Sara’s Story – The Value of Neuro-inclusive Recruitment

I think I have always known that I was dyslexic. I had a terrible time at school. I used to feel really embarrassed and found myself in a lot of uncomfortable situations. There was one particular Religious Education teacher that I remember, who used to make us stand up in front of the class and read out of a textbook: that used to terrify me. I think this is what ultimately led to me wanting to take time off school further down the line.

My Challenge with Dyslexia

I’ve never been very good at writing in what I call ‘real-time’. If I’m given the time to think through what I want to write, and then have the opportunity to go off and write my thoughts down, I can write to the best of my ability. If I’m asked to complete written tasks in ‘real-time’, in front of people, my anxiety levels go through the roof. I get so nervous that I feel physically sick and all I want to do is head for the door and leave. I know as soon as I get out of the uncomfortable situation, out of the door, I instantly start calming down. It’s the pressure that has always affected me.

Barriers within Recruitment Processes

My workplace journey began with Non-Profit Organisations and Charities, a sector I generally felt very comfortable and knowledgeable in. When it came to the recruitment hurdle, one of the biggest challenges I experienced with my dyslexia was being tasked with writing an emotive article or proposal in a short amount of time. If the job I was applying for was funding-focused, the written tasks were typically this: ‘Why should we be given such funding?’ It’s the creative writing part that I struggle to complete under pressure, so as you can imagine, when I turned up to interviews where I was asked to complete an emotive writing task within a time limit, I didn’t do very well. Give me my own time to go away and complete this task, and I’d be a lot more confident. It is quite often seen in recruitment today; many interviews include timed, written tasks, and it’s a huge barrier, especially for neurodivergent individuals. I recall so many times where I just got up and left interviews as I knew there was going to be a task like this, a task that I knew would not reflect my ability to succeed in that role. So, what was the point?

An Ideal Interview for Me 

In 2021 I applied to Lexxic. My interview was virtual (not just because of the Covid-19 pandemic), and it was 90% verbal. My interviewer facilitated an informal conversation about the company and its culture, and the relaxed conversation made me feel at ease, as I’m sure it would most people. I was then offered the opportunity to speak with other people within the team virtually. This really helped with my own anxiety levels, as I always end up super-stressed if I have to go to new places and meet new people in person for the first time: my anxiety levels skyrocket. With this virtual communication, I was able to control my surroundings and ensure my own environment was calm and relaxed. This allowed my personality to shine through, and I could be my true self while conversing with whom I’d hoped would be my future colleagues.

During the interview process I did have to do a presentation, but I had the freedom to make it visual with infographics and screenshots, so I presented in a way that worked for me. Having dyslexia, I find it much easier to talk over visual content in pressured situations, as opposed to writing down my thoughts like in the situations I mentioned before. For the first interview in a long time, I wasn’t filled with anxiety; I honestly feel like this was the best interview process I have ever been through. In a comfortable situation like this, I can quite happily talk through what I want to do, present the messages I want to, and feel comfortable all while doing so. I got the job!

The Power of an Educated Line Manager

I grew to realise that Lexxic was a safe place to disclose my dyslexia, not just because of the nature of the organisation and who they are – but because my Line Manager was so understanding. My Line Manager was very open, someone that I knew I could trust to disclose to.

My past experience working with fundraising, sales and income generation, has always been very target-orientated – sell, sell, sell! This usually comes with very strong characters, especially if you are a Line Manager. Unfortunately, I found these types of people uncomfortable to disclose to, especially as I’m quite a private person anyway.

While working at Lexxic, I went through a neurodiversity diagnosis which was a quick process. My dyslexia was confirmed, but I found out that I was dyspraxic too, and have traits of ADHD and autism. This was quite unusual to find out! I thought I only had dyslexia, and to discover that I also had traits of other neurodifferences was certainly a surprise, but it all began to make sense.

 “2 in 3 people with ADHD have autistic spectrum traits, and people with ADHD are 8-fold more likely to meet full criteria for an autistic spectrum diagnosis.” - ADHD Aware

 “Around half of people who have dyslexia also show signs of dyspraxia, one of the most common condition cross-overs.” - Dyspraxia Foundation

Having a Line Manager that not only made me feel comfortable to disclose my dyslexia, but who encouraged me to delve deeper and now facilitates workplace adaptations to enable me to flourish, has made a huge impact on my working life.

Small Adjustments Make for Big Change 

Lexxic is open and adaptive, willing to do things in ways that help me to flourish and be my best self at work. An example of an adaptation undertaken by one of my colleagues, if they need something from me regarding processes on our CRM system, they will send me a screen recording that I can file with the other recordings of things I need to do. I can then pull this out when I need to and quickly watch the task at hand and get on with it. Another colleague, when I’m required to write reports, will send me audio recordings as opposed to long documents filled with bullet points.

Another great element within my organisation is that we work with Assistive Technology. Certain software has been introduced like ReadWrite (text to speech) and MindView (mind mapping) to help neurodivergent individuals like myself within our day-to-day tasks. Playing to my strengths – project management, organisation and all those kinds of skills, my Line Manager and team help by allocating me tasks that align with what I do best.

Looking back, my career may have been more progressive if I’d have been diagnosed sooner. I never unmasked because I hadn’t come across an organisation, or Line Manager, where I felt psychologically comfortable to disclose and where I could truly open myself up to them. Embedding neuro-inclusive cultures in the workplace, from the recruitment process through to the day-to-day work is so important. I’m flourishing in my role, but if the recruitment process had been like my previous experiences, I may not have made it past the first interview. Unfortunately, there are many organisations out there that are missing out on ‘the right person’ and huge untapped talent pools because of their recruitment processes, and this needs to change.

I count my lucky stars that I came across Lexxic, a neuro-inclusive organisation, when I did.

Sara Jefferson

Relationship Manager at Lexxic

Learn more about neurodiversity and recruitment, take a look at Neurodiversity and Recruitment: Do You Really Need to be Good at Everything?

Neurodiversity and Recruitment: Do you really need to be good at everything?