This is part 1 of my Finding a job with autism series.
More than three years since my last post, I have done an Honours degree and have been unable to find a job but have done casual positions for a few elections.
More than three years since my last post, I have done an Honours degree and have been unable to find a job but have done casual positions for a few elections.
After doing an Honours degree, I want to do a PhD one day
but before then, I feel that I need some more experience in research. This
means that I have to find a job as a research assistant. But finding a job when
I have a disability is harder in a world that does not seem to think that
people with a disability make good employees.
In 2018, it was discovered that many Japanese government agencies
were not meeting compulsory employment quotas for people with a disability even
though they met these quotas on paper. This happened because the employees counted
for this quota were not properly confirmed as people with a disability and
agencies seemed to be exploiting loopholes. This caused a scandal in Japan.
While Australia does not have employment quotas for people
with a disability, there is a scheme called RecruitAbility that allows people
with a disability to advance to the next stage in the employment process if
they meet the minimum standards for some public service jobs. This could be
seen as a way for the public service to increase the number of employees with a
disability. However, this
journal article stated that out of 1,193 positions opting in to the
RecruitAbility scheme, only 43 people with a disability were employed. In other
words, only 3.6% of positions were filled by someone with a disability. This is
not acceptable when a large number of people with a disability are unemployed
and looking for work.
From my experience, while I have been able to get a few
video and face to face interviews for jobs that were advertised under the
aforementioned scheme, I have not been successful. I know that as someone with
a disability, it is harder for me to find a job but the disability I have,
which is a form of autism, makes the interview stage a lot tougher.
As someone on the autism spectrum, I have to compete for a
job under a system that disadvantages me. The system requires me to have
certain abilities in social communication that I do not have due to my
disability. No wonder why in 2015 the unemployment rate for people with autism
was 31.6% in Australia compared to 10% for people with a disability in general.
If this is to change, employers need to be creative in how they find suitable
employees. Maybe remove the interview stage and find other ways in choosing
someone for the job. A job trial or a chance to provide a sample of the work
required are my suggestions. As someone
with autism, there is a good chance that I will not do well in an interview but
if I was able to show my ability to do a job in another way, I might be able to
get a job.
The longer I stay unemployed, the harder it is going to be
to find a job. It would be nice to find
a job before the end of this year. Unfortunately,
I am not the only one struggling in finding employment while having a
disability. If things do not change, Australia will be the next country with a
disability employment scandal.
For part 2 of this blog series, click here.
For part 2 of this blog series, click here.
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