As Careers Consultant for disabled students I often get asked questions about whether employers will view a candidate negatively if they disclose a disability. Understandably there may be concerns about a lack of understanding or an unwillingness to make adjustments and, more often than not, you may not know the support you’re entitled to or how to handle situations such as disclosing a disability.

At the same time I regularly hear from employers keen to attract applications from a diverse talent pool and genuinely wishing to highlight their inclusivity and commitment to equality across their organisation. As a result we’ve been running an event called Access to Employment for the last eight years and applications are now open for this year’s event.

What is Access to Employment?

Access to Employment brings together disabled students from LSE and Imperial College London with graduate and diversity recruiters from a range of industries.

This year’s event is on Wednesday 21 February 12-8pm at an off-campus location. The first half of the event for students only, with organisations joining us for the second half. The day includes information sessions covering a range of topics such as:

• disclosure
• Access to Work and reasonable adjustments
• networking session
• non industry focused interview practice with Norton Rose Fulbright
• networking and group work with diversity recruiters from a range of organisations
• entertainment and keynote speaker

There will also be interview sessions during the day. These aren’t for recruitment purposes but to give you practice and feedback to raise your confidence in an interview setting (so there won’t be any industry specific questions – unless you’d like them). Feedback from previous years has always been, without exception, positive, with students feeling an increase in confidence and an understanding of where they can shine in an interview.

Any reasonable adjustments for the day will be discussed with successful candidates before the event and will be fully implemented on the day.

Log into CareerHub for more information and to access the application form. By attending, you’ll gain valuable information, enjoy meeting and networking with organisations who really want to meet you, and as well as learning a lot you’ll also have a lot of fun.Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity!

Organisations attending 

• JP Morgan (Hosts)
• Bloomberg
• Teach First
• The Wellcome Trust
• PWC
• Cisco
• EY
• Cancer Research
• Civil Service
• Norton Rose Fulbright
• Shell

We have a fantastic range of organisations joining us and if you’re offered a place at the event you’ll be seated with one of your top choice. You’ll also have the opportunity to talk to other organisations during a freestyle food and refreshment session.

Feedback from students attending previous years:

‘It was great to be able to speak to employers about their specific graduate schemes in an environment where I could also discuss the impact of my disability openly.’

‘The mock interview was fantastic! I also enjoyed the Q/A panel and loved (the Keynote) passionate speech, it was a great end to the day. Will definitely the recommending it to friends with disabilities.’

‘Setting was very relaxed! A nice way to meet everyone.’

Best of luck with your application!