Thinking about your future and your career can feel daunting, but there’s no pressure to have all the answers straight away. Whether you’re already employed and looking to progress or move roles, or a newer entrant into the job market, there’s a wealth of guidance and resources to make the process a more neurodiversity-friendly experience.

This article outlines some of the things you might want to think about when considering career paths, as well as the support available to you in the workplace.

Exploring career paths can be exciting, but can also generate lots of questions. For example, do you need to tell work you’re autistic? What happens if you experience a shutdown/meltdown at work? How can you best utilise your strengths? It’s important to think about all aspects of your potential career path before taking the first step towards it, so you know how best to prepare.

Career planning is often described as ‘an iterative process’. Simply put this means you are likely to go through a number of career ideas and steps. You will grow in confidence and experience as you gradually get closer and closer to the right area (IMAGE Employability Toolkit).

How could this affect me?

When planning your next steps in terms of your career, it’s important to consider:

• Interests – how will this shape the type of work you’d like to do?
• Motivation and values – what gives you purpose on a daily basis? Does the role or company align with you as a person?
• Strengths, skills, and experience – many skills are transferrable, but it’s sometimes difficult to put this across to an employer. Our Careers Team here at the University can help you with this.
• Access needs and preferences – if you find social interactions challenging, for example, then you may wish to avoid person-facing roles

Where to look for jobs

• Evenbreak – job board for disabled candidates
• Take a look at this list of Employers that have signed up to the Disability Confident Scheme
• EmployAbility run internships and graduate programmes for neurodivergent students and graduates
• Exceptional Individuals run a jobs board specifically for neurodivergent people
• Indeed & Billion Strong is a global disability movement, with a focus on connecting people with Disability Confident employers
• Enna Global are an organisation who promote neurodivergent talent in the workplace. They have an active jobs board, as well as guidance on navigating work as a neurodivergent person

FAQs

Do I have to tell work I’m autistic?

There is no obligation to tell work you are autistic, and you should never feel pressured to do so. There is also no time limit on sharing this information; it’s an option to you at any time.

There are some instances where you would need to share your diagnosis with work, for example in order to access support such as reasonable adjustments. Check the company policy on how to approach this, or contact your HR team for more information.

What do reasonable adjustments at work look like?

The Equality Act 2010 protects disabled people from discrimination at work. As such, employers have a duty to ensure disabled people are provided with reasonable adjustments in order to protect them from discrimination or being treated less favourably.

Reasonable adjustments are agreed changes in working practice, physical environment, or provision of support aids in order to support you at work. This could be through a flexible or altered start/finish time, provision of noise cancelling headphones, providing assistive software, or organising a workplace mentor, for example.

Reasonable adjustments should be reviewed regularly to check they are effective for the person being supported.

How do I navigate reasonable adjustments at the interview stage?

Reasonable adjustments apply even before you are employed, and can be arranged in the recruitment phase to support you through the interview process. To request reasonable adjustments at this stage, you would need to tell the potential employer what you need and why.

Examples of reasonable adjustments in the recruitment phase include being given interview questions in advance, being given more time to prepare for any assessments, or agreeing on an interview format (e.g. online, fewer people interviewing, or interview taking place in a less formal setting).

What support is available to me at work?

In addition to reasonable adjustments, you may be entitled to explore funded support via Access to Work. Access to Work funding can pay for support such as assistive software, travel support, workplace mentoring, job coaches, and ADHD coaching.