Careers support for disabled and neurodivergent students and alumni

You'll find Careers and Placements in a single storey building near the centre of Campus West, next to the central car park, with an accessible main entrance. We aim to ensure that all students have access to the resources, services and events on offer. 

Careers and Placements on the Campus Map

You can book appointments via Handshake, and can choose whether you prefer a face-to-face or online appointment. If you wish, you can invite your support worker to a careers appointment, and can contact us in advance to book a time to suit everyone. Let us know if you would benefit from a longer appointment. 

If you need any adjustments to help you access our services, just ask - see the examples of adjustments we offer.

You can contact us by sending a message on Handshake or by emailing careers@york.ac.uk.

York Alumni should also see our alumni pages.

Careers advice appointments, with one of our careers consultants, are 20 minutes long. We can offer longer appointments if that would be useful to you - or you can start with the standard 20 minute appointment and come back another time for a longer one. You can choose an in-person appointment, in the Careers and Placements building, or an online appointment via Zoom.

When you book an appointment in Handshake, you’ll be asked to indicate (from a list of topics) what you’d like to talk about. Don’t worry if you don’t really know, or find it difficult to start the conversation - our careers consultants can help. Topics could include:

• Career options / generating ideas
• Work experience
• Advice on CVs and applications
• Preparing for interviews
• Talking to employers about support you might need to succeed in the workplace
• Or anything else to do with careers and employability.

When you book an appointment, you can ask for any adjustments you might need; see the examples of adjustments we offer.

You’ll get an email confirmation of your appointment booking, and a reminder 24 hours and 1 hour before the appointment time (unless you have changed your notification settings in Handshake).

At the end of your appointment, you can agree some next steps or action points with the careers consultant. These can be recorded in the appointment comments in Handshake for you to review later, and we can also send you an email summary if you prefer.

Career coaching

Disabled and neurodivergent final year undergraduates and recent graduates are eligible to extended career appointment with one consistent, friendly and experienced careers coach through our career coaching programme. You can read more on the career coaching page, and complete a career coaching application form if you would like to do this.

We are a Next Generation Inclusive University at York, working in partnership with EmployAbility to support students and recent graduates (2022 onwards) who are disabled and neurodivergent, or living with a long term health condition. EmployAbility can help you with free support and advice on which adjustments may be most helpful to you, and can even talk to an employer on your behalf to ensure you get the adjustments you need.

EmployAbility offer registered students:

• webinars with practical tips
• appointments for advice and support
• access to internships, placements and graduate programmes with Next Generation Inclusive employers
• advocacy with employers to ensure you get the adjustments you need

to ensure your transition into the world of work is as straightforward as possible.

Register with EmployAbility

EmployAbility sessions - Semester 2

• Disability: adjustments in recruitment and the workplace, Tuesday 4 February, 2pm online
• Neurodivergence: navigating the recruitment process, Wednesday 12 February, 2pm online
• Mental health: your right to privacy and adjustments, Wednesday 5 March, 2pm online

Registration, and further details, including the zoom link, will be available in Handshake in semester 2.

EmployAbility session video recordings

If you missed the session, or want to check something afterwards, you can watch the recordings. These recordings are from semester 1.

• Disability: adjustments in recruitment and the workplace
  • An introduction to EmployAbility and the services they offer to York students

• Neurodivergence and how to navigate recruitment processes
  • An overview of EmployAbility and their work; how York students can access the opportunities and services they offer after registering via their website.

• Mental health: your right to privacy and adjustments
  • An introduction to EmployAbility and what they offer for York students as well as the services they offer in general and how to register 

The numbers of students declaring mental health problems are growing, and this session covers mental health conditions as a disability. It provides some examples of helpful adjustments in the recruitment process, and how these can differ from academic adjustments. It also covers adjustments in the workplace - which may differ from adjustments requested during recruitment.

Interviews and assessments can be an aggravating factor for students with mental health conditions and EmployAbility share how they can advocate for you in this context. They talk through some common misconceptions around disclosure and sharing your personal circumstances with employers, and explore what you might want to share with an employer about your mental health.

Session duration approx 40 minutes

Employers with a positive attitude to disability can be identified from their recruitment information. They may also use the disability confident logo (above) or ‘two ticks’ symbol, guaranteeing an interview to all candidates with disabilities who fulfil the minimum job requirements.

• Disability confident employers on GOV.UK
• Business Disability Forum list of member organisations

You can also look for a company’s equal opportunities policy, and its employee support networks: does the company website have details of disabled staff networks, or profiles featuring employees with disabilities? Many employers have a disability network offering support and acting as a voice for disabled staff in the organisation.

Check recruitment information to see whether they offer materials in alternative formats, or invite requests for adjustments. PwC's information on applying with a disability is a good example of inclusive company information and mentions the kind of adjustments you might request from an employer.

The Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate because of a 'protected characteristic', one of which is disability.

Disability is defined as "a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities".

This definition is broad and covers a wide range of long-term conditions, so for more detail see advice from Disability Rights UK.

The Act covers the areas of recruitment, including applications, tests and interviews, employment, including terms and conditions, training and promotion, and issues such as redundancy, dismissal and grievances.

Employers must make ‘reasonable adjustments’ which may include adjustments to the recruitment process, adjusting working hours or providing equipment to enable an employee with disabilities to do the job. See the GOV.UK website for more disability rights information, including details of the Access to work scheme.

MyPlus Students Club has information on Requesting Adjustments in the recruitment process. See also the Requesting adjustments section below.

Some organisations run insight events and placements - these tend to be in areas such as the Civil Service, law and finance. Note that for summer internships, the deadline is likely to be the previous autumn, so start looking early.

Commercial law: Explore the Law -  Insight event for people with a disability or long term health condition considering a career in commercial law (next event November 2024).

Disabled Solicitors Network and the Law Society Diversity Access Scheme for support and work experience placements

Investment banking: Investing in Talent aims to give undergraduates with disabilities and long term health conditions an insight into investment banking careers (October 2024). 

BBC is a Disability Confident employer, sometimes offering internships and work experience. Other TV companies, such as Channel 4 and GMTV also offer work placement and employment opportunities. 

EmployAbility works with organisations to offer work experience and graduate jobs to disabled and neurodivergent candidates; check vacancies advertised through Handshake or on the EmployAbility website. University of York students registered with Employability can access additional support, see EmployAbility section above.

Change100 offer summer internships with leading employers (also advertised in Handshake); apply from September for the following summer. Read a York graduate's experience of a Change 100 internship.

10000 Interns Foundation has paid internships for disabled students and graduates.

There is no obligation to tell an employer about your disability - whether and how to do this is your decision.

• You will need to tell an employer if you want them to make recruitment or workplace adjustments.
• An employer does not need to know your diagnosis or prognosis; they do not need to see any medical information. They just need enough information to identify potential difficulties and make appropriate adjustments.
• You are not being treated more favourably than other candidates; adjustments make recruitment fair and accessible for all candidates and mean you can compete on equal terms with others.

You may want to think about the pros and cons and implications:

• If you would like to discuss how and when to talk about your disability with an employer, book a careers advice appointment through Handshake to talk with one of our careers consultants.
• Read about equality issues and your graduate job hunt on the targetjobs website
• See the Disability Rights UK guide for students: Telling people you're disabled
• MyPlus Students Club has information on requesting adjustments in the recruitment process and at work.

Examples of recruitment adjustments might be:

• requesting interview questions in advance (or in writing at the interview)
• extra time for tests or selection activities
• if tests are text heavy, you might ask for changes to the format of the text, or ask to use text to speech software
• letting an employer know about any difficulties with cognitive processing, so that they can take this in to account when talking with you - for situational judgement tests or interviews, you might ask for questions in advance, or for the context to be clearly explained (for example "This question is to see how you approach prioritising different tasks").

EmployAbility - see section above - can support you to request the adjustments you need.

When you apply for jobs, you will need to evidence your skills. In addition to skills gained from your course and any other activities, you may have developed particular skills in managing your disability, for example:  

• Interpersonal skills and possibly management experience (managing support workers and/or carers) 
• Communication and negotiation skills
• Flexibility, creativity and problem-solving
• Empathy
• Organisation, planning and budgeting
• Resilience and tenacity

Careers staff can help you to positively position your disability, and to be confident in explaining your situation and requesting any adjustments you may need.

Information

• The GOV.UK website has information on looking for work if you're disabled.
• The government funded Access to Work scheme provides advice, as well as practical and financial support to disabled people and their employers, for example to make the work environment accessible and to provide you with support. It can fund a BSL interpreter for D/deaf candidates at interview. The Access to Work fund is not available for unpaid work/volunteering. Note – do not presume an employer will know about the Access to Work scheme. You can find out more about Access to work on the Disability Rights UK website.
• List of Disability Confident employers (Government voluntary scheme to enable employers to recruit and retain people with disabilities and long-term health conditions
• The role of a workplace Personal Assistant

Not sure if you can apply for Universal Credit or not sure you want to?

If you have finished university and you are unemployed you could be eligible. Even if you’ve moved back in with your parents or guardians you could still apply; Universal Credit is not based on what other people in your household earn. For more information about applying for Universal Credit as a recent graduate, read the advice from Save the Student.

Recruitment

• EmployAbility is the not-for-profit organisation dedicated to helping disabled students and graduates into employment. They can help you find internships or permanent roles at a wide range of blue-chip employers including leading investment banks, law firms, plus many others - including the NHS and Google. Register with them to access advice and support, or check their events and webinars. They also have a number of webinar videos about the recruitment process, including one on adjustments in the context of Covid-19.
• Evenbreak, a not-for-profit social enterprise, seeks to match employers with talented disabled candidates; Evenbreak's Career hive offers career support from careers professionals with lived experience of disability.
• Exceptional Individuals works with employers and candidates to encourage employers to hire people with dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD and autism.
• Patchwork Hub is an accessible remote working employment platform where you can connect with tasks, projects or permanent employment, outside of the conventional office 9-5
• Astriid also aims to connect people with a long-term/chronic condition with volunteering and employment.

Support

• Disability Rights UK has helpful information resources and helplines
• MyPlus Students' Club has a recruitment section with advice on applying for jobs, preparing for interviews and managing your disability; information on organisations, and profiles of individuals at various stages of their careers, working in different sectors. They also offer regular webinars for students on employability skills and applying for jobs. (You may want to create an account to access more resources on this website.)
• AbilityNet supports digital accessibility, and can advise on technology and adaptations for education and the workplace
• Business Disability Forum is an employers’ organisation, which shares expertise, advice, training and networking opportunities, and seeks to promote best practice in recruitment and employment. They publish a range of useful factsheets and guides for managers about disability issues in the workplace. 
• City Disabilities offer support and mentoring to students and graduates who want to build a career in the City of London.
• The Disabled Solicitors Network promotes equal opportunities for disabled people within the legal profession
• Disabled Entrepreneurs offer business support to disabled people across the UK.
• BASE organisation offering supported employment
• Scope has lots of information related to employment and a Support to work service.

Blind/visually impaired

• Blind in Business helps visually impaired people with finding work, the interview process and obtaining equipment to help you succeed, and run events and workshops (London based)
• RNIB provides employment support for blind and partially sighted people.

Deaf/hearing impaired

• RNID has accessibility guidance, including work, for D/deaf people and those with hearing loss or tinnitus
• Deaf Works Everywhere is a campaign from the National Deaf Children's Society supporting young people into work. They have a series of careers videos on YouTube, featuring D/deaf people in different jobs, and other playlists including using LinkedIn, Access to Work, and careers advice.

Facial disfigurement

• Changing Faces has case studies and advice for employees and employers about facial disfigurement.

Mental health

• Mind has advice on applying for jobs, and on mental health at work, and getting support at work.

ME or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

• Action for M.E. offers support and resources and a Guide on M.E. and work (pdf, 2016)
• Astriid may help you explore alternative ways of working with M.E. Their candidate support section includes articles on self-employment and applying for jobs.

Neurodiversity

• Exceptional individuals is an organisation offering employment support, workshops and job coaching

ADHD

• ADHD UK has a pack on ADHD in the workplace to help with conversations between employers and employees about helpful adjustments.

Autism

• The National Autistic Society offers support with looking for work and applications, including a free online training module on Finding Employment (scroll down the page to find the free courses). They also have helpful information for employers. 
• Autism Plus, based in Sheffield, offers specialist employment support. Some of their programmes cover York and other areas.
• Ambitious about Autism supports autistic young people, and advertises work experience including some summer internships
• The IMAGE project has a toolkit to help you with the transition from university into employment. 
• Free job search tutorial for autistic and neurodivergent candidates - Employability skills for autistic students and graduates, includes downloadable resources to help you prepare for job applications and interviews and think about adjustments you might request. Available free of charge via the Udemy platform (you will need to register on Udemy to access the course).
• Enna seeks to help neurodivergent adults find jobs with inclusive employers.

Dyspraxia

• How to use Dyspraxia as an advantage in the workplace from the Agcas disability task group blog

Stammering

• Stamma (The British Stammering Association) has tips about job hunting, interviews, work and reasonable adjustments for people who stammer.

Agcas blog for students and graduates with disabilities

MyPlus Students Club blogs

Life of Pippa blog (UoY graduate) Tips for job hunting as a disabled graduate