Stepping into an interview room is often not the same as that in a classroom. It may be common for a candidate to be nervous even after proper preparation. Evidently, there are multiple aspects that cast an impression of the candidate in front of the interviewer.
After schooling or college, students with learning disabilities like dyslexia may have similar ambiguity about if they are ready for an interview. While we know about general tips, is there any special care that language inclined persons may need to ensure? Having a set of plans is often helpful for these people. To support the same, here we have listed out a few tips to make interviews a much easier task for them.
Interviews for people with dyslexia: An uphill battle?
Youngsters with learning difficulties may go through an arduous phase in the schooling process. While managing the various challenges may take time, ensuring self-esteem is often crucial too. These attributes often play a pivotal role in attending an interview.

While retaining information may not be their strong suit, language inclined children and adults may develop the capacity to combine personal experiences with acquired knowledge to produce new ideas. Many people with exceptional abilities and intelligence have been learning compromised in their early years. They can perform well at the interviews by ensuring fitting tips and strategies.
Tips and strategies for dyslexia- To shine in interviews
Below are some of the most useful tips for an individual with dyslexia. You can apply these strategies for better performance in the interview.
- Be well prepared in advance. The job description can provide you a lot of insight into what you might be asked during the interview. Be prepared for all the questions that you expect to be asked in the interview. This may be an excellent approach to prepare for your interview and, as a result, to calm your anxiety. At the same time, try not to anticipate any specific questions. Further, making sure about communication skills also works. It may be a fair idea to practice speaking to ensure a smoother flow in the recruitment process.
- Communicate with the interviewers about your condition. Providing all crucial information is often imperative in the recruitment process. With the knowledge, the interviewer may judge the abilities better, increasing the success rates. If this is the case, the employer is legally obligated to make reasonable changes to meet your job issues. Funding an evaluation and offering training are two examples of possible changes. It may also provide you with an opportunity to discuss the particular skills dyslexia has given you, such as perseverance or creativity.
- Do not hesitate in asking to repeat the question again. Retaining regulations and memory may be arduous under stress. If you seem to have not understood the question properly in this scenario, merely repeating the question might be really beneficial. In an interview, asking for a question to be repeated may seem intimidating, but providing a well-thought-out response based on a thorough grasp of the issue is vastly preferable to failing to provide an answer that correctly fits the question.
- Ask for time to think. For special individuals, accommodations are evident in multiple areas. Accordingly, asking for additional time when needed in tests is acceptable. If extra time is required to examine the topic or plan your response, take it or request it if you are under time constraints. If you’ve been asked to an interview for a job or a university position, the institution is interested in you and wants to hear from you.
- Be confident: Present yourself with full confidence. Ensuring proper eye contact, proper attire, and a calm mind can assist you. A sense of strength is often needed for special individuals. Being confident in your abilities will showcase your talents to the interviewer in a better way.

- Keep pen-paper to write down things. This tip is often assistive, whose significance may not be described in a few words. It may be often arduous to retain all the regulations at a time, jotting it down on paper may ensure credibility to ensure later. You may also note your opinions on the subject and any questions you may have if you are given pre-reading to address in the interview. It may provide you with the opportunity to convey your opinions effectively.
- Role-play the interview with a friend or family member if feasible. Practice entering a room with confidence and sitting calmly in a chair. Then practice leaving a room in a respectful manner. Your posture and demeanor may also determine whether you get the job or not.
- Be ready with your gadgets. If you’re doing a computer-based presentation, see if you can bring your own laptop. Or ensure you avail all accommodations like larger font and calculator. This would allow you to use whatever assistive technology you’re familiar with and demonstrate that you’re completely capable of completing the activity with appropriate adaptations. Make sure this will work ahead of time. Using your own gadgets with help in doing the tasks in a much more simple and easy way will save you from the anxiety of using a new gadget that you are not familiar with.
- Check all rounds of interviews in advance. Some special individuals may find multiple choice and psychometric examinations to be highly difficult. You might wish to request a different type of evaluation. This must be done ahead of time. Talking with the employer regarding this beforehand will allow them the time to customize a test for you. Make sure you make these arrangements in advance, as it will increase your chances of clearing the round.
- Study your CV thoroughly. Each interviewer you encounter will have a different amount of information from your application prepared for them. Make sure you understand everything completely so you can explain and expand on your previous experiences. Whatever you have written in your application, you should be ready for any question related to that as chances are more that the interviewer will ask you questions about your previous experiences.
Final Words
Language inclined individuals may need to be strong to face interviews. Further, accommodations are often available. Accordingly, it may be crucial for these individuals to ensure all possible provisions and simultaneously a few tips to assist. Check out the insights stated above to apply them in your interview preparation. These may assist you to be comfortable and thereby confident. Finally, it may be preferred to take inspiration from successful people who excelled despite similar compromises.
An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’,