Candidate finds work after 950 rejections

A jobseeker with cerebral palsy who received almost 1,000 employment rejections has finally secured employment.

Tom Stephens now works as a Checkout Worker at Asda in Altrincham, Manchester, but his road to employment has been long and filled with hundreds of rejections.

Stephens has cerebral palsy and believes that some companies wouldn’t take a chance on him due to his disability. Over the course of five years he applied for two jobs a week minimum. Most of the roles were office jobs, customer service roles, or retail work.  

“It is not right and not fair that people with disabilities are, in my experience, not given enough opportunities. I want companies to just see what someone like me can do - because I can do a fantastic job,” he said.