Interviews

[responses from our ND in Creative Industries Survey, 2024]

Interviews. Famously formal, rigid, and awful – for everyone involved. They’re rarely a pleasant experience, but interviews can prove particularly challenging for neurodivergent candidates, many of whom experience executive functioning difficulties making immediately responding to questions difficult, and because they are generally measuring social competency over ability, those of us who do not present in ‘typical’ ways are disadvantaged.

Here are some tips and tricks for those responsible with interviewing neurodivergent candidates, cast, and crew:

Pre-Interview

Ask every candidate in advance if they have any access requirements for the session, regardless of it takes place online or in person

Send detailed information about the location of the interview (preferably with visual cues like Google Maps), including how to get there, who will meet them at reception, and what the room will look like

If in person, provide an access statement for your work building

Include an itinerary detailing how long they will be there and the structure of the interview

Let them know how many people they are likely to meet during the interview, and who they are (preferably with headshots)

Give clear expectations – on dress code, on what they can bring (e.g. notes), and what to

Allow the candidate to ask any questions in advance

Where possible, provide interview questions in advance (for those with executive functioning challenges, associated with, for example, ADHD and dyslexia, it offers the opportunity to recall important information without the immediate pressure of the day. Autistic candidates, too, benefit from the additional time to process and formulate responses, particularly to questions they may not quite understand in the moment)

Notify with sufficient time any changes

During the Interview

Avoid an interview time that requires travel during peak hours

Be clear: make sure questions are direct and experience based, rather than abstract hypotheticals like ‘where do you see yourself in five years’ time?’. An autistic person can find this impossible to answer, and can put them into a stressful and anxious state.

Don’t have multiple parts to a question

Offer a range of interview options, including in-person, remote, or phone

Offer a choice of seating arrangements, e.g. side by side, facing across a table

Offer additional time to answer questions

Keep it short and simple

Avoid arbitrary or abstract psychometric tests, only using ones that are valid, reliable, and administered by suitably qualified assessors capable of interpreting data without discriminating against neurodivergent candidates

Allow them to bring an advocate/supporter, if necessary

Make sure your interviewer is well-informed about neurodivergence, preferably through training, so that they can be aware of their own bias* against behaviours such as:

Poor eye-contact
Unconventional body language
Challenges with small talk
Fidgeting
Lengthy conversational tangents

Stimming
Slow responses
Subdued enthusiasm
Over honesty about weaknesses
Low confidence and self-esteem

... and adapt accordingly.

Choose a location with reduced sensory overwhelm, one that:

is quiet
is free from distractions
does not have harsh artificial lights

In general, processes that overload the working memory, in what is an already stressful situation, disable neurodivergent applicants by exaggerating their weaknesses and reducing, if not eliminating, their strengths.

Where possible, consider alternatives to the interview process, that better consider competency and showcase relevant skills, such as:

Practical assessments and applied tasks
Short-term trial placements
Job shadowing
Work samples/show reels

After the Interview

Applications and interviews are incredibly taxing for neurodivergent candidates, who have to give a lot of themselves – mentally, physically, and emotionally – to get through the processes. And rejection is felt hard.

If possible, provide clear and honest feedback to unsuccessful candidates, to help ease preparation for the next one and take some of that pressure of the unknown off their shoulders.