Careers
Source: https://www.bath.ac.uk/guides/equality-diversity-and-your-career-disabled-students/ Parent: https://www.bath.ac.uk/guides/careers-support-for-international-students/
Equality, diversity and your career: disabled students
Find out about disability friendly employers and requesting reasonable adjustments.
Introduction
If you are a disabled student you can access Careers Plus appointments. You will also have access to specific events throughout the year.
A disability is defined as:
- having a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
- a long-term health condition including mental health or long-term chronic illness such as Crohn’s Disease, Asthma and ME.
- physical or sensory impairments such as visual/hearing loss or a specific learning disability such as dyslexia/dyspraxia as well as mobility impairments and Asperger's/Autism.
Careers Plus appointments and support
If you have disclosed a disability
If you have disclosed a disability to the university you can book disability careers appointments. We call these Careers Plus Appointments.
These can be useful for discussing any careers issue relating to your disability. This could include:
- disclosing a disability
- support in a recruitment process
- support when starting a placement or graduate job
Book these appointments through MyFuture.
If you are unsure or have not disclosed a disability
If you are unsure or have not disclosed a disability to the university, you can still access this support. Email us via careers-plus@bath.ac.uk or come into the Careers Centre.
Autism-friendly advice
We have created a guide to make our advice and support autism-friendly. It is intended for students and consultants/advisers. Go to Careers tips on providing autism-friendly advice.
We are always looking for ways to be more inclusive and make our appointments accessible to everyone. Contact us if you have any suggestions/comments on other areas that might be helpful to include in this guide.
Researching disability friendly employers
Organisations supporting students in placements and jobs
Specialist recruiters who help disabled students:
- MyPlus Students' Club is our partner organisation and can provide additional support once you register with them
- Change 100 provide internships for students and graduates
- EmployAbility
- Evenbreak
- Remploy
- Scope
- Blind in Business
Autistic students
Organisations that specifically support autistic students and graduates:
- Next Steps Foundation works closely with the university to support autistic students and graduates
- Auticon
- Ambitious about Autism
- ASPIeRATIONS
- AutiQuest
Students with mental health conditions
Mind is an organisation that can support students and graduates with mental health conditions in several ways. They have information on your rights around telling an employer about a mental health condition.
Student Minds Bath is a University SU branch of the national group that supports students during their time at the University.
The Mindful Employer programme can help you find employers that have signed up to The Mindful Employer Charter. These employers are committed to supporting people with mental health conditions.
Disability Confident scheme
Some companies are registered as Disability Confident under a government scheme. The Disability Confident employer scheme:
- encourages employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people.
- helps employers make the most of opportunities provided by employing disabled people.
- is voluntary and has three levels designed to support employers on their Disability Confident journey.
Employers on the second level of the scheme commit to offering interviews to disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for the job.
View a list of employers that have signed up to the scheme.
Disability Forum
Many organisations are members of the Business Disability Forum which accredits organisations with a Disability Standard and encourages businesses to become more disability-smart. View the list of members in the Business Disability Forum.
Search on MyFuture
Find roles or schemes aimed at students with disabilities in MyFuture. Select 'Equality and diversity' in the type of opportunity field under 'more search options'. You can also use keywords to narrow down your results. For example, search for ‘disab’ to retrieve relevant jobs and opportunities that contain 'disabled' or 'disability'.
Disclosing a disability and requesting reasonable adjustments
Many students and graduates are understandably apprehensive about revealing a disability during the graduate recruitment process, and again during employment.
However, there are positive reasons to disclose a disability. Disclosing can:
- provide an opportunity to request reasonable adjustments to help manage any concerns you may have on the process
- give you the best chance to perform well on the day
- ensure a level playing field for everyone so you can compete with those applicants who don’t have a disability
Come into Careers, or book an appointment to get help with disclosing a disability. Book an appointment on MyFuture.
Your rights around disclosure
Under the Equality Act 2010, there is legal protection for job applicants and disabled employees. The following is a summary of key points:
- it is unlawful to discriminate against workers because of a disability or to fail to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate a worker (job applicant) with a disability.
- there is no legal obligation on your part to disclose at any time unless there are safety issues in a job you have applied for.
- you can disclose at any time of the recruitment process, for example at the interview stage.
View resources on disclosure
View our webinar recording on disclosure in MyFuture.
Read information on disclosure and requesting additional support from MyPlus Students Club.
Further information
View our Get Started Guide on disability and your career journey in MyFuture for a collection of resources.
Find out more about our additional support for disabled students.