For some, a job interview is a time to show off their talents, but for many people with autism, this step of the hiring process can bring challenges, unnecessary hurdles and anxiety.  

To coincide with World Autism Acceptance Week, autism campaigning charity, Autistica, is highlighting the injustices in the interview process and calling for fairer hiring practices. 

The campaign, which is called ‘Hire Different’, has been created with the help of House 337. The work has been designed to shine a light on how the traditional interview process is stacked against autistic people by comparing and contrasting the challenges they face with those a neurotypical person might face in the same setting. The campaign is born from the insight that fewer than three in ten autistic adults are currently in employment in the UK.

A simple film consisting of type and visual type-focused out-of-home posters lay out the challenges interviews bring that many neurotypical people might take for granted. The different executions are inspired by real accounts of job interview experiences by autistic people and will run across digital outdoor sites in London and Birmingham and across social media channels. 

Difficulties outlined in the campaign include understanding interview questions and body language cues, communication challenges, sensory issues and anxiety which are all factors that create additional barriers to entry into the workplace for autistic people. As a result, traditional job interviews often inadvertently recruit for social skills rather than job skills, meaning employers overlook the best candidates for the job. 

‘Hire Differently’ aims to raise awareness around the injustices in the hiring process that many are simply unaware of having not experienced them. The current process means that employers will not only miss out on all the other skills and expertise that autistic people have to offer due to unconscious bias within the system but shows interviews to be the cause of much stress and anxiety.

"Our campaign focuses on the faults in the whole hiring/interview system that hasn't changed for decades. It's madness in this day and age that it has stayed the same and is in no way inclusive or considers someone who cannot interview well under these pressures and will miss out on a job, because of this,” explains Jo Moore, Executive Creative Director at House 337.

As well as raising awareness of the problem, the campaign directs employers to the Autistica Employers Guide to Neurodiversity which has guidance on how to run inclusive interviews. The organisation is also encouraging people to support and get involved in their research around employment.

“Autistic people face unnecessary barriers to work because of an archaic interview process. Our campaign tells their stories, explaining how companies are too often missing out on the perfect candidate - just because a person is autistic. At Autistica we are rethinking the traditional interview process. We’re sharing resources for employers to help them hire differently by making interviews more accessible for autistic people,” adds Dr James Cusack, Chief Executive at Autistica.

Using the power of creativity to amplify the lived experiences of people with autism, the campaign points out the injustices created in a narrow minded system built by and for the few leaving many set up to fail. 

By questioning the hiring process and encouraging employers to make change, the campaign shows the power of doing things differently, reminding us that we must not fall into bad practices doing things because that is how they have always been done. Hire Differently is an example of how widening the lens and actively listening can expose inequalities to make a step change toward true inclusivity.