Opening the Doors to Inclusivity
Finding a second family and achieving my dreams thanks to SAP’s Autism at Work program.
In celebration of Autism Awareness Month, we’re having a month-long series highlighting the voices of SAP employees participating in the company’s Autism at Work program. The second installment in the series is written by Asha Sreedhar, a Software Test Engineer at SAP Labs India in Bangalore.
In the past, I’ve worked many different jobs, but had a difficult time sustaining employment due to extensive customer service interaction and multi-tasking. Having received an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Office Administration with Medical Administrative Assistant Specialization, and completed a certificate in Manual Testing, Automation Testing, and Telecom Testing, it’s clear that the touch-and-go status of my employment wasn’t because of a lack of qualifications.
I attended many interviews and received good compliments about my resume standing out well, and still, I didn’t have any luck in getting hired.
While browsing online, I found an article about the Autism At Work Program with SAP, which I shared the article with my family members and relatives.
With my aunt’s help, I found a non-profit organization called Enable India, which helps people on the autism spectrum and other disabilities by providing job training for employment. I enrolled in the Autism At Work training program as one of seven other candidates. I was the only woman. Within this small group, I was able to establish friendships and make a family.
The training was good, enjoyable, and interesting. I stood out among the other candidates in being the first one to get placed at SAP Labs, where I have been working as a Software Test Engineer for the past two years.
It has been a dream come true.
In my role, I’ve been trained to test the product functionally and from usability perspective and have gained immense knowledge in testing and the processes and also on the product. Along with my testing task, I also actively support a few of my team’s operational tasks.
My manager, buddy, mentor, co-workers, and colleagues are very amiable, helpful, caring, concerned, understanding, encouraging, and supportive of me. I have made a lot of friends and I get included in team meetings, lunches, outings, events, and more. Whenever I need help, they always take the time to assist me and give me warnings about changes and loud noises during events.
SAP is one of the topmost companies that hires and offers equal job opportunities to people with autism. They acknowledge the skills of people on the autism spectrum. Autism can bring some very valuable skills to the employment table like emphasis, meticulousness, and dedication especially in technology-related fields.
I hope that other companies from around the world follow the example set by SAP by opening the doors for people with autism and offering them employment opportunities. No person with autism should get left out.
