Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi
I'm new to this forum.
I have been having a discussion with a colleague about whether interview questions for a new job should be given to autistic individuals in advance on an interview AND also given to neuro-typical candidates?
I think that they should only be given to autistic candidates and not the neuro-typical candidates; as this is a reasonable adjustment that levels the playing field for the autistic candidate.
My colleague says he understands this point of view but feels it is the fairer approach to give it to both candidates .. and removes an allegation of unfairness from the neuro-typical candidate.
Would really welcome your thoughts as I want to raise with my HR team at work.
Thanks.
NAS93361 said:I think that they should only be given to autistic candidates
That becomes unfair to the neurotypical candidates however.
Any change needs to be FAIR to all candidates and ensure access - not give one group an advantage over the other.
It will also depend greatly on the position you are applying for. I have recruited dozens of IT support staff over the decades for all levels and these sorts of staff need to be able to cope with whatever arrives via phone or support ticket and deal with it on the spot - and quickly.
You need to be able to throw curveball questions to the candidates to see how they can think on their feet and how they cope with the entirely unexpected. The point here is to see HOW they respond rather than the actual answers they provide.
I used to use the very random question of "it is new years eve and you are the only member of IT left in the building and you have a call from the CEO saying there is an emergency situation where an underground tunnel being built is experiencing subsidence and they need to estimate the weight of the building within the next hour and you are the only person there and they need you to do it"
This gives the candidate an near impossible task they undoubtedly have not done before so you need to see how they approach estimating the factors to include.
Any candidate that will refuse saying it isn't their job or they can't do it will not get the role - any attempt will get credit even if it involves calling the emergency services, but someone who can show the mental process to start to estimate the volume of concrete, glass, infrastructure etc will get a lot more credit.
The ability to handle the unknown is essential for a good technician as we see something new pretty much every day and need the flexibility to pivot to deal with it.
Funnily enough I started my IT career in support and found that the ability to be totally calm and logical when it all hell broke loose was my key skill. Patience seemed to be a thing that I had in spades. I was always the best performer and quickly got promoted up to 3rd line and then onto tech design/build for big projects, I loved that too.
It has got harder as I've progressed "up the ladder" over the years finding there's far more ambiguity and politics rather than logic at play, which triggers my anxiety and can be very distressing.
I always assumed I'd find things to be the opposite way round.