Mary Hughes, Senior Data Platform Tech Lead at Coeo – Discovering Neurodivergence
Like many neurodivergent women, I didn’t find out that I was Autistic and ADHD until my mid-thirties, and after I’d spent 20 years being treated for ‘general anxiety’. I didn’t know much about neurodiversity at this point in my life but read an article by a woman who said that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy was making her anxiety worse because she was autistic …. and everything suddenly started to make sense! Being diagnosed and getting appropriate support has been life changing. I feel like I finally understand my brain, why certain things overwhelm me and what my strengths are.
Navigating Recruitment
The main way that my autism has affected me while navigating recruitment is speaking to people I’ve never met before during interviews. If I am consciously trying to make the correct amount of eye contact and look like I am paying attention to the person who is speaking, it takes some of my focus away from the actual questions being asked. On top of that it’s much harder for me to process auditory information. During an interview this hesitancy might make it seem like I don’t know an answer, but if I had been sent a written question, I would have easily been able to give a response. I interviewed for COEO about a year after my diagnosis, and in the first email I received it was stated they were a ‘neuro-diverse employer’ and asked ‘what can we do to make this the best possible experience for you’. I feel like that set the tone of the recruitment process and instantly put me at ease for the interview.
Career Development
During my career I’ve had mixed experiences with professional development, which unfortunately included roles where management didn’t understand me and made no effort to. I was once told in a feedback review that if I wanted to progress further I would need to ‘get more involved in the team’ and ‘be louder’. At that point I knew I’d reached my limit there and started looking for roles where my skills would be appreciated and I wouldn’t be pushed to burnout. I think it’s really important to continue to raise awareness about neurodiversity so that companies learn how best to support their neurodivergent employees to let them thrive while getting some great work out of them!