Kian Saville

My name is Kian Saville, and I am an employee of Softcat PLC. My role is within Softcat’s Services department and my official title is Services Engagement Resource Planner. Overall, I would say I have a ‘cocktail’ of disabilities, but my main disabilities include being visually impaired (blind in my right eye) and I have a rare condition called Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2).

To be honest my career journey has only really just begun. I realised after completing my A-levels that university wasn’t really an option for me as I am always having extensive check-ups and scans and wanted to focus on saving for my future. I have had two jobs in the past where I learnt valuable skills but not truly knowing what I wanted to pursue or what career path I wanted to follow. I have a major interest in technology from a very early age, and also been a sporty person as in my spare time I am a competitive swimmer. Sport is a crucial part of my life and have always factored this in any of my career decisions. But after joining Softcat, I feel happy and for the first time satisfied with the work I am doing, it is following my interests and is giving me some amazing new opportunities that I didn’t think were possible.

In life I have always had the policy to be open and honest regarding my disabilities and I try to use the term ‘differently abled’ rather than ‘disability’ as it provides a more positive outlook to the condition you cannot affect. This also helps educate people about the condition and helps them to understand your perspective and if specialist support is available, it can help the employer get this in place before you start. Softcat cannot be flawed as their recruitment team were very accommodating towards me and my conditions. They checked in regularly to see how they could support me and made sure I had the relevant technology to conduct the recruitment processes. I was even amazed that they mentioned in my interview how they could support me if my application was successful and what support they could provide me with either software or hardware to help make me as comfortable as possible at work, whether this was working in the office or remote. This was another indication that I was making positive steps in my career journey.

When I finally received the amazing news that my job application was successful, I was still a little nervous as following my research of Softcat I realised how much the company was focussed on its people and culture and I was nervous that with my conditions and being differently abled that I wouldn’t fit in. However, I knew from the first minutes of starting that I would be respected and happy as everyone was so kind and supportive.  Softcat made sure to show me how to access any accessibility tools that I required, and I was able to set these up with no issues whatsoever. The IT support team are amazing and were there in the beginning for any questions and always on hand should I need them. I am now approaching my first 6 months and have loved every second.

I absolutely adore working with my team who are amazing at keeping me comfortable and supported during work no matter which location I am in, either in my home office or any office location. They are always ready to help, and they have become friends as well as work colleagues. My manager and department lead are very special people and are already looking at ways for me to develop, so I can help not only support the development of the team but expand my knowledge and personal progression within Softcat.

During my induction, we were introduced to a number of the company’s fabulous networks and one that stood out for me immediately was the EDN Network (Empowering Disability and Neurodiversity). After attending a couple of full network meetings and providing my opinions and feedback to topics that helped shape new procedures and activities within Softcat for this community, I decided that I wanted to share my story and my medical journey to some, if not all the core network members to see how I could help further and if I could assist on helping Softcat champion it’s diverse and inclusive differently abled culture. After meeting several members face-to-face or virtually my passion was recognised and I am now part of the EDN core group that oversees how to make Softcat as inclusive as possible in this area and help influence and support with things such as events, workplace accessibility and numerous other questions that are asked. I am honoured and proud to be part of Softcat and the EDN Core community and truly enjoy going to work everyday!

I feel, as a person who is differently abled, that we are very resilient and have very good problem-solving skills as we have to overcome barriers on a regular basis. It also provides you with a very clear outlook at life and for me – I treat every day as a gift, there are some things in life that are outside of your control. Therefore, it’s important to face those challenges head on that allow you to move forward. My manager has mentioned my ability on numerous occasions, my ability to overcome things and tackle problems, which helps my wider team evolve and accept new ways of achieving and building new processes. I also feel that another strength of mine due to my disability is my confidence and my ability to communicate with others. I am able to notify people if I am struggling or if I need extra support, I am very comfortable with communicating with people at all levels and climbing into the detail if necessary to help resolve issues, this has to be about having confidence to engage and not be afraid to admit when you do not know something, but this process helps me with problem solving and demonstrating what I can do to support.

My advice to any person who is differently abled and is going through the recruitment process is to be as open and honest as you want to be and help educate about your condition so that suitable adjustments can be made before you start and support your future development at the company.