Hear from Soraya, an Accessbility Specialist in our Talent Acquisition team
This year, an exciting opportunity opened within our Talent Acquisition team for a Recruiter to focus on disability inclusion, and I was thrilled to put my name forward. I’ve worked at Sopra Steria for several years and have always been passionate about enhancing diversity and inclusion within our recruitment and onboarding processes. I was so pleased to be selected for this important role.
In my role as accessibility specialist, I’m committed to understanding the challenges and barriers that many people face, especially in the context of job applications. I’ve attended workshops and conferences, completed 100 learning hours, but most importantly, I’ve had lots of conversations with individuals who have firsthand experience. These conversations have been invaluable, providing insights that help me empathise and understand different perspectives.
In my role as accessibility specialist, I’m committed to understanding the challenges and barriers that many people face, especially in the context of job applications. I’ve attended workshops and conferences, completed 100 learning hours, but most importantly, I’ve had lots of conversations with individuals who have firsthand experience. These conversations have been invaluable, providing insights that help me empathise and understand different perspectives.
Since taking on my new role, one of my main priorities has been reviewing and streamlining the job application process. I’ve looked at how we ask candidates about neurodivergence, disabilities, and long-term health conditions, and any adjustments to the process or additional support they might need. One of the recent updates I’ve made is to explicitly include menopause as something candidates may need support with. Menopause awareness is rightly becoming more commonplace but there’s still a long way to go. Menopause symptoms can have a big impact on people at work, and more support measures need to be introduced within organisations.
Understandably, some people can feel wary about disclosing their disability status based on past experiences of discrimination. A survey by Scope found that only half of job applications made by disabled candidates result in an interview, compared to two thirds of non-disabled applicants. As a Disability Confident Employer, we’re committed to offering an interview to any candidate with a disability who meets the minimum criteria for the role. By revising our wording to make it clearer why we’re asking, we hope this reassures people to be open about any potential barriers and how we can work together to reduce or remove them.