Tips For Employers on Hiring & Interviewing People with Autism
Job hunting and going through the interview process can be difficult for everyone and can cause a lot of stress and anxiety, and for individuals with special needs, it can be even more of a challenge. Employers have the ability to educate themselves on techniques that they can utilize in order to make potential employers with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) more comfortable throughout the hiring process.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for individuals with a disability increased to 12.6 percent in the last year, whereas the unemployment rate for individuals without a disability increased to 7.9 percent. This statistic is but one example of the unfortunate disadvantage individuals with a disability face when attempting to enter the workforce. By employers under-hiring and under-representing people with disabilities in the workplace, they are actually missing out on numerous benefits including: an increase in profit margin, adding diversity to company culture, increasing employee motivation, and so much more.
Before employers can work on decreasing the gap in unemployment rates between people with and without a disability, specifically ASD, there are some tips that they can learn to make the process better for themselves and the potential new employees with ASD. One important factor to take into account when going over these tips is that they only work if the person applying to a position reveals their disability to the employer when given the option to do so or not.
Here are some tips for employers hiring someone with ASD:
Always stay mindful of the fact that everyone has unique personalities, qualifications, and strengths.
Take into consideration that skills can be transferable and if an individual with ASD is skilled in an area outside of the workplace. For example, if an individual with ASD is skilled at gaming, they are likely good problem solvers and know how to work on a team.
Because individuals with autism can get stressed out and experience anxiety in social situations, an intimate social setting like an interview may be very stressful and it may be better to hold the interview via Zoom or another video conference platform.
It is also important to explain to the individual with ASD how the workplace operates and what the overall atmosphere and culture are like so that they can determine whether or not it would be an ideal setting for them to work in.
Individuals with ASD may not have the same nonverbal communication skills in regards to making good eye contact and understanding body language, so it would be helpful for employers to take this into consideration during interviews and understand that those differences do not make them less capable.
Following these tips and getting more educated can allow for employers to provide people with autism with a much more enjoyable hiring experience and can decrease some of the anxieties that come along with the hiring process. Once employers have a better understanding of the benefits of hiring people on the spectrum and how to go about the hiring process with people on the spectrum, we will be one step closer to evening out the playing field for people with autism and people without, in terms of employment rates.
We hope that these tips are helpful and that together, we can make the work force a fair and safe environment for individuals with autism.