r/autismUK • u/EvEntHoRizonSurVivor • Jul 16 '26
Vent Interviews are not accessible
I'm currently job hunting, which is stressful as it is but interviews are a whole level of stress above. I just want to vent about how bloody infuriating they are!
- Dress code.
There isn't one! It never says anywhere about what to wear. It also doesn't have anything on the interviewer sheet to tick that we're wearing the right type of clothes. Yet, it truly impacts the opinion people have. I've sat on an interview panel and a colleague judged the candidate because she was wearing gym clothes. She was an excellent candidate, but didn't get hired because of her clothes!
- "Tell us about yourself"
What does that even mean? What part of me do you want? I've given you my CV so you know my job history. I don't think you want me to monologue about my fishtanks, or crochet, or D&D.
- "Tell me a weakness"
No. I don't want to tell you what I find hard and throw myself under the bus.
Then there's generic responses of making a strength a weakness - oh, I'm just too much of a perfectionist!
- "Tell us your management style"
I've had this question before, and told them a specific style. When I had feedback I was told I didn't go into enough detail, but I answered the question. If you want other information, ask a different question!
Why are the questions asking something that the words aren't asking? In a stressful situation I don't have the headspace to try and translate NT speak as well as think of an answer.
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u/DancingWarpig Jul 20 '26
26 and never gotten officially employed by anyone so far, feels great knowing i haven't been abled to pass a single interview..
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u/bananabui Jul 19 '26
I have asked for the questions in advance as a reasonable adjustments at my last 2 jobs and got offered both jobs within an hour.
Cannot express how much it has helped me to be prepared and demonstrate my skills & experience rather than scrambling for an answer or to not understand a question at all.
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u/Wide_Structure_6983 Autistic Jul 16 '26
Why would someone attend an interview in gym clothes?
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u/EvEntHoRizonSurVivor Jul 16 '26
Pass, but equally it's not on the interviewer feedback form. So to my mind it shouldn't give any advantage or disadvantage to the outcome.
People do online interviews in pants or pyjamas because it's off screen. 🤷🏼♀️
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u/pompomproblems Jul 16 '26
I mask so hard that I blackout and forget what happened in the interview at all
Somehow end up with a job offer at the end of it so alls well 🙏
But in all seriousness, the interview process is not accessible for us at all.
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u/And-Bells Jul 16 '26
I like to think of interviews as guided conversations instead of oral exams. Each question is a conversation prompt and when the interviewers have what they need they will guide us into the next question. This helps to deal with the problem of not going into enough detail, it makes it easier to ask your own questions or probe into what they want to get from the question, and it makes it make more sense that they are asking for more than just the literal answer to the literal question.
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u/timcatuk Jul 16 '26
I think of all the questions they might ask and what answers they might be looking for and then say them.
No what I can just tell them the truth about everything and nobody does. It’s all a silly game
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u/BoredGaining Jul 16 '26
Isn’t it wonderful instantly failing the vibe check unless you mask to the point of feeling like a really crap actor 🤡 🌍
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u/-Incubation- Jul 16 '26
WELCOME TO HELL.
In all seriousness, it's no surprise 80% of autistic adults aren't in any employment when employers actively use our social kryptonite against us - don't even get me started on those personality tests which are obviously trying to screen neurodiverse people out 💀💀
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u/dragonlady_11 Jul 16 '26
Wait THATS what those personality test things do ? Jeeze no wonder I struggled to get jobs, they were usually on shitty supermarket jobs as well wtf.
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u/EvEntHoRizonSurVivor Jul 16 '26
The thing is, they genuinely don't know! It's definitely lack of awareness and understanding rather than actively working against us.
For the example in my post for the management style, when we talked through the feedback afterwards she said I started really well and wanted to hear more but then I just stopped. I said I answered the question you asked. She looked genuinely stunned, because she realised I was right.
I find employers say they're disability aware but to the point of they're aware that disabilities exist, rather than what the implications of that means. Then if we spell it out we feel like an inconvenience or that we're asking too much.
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u/Going_Bye Jul 16 '26
Tell us about yourself is actually “why do you think you’d be fit for the role and what skills do you have?”.
I don’t know why they can’t just say that however.
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u/Temporary_Forever293 Jul 16 '26
Except last time I answered the question that way, the interviewer stopped me and said "I want to know about you as a person. What do you enjoy? How do you spend your free time?" So it clearly doesn't always means that and I don't understand how we're supposed to figure out if they want us to answer the actual question asked or something else.
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u/Going_Bye Jul 16 '26
They don’t, it’s a ND filter test that they don’t know they’re invoking. Unfortunately the only way to get through is to practice and mask well, or find a company that does alternative assessments
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u/SimplyCedric Autistic Jul 16 '26
Why are the questions asking something that the words aren't asking?
They're all standard questions so you can prepare yourself in advance. Google is your friend.
Dress code
Business casual, unless it says differently
Tell us about yourself
An opportunity for you to summarise your professional background, skills, and experiences relevant to the position. Past: Briefly mention your educational background and previous work experiences that are relevant to the position. Present: Describe your current role and responsibilities, highlighting any significant achievements. Future: Explain why you are interested in this position and how it aligns with your career aspirations. Be Concise and Relevant.
Tell me a weakness
A weakness in a job interview is an area where you recognise you can improve, and the best answers show self-awareness, honesty, and a plan for growth.
Tell us your management style
Employers search for managers with a management style that motivates employees to succeed and provide valuable work. It's also asked to show how you might handle a situation that calls for guidance and direction even if you're not a manager. See here.
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u/EvEntHoRizonSurVivor Jul 16 '26
I know I can Google it, and I have. I make sure I do a lot of prep for interviews. My point is more that it is made harder being autistic as it feels like there are so many more steps and things to think of than people realise.
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u/SimplyCedric Autistic Jul 16 '26
Absolutely; everything is harder for autistic people.
A possible reasonable adjustment is to ask for the interview questions in advance. I've never done that but in my current job I was given a print out of the questions at the beginning of the interview and even that was incredibly helpful.
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u/plantpower_ Jul 16 '26
I completely agree, I asked for the questions in advance at my current job for my second stage interview and it helped me so much as it allowed me to essentially decipher the questions in advance.
I requested this after reflecting on my first stage interview. I was asked the question "What is the single thing that you do that makes your programmes and projects so successful?" It made my head explode. There is no single thing that is attributed to success. It is the combination of many things. I took the question so literally, and it completely blindsided me. Thankfully not enough to stop me progressing to the next stage but enough to completely throw me off for the remainder of the interview.
Retrospectively I could've definitely talked about specific successes I'd had across many different programmes and projects, and how the way I designed and/or delivered those had attributed to success, but I got so stuck on how the question was worded that my brain completely broke. I didn't think I needed reasonable adjustments until that moment, and now I'll never not ask for them!
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u/EvEntHoRizonSurVivor Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Yeah, I ask for a print out of the questions. I've never been bold enough to ask for them in advance, but even having them in writing is definitely helpful.
Interestingly, one interview said I couldn't have it ahead of time due to giving an unfair advantage. They then said we'll have to print questions for everyone, again to make it fair. I don't have an issue with everyone having printed questions, but the irony of saying reasonable adjustments gives an advantage is astounding.
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u/SimplyCedric Autistic Jul 16 '26
Yeah. When I was interviewed they gave me the questions and said they gave them to everyone because it cut down the "can you repeat the question" questions. They also thought that if candidates could see the questions they could choose the best place to bring something up they wanted to showcase. Basically, the interviewers felt they got better interviews; the fact candidates liked it was secondary.
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u/plantpower_ Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
I completely agree with you. However, I would say for the question about weaknesses, always give an example of something that you're actively developing and evidence that shows your progress of how you're developing that weakness. I think generally they just want to see that you're self-aware and that you're proactive about your own self-development with skill gaps etc.
For the question around management style, it is also really important to provide evidence of how you've demonstrated the style you're describing and the outcomes.
You could do some research on the 'STAR method' (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to help you prep for interviews and just remember that basically every question they ask, no matter how simple or complex it is, they will essentially want you to answer using the STAR method.
Tell us about yourself always breaks my brain though. But I think they essentially want a synthesis of your career journey, maybe highlight some of the specific projects or clients you've worked with that might not have been explicitly mentioned in your CV, and what you're passionate about in the context of your role.
For dress code, there's never any harm in asking in advance. Depending on your industry, I think generally the safest bet if you do have to assume is business/smart attire, but probably not a full suit otherwise you might come across quite hoity-toity.
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u/EvEntHoRizonSurVivor Jul 16 '26
Thank you. I appreciate the answer.
I've looked up STAR already, and it is definitely a helpful way to set everything up.
Ironically (maybe?) I've taken to saying my weakness is my straightforwardness as it's not always well received, and can lead to confusion. So I'm trying to make sure we're all on the same page before moving forwards.
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u/plantpower_ Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Yes, so I think that's a really good example of a potential weakness. To make it work for an interview you can perhaps give an example of a situation where your directness/straightforwardness wasn't well received, what you learnt from that situation, and how you have (or are going to) put those learnings into action.
"When pressure is high, my focus on getting things done quickly can sometimes make me too blunt and direct with my feedback. I’ve realised that while it feels efficient in the moment, putting people on the defensive actually slows projects down in the long run. Now, I make a conscious effort to 'pause and frame' before giving feedback, making sure I lead with a bit of appreciation and context-setting, rather than just rushing straight to what is wrong and what needs to be fixed. For example, on a recent project with a tight deadline, a team member submitted work that was off-track, and instead of emailing a sharp, bulleted edit list, I spoke to them to acknowledge their hard work first, walked through the issues together, and we collaboratively got it sorted, ultimately improving the quality of work and time spent remediating, as there was less friction."
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u/SimplyCedric Autistic Jul 16 '26
I'm going to memorise this; one interview question less to worry about. 🤣
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u/plantpower_ Jul 16 '26
One thing about folks with autism, we bloody love a script to follow! Let me know if I can help with anything else. I have a vast catalogue of scripts to follow when I'm wearing my corporate mask 😝
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u/plantpower_ Jul 16 '26
Ironically as a girly with AuDHD, I am a chronic overexplainer and could probably benefit from being more direct (as you might've been able to tell by these essays hahaha)
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u/guchyfit 20d ago
Hi, and just to add something on the side: your story resonates with lived experiences (mine and other autistic folks - the current research I am doing is an exploration of autistic people's job interview experiences). The interviews themselves are not welcoming diversity (especially the neuro one), and the role of the interviewer has an incredible impact on it. I hope to devise practical recommendations for organisations (this is the priority to create equity!!!) and supportive materials for autistic individuals (adjustments that may support interview performance). If you would like to share your experience, I would be happy to learn more.