EARN held the first of a series of Virtual Practice Interview sessions targeted to jobseekers with disabilities on November 5th, 2020. Members of EARN`s employer network participated in this event to share their experiences, tips, and advice about virtual interviewing.
The session was scheduled for an hour during the afternoon. Accenture, Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH), Payments Canada, and United Way East Ontario had joined the event as employers and took part in a facilitated panel conversation giving their advice and experience of virtual interviews to jobseekers with disabilities. Following the panel, employers and jobseekers were then sent to breakout sessions for a one on one session called Ask the Employer!
Ask the Employer! was designed so that jobseekers had the opportunity to ask questions about how to succeed in this somewhat new world of virtual interviews, as in-person contact decreases due to the global pandemic. A moderator was also present in each breakout session with each employer and jobseeker to start the conversation. Typically, an employer would ask questions to a jobseeker in a virtual interview setting – but this time – jobseekers had the opportunity to ask questions and question the employer as to what they seek in a successful candidate.
The session resulted in a collection of tips for best practices during virtual interviewing that will be shared with the network upon review.
If you are an employer interested to participate in a similar event, please contact Saiema Zaman for more information at szaman@unitedwayeo.ca