Autism Employer Connect

General Discussion
1

I was sent information about an autism hiring program in the Bay Area. The details are below.

Integrate Autism Employment Advisors is inviting autistic college students and autistic college graduates to apply for our spring 2020 Employer Connect program in the Bay Area. The program begins in late March and sessions will take place once a week or once every other week on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday afternoon starting in late March until May. Staff from various companies will share their expertise in conducting a job search, how to write a resumé, creating impactful “elevator pitches,” how to utilize LinkedIn to create a professional network, and successfully navigating the interview process. Participating companies announced for this year’s Employer Connect program include Wells Fargo, CBS Interactive, Intuit, SurveyMonkey, and more.

  • Flyer (see below)
  • Application (see update below)

Autistic students and autistic college graduates from all areas of study are welcome to apply. The priority deadline for applications will be March 15th. [SEE UPDATE BELOW] Candidates who apply by the priority deadline will be given first consideration.

Integrate is a non-profit that helps employers identify, recruit and retain professionals on the autism spectrum. If there are any questions, please feel free to reach out to Janet at [email protected] or 212-839-0030 ext 2.

UPDATE: the dates have been changed:

Similar to you and many others who are adjusting plans in light of COVID-19, we also find ourselves in the same boat. In consultation with the companies we partner with, we have decided to move the Bay Area Employer Connect program to the summer. The anticipated dates of the program will now be from mid-June until mid-August. We apologize for the inconvenience. It is our hope that the new time frame will give more job seekers the chance to apply to our free program and to potentially connect with dozens of employees from multiple Bay Area Fortune 1000 companies.

Attached are our updated application and flyer with an application deadline of Wednesday, April 15. Please pass along the information to anyone who may be interested. And please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

2

I have experience with people with Autism and advanced intelligence and I myself have Asperger’s; I taught in 2018 to students with these and other differences. I provided extra training in the areas of social “normality” to the students, ways of lowering some of the initial hurdles in getting hired and succeeding in interviews.

It’s good when hiring managers and teams understand what they’d be getting from someone with special needs.

It took me years to understand that my own differences—although deviations from the norm—aren’t always negative things. Find your own strengths and run with them. As a coder, I’ve found my space.

I’d be happy to advise if anyone is interested.

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