How to interview Deaf job candidates using ASL interpreters

Today’s world is becoming more inclusive every day. Research has shown that companies benefit greatly from a diverse approach to hiring and cultivating an inclusive culture of many types including the Deaf community. If you want to learn more about the Deaf culture, there are many books but in this context, Deaf Gain stands out as a great example because it shares in more detail how society and companies have benefitted from their contributions.

To sum it up, it’s a great idea to hire Deaf people!

When the opportunity arrives that a job candidate has self identified as Deaf and applies for a role at your company, careful consideration must be given to remove potential barriers that may hinder a successful interviewing experience.

The best way to start is to ask how can your company help accommodate the job candidate’s communication needs during the interview process.

You will get different answers from different folks, but if one wants to use sign language interpreters, then the guidelines below will help create a positive experience for everyone involved.

1. Let your job candidate choose their interpreter for the interview and make the arrangements for them
   It is important for the job candidate to feel in control of the back and forth dialogue, or at the very least, be equivalent to the interviewers. The interpreters are there to help the candidate communicate as much as they are there for you. They help facilitate the flow of conversation back and forth. If the candidate has a preferred interpreter, contact someone within your company who’s responsible for coordinating accommodations to make payment arrangements and/or arrange an interpreter for these who don’t have a preferred list. Let them know the Date/Time/Location of the interview and any other pertinent information they will need to complete the request for an interpreter. It takes at least 2–3 days, so please plan this early if not further out, to allow a smooth experience. If you don’t know who arranges for accommodations, ask someone in your HR department. If your company has never requested interpreters before, this is good practice for doing it again whenever a Deaf employee becomes an employee at your company.
2. You are interviewing the candidate, not the interpreter. If unsure, then ask to clarify
   Please consider that interpreters may not be familiar with industry terms or jargon so if whatever they speak back to you sounds incorrect, definitely ask for clarification — it may be that it is the interpreter who doesn’t understand the content, not the job candidate, and that something got lost in translation between ASL-to-voice. I have been frustrated before because I work in Product Design and we use technical jargon. Sometimes sign language isn’t as precise as the spoken word, so that needs to be considered. When possible, try to send the booked interpreter a copy of the job description, a list of the general jargon and terms (visit Nick Beese’s post for a great example,) that will be used at the interview (If the candidate is bringing his/her own interpreter then this might not be necessary) ahead of time. This will allow the interpreter to familiarize themselves before the interview and translate stuff they actually understand, which makes a big difference in smoothening out the flow of conversation between two languages (ASL and English)
3. Everything is shared, even when you secretly whisper
   Interpreters are trained, ethically, to speak or sign exactly what is shared including whispers and background talking. So if someone whispers and the interpreter hears it, they probably will sign it to the candidate. Don’t think that if you sneak in a comment or whisper that it won’t get noticed or shared. Awkward! Yes, seriously.
4. Plan ahead and allow time for set up
   This has happened to me when I use interpreters at Amazon, and will be true for your company if it has a large presence covering several buildings. Make sure the interpreters know where they need to be at for you or the recruiter to pick them up. It may take a few minutes to get settled in, so encourage the interpreters to be early to allow for pickup time and room set up. A good trick is to have your reserved room’s duration start 30 minutes earlier so you don’t have to wait for the previous attendees to leave the room on the dot before having to plan out the seating arrangements.
5. Focus on the job candidate, and not the interpreter
   If you’re doing a group interview session such as a portfolio review, it’s important that everyone understands how the communication flow would work — focus on the job candidate and ignore their diverted gaze which will focus on the interpreter. It doesn’t mean candidate is dozing off or not paying attention, or eschewing them. The interviewers shouldn’t feel weird or slighted and know that it is a normal part of the conversation.
6. Freshen up on awareness of your own unconscious bias
   It is encouraged for you and/or the company recruiter in charge of the interview loop to communicate upfront with your interviewers about the arranged accommodations and how it helps with the flow of communication. It is up to you to decide if they need to be reminded about their potential unconscious bias and tell them to put that aside. It prevents that distraction from determining whether the candidate is qualified and a good fit for the role. Sometimes people are unaware and just need things to be explained to them to “get it.” If interviewing candidates using interpreters have been normalized as part of your process you may not have to do it . Go with your gut.
7. Can they succeed at your company? Will your company commit to having a culture that lets them be successful?
   Interviewers at your company shouldn’t worry about “how” to work with the candidate when making a decision about whether they are hireable. It’s really about the quality of their work, their qualifications, and their capability to be a good fit for your company’s job requirements. If a candidate is qualified then the bigger question about whether your company is set up to help them become successful should be addressed. Do NOT let your company’s limitations prevent the hiring of a qualified job candidate. Rather, treat this as an opportunity to make the company more diverse. Have a conversation with the candidate about which accommodations would help them succeed in their role. Look for ways to incorporate the inclusiveness of that job candidate’s needs into the DNA of your company’s culture. I will go into more detail about this area in another post soon.
8. Inspiration Porn
   Interviewers should be careful not to be patronizing or communicate that they are inspired by the candidate, known as “inspiration porn” which is disliked within the Deaf community. Example: My Deaf wife ran for a District Director position in the 2015 Seattle School Board election. When she was going from district to district seeking endorsements, people often approached her to say they were “inspired” that a deaf person would run for a school board position, and that they didn’t know deaf people could do that too. Everyone at your company should treat the job candidate with respect as if they were equivalent, not as in “OMG you can do it too!”

I hope the above guidelines help your company navigate its way through a successful interview loop with a Deaf job candidate.

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