A Job Search Guide for People With Autism

By Mariah Flores

In Brief: (1) Start your job search by taking a personal inventory of your strengths and skills, determining how, where, and with whom you work best. (2) Find the right job for yourself, disregard stereotypes and seek out diverse, inclusive companies committed to neurodiversity. (3) Job searching is hard, so ask for help and don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself.

The job search process is not easy, sometimes proving to be completely demoralizing and stress-inducing at times. Having a guide on hand can be useful.

For job seekers who are neurodiverse — a term often used to refer to people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as well as other neurological or developmental conditions, such as ADHD or learning differences — it can be extra difficult to find meaningful employment. That is because? employers have a lot of work to do to fully comprehend what it means to be autistic or neurodiverse. Harvard Health Publishing reports that “stigma, a lack of awareness, and lack of appropriate infrastructure (such as office setup or staffing structures) can cause exclusion of people with neurodevelopmental differences.”?

Such barriers, usually caused by misguided societal norms, can be hard to navigate, discouraging and exclusionary — which is why fostering inclusive, accommodating workplaces that are conducive to neurodiversity is important. If you’re autistic and ready to join the job search, two experts share their tips, guidance and words of advice in this job search guide. While there may be some challenges along the way, you’ll find that there are some wins to be had, too.

Step one: beginning your job search

Starting can be the hardest part of the job search. You may be worried that your differences will stop you from reaching your full potential when looking for employment. But what if you reimagined that belief? Your differences are not deficits. Your individual strengths and talents are what make you so valuable to employers (regardless of if they see it or not). You deserve a fulfilling career.

Autistic or neurodivergent people may communicate, learn or behave differently, making it hard for them to fit the candidate profiles sought after by certain employers. Yet, neurodiversity is a competitive advantage in this ever-changing, demanding job market. So ease into your search, taking into account your employment needs, wants, goals, strengths and skill sets … leading the search with those.

“[As a neurodivergent job seeker], hopefully you are aware of your sensory and communication needs and you know how to self-advocate for yourself. It seems easy but it's not easy because there's so many autistic adults, or neurodivergent adults, who are not able to find a diagnosis and support. So I think that the first step, if you are looking for a job, is to think about ‘What are my best skills?’ … ‘How do I work best?’ Whether it's the type of people, coworkers around you, or the type of work environment, because everyone is different. And also think about, ‘Can I maybe find a job that can incorporate my special interests, or my passion? Something that I'm very passionate about?’ You want to be able to present yourself with your strength first. Because a lot of times, [being neurodivergent], we’re walking to an interview situation already feeling defeated. We're already scared because we're not typical and the road ahead is so challenging. And we don't know who's going to interview us, and what is expected.?

So that's my number one tip: To really have better clarity of who you are as an autistic person, or as a person who struggles with certain things … that way you have a template or rough draft, how to self-advocate.”

??In real life: Maisie Soetantyo, M. Ed., founder at Autism Career Pathways and openly autistic advocate and inclusivity trainer, who’s worked with autistic people for nearly 30 years. She follows her advice given above, embracing her own special interests and using it to her advantage within her professional career.

“For example, my special interest has been autism, human behavior, communication and sports watching. Not sports doing, sports watching. But actually, my knowledge of sports has given me the ability to break the ice when I am in a situation, social gatherings or if I have a new client [because] anywhere in this world, people always play sports. So that has helped me … it's the same way also for any job seeker. You want to maybe write down these different things about yourself as an autistic person, or maybe an autistic person with ADHD. Or maybe someone with dyslexia or whatever learning challenges you have.”

Step two: finding the right role

Often, people overlook that autism is a “spectrum” disorder, meaning there is wide variation in the type and severity of symptoms people experience. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), people with ASD often have

• Difficulty with communication and interaction with other people
• Restricted interests and repetitive behaviors
• Symptoms that affect their ability to function in school, work, and other areas of life

That said, never make assumptions, instead allow potential neurodiverse employees the opportunity to be open about their needs. A great way to do so? Utilizing inclusive job descriptions and adding a “Do you need any reasonable accommodations for this interview process?” question in your application.

Harmful stereotypes, like all autistic professionals possess some sort of super-genius power or heightened abilities across the board, and discrimination make it seem like there are only a handful of “good” roles for autistic individuals, like technology or computer coding. This is quite misleading. As an autistic job seeker, any career path can be a “good” fit, if it sparks your interest. Additionally, for any job, be sure to consider any workplace accommodations you need to perform the job and if they’re manageable.?

“I think that it's important to point out that those stereotypes are stereotypes. They're not true. And that there's just as wide of interests and professional fields for autistic job seekers as there is for anybody else. … We [Neurodiversity in the Workplace] have a collection of people who reach out to us in our database who say, ‘Hey, I could use some assistance getting a job.’ and it's a very wide range of interests, backgrounds [and] educational degrees. But there is that stereotype still of the coding platforms and different coding languages that I think we're trying to illustrate is universally not true.”

— Joseph Riddle is the director of Neurodiversity in the Workplace (NITW). He leads the initiative dedicated to making neurodiversity a fundamental component of talent acquisition by eliminating barriers faced by neurodivergent job seekers.

“I think when it comes to neurodivergence, historically, there are boxes, because it's easier to put people in boxes. So ‘ADHD people are like this, autistic people are like this, non-speaking people are like this’, and so on, because in some ways it's easier to understand, but really it's not. [B]y putting people in boxes, the world is missing out. I think the answer [is] for businesses [and] companies of all sizes to look for the best person to fit the job — the position that you're looking to fill. And think outside of the box when it comes to really figuring out who can fit into this job.

And I think if you think outside of the box, and just do little changes instead of just doing face-to-face interviews, I think you will find the best person. Not just skill-wise, but also how this person is able to contribute, or maybe design something new for your business and so on.”

— Maisie Soetantyo, M. Ed.

A growing number of companies across various industries, like JPMorgan and Microsoft*, are hiring neurodiverse employees for more than just tech and coding. CNBC reports that the move to fully integrate neurodiverse employees has been fueled by the corporate emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), with Jill Houghton, president and CEO of Disability:IN sharing, “There is a growing recognition among companies that neurodiverse talent really brings innovation, creativity, and strong problem-solving in an ever more complex technology environment.”

Autistic job seekers should consider researching and applying for positions within diverse employers, like the ones above, who are making an active commitment to neurodiversity — making sure they’re a good fit for you.

*Microsoft is the parent company of LinkedIn

Step Three: Reaching Out For Help

If you’re struggling with any step in your job search journey, don’t hesitate to get assistance. Job seeking is hard work and there are organizations out there supporting autistic and neurodivergent professionals and job seekers, including Autism Speaks, Soetantyo’s Autism Career Pathways, and Neurodiversity in the Workplace.

““[T]here's a lot of organizations like our own, Neurodiversity in the Workplace, that both recruit and help companies recruit autistic job seekers. And there's a lot of companies who are initiating this kind of idea of changing the interview practice and establishing better ways of evaluating talent. And I think that reaching out to those organizations is really useful.”

— Joseph Riddle

Your job search is unique to you and it’s okay to stumble here and there.? As you begin your job search, come prepared, ask questions, do research and always advocate for yourself. You’ll be a great addition to any team.

“Prepare yourself, do your homework and take the lead during the interview. And don't be afraid to communicate through emails actually, if you do need to. [Asking] ahead of time, ‘What kind of questions can I be expecting? I don't need to know the details, I just need to know an overview, and that would really help me feel more regulated during the interview itself.’”

— Maisie Soetantyo, M. Ed.

Riddle also encourages you to be yourself and not try to fit “into the mold that you think corporate America is trying to carve you into.”?

“[B]e yourself, showcase the skills and the unique interests that you have … and prove that you can do those so that you can get the job and get a job that's actually better fitted for you.”

Explore more

• How Can Employers Make Workplaces Accessible for People with Autism? by Lora Korpar for Get Ahead by LinkedIn News
• 6 tips for job seekers on the spectrum from someone who is autistic by Marcelle Ciampi for Autism Speaks
• Explainer: What is neurodivergence? Here’s what you need to know by Kelly McCain for World Economic Forum
• What is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)? by NPD for Get Ahead by LinkedIn News
• What Life Is Like for Autistic Workers by Matt Gonzales for SHRM
• Finding a Job is Stressful. Here’s How to Get Through it. by Juliet Funt for Harvard Business Review (HBR)

Meet the experts

Joseph Riddle is the director of Neurodiversity in the Workplace (NITW), He leads the initiative dedicated to making neurodiversity a fundamental component of talent acquisition by eliminating barriers faced by neurodivergent job seekers.

Maisie Soetantyo, M. Ed., founder at Autism Career Pathways and openly autistic advocate and inclusivity trainer, who’s worked with autistic people for nearly 30 years. She follows her advice given above, embracing her own special interests and using it to her advantage within her professional career.

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