Are You a Premium Candidate?

I’ve always believed that most disabled people are premium candidates. Like everyone else, we have diverse skills, qualities, and talents. But in addition, we’ve developed other unique skills through living in a world not designed with our needs in mind. Here’s why that makes us not just good candidates, but premium ones.

Why You’re a Premium Candidate

Skillful Navigators

For most of us, tasks that others take for granted require thoughtful planning. For instance, meeting someone in town might need to be planned with military precision, whereas most people just hop onto a bus or into a car and go. We need to consider several factors:

Driving: What’s the quickest route? Will there be accessible parking bays? How far are these from the venue? Is the route between the car park and the venue accessible?
Public Transport: Will the bus, train, or tube be accessible? What about the stations or stops at either end? Do I need to contact someone to ensure a ramp will be available?

Everyday Planning

After planning the journey, we often need to consider additional factors:

Venue Accessibility: Are there accessible toilets? Will the menu have the foods I need?
Environment: Will it be too busy, loud, or confusing?
Communication: Will the person I’m meeting understand my needs, or should I discuss it with them beforehand?

This meticulous planning is daily life for many disabled people, and it helps us develop invaluable skills: project management, research, anticipation, organisation, and planning ahead. Skills that are incredibly useful in most roles with most employers.

Master Problem-Solvers

Living in an inaccessible world means we often have to find creative ways to do things. Maybe we use assistive technology. For example, I find it difficult to sit for long periods, so I’ve figured out ways to use a computer while lying down or sitting awkwardly on a sofa. Some of us work from home rather than in an office. People who struggle with short-term memory might write, type, or record lists to ensure nothing gets forgotten.

These challenges make us more flexible, agile, and adaptable than many non-disabled people. Such skills have always been valuable in the workplace, and they are even more crucial today.

Three people are in an office. A woman in a wheelchair is smiling while two others, a woman with a ponytail and a man with curly hair, build a structure with red and blue paper on a coffee table. They are all wearing lanyards and dressed in business casual attire.

The Evolving World of Work

The world of work is changing, especially in the wake of the pandemic. Flexibility, creativity, and finding different ways to achieve results are becoming increasingly important.

As disabled people, we’ve been doing this forever, we are masters at finding new, different, and effective ways to get things done. When people said most work couldn’t be done from home, we were already doing it. When told there was only one way to complete a task, we had already found multiple successful approaches.

Your Value in the Post-Covid World

As you look for work in the post-Covid world, remember that your experience and skills make you a premium candidate. You have a lot to offer, even more so now when flexibility and innovation are in high demand.

For more tips and job opportunities from inclusive employers who value disabled candidates, explore the Evenbreak Job Board and the Career Hive.

Evenbreak is an award-winning not-for-profit specialist job board run by disabled people for disabled people

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