Careers fair for Neurodiverse jobseekers voted a success by all
As part of Northumberland County Council’s drive towards supporting a fully inclusive economy, a pilot event to help those with Neurodiverse conditions into and towards work was held at the Cramlington Hub on 13 November 2024.
Employment Partnership Coordinators Vicki Clarke and Ian Coull, in partnership with support organisations North East Autism Society (NEAS) and Azure, designed the event to take place in a small venue to ensure that attendees were given the best opportunity to participate. Taking advice from those specialist partners, numbers of both employers and attendees were closely matched and controlled, and external noise and bright lighting minimised.
Those attending the first half of the event had arrival times booked and attended with their programme supporters, giving time to discuss vacancies and application processes with the employers present, with the final part of the event opened out for drop-in attendees.
Six employers participated, with all bringing current and future vacancies or work placements and picked due to their interest in recruiting and supporting neurodivergent individuals. The jobseekers received pre-interview screening and information on the recruitment process through informal conversations with the businesses to ensure they were best able to participate both on the day and when applying.
Prior to the event, NEAS held an update session for the attending employers on supporting Neurodiversity in the workplace and gave guidance on how to get the best from the attendees. All employers – Barclays Bank, Newcastle Building Society, Northumberland County Council, Akzo Nobel, Simpsons Malt and Northumberland National Park Authority – found this very useful.
“We’re so pleased with how this pilot event has been received”, said Vicki Clarke, Employment Partnerships Coordinator. “There were some learning points, but the overall positivity of all those attending gives us a great platform to roll out Neurodiverse events across the County in the future”.
The employers agreed, with Jill Johnston, Site Services Controller with Akzo Nobel confirming “The jobs event was brilliant. We have 3 interview type meetings arranged this week and 1 work experience, so it’s been a really valuable event for us”.
And from Ben Tucker, Simpsons Malt – “Thank you for inviting us. It’s our pleasure to have the opportunity to attend and to gain better insight into what can be quite a complex and varied topic”.
The last words, though go to the Jobseekers themselves –
“The event was well done and very informative”.
“All of the employers were very friendly and approachable”.
“Absolutely perfect!”
To keep in touch, look out for future events or to check out the wider work carried out with employers and participants, visit the Employment Partnerships website at: