The hardest part of asking for a reasonable adjustment is often knowing what to ask for.
You might know the interview process will be harder for you. You might know your condition affects how you process questions, manage sensory load, communicate or complete timed tasks.
But when the application form asks, "Do you require adjustments?", your mind goes blank.
Here are practical examples.
Questions and processing
Ask for:
- questions in writing
- questions in advance
- extra reading time
- one question at a time
- permission to ask for the question to be repeated.
Helps with: ADHD, autism, anxiety, hearing impairment, auditory processing, working memory, some mental health conditions.
Time and pacing
Ask for:
- extra time
- breaks between tasks
- longer response time
- separate scheduling for long activities.
Helps with: ADHD, chronic illness, fatigue, pain, anxiety, speech disability, dyslexia.
Environment
Ask for:
- reduced-noise room
- good lighting
- adjusted seating
- accessible room
- video interview.
Helps with: autism, sensory sensitivity, physical disability, chronic pain, hearing or vision needs.
Format
Ask for:
- written response option
- practical work sample
- alternative to psychometric test
- accessible documents
- own laptop or assistive technology.
Helps with: dyslexia, autism, ADHD, vision impairment, physical disability, anxiety.
Support
Ask for:
- Auslan interpreter
- captioning
- scribe
- reader
- support person for logistics.
Helps with: Deaf candidates, vision impairment, physical disability, some communication disabilities.
Final tip
Do not copy a list and ask for everything.
Choose the adjustment that matches your actual barrier.
That makes the request easier to understand and harder to dismiss.
Useful next steps
If this topic is relevant to your application, these related Team 3Thirty guides are the best places to go next:
- reasonable adjustments for government recruitment
- email template for asking for adjustments
- interview questions in advance
Useful resources
These official resources are worth checking if you need the source guidance behind the adjustment examples: