5 Best Practices to Make Your Hiring Process More Inclusive—Tomorrow

Practical steps employers can take to expand talent pipelines, reduce unnecessary barriers and build stronger workplaces.

Hiring people with disabilities doesn't require an entirely new recruiting strategy. Often, meaningful progress starts with small changes to how employers define jobs, identify talent and evaluate candidates.

Here are five places to start:

1. Rewrite One Job Description

Focus on what someone needs to accomplish—not an idealized candidate. Review one job description and separate essential requirements from preferred qualifications or traditional credentials.

Ask:

• What skills are truly necessary to perform this job?

• Are we requiring a degree or years of experience when they're not essential?

• Does the description clearly explain the outcomes expected in the role?

• Are we unintentionally screening out qualified candidates with unnecessary requirements?

  
  

Try this: Replace broad requirements like “excellent communication skills” with specific, job-related expectations such as “communicates project updates clearly to internal stakeholders.”

2. Review Your Application Process

Make sure qualified candidates aren't screened out before they get a chance to demonstrate what they can do. Application systems, assessments and screening questions can create barriers that have little to do with someone's ability to perform the job.

Ask:

• Is every application question necessary?

• Are our online systems accessible?

• Do assessments measure skills that actually matter for the role?

• Could someone with a disability complete each step of the process successfully?

Try this: Walk through your application process from start to finish and identify one unnecessary barrier you can remove.

3. Rethink How You Evaluate Candidates

Give people meaningful opportunities to demonstrate their skills. The traditional interview isn't the only way to understand whether someone can succeed in a role. Depending on the position, employers can consider work samples, skills demonstrations, structured interviews or other methods that focus on job-related capabilities.

Ask:

• Are we evaluating skills or relying heavily on interview style?

• Do candidates know what to expect?

• Are we giving candidates an opportunity to demonstrate the skills required for the job?

• Are we prepared to provide reasonable accommodations when requested?

Try this: For one position, identify one additional way a candidate could demonstrate the skills needed for the job.

4. Equip Hiring Managers

Inclusion happens at the point of hiring—not just in an HR policy. Hiring managers are often the people making the final decisions about candidates. They need practical tools and confidence to recognize talent, avoid assumptions and navigate accommodation conversations appropriately.

Ask:

• Do our hiring managers understand disability inclusion?

• Do they know how to respond when a candidate requests an accommodation?

• Are managers evaluating candidates based on job-related qualifications?

• Do managers know where to go with questions?

Try this: Give hiring managers a short, practical guide on inclusive interviewing, accommodations and common misconceptions about disability.

5. Build One New Talent Partnership

Don't wait for candidates to find you. Disability-focused organizations, workforce programs, colleges, vocational rehabilitation agencies and community partners can help employers connect with talent they may not reach through traditional recruiting channels.

Ask:

• Where are we currently finding our talent?

• Who aren't we reaching?

• Which organizations already have relationships with qualified candidates?

• Could we create a direct pathway into one of our hiring processes?

Try this: Identify one organization or workforce partner and start a conversation about your talent needs.

Start Small. Build From There.

You don't need a perfect disability inclusion strategy to begin.

Pick one job. Identify one barrier. Make one change.

Then measure what happens.

Over time, those small changes can become a more intentional approach to recruiting, hiring, retaining and advancing people with disabilities.

Ready to take the next step?

Virginia Ability helps businesses build more inclusive workplaces by connecting employers with practical strategies, resources and community partners to strengthen disability-inclusive hiring.