To hire neurodiverse workers, one firm got rid of job interviews
As an Aspie&#x2F;ADD, I have never passed any formal interview, even for an intern position (sic!). (You can compare and contrast it with my GitHub&#x2F;Resume&#x2F;blog to make a judgment.)<p>Fortunately, many times (even for mid-size companies or research institutes) the hiring was less formal. For small startups, where it is informal, I didn&#x27;t feel at a disadvantage. For big, I don&#x27;t believe I can pass through the first filter.<p>It seems that there are so many hidden assumptions people take on: what should be on Resume, how should one present oneself, where it is fine (or de facto expected) to exaggerate one&#x27;s accomplishments or hide one&#x27;s weaknesses. And that an irrational feeling of being weird is often an instant no-hire. Moreover, many symptoms od ADD are taken for laziness, sloppiness, or lack of motivation. Many symptoms of Aspie are taken for rudeness, ill intentions or trying to dominate (breaking a social rule =&gt; (s)he thinks (s)he is above it).<p>(I&#x27;ve heard it so many times about people interviewing others, as &quot;(s)he is smart, passed all test, but weird, I don&#x27;t like to work with her&#x2F;him&quot;. At this point, it is systemic discrimination. I the same places, remarks about one&#x27;s ethnicity or gender wouldn&#x27;t pass (rightfully!). Sadly, other areas of discrimination like age or class are given a pass.)<p>At the same time, I know a lot of people good at &quot;big talks&quot;, and making a good impression, who got hired almost everywhere. Also, they make it easy to persuade the right people to give them recommendation letters, even if their collaboration was minimal.