{"id":124437,"date":"2022-05-02T19:52:16","date_gmt":"2022-05-02T19:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.microsoft.com\/?p=446161"},"modified":"2022-05-02T19:52:16","modified_gmt":"2022-05-02T19:52:16","slug":"unique-job-site-can-help-neurodivergent-people-find-meaningful-work-while-being-themselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2022\/05\/02\/unique-job-site-can-help-neurodivergent-people-find-meaningful-work-while-being-themselves\/","title":{"rendered":"Unique job site can help neurodivergent people find meaningful work \u2014 while being themselves"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cLarge organizations are really good at assimilation to build large workforces that inadvertently shave away the beautiful, unique edges and what the neurodivergent community often refers to as their \u2018spiky profiles,\u2019\u201d Shukla says. \u201cBut it\u2019s the spiky profile you want to retain and support to allow that innovation to rise to the surface.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Hiren
Hiren Shukla (photo courtesy of Shukla)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Companies seeking neurodivergent talent often recruit through informal networks and relationships with local universities, nonprofits and advocacy groups \u2014 a time-intensive process for both recruiters and job seekers. The neurodiversity job site fills a need for a large-scale, national marketplace with a broad range of jobs, employers and people.<\/p>\n

Recently, the site brimmed with listings from small and large companies for software engineers, graphic designers, financial analysts and more. Job seekers can create a profile, upload a resume and connect with employers directly.<\/p>\n

Everly-Hall, who was diagnosed with autism in her 40s, says the platform would be helpful if she had to look for work again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could be myself and say this is who I am,\u201d she says. \u201cIt would cause me less stress knowing I can just say, \u2018I\u2019m on the spectrum. You understand this. I understand this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

But Everly-Hall is not looking for work because she\u2019s happy with her job at Ultranauts<\/a>, a rapidly growing software and data quality engineering firm built with neurodiversity in mind. More than 75% of its employees are neurodivergent. The majority are autistic, many have ADHD or dyslexia, and some are non-speaking or hard of hearing.<\/p>\n

\"Woman
Kelly Everly-Hart and her dog Rockie (photo courtesy of Everly-Hart)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Everly-Hall interviewed with the company in 2015, she disclosed her autism and found her interviewer to be patient and understanding. Seven years later, she still appreciates the supportive workplace, which includes a mentor who helps her interpret social subtext, and the chance to become a leader, an opportunity she lacked at previous jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really made to feel at ease right away, like, \u2018We don\u2019t care you have this disability. What we care about is your experience,\u2019\u201d says Everly-Hall, a senior quality analyst and accessibility consultant who works from home in Colorado Springs, Colorado.<\/p>\n

Founded in 2013, Ultranauts has designed a \u201cUniversal Workplace\u201d that allows employees to fully participate and collaborate with colleagues who are different than them. It reduces hiring barriers by not requiring specific degrees or a certain number of years of experience. It favors skills assessments over chatty interviews to determine job fit.<\/p>\n

Employees, who work remotely across 30 states in the U.S., are encouraged to communicate in their preferred mode \u2014 writing, speaking, being on camera or off. Leadership communication is explicit and transparent to reduce ambiguity and anxiety.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe advantage we have is not from individual team members being exceptional, but in bringing together different brain types, information processing models and perspectives, and forging collaborative teams,\u201d says Rajesh Anandan, Ultranauts cofounder and CEO.<\/p>\n

\"Rajesh
Rajesh Anandan (photo courtesy of Anandan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Neurodiversity also strengthens the workforce at Microsoft, which has hired about 200 people across engineering and business disciplines through its neurodiversity hiring program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy adjusting the front door of our interview process, we are finding incredible talent that we previously may have been missing out on,\u201d says Barnett. He hopes more employers will join the job site to enrich the talent at their companies and the lives of neurodivergent people.<\/p>\n

For Jason Ross, the platform is a major step in supporting people who have struggled like him.<\/p>\n

Before landing a cybersecurity job recently, Ross, who has autism, spent many demoralizing months searching for work and many years getting fired from job after job while trying to navigate workplace dynamics.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very hard when you want to do well at this thing and you can\u2019t do well at this thing to the point where can\u2019t support yourself,\u201d says Ross, who lives in Virginia and has a master\u2019s degree in cybersecurity studies.<\/p>\n

He never discussed his autism at previous jobs but made a bold move this time and disclosed to his new manager. He\u2019s following a mentor\u2019s advice to be upfront and simply tell people he doesn\u2019t \u201cexcel in social nuance.\u201d He\u2019s nervous and hopeful about the opportunity to work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not less than. I\u2019m different and that\u2019s OK,\u201d Ross says.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also excited about the job site, which he and other neurodivergent people helped shape with their feedback and lived experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a phenomenal resource,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s made for us, by us. That level of understanding, baked in from the jump, is a meaningful distinction for this platform versus going on any general job platform and throwing your resume into the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Go to the <\/em>Neurodiversity @ Work Employer Roundtable<\/em><\/a> and watch a video<\/a> to learn more about its work and the Neurodiversity Career Connector. Employers can also find resources for starting a hiring initiative through the <\/em>Autism @ Work Playbook<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Top photo: Avatars of <\/span>Ultranauts<\/span> employees (image courtesy of <\/span>Ultranauts<\/span>)<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cLarge organizations are really good at assimilation to build large workforces that inadvertently shave away the beautiful, unique edges and what the neurodivergent community often refers to as their \u2018spiky profiles,\u2019\u201d Shukla says. \u201cBut it\u2019s the spiky profile you want to retain and support to allow that innovation to rise to the surface.\u201d Hiren Shukla […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-124437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-microsoft-news","tag-recent-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}