Neurodiversity and pre-employment testing: What you need to know

Neurodiversity and pre-employment testing: What you need to know

In my experience, talent acquisition and human resources teams are particularly anxious about neurodiversity in recruitment, more so than other major issues. In particular, they are concerned about how changes to existing processes may impact neurodivergent candidates, paralyzing them. This is particularly perplexing, as we know from the research that traditional hiring practices (i.e. resume sifting and interviews) are especially harmful to neurodiversity objectives and are a major source of bias against neurodivergent candidates.

In this article, I will outline how pre-employment testing impacts neurodiversity, both from a positive perspective and the potential downsides.

The benefits of pre-employment testing

The main benefit of pre-employment testing is that it allows organizations to diversify the recruitment process away from interviews and resume sifting, limiting their negative impact on neurodiversity. For example, interviews are especially difficult for candidates with autism, particularly unstructured or conversational interviews. It's hard to imagine a more discriminatory selection tool for candidates with autism than interviews, and for many reasons. Firstly, interviewers inevitably penalize candidates for a lack of eye contact and body language, which can be incredibly difficult. Candidates with autism may also struggle with hypothetical scenarios, making whole avenues of questioning difficult. They may also respond to questions literally and bluntly, failing to flesh out a story with the CAR or STAR method.

Candidates with ADHD are also likely to struggle with the interview method, especially for longer interviews and with unstructured interview formats. Intrinsic to ADHD is difficulty with maintaining attention, and thus candidates may lose focus, go off on a tangent, or simply become overstimulated and struggle with the exercise. Having to sit still for 60 minutes and talk about a single topic can be challenging for anyone, but for candidates with ADHD, it can be a nightmarish scenario.

Pre-employment tests, especially when well-designed and appropriately used, are far less discriminatory to candidates. Additionally, when an assessment does present a neurodivergent candidate with challenges, there are multiple avenues to make adjustments. For example, extra time is a common reasonable adjustment for pre-employment tests and can be very easily applied to help level the playing field. By relying more heavily on pre-employment tests, you minimize the role interviews play in the selection process, insulating neurodivergent candidates from their potential impact.

The challenges of pre-employment tests

Although pre-employment testing overall can be a significant boon for neurodiversity, assessment format and the type of neurodivergence matter significantly and interact in different ways. For example, certain verbal reasoning assessments that employ significant reading comprehension will be more challenging for candidates with dyslexia. Additionally, some numerical reasoning assessments will be more challenging for candidates with dyscalculia. These forms of neurodivergence interfere with one's ability to employ that form of reasoning, and without reasonable adjustments, will make those tests harder than they would otherwise be for neurotypical candidates.

The main form of reasonable adjustment is extra time, affording the candidate longer time limits than the default. Many forms of neurodivergence slow down processing speed, meaning that neurodivergent candidates will need slightly more time to complete a specific task. Given that occupations almost never involve time limits themselves, the ability to answer questions very quickly isn’t itself proximally job relevant. This means that extending time limits can be considered a reasonable adjustment and is strongly recommended when needed.

Accessibility software is another important consideration for neurodivergent candidates. For example, screen reader software can help dyslexic candidates, negating the need to read the text directly. Additionally, many neurodivergent candidates would prefer to change the background color, contrast, or text size, and accommodating those changes is key. Assessment platforms should be compatible with these software packages and browser extensions, allowing neurodivergent candidates to use whichever software they are comfortable with during their assessments.

Conclusion and Recommendations

HR practitioners and business leaders must always consider both the risks of change and of staying the same. Too often, organizations are hesitant to make key business changes solely with a focus on what could go wrong, without considering the net changes that interventions could make. Pre-employment tests can be a significant boon for neurodiversity and can help address many of the issues that neurodivergent candidates face with traditional hiring practices. That being said, organizations should always do their due diligence and work with assessment providers who take neurodiversity seriously, helping to ensure that everyone gets a fair, engaging, and accessible experience.