My first industry interview was a total train wreck. I’d had interviews before, as a teenager and for summer jobs, but this one felt different. I was fresh out of university with no experience and a Computer Science degree under my belt. I don’t remember much of what was said. I used an example of spending time with friends as my family told me it would show I could be part of a team.
Truth be told, I didn’t have any friends, and the interviewer talked down to me to see how I would react. It took me 2 days to figure that out.
I’ve had many interviews since and I’m happy to say that most of them went better. All carried some of that same sense of “awkward” though. I’m not that outgoing, and I don’t much like talking about myself. Neither of those things help you to stand out in an interview.
This past August, I was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. It wasn’t unexpected, I chose to get assessed after my son received his diagnosis. It did put rather a lot of things into perspective.
People with autism struggle with social skills and what’s called the “theory of mind”. What struck me as normal to that point was all learned behaviour. I would play social interactions over in my head and analyse every little detail for next time.
I do have empathy, but I struggle to imagine what a person might be thinking or feeling when I’m in conversation with them.
When speaking to people, my brain can tune out and, though I hear the person speaking, I can easily lose track of what they’re saying. The same is true when I’m the one speaking. It’s very easy for me to lose track of my point and start waffling.
When I look back on those early interviews now, I see how I got hung up on the surrounding aspects of the event itself. Things like;
- getting there
- being in the right place
- not knowing what was coming
- meeting new people
- trying to get new people to like me
Nerves about all of those aspects made it very hard for me to focus on convincing the interviewer why I’d be a great fit for the role.
Those interviews could have been different had the right thought been put into how to get the best out of candidates regardless of who they are.
It’s with this in mind that I founded Howdee.
An anonymous recruitment platform to help teams discover the true talent in an applicant. This instead of how they conform to expectations. My hope is that it will help candidates to better share their skills, and reduce those unconscious biases we all face as recruiters.
I’m at an early stage in this journey, but if you’re interested I am taking early sign-ups on the website. If you’ve had any similar experiences and would like to chat then you can get through to me here on Twitter.
I hope to speak with you soon.
