Finding a job or opportunity

It can be overwhelming looking for a job or a new opportunity. Being deaf should never hold you back from getting your dream job or starting a new career. Deaf people can do almost any job that hearing people can, with the right support in place.

How do I find a job?

Contact your local job centre

If you need support to find a job, your local job centre can help. Job centres are funded by the government and aim to help people find work.

• If you live in England, Wales or Scotland, find your nearest Jobcentre Plus.
• If you live in Northern Ireland, find your nearest Jobs and Benefits office.

Most job centres have Disability Employment Advisors (DEAs). DEAs give specialist advice to disabled people and employers. We know that many deaf people don't consider deafness to be a disability. However, even if you don't consider yourself to be disabled, as a deaf person, you're entitled to this support.

DEAs can refer you to schemes which help disabled people find work. These schemes provide advice and training to help you apply for jobs and get ready for work.

Job centres can also help you with applying for benefits, like Universal Credit. Universal Credit is a benefit for working age people who are on a low income or out of work.

Job schemes for young people

Depending on where you live, there may be Government-run schemes to help you find a job.

• If you live in Scotland – Fair Start Scotland is the Scottish Government’s employment support service for people who face barriers entering the job market, including deaf people.
• If you live in Wales – the Welsh Government’s Young Person’s Guarantee means everybody under 25 can access support to gain a place in education or training, find a job or become self-employed.

Careers advisors

A careers advisor can help you explore your options and understand the range of jobs available. They can also tell you what qualifications you'll need for specific jobs.

If you’re a student, your school, college or university may have careers advisors. The following services can also put you in contact with a careers advisor:

• England – National Careers Service
• Northern Ireland – Careers Service
• Scotland – My World of Work
• Wales – Career Wales

Some careers advisors may not know a lot about deafness and won’t have experience advising a deaf young person. If a careers advisor says something that makes you feel bad or like you’re being discriminated against, please contact our Helpline.

Useful websites

Here are some useful websites to help you find a job or work experience:

• Indeed is a job vacancies website that has helpful career guides.
• Prospects and targetjobs list graduate jobs along with information about different job sectors.
• Career Pilot has information, quizzes and tools to help you explore your options.
• Deaf Unity lists job opportunities from organisations committed to inclusivity and diversity.
• Careers with Disabilities lists jobs from disability-friendly employers.

How can I find a deaf-friendly employer?

When you’re looking for a job, you may want to think about whether the organisation is deaf-friendly. Employers shouldn’t discriminate against you because you’re deaf, and all employers are legally required to make reasonable adjustments. Reasonable adjustments are changes to support you at work. For example, a reasonable adjustment might be to provide you with a quiet room for your meetings.

Some employers will be more deaf-friendly or deaf aware than others. A disability employment advisor from your local job centre may be able to tell you about disability-friendly employers in your area.

You can also look for employers who have signed up for the Disability Confident scheme. This is a government programme designed to encourage employers to recruit and retain disabled people. Disability Confident employers guarantee disabled people an interview as long as they meet the minimum criteria for the job.

If you want to work somewhere, but they haven't had any experience with deaf employees, you can encourage them to sign up for deaf awareness training. We provide online information for employers and deaf awareness training. If you’re accepted to a paid position, Access to Work may cover the cost of deaf awareness training for your colleagues.

What jobs can deaf people do?

Deaf people can do most jobs that hearing people can, with the right reasonable adjustments or communication support. Read stories from deaf people about the wide range of careers they go into.

There’s a small number of jobs that some deaf people can’t apply for because you need to pass a medical exam which includes a hearing test. These jobs include:

• the armed forces (army, navy and air force)
• police officers
• commercial airline pilots
• railway engineers
• seafarers (jobs working on a boat or ship).

If you’re interested in one of the jobs above, check the rules as different jobs have different requirements. For example, you may need to be able to hear sounds at a particular level without a hearing aid. Or you may need to be able to understand speech with a hearing aid on.

All other employers are expected to make reasonable adjustments and would need to have a very good reason to turn you down for a job because you’re deaf. Some employers aren’t deaf aware and think health and safety laws mean they can’t employ deaf people to do some jobs. Apart from the small number of jobs listed above, there are no health and safety laws that prevent deaf people from working. Find out more about your rights at work, including health and safety and disabilities.

If you think you’ve been turned down for a job because of your deafness, please contact our Helpline for advice and support.