Woman highlights disability challenges after receiving one job offer out of 2,000 applications

A severely sight-impaired woman who spent eight months applying for almost 2,000 jobs before receiving just one job offer has said her experience is not unique.

Angharad Paget-Jones has applied for almost 2,000 jobs, had around 200 interviews, and around 800 informal chats with potential employers since being made redundant last July.

But out of those applications, the 27-year-old from Aberavon received just one job offer.

While she understands Covid has made the job market challenging for everyone, Angharad said the crisis has exacerbated preexisting obstacles facing disabled people.

"It is [frustrating]. Because I've got the skills, I've got the experience, and I'm overlooked as soon as they see my dog or I tell them over video that I'm visually-impaired and I need an adjustment," she explained.

"Then you usually get the old line: 'better suited candidates'."

Angharad explained how she once applied for the same job twice as an experiment - disclosing her disability in one application, and not disclosing it in the other.She claimed that she received an interview for the former application, and not the latter.

"It gets exhausting," she said.

"You're like, 'should I just waste my time on this application that's going to take me two-three hours to fill out just to get the same "no"?'

"People don't see past the disability. They just don't want to know when they find out."

Angharad said job applications can often be inaccessible for disabled people. Credit: ITV Wales

She also said that application processes are often not accessible for people with disabilities.

It has prompted calls for more support of people with disabilities in Covid recovery plans.

James Taylor, from disability charity Scope, said: "We know in Wales, that one in four people said their financial situation has worsened.

"We're beginning to see disabled people fall out of work now at quite a fast rate.

"So it's really important that as we come out of this crisis and begin to recover, that we really focus on making sure that disabled people are supported to get employment."