What an adjusted interview can look like

An interview is meant to show whether you can do the job. A standard interview can end up testing something else: how quickly you answer a question you have not seen before, how comfortable you are with small talk, or how you cope in a room you do not know. None of that says much about the work.

An adjusted interview changes the parts that get in the way, so the conversation can be about what you can do. Here are some of the adjustments we ask employers to make. You will not need all of them, and you do not need a diagnosis to ask for any of them.

The questions in advance

Seeing the questions a day or two before means you can think about your answers in your own time, instead of on the spot. Some people bring notes to the interview. Some never look at them again. Either is fine.

A clear plan for the day

Who you will meet, how long it will take, where to go when you arrive and what will happen in what order. Knowing this beforehand can make the difference between arriving ready and arriving tired.

A different room, or a different format

An interview does not have to happen across a table. It can be a phone call, a video call, a walk through a task, or a conversation in a quieter room with fewer people in it. If the usual format is the barrier, the format can change.

Time to think

Pauses are allowed. You can ask for a question to be repeated, put in writing or asked a different way, and you can say you would like to come back to it. An interviewer who has been briefed will expect this, and will not read anything into it.

A task instead of a story

Questions that start "Tell me about a time when" reward people who are good at telling stories about themselves. Where the role allows it, a short practical task can show far more about how you work. You can ask whether one is possible.

Someone with you

If it would help to have a support worker, a job coach or someone you trust with you, or waiting nearby, ask. We raise it with the employer before the day, so nobody is surprised.

How to ask

You do not have to name a diagnosis, or have one, to ask for an adjustment. It is enough to say what helps. "I do my best thinking with the questions in front of me" is a complete request.

If you work with us, you tell us your adjustments once, and with your OK we pass them on to each employer before you meet. If an employer says no to something, we talk to them first, and we let you know what they said. You then decide whether to carry on.

Wording you can use

If it helps to have the words ready, here is a message you can change to suit you. Send it to whoever invited you to the interview.

Thank you for inviting me to interview. I give my best answers when I can see the questions in advance, so it would help to have them a day or two before. It would also help to know who I will meet, how long it will take and where to go when I arrive. Could you let me know if that is possible?

You do not have to explain why. If you need communication support at the interview itself, Access to Work can pay for it, as long as you apply before the day.

Not sure what would help?

That is a good place to start. You may be able to say what has gone wrong in past interviews long before you can say what would help. Working that out together is part of what we do. When you are ready, you can register with us.