Mock Qualitative Interview Questions and Answers What are your perceptions on employers hiring people with disabilities?

Participant One: A majority of employers are skeptical about hiring people with disabilities. The type and severity of disability have a huge effect on the person been hired. While some employers are willing to give people with disabilities a chance to demonstrate their work capabilities, most feel it is burdensome and they would prefer to avoid hiring these individuals. People with physical disabilities are easily hired as compared to people to people with mental and emotional disabilities (Henry, Petkauskos, Stanislawzyk, & Vogt, 2014). At our office, we currently have two coworkers who have physical disabilities and their work performance is even better compared to that of people without any disability. Employers have this perception that people with disabilities do not have the requisite skills, will need greater supervision, and have higher absenteeism rates.

Participant Two: Most employers are concerned about the obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The prospects for providing accommodations for workers with disabilities has been a deterrent to most employers. The costs associated with offering these accommodations have been seen as prohibitive and most would prefer to not go down that route. The lack of understanding of the law is the main reason that these employers have these perceptions. There is also a lack of comfort or familiarity with disabilities. The attitudes of customers, coworkers, and managers have also been a reason for concern. employer attitudes towards people with disabilities is also a hindrance to them being offered a position at a particular organization.

What challenges and obstacles exist to hiring people with disabilities?

Participant One: The stigma that is associated with disabilities will create obstacles to employers hiring workers with disabilities. During an interview, there is always an immediate negative reaction...

This results in the hiring manager focusing on what the person cannot do instead of their strengths. There is an assumption that the individual's disability will have a negative effect on co-workers and this might impact the overall work environment of the organization (Metcalfe, Drake, & Bond, 2017). With such an assumption it becomes easy for a hiring manager to overlook the candidate with disabilities for another candidate. Managers working with people with disabilities will mostly treat them as special cases and they are likely to fear to say the wrong thing to them. This would result in them giving out the wrong guidance or supervision.
Participant Two: Recruiting people with disabilities is also difficult for most organizations. There is limited information or a lack of enough information regarding potential candidates. Hiring managers find it hard to get information regarding potential workers with disabilities. Most organizations do not know where they can get candidates. There are numerous gaps that limit employers who would be willing to hire people with disabilities. For example, there are no cases published that can be used to guide employers on strategies that have worked at other organizations that have hired people with disabilities. This information would extremely helpful to small businesses that do not enough HR capacity.

What is the business case for hiring people with disabilities?

Participant One: There is an opportunity to increase the available talent within a company or business. A business has the opportunity to bring a varied workforce and this adds to the varied perspectives of the workplace, which leads to increased innovation. With a varied workforce, a business can easily be able to differentiate itself from the other businesses or companies and this can give the business a competitive advantage. Any business that is able to include and accommodate people with disabilities will strengthen its…