How do I navigate special needs in recruitment?

Hi, today we are still talking recruitment with our 52 top tips. And it is the jack of diamonds. And the jack of diamonds, it’s all about special needs. 

Now when people think about special needs, they may feel that it’s just about a physical disability. It could be somebody who has a mental difficulty. It could be somebody who has been out of work for a long time. It could be somebody with a particular religious background. It wouldn’t stop them doing the job, but you need to make sure that you’re not exposing the company to a risk at the recruitment stage. 

So our jack of diamonds, our top tip on special needs, is to think about accessibility of the interview location and room. Could someone with a disability get in? Would you need to know about any reasonable adjustments in advance? If you’re providing food, check for any dietary requirements. 

Just because somebody has a special need doesn’t mean that they can’t do the job. It may just be that you need to make some kind of reasonable adjustments, very small tweaks sometimes to enable them to actually interview and give them the best opportunity for showing you what they can do and the value that they can add to your business.