As someone who has worked in the recruitment sector for many years, and who also happens to be neurodivergent (with an adult diagnosis of both autism and ADHD) I’ve seen firsthand how the hiring process can feel like a hostile environment for those of us who think, feel, and process the world differently.
I’m also a parent of neurodivergent children, and I sadly see the same patterns repeating: systems and structures not built with neurodivergent people in mind, let alone for them. Nowhere is this more apparent than the interview process.
Let’s be blunt. Traditional interviews are outdated. They are often rituals of conformity, where success hinges less on a person’s capability and more on their ability to perform under unnatural pressure and mirror neurotypical social cues.
Around 15% of the population is thought to be neurodivergent. That’s not a niche. That’s not a minority. That’s a fundamental segment of the talent pool. Yet our recruitment processes are still built for neurotypical norms.
What’s worse, when neurodivergent people do enter the workplace, they often face enormous challenges, not because of lack of ability, but because of a lack of understanding, accommodation, and support.
Some conversations about neurodiversity tend to lean heavily into the “superpowers” narrative, such as autistic pattern recognition, ADHD creativity, dyslexic big-picture thinking. While these strengths are real and valuable, we must be careful not to reduce neurodivergent people to productivity tools or inspirational stereotypes. Not every neurodivergent person feels “gifted.” Many simply feel exhausted by trying to survive in systems not designed for them.
We cannot speak about the benefits of neurodivergent talent without also addressing the human cost. Take ADHD, for instance. It is thought that around 5% of the population have ADHD, but studies estimate that nearly a quarter of the UK’s prison population shows diagnostic traits of ADHD. That is a damning statistic and a reflection of what happens when support systems fail and when traits like impulsivity and inattention are criminalised rather than understood. That’s not about individual failure. That’s systemic failure.
Let’s go back to the interview. In theory, interviews are meant to assess competence, potential, and suitability for a role. In practice, they are often riddled with subjectivity and bias. So many organisations still make hiring decisions based on gut feelings, "culture fit," and how much we liked someone. That’s not evidence-based hiring. That’s institutionalised intuition.
The standard interview often rewards quick verbal processing (which disadvantages those who think deeply or communicate differently), and social performance over substance (which is irrelevant to many job roles).
Even structured interviews, though a step in the right direction, still revolve around past behaviour and storytelling, asking candidates to recount experiences and package them neatly on the spot. That’s a huge barrier for people who might struggle with memory retrieval, sequencing, or anxiety.
So, what’s the alternative?
The good news is, there are better ways to assess potential and they don’t involve forcing people to mask, script, or guess what the “right” answer is. Let’s start with task-based assessments. Want to know if someone can do the job? Let them try a part of it. Working interviews, job simulations, portfolio work, or timed exercises are far more indicative of ability than “tell me about a time when…” style prompts.
We also need to embrace diverse ways of thinking, literally. Instead of trying to fit people into predefined culture boxes, we should be trying to build teams that are cognitively diverse. That means teams with different problem-solving styles, communication approaches, and creative lenses. Not only is this more inclusive, it drives innovation. We should be seeking culture add, never culture fit. We must look beyond surface-level sameness and start building complementary teams.
If we truly want to open doors for neurodivergent people, we must do more than tweak interview formats, we need to fundamentally shift our mindset about what success looks like, what communication looks like, what professionalism looks like. And that requires humility, curiosity, and a willingness to unlearn.
Yes, inclusive recruitment leads to better business outcomes: more innovation, stronger performance, lower attrition. But let’s not forget the human story.
Imagine the loss of talent when someone with exceptional skills is turned away because they struggled during an interview process that didn’t accommodate their needs and wasn’t designed to understand their capabilities. Imagine the exhaustion of constantly having to mask your authentic self just to be seen as “professional.” Imagine the potential that’s wasted when we build workplaces around exclusion, then wonder why we struggle to hire.
Let’s build recruitment processes that value difference, not just sameness. That seek out potential, not polish. That include, rather than exclude. Neurodivergent people don’t need fixing. The system does.
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By Adam Tobias, Co-founder Inventum Group. Adam has been in the staffing industry for over 25 years. Adam leads the Consulting division, providing ED&I related strategic consultancy to a wide variety of clients, from startups to global corporations. He is also a leadership coach and executive trainer.