Job Hunting as Autistic
Disclaimer: Any views, opinions and tips on this blog are personal and belong solely to myself (Kyra) and don’t represent the views of affiliated professionals and organisations. Additionally, I’m not a professional advisor regarding Autism and the content produced on this blog is solely from my own experiences.
This blog post contains affiliate links, meaning I will receive a small commission for the advertised products.
According to Autistica, only 21.7% of Autistic people are in employment. This is significantly less compared to other disabilities with a higher employment rate.
There are multiple reasons why Autistic people are less likely to be employed. For instance, in the workplace, we often keep to ourselves to focus entirely on completing our tasks. As a result, many managers interpret this behaviour as anti-social and non-conforming to the generalised workplace culture of socialising throughout the shift.
Nevertheless, it’s unfortunate that society is missing out on the benefits that Autistic people can bring to the workplace. For example, although many of us may appear as “anti-social,” our ability to focus on our work allows us to complete tasks quicker than our neurotypical counterparts. Moreover, we have excellent accuracy and pay close attention to the details of our work, meaning there are fewer errors to occur which could increase the workload for our colleagues.
In this blog post, I will be sharing tips that have helped me to make job searching less daunting and more empowering. These are based on my personal experiences, so please only take on the tips you feel will benefit your needs.
Finding work as an Autistic person
Evaluate your Strengths and Weaknesses
In order to grow as an individual, it’s important to understand your strengths and weaknesses. This is because it’ll allow you to either find ways to improve your skills or approach jobs that align with your valuable skills.
The best way to do this is to write two lists: Firstly, what you’re good at and then the activities you love but still need to improve on. Examples of something you’re good at could be filmmaking or writing stories, and examples of something you could improve on could be your coding skills or working with mirrorless cameras.
2. Finding your Dream Job
Before choosing jobs to apply for, I would recommend writing down your must-have requirements. These are your non-negotiables that every job you apply for must have, such as a small company, remote, part-time and so forth. This is because it’ll help you to narrow down job positions, making it less daunting on your behalf.
After you’ve created this list, start to research company job listings on websites such as Indeed, CharityJobs and Monster Jobs. This involves researching whether the company is disability inclusive, which is easily identifiable by researching whether they have anonymous shortlisting, send interview questions before interviews, or short applications.
To expand, anonymous shortlisting benefits those with disabilities because it removes unconscious bias when job recruiters review your application. In addition, it removes unconscious bias from other factors, including race, sexuality and religious groups too.
3. Templates
Beginning job applications can be daunting as many applications require additional documents such as CVs, cover letters, and professional statements. However, there are ways to make the process less daunting.
Firstly, I suggest starting with creating a resume bank. A resume bank is a document with all the roles you’ve acquired, such as volunteering experiences, workshops, and work experiences. This includes noting your responsibilities and duties during the role.
This is one example of a key responsibility, but as you can see it’s important to concisely note what your role involved and a quantifiable result. A key technique that’s recommended is using the STAR technique when writing your role and responsibilities. This is because it will make it easier for you to write both your CV, cover letter and professional statement. Useful websites I used were Zety and LinkedIn to understand the technique.
After creating a resume bank, I suggest designing both a CV and a cover letter template that you can use for your job applications. An easy way of developing a CV and cover letter is through Canva. There are multiple templates in Canva that you can use to convert into your personalised CV and cover letter. Additionally, I suggest noting down sections on your template that are least likely to change from application to application.
This includes the following:
Email address
LinkedIn page
Town Address (such as Bradford, UK)
References
Education
The benefit of using templates to apply for job positions is it’ll help to prevent you from experiencing burnout. According to the National Autistic Society, Autistic individuals are more likely than neurotypical people to experience burnout. This is due to experiencing a sensory overload, in which an Autistic individual is more inclined to feel overwhelmed by having to complete many tasks at once.
4. Practice Interview Skills
Interviews can be stressful for Autistics due to not only having to meet verbal cues but non-verbal cues too, such as facial expressions and eye contact that hiring managers look out for. As a result, many Autistics are declined during this stage, even if their application shows the hiring manager that they’re highly qualified for the role.
Something which has helped me before interviews is preparing commonly asked questions and practising them beforehand. Doing this helped me avoid becoming blank and tongue-tied during the interview, allowing the hiring manager to clearly understand my capabilities for the role.
A useful YouTube channel is the Self-Made Millennial. Their YouTube channel has detailed videos for commonly asked interview questions.
What Next?
After applying for more than 15 jobs in the last four months, it’s clear that the job market needs to make changes that accommodate those from diverse backgrounds and disabilities.
To focus on Autism, more companies need to recognise incorporating neurodivergent ways of recruitment and working that would increase the percentage of Autistics in employment. From my experience, the best companies were those who recognised that not every human operates in a similar manner. For instance, my best interviews were with companies who emailed interview questions beforehand and conducted remote interviews. They recognised the impact interviews have on both the neurodivergent and neurotypical communities, in which many often experience high levels of anxiety.
Further Information
https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/mental-health/autistic-fatigue/autistic-adults
https://www.autistica.org.uk/news/autistic-people-highest-unemployment-rates