I am a neuro-diverse individual and have worked with many sharing similar behavioural traits (albeit they may not be formally diagnosed). Challenges I’ve faced personally are primarily avoiding extensive anxiety up to and during interviews and being able to talk about myself. While we make for great servant leaders and support to the wider teams, selling ourselves under pressure situations like interviews is significantly more difficult. We prefer to showcase our achievements, or have others advocate our abilities, not necessarily sell ourselves.
We tend to critically examine every role opportunity and feel like ticking every single box before applying. However, in this current market, the need to apply outweighs the usual decision-making processes we go through and this increases our anxiety significantly. The current application descriptions in the advertisements are not prescriptive enough to allow us to have sufficient details to give us confidence in our abilities to apply in a meaningful manner.
It would be better to be more descriptive of what our day in life may look like with a disclosure on “not having to tick all the boxes” within your call to action.
I believe NZ companies already have a fairly good awareness of their D,E&I policies and do state in their role descriptions on being open to individuals who choose to disclose their neurodiversity.
However, companies also need to recognise and disclose that they can support additional methods of being able to have a meaningful conversation with the candidate. Interviews by their very nature, require individuals to talk about themselves and their experiences on the fly and this is a major mental blocker.
Agencies can help immensely in setting the context on both sides of the panel. It is not sufficient for agencies to tell the candidates that they will be fine and answer honestly etc. With increased awareness of mental health, agencies can act on behalf of both parties and ensure that the process is engaging, meaningful and less stressful. This may include modernizing the interview process into several smaller duration parts including breaking the interviews into a “get to know the person”, “provide information the company may need” upfront, “how will you add value to the company”, etc…
Agencies have a trusted relationship with their customers. We rely on that trust to know that they will screen appropriate candidates and put only potential candidates in front of their customers
I have been contracting for over 20 years across a number of industries. This was the first year I had to disclose. This is simply due to the extreme scarcity of roles and the amount of importance we are giving to every single opportunity that does come up to be in front of hiring managers.
This year, the sheer number of candidates, resulted in a significant increase in anxiety. Every single interview meeting is met with extreme anxiety and after each interview, we are filled with dread that we didn’t answer exactly the way we wanted due to the pressure situation we put ourselves in.
We have an issue with sending applications into a black hole, finally getting an interview lined up, the time before and after the interview itself, and then not sleeping afterward thinking we may have missed an awesome opportunity. Who you see in an interview is NOT the person who will work for you. We present a façade and have intense difficulty maintaining it during that limited window.
Find was excellent and professional and human. Soon as they heard my disclosure, they applied additional reassurances in ensuring both the hiring company and myself were at ease. They identified early that the hiring company also had individuals who were already neurodiverse and ensured I knew that the people interviewing me were adaptable to my needs. That simple knowledge allowed me to be myself in the interview. They asked if I preferred structured (STAR like) questioning, or more general conversations.
In addition, there was a lot of text messages and calls both before and after the interview and right up to giving me the good news that I got the role. The number of communication, updates and check ins were significantly more which in addition to making me feel well informed, told me that they were careful in targeting the right role for the right candidate and didn’t employ a shotgun method. That by itself means that if put forward, my expectations and anxiety were already well managed.
Be yourselves. Continue to coach and encourage your clients to make the hiring process enjoyable and a delight to both sides. Don’t be afraid to practice less formal techniques and be adaptable. You are good enough to recognize a good candidate, you are a trusted agency with your clients. Don’t be afraid to back yourselves in continuing to match the right person to the right role.
The silence affects us more than the rejection.
Lastly, we as neurodiverse individuals do a lot of self-inspecting. Respect that and provide valid and honest feedback to unsuccessful applications. Get feedback from the clients and provide them in a meaningful manner to the candidate.
The above review was written by a genuine candidate of Find Recruitment. Identifying information has been removed for privacy.
Thanks for your interest in what we do here at FIND. We love meeting and helping amazing kiwis every day and will always do our best for our clients and candidates. We've been simplifying the recruitment game since 2008, so don't hesitate to get in touch if you need our help!