IT jobs for autistic graduates

[BigBoysDontCry]

Just wondering if anyone has any decent links for finding a job in the IT field in Scotland?

DS is autistic (diagnosed) and his main issues are social anxiety/initiating conversations. He's anxious but OK if people speak to him, struggles to keep a conversation going.

He graduated in October 2022 in Computer science. He was just too overwhelmed at the time to be able to apply for graduate roles, he was late graduating as he was on a masters programme but couldn't complete that as he needed an internship which he couldn't get.

He's been doing a couple of night-shift shelf stacking shifts a week.

He hates it but understands it's better to keep a job.

Ultimately he wants to live independently but he'll need an income (and support).

I can find things for him to apply for but all the disability confident stuff seems to be based in England and requires hybrid working in the office.

Yes, I know he should be looking himself but he just gets bogged down and can't choose anything. If I give him a few options he'll happily apply.

Anyone know any good places to search or companies to try?

The big banks will have technology grad schemes and tend to be quite big on D&I, would look at their grad scheme pages for sure.

Have you tried Auticon? They're meant to be UK-wide, but I don't know whether they are for practical purposes.

https://auticon.com/uk/

I agree with looking at the big banks and other large firms.

I know a couple of people with autism that work for anti virus software companies. The jobs there can really suit certain types of minds and there's not a lot of collaboration.
One man I know is there years. He's not rising up the ranks but earning 6 figures as he's highly skilled at it.

Hey, try the big 4, eg pwc. I know a few people in cyber/IT who have autism and they make allowances for

Thanks for that. I'd not come across auticon and they potentially have a job that DS might be able to apply for 😊

I'll take a good look at all the financial service places. I have looked in the past but like many places, they have roles that talk about being entry level and then ask for experience or list good communication skills as an essential and that's obviously his biggest issue.

Thanks for the further replies 😊

He's very honest, reliable, clever and hard working and isn't really bothered about progressing up the ranks, he just needs something more suitable for him. To be fair, the supermarket are very good with him and his boss is very understanding and knows that he needs to just check in with DS regularly.

I don't think he's spent much of what he's earned so has savings, he just needs more income if he wants his own place.

The National Autistic Society has a lot of ties to employers and coaches people through applications and job interviews sometimes they can provide extra support the first couple of months of a job as well, they are worth looking into

Thank you. I'll look that up too.

The National Autistic Society has an autism at work employment programme that's worth checking out.

https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/employment/autism-work-programme

They've also been advertising a partnership between NAS and IBM skills build, but I don't know very much about it.

Access to Work may also be worth considering, it can include communication support at interviews.

https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work

You might want to get specialist advice before applying though as you need to have some idea of what support he needs for the application.

As an autistic graduate, I’ve found the companies who advertise themselves as autistic friendly view autistic people through a very small lens and add to the prejudices we face rather than being genuinely helpful. E.g they’re less likely to support your son to overcome the challenges he faces and are more likely to pigeon hole him.

If he’s got a job he could apply for workplace coaching via Access to Work, this will help him to develop strategies for the issues he has to progressing his career - such as how to manage overwhelm.

My autistic husband is similar to your son. He failed interview after interview and in the end had to take a place on a graduate scheme in London and have a lower quality of life for a few years as there were far less competition for these roles due to the discrepancy in pay and cost of living. When in post he embraced every CPD opportunity, especially around workplace people skills and is now a senior manager earning more than 3x the average salary.

Thanks for that information and the insight.

The pigeonholing is a concern as you know neuro diverse people are all different and have different needs and he basically comes across as shy but in fact has significant communication needs.

The bit that particularly worries me is his inability to communicate when he has a problem. It really needs someone asking him regularly as he will answer honestly but he cannot initiate the discussion. I know that is a big ask for an employer.

You might never guess this as he will smile and has a good sense of humour and is polite and kind. He doesn't advocate for his own needs very well.

I'm really grateful for all the info. Thank you.

Try a higher education or NHS professional services IT job role, they don't pay quite as well as big corporate, but the reasonable adjustments and accommodations are good.

It really needs someone asking him regularly as he will answer honestly but he cannot initiate the discussion. I know that is a big ask for an employer.

How regularly do you mean? Hourly? Daily? Weekly?

Depending on how often you mean I don't think that's a big ask for an employer.

From what you've said his current manager does it and it sounds like the definition of a reasonable adjustment to me. Cheap and easy to implement.

To be honest, although his degree is in computer science, he'd be open to doing anything and it's about finding something that earns him enough without causing him undue stress and anxiety. He's also very good with his hands and has built computers for himself and friends. He can't really manage more than 2 nightshift although they would happily offer him more, as he already doesn't always sleep well and 3 shifts just increases his anxiety too much.

He may need to work part time initially and build up/work fewer longer days to give him more time to decompress.

He certainly needs support at interview, maybe knowing the questions in advance, having a familiar person with him etc

Your son might find it useful to get in touch with his local job centre as most have DEA (disability employment advisors) on site. They’re really well placed to refer for support to access to work, funding for adjustments like noise cancelling headphones etc and will know which employers locally are more disability aware. Additionally they can refer to other provisions for support with interview skills training and can even help advocate for him to future employers.

Also in England there is autimatic who are a specialist recruiter for job seekers with autism looking for work from home IT roles.

Maybe you could look at graduate schemes broadly and see if anything is a decent fit? Lots of them don't care what the degree is in, they train candidates in the scheme.

Does your local council have a supported employment service? You can usually self refer to these.They can help with local work placements and will know suitable employers locally.

I agree with trying NHS IT or data analysis depts.

Your DS is entitled to reasonable adjustments at interview stage. And asking a manager to check in with him once a day is no big ask really and would be seen as a reasonable adjustment.

There is nothing I can find with the council or job centre or similar in Scotland. There was a Scottish scheme he qualified for that supported employment for those with disabilities but it closed a month after he registered with it and there had been nothing on it that was suitable for him to apply to.

I've not been able to find anything that he can go to that supports autistic adults. There are a couple of things in wider Scotland but not in our council so he is excluded.

He wasn't officially diagnosed until after uni so he's missed any access as a child and it's all just a bit rubbish tbh.

There definitely seems to be more available in England but it might just seem that way and I guess there are more people looking to use what there is.

He's not in a position at the moment where he can or wants to move away too far from home.

Would a train driver be an option? Not much communication and needs rigid thinking and attention. Maybe not good if he gets overwhelmed easily.

A normal grad scheme really doesn't work for him I don't think. He won't cope with the demands of it. He either needs a scheme with an appropriate/understanding employer or he needs an entry level job also with that type of employer.

I think the employer is probably more important than the job at this point.

I'm not sure if there are eyesight restrictions for uncorrected vision? He has poor eyesight which corrects very well with his glasses.

Its a hard one, he does drive but I don't think he enjoys it. He struggles with decisions sometimes, how he'd be in an emergency I really don't know. He never voluntarily takes the car and if someone else drives he's happy for them to do so.

I appreciate the out the box suggestions though. There is bound to be some ideal thing we've not thought of.

As an example, when doing a hike, either for DofE or scouts, he was aware that they were going the wrong way but didn't say anything, it wasn't dangerous but did mean a much longer walk. He'd rather walk many extra miles than just say they were going wrong. Now if anyone had asked him he would have told them but no-one asked and he was too anxious to say anything.

Now as his mother I'd have noticed the anxiety building and asked him what was wrong but obviously other people won't necessarily pick this up. It's a worry.

Ha, I have done this re the walking scenario. Look at the university IT sector - good hours, routine, and they often struggle to find good IT people. Generally the jobs are on the university websites