Interview Preparation: What to Sort Out Beforehand

Most interview preparation advice applies to everyone. This page covers the parts that do not — the logistics worth settling in advance, the questions you may be asked that you should not be, and what to ask in return.

For a separate commercial perspective on mouse-jiggler detection, see this page; it should be evaluated independently against accessibility, privacy, and employment-law requirements.

Public job-search and career resources are also available through CareerOneStop.

Sort out logistics early

Request any accommodation when scheduling, not on the day. An interpreter, captioning, an accessible location, materials in advance, extra time, breaks, a video option. See asking for accommodations during hiring.

Ask for the details in advance: format, duration, who will attend, what will be covered, whether there is a test.

For in-person: accessible entrance, parking, restroom location, and a contact for the day. Ask specifically rather than trusting a general assurance — "accessible" means different things to different people, and the person answering may not have checked.

For video: test the platform beforehand, ask whether captions will be enabled, and get a phone number in case the connection fails.

Plan the journey with slack. Paratransit windows, unfamiliar routes, and unreliable lifts are all ordinary and all easier with an hour in hand.

Prepare your examples

Interviewers increasingly ask behavioural questions — "tell me about a time when." Preparing for every possible question is impossible; preparing a stock of examples is not.

Build six or so from your work, covering: a problem you solved, a conflict you handled, something that did not work, a decision made without enough information, something you led, something you learned.

For each: the situation, what you specifically did, the outcome, and what you took from it. Practise the "what I did" part — people instinctively describe what the team did, and interviewers are scoring you.

If your history includes a gap or a change of direction, have the sentence ready. Brief, factual, forward-looking. See employment gaps for health reasons.

Questions they may not ask

Before a conditional offer, an employer may not ask whether you have a disability, ask about its nature or severity, or require a medical examination.

They may ask whether you can perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation.

Questions that cross the line, and frequently arrive as small talk:

• "Do you have any health conditions we should know about?"
• "How many sick days did you take last year?"
• "Have you ever filed a workers' compensation claim?"
• "What happened?" — about an apparent disability
• "Do you have reliable transportation?"
• "Will you need special equipment?"

Handling them

You are not obliged to answer, and you have options.

Redirect to the job. "I'm able to perform all the functions of this role. Was there a specific requirement you wanted to check?" This works for most of them and keeps the tone even.

Answer partially, if you would rather. "I don't discuss health history, but there's nothing that affects my ability to do this job."

Answer fully, if you have decided to and are comfortable. That is a valid choice.

Note it. However you respond, remember what was asked. If you are not selected, it may matter — and the deadlines for filing a charge are short.

An interviewer who asks once may be untrained. One who pushes after a redirect is telling you something about the organisation.

Deciding what to volunteer

Nothing is required. If you need an accommodation for the job itself, that conversation can happen at offer stage rather than in the interview — you have been chosen on your merits by then, and you have time to set things up before starting.

If your disability is apparent and you would rather address it than let it sit unmentioned, one sentence is enough: "You'll have noticed I use a wheelchair — the only thing it affects for this role is desk height, which is straightforward." Named, bounded, closed.

See disclosing a disability for the fuller decision.

Ask them things

You are assessing them, and these questions get useful answers.

• "What does success look like in this role at six months?"
• "How do people here request adjustments to how they work, and who handles that?"
• "What's the actual working pattern — how many days on site, how fixed?"
• "How long has this team been together?"
• "What are the next steps and roughly when?"

The second one is the most informative on the list. A concrete answer — a named process, a named person — means it exists. A pause means it does not. See how to tell whether an employer is actually inclusive.

Afterwards

Send a short note within a day. Three sentences: thanks, one specific thing from the conversation, restated interest.

Write down what was asked, while it is fresh. Useful for the next stage, and useful if anything about the process later needs recalling accurately.

If an accommodation was agreed and not provided — you arrived and the interpreter had not been booked — say so at the time and in writing afterwards, and ask to reschedule rather than proceeding under conditions that will not let you perform.