Did you know that 35% of 18-year-olds with autism attend college, but a staggering 85% of college graduates with autism are underemployed or unemployed? And 1 million+ people with autism in the United States will reach adulthood in the next decade. The number of candidates who are being overlooked by Hiring processes designed with only the neurotypical in mind is just one reason it’s critical that companies start paying more attention to attracting, hiring, and retaining people on the autism spectrum. 

HireVue’s 2023 Global Trends Report found that 61% of hiring leaders are investing in initiatives to hire neurodiverse candidates to help overcome skills shortages. These results demonstrate there’s greater visibility around the need to focus on untapped talent, as well as how much more needs to be done to understand the way unconscious biases and outdated processes can inhibit broader employment goals. 

A great place to start making changes today is the Interview process. HireVue worked with its partners at Integrate Autism Employment Advisors to design hiring and interview tips for autistic jobseekers. Below are some of the highlights on how you can set all candidates up for a better experience:

Help Alleviate Anxiety

For neurodivergent and autistic candidates, providing additional time and resources to help them prepare for an interview can make all the difference. Neurodivergent candidates often experience increased anxiety in new and unfamiliar situations above and beyond that of their neurotypical peers, so some of the best support employers can offer is actually before or during the interview: 

• Offer a thorough preview of the interview process to help candidates better understand what to expect in the formal interview.
• Share interview questions in advance to give candidates more time to think through their responses, which can help them feel less anxious and answer questions more comfortably.
• Provide additional time for candidates to prepare for the interview, and share any company tips you have for neurodiverse candidates, like the ones we created with our partners at Integrate Autism Employment Advisors.
• Allow candidates the ability to practice before interviewing, hide any timers related to test-taking or interviews, and hide self-views on any video technology.

Try Various Types of Questions/Assessments

Companies with successful neurodiversity initiatives have found success by augmenting traditional interviews with activities such as whiteboard sessions, screen-sharing activities, or game-based assessments. This type of skills showcase allows candidates to demonstrate their abilities and problem-solving skills as opposed to relying solely on verbal responses and explanations. Furthermore, research has found that autistic candidates perform better in structured interviews, with competency-based questions supported by a job analysis, and research says this method of interviewing is the best way to select candidates for a job. When developing interview questions, also be sure to review the questions for language that might make the questions hard for autistic candidates to understand, including metaphors, Boolean logic, and hypothetical situations.

Don’t Read into Body Language

Autistic individuals may have difficulty making eye contact, smiling, or shaking hands, and they may engage in stimming behaviors, all of which may be seen as unprofessional by some hiring managers. In fact, according to a report published by CareerBuilder, 43% of hiring managers considered unprofessional body language during interviews to be an instant deal breaker in the hiring process. Replacing these informal forms of interviewing with tools or processes that emphasize job-related knowledge, skills, and abilities in the hiring process can help create a more inclusive workplace.

Explain Questions Thoroughly and Provide Examples

Understanding ambiguous or unclear questions can be one of the trickiest parts of an interview for autistic candidates. You can help alleviate some of that confusion by providing as much detail as possible in your interview questions. Use scenario-based questions for which candidates can see a real-life illustration of the question being asked. This will ensure your questions can’t be interpreted in multiple ways. For example, asking candidates how they “found” their prior position could yield various responses, e.g., “I found the position difficult” vs. “I found the position online.”

Conclusion

It’s worth noting that in addition to the moral imperative for hiring equity, there’s evidence that autistic employees are an untapped and highly qualified workforce due to some candidates’ aptitude for technical skills, attention to detail, dependability, and focus. When it comes to getting neurodiversity initiatives right, everything from application to hiring to manager training matters. This is a long-term commitment and one that benefits everyone when it’s done well.

Colin Willis, PhD, is a Senior Industrial and Organizational Psychology Consultant at HireVue. In addition to developing, validating, and implementing selection assessments for customers, he also researches ways of improving pre-hire assessment predictability and reducing bias and adverse impact in selection decisions. His current research interests focus on the intersection between neurodiversity, emerging HR technologies, and hiring fairness.

His past research includes several projects in studying learning from a person-centered perspective, including how older workers may learn differently than younger workers and developing a measure of informal learning behaviors, as well as research into the antecedents and outcomes of retirement habits in an international sample of workers. Willis has presented internationally at the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the European Association for Work and Organizational Psychology, and the Age in the Workplace Meeting and received his PhD in psychology from Colorado State University.

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