Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello. I'm new here and I'm really hoping that someone can help.
Has anyone got any experience about asking for adjustments to the recruitment process, especially interviews?
I'm trying to help someone get a job and he is worried about not being able to answer questions in an interview situation even though he would be able to do the job itself well.
I've thought about asking for the interview questions in advance, but don't want to jeopardise his chances by putting off a potential employer. He worries that it will look like he's 'cheating'.
We've looked at work placements which would lead to a job, but haven't had any success in getting him one.
Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions that might help us?
Many thanks.
Kate
(Development worker)
bolsover said:I've thought about asking for the interview questions in advance, but don't want to jeopardise his chances by putting off a potential employer. Many thanks.Kate(Development worker)
I've thought about asking for the interview questions in advance, but don't want to jeopardise his chances by putting off a potential employer.
Hi Kate
Can we presume he has Aspergers ?
The moment you disclose that he has Aspergers you potentially jeopordise his chances.
Asking for adjustments then becomes irrelevant because if the company hiring manager is prejudiced then he has no chance. Of course proving such hidden prejudice is impossible from a legal stance.
For this to work in his favour a hiring manager must know what Aspergers is, and understand it sufficiently, and be willing to employ someone with Aspergers for the role from the outset.
One must also remember that an interviewee is competing with other applicants who don't have Aspergers.
So his job is to convince the company that he has the competitive advantage for the role.
Every person applying for a job must compete against many others, and there can only be one winner.
Asking for the list of interview questions is not a reasonable adjustment and would probably not be given.
Reasonable adjustment is about where the interview is done, and the way in which it is conducted. For an adjustment to be reasonable the interviewer would need to be a psychologist and expert in autism, which most hiring managers are not. In fact most such managers are not even expert interviewers in their own right. Questions would need to be asked in a different way and different questions would need to be asked of someone with autism. This takes an expert. Only an expert can understand eye contact and body language differences in autism and how they need to be interpreted regarding the role applied for.
There is also a difference between a coffee shop owner informally interviewing someone versus an HR manager in a multi-national corporate enterprise following an industrial psychological process.
Companies also want to determine from an interview whether the candidate will fit into the team and company culture. Someone with autism will most likely fail on this count, unless the company has a policy to fit such people into their teams. Unless the autistic person has a technical edge the company will prefer to employ a neuro-typical person who can do the job and fits into the team. It's about competition.
So in my view, asking the average hiring manager in the open job market to make reasonable adjustments for autism in an interview is like expecting to win the euromillions jackpot with your next ticket.
Hi,
Fellow Aspie and ADHD-er here, also working as a neurodiversity consultant at big corporates.
Asking for the interview questions ahead of time is definitely a reasonable adjustment because your ability to prepare appropriately and account for your processing difference is all part and parcel of the interview process.
Yes, we can't do anything much about their understanding of Autism or willingness to accommodate and it definitely shouldn't be our job to convince them we're worth pressing "send" on one extra email (and yet it still does fall on our shoulders, as the disadvantaged group!) BUT I'll be damned if I don't ask the question and copy and paste sections of the Equality Act 2010 every time I apply for a new job!