Job search with a disability in India: where to start

Begin with yourself, not with a list. Advice to people with disabilities sometimes narrows quickly to a small set of jobs considered suitable. That is a poor starting point. Start, as any job seeker should, with what you are good at, what you have studied or done, what kind of work interests you, and what conditions help you work well. The rest of the search is about finding roles and employers that fit those answers, and presenting your strengths clearly.

Get your documents in order. Under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, often called the RPwD Act, a person with benchmark disability means, broadly, a person certified as having not less than forty per cent of a specified disability, where the disability is not defined in measurable terms. Benchmark disability matters because several employment provisions, including reservation in government jobs, apply to it. Certification is done by a certifying authority. The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities also runs the Unique Disability ID project, which issues a UDID card and keeps a national database intended to make it easier to access government benefits. Applications are made on the official portal, swavlambancard.gov.in. Use only that site and your state's official channels, not agents.

Know the official employment services. The National Career Service portal, ncs.gov.in, run by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, lets job seekers register, search for jobs and find career services. Alongside it, the government runs National Career Service Centres for Differently Abled. According to the National Career Service website there are 24 of these centres, including one in Bengaluru. They assess each person's abilities, help with career planning and preparing for employment, offer non-formal vocational training in areas such as computer applications, and provide placement support. The site also lists a monthly stipend during training. It is worth contacting the nearest centre directly to ask what it currently offers.

Understand what the law says about employment. The RPwD Act requires government establishments not to discriminate against any person with disability in matters relating to employment, to provide reasonable accommodation and a barrier-free environment to employees with disabilities, and not to deny promotion merely on the ground of disability. It defines reasonable accommodation as necessary and appropriate modifications and adjustments, without imposing a disproportionate or undue burden in a particular case, so that persons with disabilities can exercise their rights equally with others. Section 34 requires government establishments to reserve not less than four per cent of vacancies in each group of posts for persons with benchmark disabilities, divided across categories of disability, with provision for exemptions in some establishments. The Act also allows the government to relax the upper age limit for these candidates. Read each recruitment notice carefully for how reservation, age relaxation and any scribe or extra-time provisions apply to that examination.

The private sector is covered differently. The Act requires every establishment, private ones included, to notify an equal opportunity policy describing the measures it will take, and it asks governments to provide incentives so that private employers have at least five per cent of their workforce made up of persons with benchmark disability. It does not set a hiring quota for private companies. In practice, it can be useful to look for an employer's equal opportunity or diversity policy, and to ask about it.

Decide how you want to handle disclosure. Whether you mention a disability, when, and how much you say are your decisions. Some people disclose early, to request an accessible interview or to apply under a reserved category. Some disclose after an offer, or only when they need an adjustment. Some never need to. If you do discuss it, describe it practically: what helps you do the work well, such as screen-reading software, a sign language interpreter for interviews, flexible hours or step-free access. A specific request is usually easier for an employer to act on than a general description.

Prepare as you would for any job, with a few additions. A resume focused on skills and evidence, an introduction you can give comfortably, and practice with common interview questions all matter. Before any assessment or interview, ask how it will be conducted, and request the adjustments you need in writing, in advance. If an online test is not accessible with your tools, say so before the test, not after.

Watch for fraud. Genuine employers and government services do not ask for money to give you a job. Anyone offering a guaranteed government post or a disability-quota placement for a fee should be treated as a scam.

Finally, you do not have to do this alone. Organisations of and for persons with disabilities, the National Career Service centres, and people with disabilities who are already working can offer advice that no article can. At GullyFuture, our Inclusive Employment initiative aims to bring practitioners, HR professionals and employers committed to inclusive hiring together with job seekers who face extra barriers. We have not run these sessions yet, and we are looking for specialist partners to design them with. If you are part of such an organisation, or would find this useful, we would like to hear from you.