Nhs interview

[StrangerThings1992]

Hi everyone. Sorry for posting this in aibu but I wasn't sure where to post.
I have an interview next week with the nhs and there will be 3 people interviewing me. I'm autistic (diagnosed at 15 currently 32) and I really struggle with eye contact. I'm wondering how best to approach this at this interview?
Do I only look at the person who's asking me the question or do I look at them all? I either avoid eye contact so my eyes flit around everywhere or stare too intently which people (understandably) find odd.
I never disclose my autism on applications because I find when I do I never get responses and it's not something I particularly like telling people unless they notice themselves and ask I dont bring it up.
I work for the nhs currently but my interview was during covid so was done over teams which was easy for me to avoid eye contact.

Thanks in advance.

It's probably easiest to direct your answer at the person asking and keep eye contact with them.
You can bring a note pad with you and use that to write down the question when it's being asked, gives you a bit of relief when you can be OK to look down. Explain that's what you are doing at the start

Direct if at the person and look over their head or at their forehead.

^^look at their forehead or nose. It's less intense for both of you.

Isn't looking at someone's forehead supposed to be intimidating for them? Sure I read that somewhere

I do the 'looking at the nose' thing at work and general day to day life and in short conversations it works fine but I find if I'm having an in depth long conversation I focus far too much on what my eyes are doing and tend to zone out from the conversation which obviously I don't want to happen at interview.

I've been called rude in the past because of my lack of eye contact which I hate because I don't want to come across that way and I always try really hard to act 'normal'.

Maybe I should just practise on my kids in the meantime. I have 8 days till interview so have time to practise.

From DD experience she tends to move her eyes between forehead eyes and mouth. She has been told by a doctor who diagnosises asd she does not have asd because she has excellent eye contact (hollow laugh) and knows how to answer the questions right she was actively doing it whilst she was there for adhd, they were screening for both and she had decided she didn't want both diagnosis on her records

I do space between eyes. I pass. It's only when stressed and forget everything professionals start questioning. And some of my friends who are professionals figure it out.

Video calls are harder, I actively have to remember to look at the camera. Whenever I'm talking I tend to forget and look down to the left.

Switch it between the asker and the other panel members (just don't flick your head about too quickly) so every few sentences you swap the person you're talking to. And disclose your autism, it is relevant and worthy of a reasonable accommodation at interview, but mostly, good luck.

Try contacting the Learning and Development department in your Trust. They should have mentors and facilitators who run Interview sessions.

My best advice is to not worry about it. I am autistic working for the NHS myself and have the same issue and I have never had problems during interviews because, other than poor eye contact, I am engaging, smiley and can answer questions confidently. More importantly, if I don't know the answer to the question I am able to say that and demonstrate how I can apply my transferrable skills to find out the answer and adapt to the situation.
I only ever make eye contact for short periods of time. It's fine as long as I don't think about it myself, nobody else ever brought it up. If I start worrying, then the rest of the interview goes tits up.
You do have a choice of disclosing during the interview, but I have never personally found the need for it. I only disclose if it is relevant for my work duties (for example, I had to disclose when we were all wearing masks because I have severe sensory issues).

It's not so much the actual interview im worried about because i know the job and im quietly confident that i will be able to answer the questions ok enough i hope.
I think im OK at masking apart from my stimming and eye contact. But I can hide my hand stims under the table or in my pocket..I've become very good at undercover stimming at work lol.

Thanks everyone.

I'll let you all know how it goes.

I always disclose learning difficulties as I can then ask for copies of the questions as an adjustment beforehand. Helps me not take them too literally and answer wrong.

I never ask for a guaranteed interview through as I don’t feel right doing that. I have autism and adhd.

I think as long as you answer the questions better than the other candidates you should be ok. I've been the interviewer for NHS jobs a few times and literally just give points for the answers given and the person who scores highest gets the job! I dont think I would notice eye contact and would put any lack of eye contact/stims etc down to nerves (which is a good thing as it shows the candidate is keen on getting the job!)

I understand your reservations not to tell them about your autism however the nhs are striving to be better and more inclusive.

I would definitely practice like you’ve mentioned. I would usually look at and respond to the person who asked.

Would it work to say at the beginning on a lighthearted way 'I never know where to look in situations like this so forgive me if I'm looking at the wrong person!'. Lots of people find those situations tricky. Similarly, I think it also helps to say if you're nervous. Most people acknowledge interviews are weird and artificial environments.

Interview was today. It went well I think but there were times where eye contact got abit much and i started flitting my eyes around the room abit manically, I'm hoping they didn't notice.
I managed to answer all the questions though so fingers crossed. They said I would hear back on Friday or Monday.

Thanks all, will let you know if I get it.

I got the job!

Thanks everyone

Congratulations! 👏

Love this well done!!

Woohoo congratulations how wonderful 😊