A university graduate says he applied for a staggering 400 jobs without receiving a response – until he removed his DISABILITY from his CV.
Daryl Jones had been job hunting since graduating six months ago, but could not even get a reply from employers.
But he says it changed when he hid any evidence of his disability from his CV and applications.
The 27-year-old, who suffers from Marfan Syndrome – a genetic disorder affecting the connective tissue – began to look for work after completing a degree in business and marketing.
After months of searching, Mr Jones took desperate measures by concealing his disability – including the fact he played disability sport and founded charity Disability Sports Humber.
It was then he started to get job interviews and has now been to a total of 12.
But he is still unemployed and feedback from his interviews claims that he does not have enough experience or that other applicants were better suited to the job.
He said: “I’ve made over 400 job applications but had nothing.
“It’s disappointing. Studies have shown people with disabilities do want to contribute, they want to have a job and earn money, but nobody will employ me.
“I have a degree and when I’ve spoken to people they’ve said I have loads of qualifications and plenty of experience and can’t understand why I can’t get a job.
“I’ve been on Work Programme too and they don’t understand it either.”
Mr Jones said he also has lots of other skills on his CV which make him stand out – all of which he had to remove before getting any interviews.
He said: “I was a disability person for the NUS (National Union of Students) and I took part in a lot of disability sport.
“I’ve also set up a charity and done a lot of other work around disability. It was only when I took all that stuff off the CV I started getting interviews.”
Marfan Syndrome is a genetic disorder affecting the connective tissue but Mr Jones says his condition does not prevent him from doing work, aside for physical jobs.
He said: “It affects a lot of things but it particularly affects my joints.
“Sometimes I’ll be fine but it can mean I get a lot of dislocations, so sometimes I have to use a wheelchair. It meant I had to give up sports because the dislocations got too bad and the pain was too much.
“It means I can’t do physical jobs but office work, administration, I can do that. I’ve been applying for everything.”
Mr Jones, who lives and grew up in Hull, East Yorks., said people have suggested he takes a salary from his work with his charity.
The University of Hull graduate said: “Some people have said I should draw a salary but I don’t want to do that because that money needs to go towards supporting disability sport.
“If I draw that money there will be less for everything and that’s not what I want to do.”
