For employers
Neuroinclusive recruitment: a guide for employers
By Oliver Mitchell Published 3 min read
A hiring process is a series of tests, and not all of them test the job. A long list of essentials, an application form that times out, an interview that rewards quick answers to surprise questions: each can lose a candidate who would have done the work well. Neuroinclusive recruitment means checking each stage for that, and changing what does not test the job.
The gap is wide. In 2024/25, 34 percent of autistic disabled people were in work, against 55 percent of disabled people overall (Department for Work and Pensions, October 2026). The changes below help every candidate, not only neurodivergent ones.
Start with the process, not the vacancy
Walk through your process as a candidate would, from the advert to the end of the first month. At each stage, ask what it is testing and whether the job needs that. If it tests something the job does not need, change it.
The advert
Separate what the job needs from what would be nice, take out personality traits, describe the work week to week, and say how the process works. Rewriting a job advert so more people can apply has the detail.
The application
- Say, in the advert and on the form, that anyone can ask for adjustments at any stage, and does not need a diagnosis to ask. Acas, the workplace advice service, advises saying this in the job advert.
- Ask only for what you will use. If a CV and a covering letter tell you the same things, ask for one.
- Make the form easy to save and come back to.
The interview
- Send the questions in advance, to everyone.
- Give a clear plan: who they will meet, how long it will take, where to go and what happens in what order.
- Offer a quiet room, a video call or a phone call.
- Where you can, use a short practical task or a paid work trial instead of questions about the past. Acas suggests both.
- Brief interviewers not to read anything into eye contact, pauses or a request to repeat a question.
Wording you can use has words for inviting someone to interview and replying to a request.
Ask what helps, not what someone has
Ask every candidate what would help them at each stage, and act on the answer. Do not ask about health or a diagnosis before you offer the job. In England, Scotland and Wales, the Equality Act 2010 allows it only for a few reasons, and the main one is to make adjustments to the recruitment process itself.
The first weeks
A hire is not finished on the first day. Put the first weeks in writing: what the role involves, who to ask, and when you will check in. Agree adjustments before the start date, so they are in place on day one. Then keep checking in, so small things do not become big things.
Your managers
The person who runs the interview and the first weeks shapes how both go. Training for hiring managers covers what to say, what not to ask, and how to respond to a request for an adjustment.
Access to Work
Access to Work, a government grant, can pay for support your employee needs beyond the reasonable adjustments you make, such as a job coach or specialist equipment. Access to Work on gov.uk (opens in a new tab) explains who can get it.
How we work shows how we go through your process with you. If you would like a second pair of eyes on it, send us a message.
