There were two stages: an assessment day, and if you were successful in that, an interview the following week. The assessment day was a surprise for me at this level; it’s normally used where there are multiple roles being hired or for graduate roles. In general, I find them non-inclusive to people with disabilities, so I was surprised the TUC chose this method. I was sent an email beforehand to explain what was being assessed, however no agenda or activity brief was provided - again, non-inclusive for those of us with disabilities. I felt like I was going in blind. and it seemed that some of the tasks assumed that candidates would know the inner workings of the TUC and trade unions in general, but I come from a different policy background. There was also a task on presenting the “new deal for workers” without any brief on what the new deal was. The assessor was really shocked that my group were not familiar with it, which made me feel belittled. What I found difficult to understand, was why I was even asked to attend the assessment day when it felt like the team wanted someone who was familiar with these policy areas already. I have a wealth of experience in wider policy areas as well as extensive experience in anti-racism, which the role was specialising in, and felt that I was not able to get this across seriously. I left the day feeling quite defeated, and judged.