How To Choose An Autism Placement Agency

Autistic workers are quickly becoming the next hot topic in hiring. Major corporations such as JP Morgan Chase, SAS, and Microsoft have all started up. Dedicated autistic hiring programs are finding great success with their new employees.

The benefits of hiring autistic employees are multiple, from true out-of-the-box thinking to streamlining processes. And make systems more efficient to improvements in companywide communication as everyone becomes more concrete and earnest with their words.

What is surprising, therefore, is how hard it is to get autistic individuals into the workplace.

so many companies need some help on their autism hiring journey.

What An Autism Placement Agency Does

While it’s possible to work out how to change your hiring practices to attract autistic applicants. It requires someone on your hiring team to have a high level of expertise with autism. And for the entire team to be willing to make sizeable changes to their process. A better approach is to link with an autism placement agency. They will help you with:

Finding the best quality autistic talent

• one of the hardest parts of autistic recruitment is finding a suitable pool of individuals to choose from. Just like neurotypical applicants. you want to know that you’re getting the best possible option rather than just someone who is qualified on paper. An autistic placement agency works with autistic individuals in the local communities, conducting strengths analysis and workplace preparation training. This means that anyone who is sent to you for consideration will be capable of working in your office. 

Train and educate your staff

• working with an autistic colleague can be challenging for many existing staff members. In large part, this is due to the subconscious negative stereotypes that many people hold about autistic people.
• But it also can feel like a very different working experience when the responses to neurotypical situations aren’t expected. An autism placement agency will work with future colleagues and supervisors to dispel myths about autism. As well as to provide guidance about how to engage and integrate the new worker into the workplace. 
• Provide ongoing support beyond the interview
• it would be easy to be happy with simply finding a job for an autistic workers. But autism placement agency workers know that their work is just beginning at this stage. There will be disagreements and misunderstandings, and the agency will often be able to mediate between the company and the worker as they aim to keep the employee in their post. 

How To Pick The Best Placement Agency

Just like autistic people, no two autism placement agencies are alike. There will be some factors that need to come first, such as the cost of the agency. The number of candidates they are able to field. However, to find the best placement agency Vancouver has to offer, look out for the following signs of quality:

• Autism experience
• It should be obvious, but an autism placement agency should be staffed by people who have extensive experience of working with autistic people.
• Often, these agencies attract people who have autistic family members, or who have been diagnosed as being somewhere on the spectrum themselves. This experience translates into successful strategies and tips for making the hiring process successful and productive for both sides. 
• A proven track record
• finding, hiring and keeping autistic people in work is not an easy task, and while some placement agencies will claim to always be successful and cite their placement rate, you need to ask for long term proof of success.
• This means asking about how long their workers stay in the job, and what post-interview support they offer to make the placement a long term success.
• Flexible employment options – finally, a good autism placement agency will be one that has flexible employment options, which recognize that full time permanent employment isn’t always the key to long term success. These might be project based or time based contracts, or trial contracts to make sure that all parties are happy with the set up. 

Here at Focus, we believe we are Vancouver’s premium autism placement agency. Our talent scouts pride themselves on finding and hiring the best quality autistic talent in the city.

we have an extensive history of long-term successful jobs placements to share with you. Reach out today to find out how to start your journey towards tapping into the strengths and benefits of neurodiversity.