Recruitment processes often test how someone copes with a stressful, unfamiliar situation as much as how well they’d do the job. For candidates with ADHD, small details like a noisy room, a long list of verbal instructions or a tight deadline can get in the way of showing what they can do. Reasonable adjustments remove those barriers, and in the UK employers have a legal duty to make them for job applicants as well as employees.
Here are five practical adjustments that help candidates with ADHD, followed by advice on asking for them if you’re the one applying.
1. A quiet, distraction-free setting
Hold in-person interviews in a private room with a door, away from busy areas. For video interviews, keep backgrounds and notifications to a minimum, and let the candidate join from wherever suits them. Offering a choice between in-person and video is an easy win.
2. Flexible scheduling and breaks
Energy and focus vary across the day, and people with ADHD often know which times work best for them. Let candidates choose their slot where you can. For longer assessments, build in breaks or split the process into shorter sessions.
3. Clear, written instructions
Long verbal instructions given all at once are easy to lose track of. Send the key information in writing: where to go, who they’ll meet, how long it will take and what format the interview will follow. ADHD UK’s guidance on interview adjustments also suggests sharing the core questions in advance, letting candidates bring notes, and keeping questions direct and specific.
4. Extra time and flexible deadlines
If there’s a written exercise or take-home task, set a realistic deadline and be open to extending it. For timed tests, consider extra time; ADHD UK suggests around 50% more. It’s worth asking whether the time pressure reflects the actual job, or just the test.
5. Open communication
Ask every candidate whether they need any adjustments, and make it easy to say yes without having to explain a diagnosis. A line in your invitation email such as “Let us know if there’s anything that would help you during the process” goes a long way. Our guide to the Guaranteed Interview Scheme covers another way to show disabled candidates they’re welcome.
If you’re a candidate with ADHD
You can ask for adjustments at any stage of recruitment, and you don’t have to share more about your ADHD than you want to. Be specific about what would help. Our reasonable adjustment request template for interviews gives you wording to adapt, and our tips to reduce interview anxiety can help with preparation. The government’s Access to Work scheme can also fund some support, including communication support at interviews for eligible people.
Once you’ve started the job, our examples of workplace adjustments for employees with ADHD will help you work out what to ask for next.
How Enna can help
Hiring teams who want to get this right can join our practical reasonable adjustments workshop, or ask us to review your recruitment process from advert to offer through a neuroinclusion audit. Candidates can find roles with employers who already make these adjustments on the Enna jobs board.
