Dream JOB GET THAT
BY JANE HATTON
THE ROLE OF CAREER COACHING Looking for a new or better job can be tricky for anyone, and even more so if you face disabling barriers. Often, we may know exactly the kind of role and organisation we would thrive in, and we may have a really impressive, up-to-date CV, and be confident in interviews. That’s a great position to be in, especially now, when employers are crying out for talent.
ut many of us may not be in that situation. We may not know which roles or sectors we are best suited for. Or our CV may not read well – perhaps we don’t have relevant work experience, or we have gaps in our work history. Or maybe we don’t have a CV at all. There may be many parts of the whole job search journey that we could do with a little advice on. Career coaches are trained to support candidates with all of this. Some of the things they can offer support with may include: Identifying your strengths Helping to identify roles, sectors or careers that match your strengths Job search strategies Applications Creating an impressive CV Preparing for interview Creating a LinkedIn profile Gaining confidence Self-employment Starting a business There are many career coaches around – some work with charities, and don’t charge, and others are private and do charge. Some specialise in particular areas, such as executive coaching, or in particular candidates, such as military veterans. The key is to find a coach who offers the services you need, and who you trust. For disabled candidates, we may need specific support on navigating around the additional barriers we may face, or on how to talk about our access needs or make requests for adjustments. Or we may need the support delivered in an accessible way, such as with a BSL interpreter or with a live captioner.
It can be helpful to have a career coach who has lived experience of the barriers that disabled people sometimes come up against, so they understand the situation. Some social enterprises offer local face-toface career coaching, and some of those specialise in disabled candidates, and have disabled career coaches. If you struggle to find a career coaching service that works for you, Evenbreak offers remote one-to-one career coaching, delivered by careers professionals with lived experience of disability: hive. evenbreak.co.uk. They can support you with all of the areas listed above, and also disability-specific issues, such as: Do I mention I’m disabled, or not? How do I talk about disability inclusion? How do I ask for adjustments? How do I convince an employer that I can do the job? How do I create a CV that sells my skills well? If you are actively looking for mainstream work, and you are struggling to find suitable or accessible careers support elsewhere, you can have up to three coaching sessions free of charge with Evenbreak’s team of career professionals. To find jobs from inclusive employers who are looking to attract more disabled candidates, have a look on the Evenbreak website: evenbreak.co.uk. To find relevant and accessible careers support for disabled candidates have a look on Evenbreak’s Career Hive: hive.evenbreak.co.uk.
posabilitymagazine.co.uk
65
