5 Easy Ways to Make your Interviewing More Accessible and Inclusive

Interviewing has been the area where I think we’ve been able to make the most change in terms of Trauma-Informed onboarding and it’s such an important part of the puzzle. We all know that interviewing is as much for the applicant to get to know you as an organisation as it is about the organisation getting to know them. So showing that you are a considerate and trauma-informed space for your volunteers is vital.

It’s also important to remember that interviews themselves can cause immense amounts of stress and anxiety for all people and especially those who have lived experience and or may face discrimination in the workplace. In this edition of the blog series on bringing trauma-informed practice into volunteer management I’ll be sharing some tips on ways you can be more trauma-informed before, during and after the interview.

So here are 5 really simple things you can do to make your interviews more accessible

Ask if they have any accessibility needs:

This one sounds so obvious but yet many organisations leave it out. Suggesting adjustments may also help people feel more comfortable “please let us know if there is a time of day you may find more comfortable” “are the reading materials we have shared accessible” “would you prefer a longer interview slot to allow time to process the questions” “do you need any financial assistance to attend this interview”

Share the interview questions beforehand

This is an absolute must!

Not only does sharing the interview questions allow people to feel prepared and therefore less anxious, it also allows them to really think about their answer and give you the best examples so you know you’ve got the best out of the candidate, and not have them thinking about a better answer on the bus home!

You may require a question that needs to kept confidential until the meeting. You can just say “After the questions we have shared there will then be another x amount of questions regarding….ie. Safeguarding, health and safety”

What to wear and what to bring

What to wear for an interview always stresses me out, I think I put too much onus on my outfit, but so many people do. People hear interview, and think suit. But not everyone has access to business attire, or the funds to acquire it. So consider whether business attire is really necessary. Tell people what is expected of them, if you’ll be comfortable, tell them to be too.

You may also want to include anything else they need to bring such as ID or certificates. 

Do they have any questions or would they like to add anything?

“Do you have any questions for us?” is in almost every interview now and it should be. But have you asked it at the right time?

Allow people to ask questions at the beginning of the interview, your answers to their queries may shape their response and make the conversations more relevant. Of course ask at the end as well, but multiple opportunities is always better.

“Is there anything you would like to share that our questions did not leave space for” I love this question. When you’re in an interview sometimes you have something you want to shout about but can’t seem to crow bar it into conversation. It allows people to share something they are proud of, or think is relevant to the role that you might not have thought to ask, and it can be the thing that shows that they are the star of the day.

Explain what’s going to happen next and follow up!

Be clear about the timeline of decisions and different stages. If it is going to be 3 days tell them that and then they won’t spend the next three days staring at their phone with their stomach in knots. If there is an extension on that decision date, contact all your candidates let them know and explain why. It shows that you care about the anxiety around recruitment and want to be transparent, it shows what kind of organisation you are.

Always follow-up, whether successful or unsuccessful you need to communicate with your candidates. If they have reached interview stage and have given you the time to prepare and sit through an interview, then they deserve your time to give them a call and chat through the decision. 

If you want to know more about making your interviewing and onboarding inclusive then check out our toolkit.