In the last 6 episodes of The Dyspraxic Social worker, we have sought to: introduce you to dyspraxia; explore its three main components; champion and highlight the dyspraxia strengths that derive from the differences in neurological processing; debunk common myths that reinforce stigma and spread misinformation about dyspraxia; provided tips for dyspraxic social workers to navigate the neurotypical workplace and lean into our strengths; and finally, we have given tips to employers which will help them create a social work workplace enviroment and culture that is also built for neurodivergent practitioners.
Today, we are going to take a few steps back in this journey (in my typical non-linear dyslexic/dyspraxic way) and explore what we can do to overcome some of the barriers we encounter before we even enter the workplace. We are exploring job applications and interviews.
Before, we start this exploration, I feel it is important to note again that it is not our responsibility to adapt ourselves to neurotypical systems, structure, expectations and 'norms'. Some of us have done this for many years through masking, which can use considerable energy and result in exhaustion or contribute significantly to burn out. However, what i do hope to achieve through this post is to provide tips for dyspraxic social workers to employ whilst the social work profession and society is on its journey to become neurodiverse aware, and specifically for this post, dyspraxic aware/friendly.
I also hope that this post will speed up this journey of change by highlighting the inequality and lack of reasonable adjustments are made in job adverts and application processes. I hope neurotypical practitioners and managers read this post and see what we have to do and what challenges we encounter before we even reach the workplace.
Whether you are neurodivergent or not, interview prep and the interview itself is inevitably a daunting task. You need to find a job that you like and believe you have the skills and experience for, you need to plan a written statement setting out how your skills and experience meet the person specification, you need to prepare for your interviews, and you need to prepare for the day. If you add sensory and brain processing differences into this mix, which can sometimes make organisation, communication, perception, language and thought difficult, its becomes an even more daunting task.
With this being said, where there are specific neurological differences and difficulties, there are specific strengths. Understanding your neurodiversity and developing strategies that work for you can make the job application less stressful. Don't forget to check out episode three which explores dyspraxia strengths.
Here are some tips and tricks I have adopted for my own needs and strengths, and others that have been created by dyspraxic peers in social work and beyond.
Know your strengths- we have individual strengths and weaknesses, which cannot be compared against one another. If you are a social worker, one hopes you are well versed in the art of reflection. Reflect on your day-to-day living and practice, considering what you enjoy and what you are good at. What do people comment on at work or outside of work (spotting fine details, empathy, original thinking and determination etc)? Include these examples as transferrable skills within your application - they are a part of you and so you will bring these skills wherever you go. Moreover, use these strengths to support the application process - create a rhyme to help you remember the application criteria, this can help you remember what needs doing.
Take time with your application – Time management is not our forte and time perception can make us feel like we have less time than we do. So plan your time out wisely (and review this plan), take your time and concentrate on the task at hand or you might make mistakes (typos, missing words, misreading words, misreading forms or missing out sections by mistakes). Our neurological differences can sometimes cause difficulties with our coordination, visual-spatial awareness and our attention to detail.
Ask for help – always ask someone to read over your application. Although the content will be very social work specific, you can ask a family member or peer to read over for basic spelling and grammar. Ask them to review the application to make sure you haven’t missed any parts out.
Seek out supportive employers- use the email and telephone detail and check in with the recruiting manager about the reasonable adjustments they offer, their understanding of neurodiversity, their ability to listen and ask questions, and their approach to supporting employees. Although this should not be our responsibility, it will help you assess whether it is the right place for you. Alternatively, you can check out the Disability Confident pledge which lists employers who have signed up to and are specifically committed to supporting disabled employees. Like dyslexia, dyspraxia is considered a disability under the Equality Act, which protects you from discrimination at work.
Disclosure- as we know, every person’s circumstance, needs and strengths are unique to them. You are the expert on your needs and how dyspraxia is likely to affect your application process, interview and the way you carry out day-to-day tasks, be confident and take ownership of this. If you do disclose, remember to promote your strengths as well as what you find difficult- try and find a healthy balance.
Requesting reasonable adjustments- The Equality Act (2010) contains legal protections against discrimination for employees with dyspraxia. reasonable adjustments must be given- to create an environment that minimises the impact of the disability, whilst still being “reasonable” for the organisation to implement. Think about what you need to give your best and mitigate the challenges of dyspraxia. As a guide, for assessment tasks, you should be allowed five minutes to read the instructions before you start, five added minutes for every fifteen, or fifteen for every hour.
Getting to interviews – Make sure you plan how you are travelling to your interview and allow extra time for travelling. Perhaps even have a trial run to make sure that you arrive on time. Being late and arriving in a panic is stressful and can throw you off at the interview.
Have a pre-set list of questions – asking questions during an interview is very daunting. I have sat there blank whilst my brain slowly process that I need to ask a question, which subsequently impacted my confidence. Have a list of basic questions (teamwork, support, reasonable adjustments etc) and a list of more organisation/role-specific questions. For example, ‘find out what a typical day might involve, what training you’ll be given and how easy it is to move around within the company or develop within an area you’re particularly interested in. Doing this will turn the interview into a conversation, which can feel more comfortable’ (GradFog).
Practice talking about yourself – when I began interviewing for social work roles, I was always thrown off when the interviewer asked me to ‘tell me about yourself’. What does that mean? There would be so many questions and possible answers flying around my head. However, by practising talking about myself and preparing answers this stress was alleviated.
Think about the jobs you’ve done and the skills you’ve gained. Ask those who know you well to point to strengths you might not have noticed or achievements you might not remember. It’s good to have a few answers stocked up your sleeve. Just tweak them so you make sure they answer the question that’s being asked (GradFog).
Create posters - creating something visually pleasing and informative can take the pressure away from looking at black and white paper. Check out this post for creative interview poster ideas.
Ask somebody to give you a mock interview- like the above, practice can help ease confidence. Ask a partner, friend, or family member to give you a mock interview. This is about how you will answer questions about time management, safeguarding, prioritisation, relationship building and legislation/.
Choose the clothes you are going to wear for the interview well in advance. Do not wear anything brand-new. You need to be comfortable and smart.
I hope some of these tips will be useful when you are applying for a job or preparing for an interview - i additionally hope it has given neurotypical people an insight into the extra work and labour we need to complete to prepare for interviews.
Please get in tough if you would like some other tips to be added to this post.
Thank you for reading - see you next week!
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