1 August 2024
4 Ways to Positively Position Your Disability to a Potential Employer
“My disability doesn’t make my any more special than anyone else. But I do believe it has given me something extra, a ‘plus’.” (Helen Cooke; CEO & Founder MyPlus Students’ Club)
When it comes to disability it’s easy to think about all the things you can’t do, or that you can no longer do. However, when it comes to searching for a placement or a job, it’s helpful to think about what you can do and what skills, strengths and competencies you have.
We all develop skills as a result of our experiences, and this is especially true when you have to manage a disability on a day-to-day basis in a world that wasn’t designed with you in mind. These are skills that employers are potentially looking for.
By identifying the strengths you have gained through managing a disability you can market your disability as a ‘plus’ when applying to jobs and make your application stand out from the competition and catch the eye of the recruiters.
At MyPlus Students’ Club we provide essential information and advice for students on managing your disability* during the recruitment process and into the workplace, as well as profiling disability-confident recruiters looking to engage with you.
1. Identify your ‘plus’
There are many ways to identify your strengths however a good starting point is to reflect on your own experiences, including those related to your disability, to understand where your strengths lie.
By finding real examples in your life where you have overcome disability-related challenges to achieve success, your talents and character strengths will become clearer. A good way to do this is to consider what you must do daily that your non-disabled friends don’t.
2. Communicating your ‘plus‘
For each of the strengths and skills that you identify as having developed because of your disability, you will need to be able to provide a couple of examples. The examples should be related to your disability; ideally, each skill will be developed by a different experience.
On your application form or during an interview, think positively about your experiences of disability and articulate a couple of strengths that your disability has forced you to develop that will enable you to achieve results in the future.
By communicating these strengths in an interview, and discussing the disability-related challenges you have overcome to achieve success today, you can begin to really stand out as a candidate with a ‘plus’.
3. Relating your ‘plus’ to the role
As you identify your strengths, remember that the aim is to show the employer that you have the relevant competencies and attributes to succeed in the role. Read the job description carefully and familiarise yourself with the requirements of the role.
You can then match your strengths to the job and explain how these will enable you to achieve the best results in the organisation.
4. Leveraging your disability as your differentiator
Once you have chosen your strengths, you can prepare one or two supporting examples to demonstrate how the strengths you have developed through a disability have enabled you to excel or why this strength will be an asset to the organisation.
By drawing upon personal experiences to illustrate your strengths, you can set yourself apart from the competition.
For more advice and information, become a member of www.myplusstudentsclub.com, and explore our career guides covering a range of topics such as disclosure, making an application with a disability, and requesting adjustments by clicking on our Resources section here.
MyPlus Students’ Club is a free online resource for students that offers comprehensive guidance on all aspects of applying for a job or internship with a disability, as well as providing connections to, and jobs with disability confident graduate recruiters
*Disability includes, but is not limited to conditions such as visual and hearing impairments, mobility impairments, autism, diabetes, epilepsy, dyslexia, dyspraxia, mental health conditions, speech impairments and major illnesses such as cancer and MS.
Author: Helen Cooke, Director and Founder of MyPlus Students’ Club