Our careers coach Caroline, caught up with her coaching candidate, Cambell to talk about how she found her coaching experience at Evenbreak.
As a talented disabled candidate looking for work, during interviews Cambell found that people were often surprised that she was physically disabled and she felt at a disadvantage. But with the support of Evenbreak and their recently launched Career Hive, Cambell has now found a role in a multinational company working as an engineer.
For the full version of Cambelll’s story and how, you, as a premium disabled candidate can be supported by Evenbreak, read on.
Caroline: It’s really nice to have you here, how about you start by telling us what kind of sector you’re in and what type of job you’ve got?
Cambell: Yep, so now I work for a big multinational engineering consultancy firm but I’m in the water sector, so I’m working for some of the leakage consultants by working with different water companies around the UK mainly to fix leakage.
Caroline: Yes, so working with water companies is that something you’ve been doing for a while or is it a new niche?
Cambell: It’s not completely new, my old job was consultancy as well but we also worked with gas companies so it was the utility sector as well the water sector modelling different processes for them – so it’s kind of similar.
Caroline: So it is a bit of a sweet spot but a nice stretch for you into something new.
Cambell: Yeah, I hadn’t really done much leakage before I’ve done a few projects but this is a lot more focused.
Caroline: Brilliant! So, what made you get in touch with Evenbreak out of all the people that you could get in touch with?
Cambell: I guess when I applied for my first job, it was when I first graduated and I did debating at university and kind of thought that would help me with interviews. But actually, I found it quite difficult getting a job and I felt like my disability especially put me at a disadvantage. I found the whole thing quite disheartening and not very pleasant.
Caroline: I guess debating skills in interview makes it more confrontational!
[Laughter]
Cambell: I guess a big part of debating was that you had to articulate yourself and you’d talk in front of people and get questioned on the spot, so I thought would help but [in interview] it was only about talking about myself.
Caroline: Yeah, we did talk about how your debating skills gave you a bit more of an edge because it made you more communicative and you’re never sort of frightened of getting in there. Are you?
Cambell: Theoretically!
[Laughter]
Caroline: Yeah, build a bit of confidence no doubt!
Cambell: But yeah, it didn’t go great the first time so I thought if I got some coaching the second time it might help.
Caroline: That’s where you met me, is that right?
Cambell: Yeah
Caroline: Do you mind saying what your disability is?
Cambell: Yep, so I have cerebral palsy and it commonly affects my right side, so I have a tremor that gets worse when I’m nervous, a slight speech impediment and I walk with a limp.
Caroline: Right so when it came to interviewing, did you say much to them in advance or did you just show up and see how they dealt with it?
Cambell: I always ticked that I had a disability on the application from and my CV mentioned all the different disability sports I’d done, but I guess I was never more specific than that.
Caroline: How did they deal with it for the interview?
Cambell: Well because I’m left-sided hemi, I shake with my left hand rather than my right and that was awkward a few times. People always seem to be surprised by how significant my limp was, I guess they assume disability will be hidden if you’re applying for these sorts of jobs and it’s going to put them on edge in some instances.
Caroline: So, you needed to put them at ease, I guess. Did you give them any tips?
Cambell: Not the first time I did interviews but after our coaching and you know talking about how to approach disability a bit more, I was a lot more upfront about it because of laws they’re not allowed to be like what’s your disability but it’s actually quite helpful if you confront it and talk about it confidently. I definitely found that helped the second time round,
Caroline: Yeah, we talked about that a bit didn’t we. About the pros and the cons and about just being able to be in an interview and be yourself. It just puts you in a more confident spot. So how about you just share a little bit about how the coaching helped you?
Cambell: Yeah, just generally like I just think you don’t get a lot of opportunity to practice interviews generally in life. It’s just really useful to be able to go through it with someone and your answers to the typical questions and just refine them and I know it’s cheesy but practice does make perfect and it’s great to have someone who knows about it and is supportive and can build your confidence with your answers,
Caroline: I do remember as we did practice it, you were doing a lot well that you weren’t aware of and I said yeah X Y and Z that was brilliant and here’s how you can tweak it, so it was just a nudge wasn’t it for you.
Cambell: Yeah, and that’s really helpful because I think a lot of doing well in interviews is confidence and I think just being able to get that reassurance and also improve with someone really helps.
Caroline: What advice would you give to anybody else that is looking to perhaps use a coach and Evenbreak, what tips might you give them?
Cambell: I’d definitely recommend it! I think, a bit like with anything, you have to go away and put in the practice yourself. Take the advice you’re given and work on it because it’s not an instant fix, it’s something that takes time to improve and practice and you know if you follow your coach’s advice and work on it, you’ll see results.
Caroline: Yeah, what I really liked about you is that it was a bit of a partnership. You really paid attention. You’re very coachable by the way.
Cambell: [Laughter] Thank you
Caroline: But I know you will push back at me and just kind of correct me sometimes. I don’t have all the answers because you’ve got your life to lead and you know the jobs that are best suited for. All I can do is just bring out the strength that you’ve got and the skills and help you put them forward to somebody else. I’m really chuffed and I knew you’d get a job really quickly, how’s it going now are they are up to standard this employer?
Cambell: Yeah, they’re really good I think my last company was quite small and it’s been quite different being with a bigger company with so many more departments and opportunities for training, it was a lot more formal joining but yeah, it’s definitely the right move for me.
Caroline: Fantastic and can you see yourself having a bit more of a profile in educating them about disability, do you think you’d be up for that?
Cambell: Yeah, I mean so they definitely have because I was part of the onboarding, they show they’ve got women’s inclusion stuff and diversity inclusion stuff, it’s definitely on my list to do, to find out about their disability inclusion at some point, yes.
Caroline: I think you’re definitely one of the managers of the future so watch this space!
Cambell: [Laughter] We hope so, we’ll see!
Caroline: I think it’s about just letting them know your talent and that you’re ambitious and getting the right support that you need through the employee life cycle. This is just the beginning for you so it’s very exciting.
About Evenbreak:
Evenbreak offers inclusive and accessible careers support and job listings for disabled candidates looking for new or better work, delivered by career coaches and professionals with lived experience of disability.
Sign up for free Career Coaching here.
To get free Career Support, visit: https://hive.evenbreak.co.uk
To find the latest Inclusive Jobs, visit: https://www.evenbreak.co.uk
