Reading about autism employment rates in British Columbia can feel depressing at times. A recent study found that almost 80% of autistic adults in the province were either unemployed or underemployed, meaning that they’re in work that doesn’t recognize their talents and qualifications. There are many reasons for this, ranging from the pervasive negative stereotypes surrounding autism to a lack of awareness about the strengths of autism in the workplace. However, as an autism advocate, there are 6 key steps to working out how to find a job for adults with autism.
Step 1: Strengths analysis
The first step in helping autistic adults find the right job is to think about the strengths that they already have that can be tailored to the workplace. This process can be in a couple of different ways. It can be a simple conversation about working in general, or you can find a strengths analysis questionnaire. This tool tends to be more accurate as it requests more honesty from everyone about what kind of work will be feasible, and it will also guide the autistic jobseeker towards fields where they will have a higher chance of success.
Step 2: Matching interests
One of the hallmark traits of autism across many autistic adults is a series of fascinations on specific themes or topics. Some autistic individuals, will only be able to work in jobs that directly correlate to these interests, while for others they may be able to focus their concentration on the tasks at hand. It will help to have honest conversations with autistic adults about their ability to focus on things outside of their fascination as this will help narrow down the fields to search for.
Step 3: Needs analysis
Another key piece of information that you’ll need to talk about before you even start looking at job adverts is the types of help and accommodations that autistic jobseeker will need to help them be successful in the workplace. For example, many autistic workers need a separate place to work, and a physical checklist of their daily tasks. For others, it can be a request for training for their immediate colleagues about language choices and how to give instructions and feedback. While there’s no rule about disclosing a mental health condition in a job interview, being ready to talk about specific needs and accommodations will help prospective employers know what to expect.
Step 4: Job-specific training
With all of these pieces of information in place, you can start to scour the job market for positions that match their strengths, interests and who will be make the necessary accommodations. As you start to narrow down the list of potential companies, the autistic jobseeker should aim to undertake as much job-specific training as possible to show their readiness to work. For example, they may want to take courses in software debugging for an IT consultancy role or find a financial trainer to help them work towards a professional qualification in accountancy.
Step 5: Workplace readiness training
For many autistic job seekers, it’s not enough to just have an interest in work and the necessary qualifications. They also have to be ready for the modern workplace, which is littered with potential hazards for autistic workers. From the trials of getting themselves ready and navigating the commute on time to negotiating tricky social situations and long meetings, there’s a lot of preparation work that needs to happen before most autistic adults are ready for the workplace. This could be done informally through discussions, role-plays, and site visits, or you could link them up with an autism employment agency and have them take autism-specific workplace readiness training.
Step 6: Interview preparation
While all of this training is going on, the autistic jobseeker should be applying for jobs that meet all their criteria and hopefully scoring some interviews. Sadly most modern hiring processes are heavily weighted toward neurotypical employees, so you’ll need to do some preparation ahead of the interviews. Writing a script for certain answers and doing a practice interview, as well as asking for the questions ahead of time, are great ways to prepare autistic applicants for the interview process.
It is possible for autistic jobseekers to go through these 6 steps by themselves or with support from a friend or family member. However, they’re much more likely to be successful in their job hunt if they sign up with an autism employment agency, which will have all the tools and resources to help them find the right job quickly and efficiently.
