A win-win for hiring managers and autistic job seekers: JPMorganChase partners with a nonprofit to close the employment gap for autistic talent
John Jones, an Experience Design Managing Director for Digital and Platform Services in the Commercial and Investment Bank and Nyamusi Lee, Director of Neuroinclusion Strategies and Global Head of Autism at Work, recently hosted Neuroinclusion at JPMC, with leaders from all lines of business and a group of autistic college graduates affiliated with Integrate ̶ an organization which helps companies hire, manage and retain autistic talent ̶ for an afternoon of training, mock interviews and networking at our Brooklyn offices.
Closing the autistic employment gap:
Seventy-five to 85% of autistic college graduates in the U.S. are either underemployed or unemployed.
Taking that statistic to heart, Marcia Scheiner, a former financial executive who has a son with autism, started Integrate in 2010. As an employer focused organization, Integrate sources autistic and other neurodivergent talent from colleges, support groups, vocational organizations and private practitioners when recruiting for companies.
“Events like this help executives at JPMorgan understand the talents autistic individuals can bring to the workplace,” remarked Scheiner. “And it helps autistic students and college graduates to hone their job search and networking skills.”
As Jones said, “This event highlights where we’re putting up barriers that we’re not aware of. We should figure out how to ask questions differently. If a conversation goes off track, we should be willing to go there and see where it leads. In the best interviews, those detours often lead to stronger connections and better ways of working.”
Key takeaways from a manager workshop
Nyamusi Lee and Jeff Cowgill, who supports the Autism at Work program with student strategy and engagement, led a workshop offering several managing directors ideas they could adopt to remove barriers and close the equity gap for autistic talent.
“While most autistic students might not shake the interviewer’s hand or retain eye contact throughout the interview, this doesn’t mean they wouldn’t add great value to the firm,” remarked Lee. “We’ve had great success with our Emerging Talent Intern Program which offers students a 10-week internship and gives hiring managers a window into how these candidates integrate with their teams.”
Eye-opening mock-interviews
Keith Foster, who works in the Boston area as a part-time audio producer traveled to New York City to attend the event. He’s looking for a company that promotes growth and understanding and creates a sense of community.
“My interview was very conversational and I received lots of great input,” said Foster. “I like short form content, so a social media job would be fun. I’m excited to say that I networked and met some wonderful people.”
Liz Hartmann-Dow, an Experience Design Leader within Consumer and Community Banking, came away from her mock interview with a few takeaways.
“It became clear that I should avoid distracting my interview partner with wide-reaching hand gestures,” she said. “While my partner didn’t have elaborate answers to questions about what he wanted in a job, he prepared questions about the firm. It was up to me to put all that together to understand him as a person we would certainly want to welcome into the firm.”
John Jones tied this work with one of the firm’s core values.
“We have to look for people’s strengths and remove our own barriers to find them,” remarked Jones. “Events like this help us to strengthen our sense of curiosity ̶ one of the firm’s core values ̶ find common places of connection and allow those new connections to strengthen our business.”
