any practical issues ready, and be positive and straight down the line in your answers. Don’t leave room for doubt. Be confident in your abilities and don’t waiver. If employers get the impression you are confident and reliable then they are better able to adjust their attitude to what they might previous have perceived as a problem.

That said, if you encounter real negativity, and unfortunately the reality is that some employers are not as good as they should be on these matters, think carefully about the employer, and be sure that you want to work there. If they see disability as a big issue you may find them very hard to work for. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t work there, but think carefully about it.  This applies to any potential candidate – if you do not believe the culture of an employer is the best for you, then you may not be happy.