Job interviews are stressful for most people, talking about ourselves and selling ourselves is not something many people find easy to do. However if you have dyslexia an interview can cause a lot of anxiety. Worrying if you are going to be asked to read or write something in the interview, misunderstanding communication or worrying about how you will be perceived for making spelling mistakes in your CV.
There are a few things you can do to make the interview a little less stressful for yourself.
Take time to think about the questions, have a look at example questions online or get someone to practice with you. Answering questions on the spot can be difficult, so try to think of some answers to questions you might be asked beforehand.
Think of questions you want to ask about the job in advance as well.
Take some notes in with you – in whatever format is more accessible to you, have something with you to remind you of key things you want the interviewer to know.
It is reasonable to ask for the questions up front as an adjustment- this will help you be able to take time to prepare your answers.
Ask the interview to focus on one thing at a time and not ask multiple questions at once.
If you fill in any forms ask if you can have these in advance to fill in and take to the interview with you.
If there is an assessment as part of the interview ask the interviewer if you can have additional time to complete this.
The important thing to remember is that the adjustments you are asking for are something you are legally entitled to and if the employer is not willing to adapt in an interview you may also struggle to get adjustments if you get the job. Consider if it is the right job for you if the employer is not willing to adapt from the start. The adjustments are not costly and are only small tweaks to a process to help give you an equal chance to succeed.
