Job Hunting

Job hunting can be an incredibly arduous task - particularly when so many job ads are so confusing, interview processes are so stressful, and, let’s be honest, we’re not always the best at shouting about our strengths or advocating for our needs.

Read through some of these tabs to work out how to best position yourself and your skills within the creative job market!

Be kind to yourself - it can be tough out there.

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Don’t underestimate your worth. Neurodivergent candidates bring a unique set of talents, ones that the industry wants - and needs. Use it to your advantage.

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Finding a Role

It sounds obvious, but there are so many ‘types’ of jobs in the creative industries, it can be hard to know where to start.

Check out this brilliant resource from Screen Skills that identifies the different roles within our sector, and what skills are required for each one, so you can start to match your unique talents and abilities!

screenskills

Highlight Your Strengths

Many neurodivergent people possess unique skills like exceptional attention to detail, hyperfocus, creative thinking - highlight these amongst your qualities in your applications! These are huge assets for our industry.

This might seem straightforward, but it can often be difficult to articulate our strengths, particularly for those of us with lower self-esteem, unfortunately characteristic of the neurodivergent experience.

Try writing your ‘strengths’ down, employ the help of a friend or family member to help you identify them, or speak to a job/careers advisor.

Don’t be put off by rigid job descriptions, either - just because you don’t have any set experience, or camera skills, or a passion for storytelling, that doesn’t mean that you’re not an ideal candidate for a role in production, for example. Strengths such as incredible organisational skills, scheduling abilities, or people skills, would actually place you ideally for such a role.

Put your best foot forward, regardless of what you ‘think’ a perfect candidate looks like.

Embrace Your Interests

Find companies or ideas that engage your interests, or businesses that work on projects you like.

You love deep diving into stories - consider roles in journalism, in research, or in factual/non-scripted. You love working in animation - find a company whose style compliments your own. It means you will enjoy the job more, and you will impress them with your passion.

Having a special interest is a power tool - leverage it. Tailor your CV or interview to highlight these interests in the context of a job.

‘I saw your company worked on this commercial project - I loved it! Here’s why …’

Think Outside the Box

Job ads are famously poorly written.

They’re often recycled, overly specific, and only fit ‘generalists’ rather than those of us who excel in one or two specific areas.

Think ‘outside of the box’ consider these tips:

Don’t be put off by job ads that detail skills or experience that you don’t have. You don’t have to tick every item - be empowered in having the key strengths they’re looking for.

have these?

But don't have this?

Don't be put off! No applicant has everything.

This is also true around experience - especially when it’s required even of Junior positions. Our advice? Apply anyway.

Don’t fret if you’re lacking ‘traditional’ experience. The secret is - the skills you’ve developed in your personal life are just as important. Have you created a social media page, a YouTube channel, started a blog, or designed your own game? These all demonstrate creativity, problem-solving, and self-motivation - all highly valuable for roles in the creative industry like digital marketing, project management, video editing. Turn those hobbies into transferable skills.

Don’t let the concept of ‘fast-paced’ or busy spaces intimidate you. A job in the creative industries can mean so many different things.

Ignore stereotypes about what you can do - and what you can’t. Just because you’re autistic, it doesn’t mean that you’re necessarily going to be a master coder or incredible with data, as is often spewed in the media - nor should you feel guilty if you aren’t good at these things. Take yourself out of the pigeonhole people try to push you in. Know what you enjoy, and find a role that utilises your passion. Any career can be a good ‘fit’, if it sparks your interest.

Consider Your Ideal Work Environment

Do you, for example, prefer working in a quiet, organised space, or do you thrive in a more fast-paced and dynamic environment?

Knowing your ideal work environment can help you to identify job opportunities that would be a good fit - and those that wouldn’t.

A lot of jobs in our sector might not be a good fit for you - many require long hours, quick changes and turnarounds, a lack of structure - which just doesn’t work for some people, and that’s okay. You don’t want to go into a job where you have to mask who you are - it can be exhausting. There’s plenty of others.

Consider alternative forms of employment, such as freelancing, self-employment, content creating, etc - all of which might be ‘non-traditional’ in other industries, all of which are common in ours. Setting your own hours, environments, and processes can well suit the neurodivergent brain.

ND-Friendly Employers

This can be a bit of a tough pill to swallow, especially for a prospective ‘dream job’, but the reality is - if an employer isn’t willing to accommodate your access requirements during the recruitment and interview processes, they’re unlikely to once you’ve been hired.

While we strive for a better working world where Reasonable Adjustments are not just an afterthought, this unfortunately isn’t true of every workplace - yet.

Consider whether a company is truly neurodivergent-friendly.

Remember - no ‘dream job’ would refuse you your vital access requirements, or demand you to mask who you are. Don’t get stuck working for someone who doesn’t value and support your needs, as well as your skills.

Tools

There are many assistive tools and tech that can help you in the job search and application process, such as:

Neurodivergent-friendly job application trackers that help you organise and structure your networking efforts, such as Enna’s Template here

AI solutions can help you break down complex tasks into manageable steps, which will assist you to streamline your workflows such as Goblin.tools

CV templates or construction tools, such as CV Genius (free and modern) or Adobe Express (free and doesn’t require prior design experience)

AI software such as ChatGPT can also help you draft your CV or application responses - just remember to try and personalise it as much as you can before submitting - some organisations are not a fan!

Engage in Training

Engaging in training/trainee schemes can be a great way to gain experience, to network, to learn new skills, and to build up your CV.

Check out these opportunities to get started:

In Wales

It’s My Shout

A Welsh independent film production company, and BAFTA winning film training scheme for all ages interested in gaining experience in Film. Long-time friend of Unquiet Media, and very neurodivergent-friendly.

Foot in the Door

A Ffilm Cymru Wales training scheme that finds and creates opportunities to learn about and transfer skills such as carpentry, hair and make-up, and costume on the set of film and TV productions in Wales - open to everyone, no matter a person’s background, financial means, or experience.

Screen Alliance Wales

Traineeships, Work Shadowing Placements, and Training Networks that provide you with the training and skills development needed for a career in TV and Film, in local real-world productions.

Sgil Cymru

A range of training courses for film and TV industry professionals looking to upskill or move into another department or part of the industry, to help Creatives advance in their career.

In the UK

National Film and Television School (NFTS)

Training courses for industry professionals or Creatives starting their career in Film, TV, or Games. For over half a century, the NFTS has developed some of Britain’s and the world’s top creative talent.

Screen Skills

Many free e-learning training courses that tell you all you need to know about getting into the screen industries.

Navigating Job Rejection

Thanks to Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD), commonly experienced by neurodivergent people, many of us take rejection, criticism, or negative feedback particularly hard.

We have often grown up facing significantly more criticism throughout our lives, and this has shaped our response to, and expectations of, rejection - and even a minor setback can trigger intense feelings of sadness, shame, or inadequacy.

Navigate these feelings by:

Acknowledging your emotions. Take a moment to recognise the disappointment, and know it’s entirely normal to feel this way. It is an incredibly competitive industry. Give yourself time to process the rejection, and remember that these feelings don’t define your worth or capability.

Separate rejection from identity - it does not define your ability or your potential. We are so often set up for failure before we even enter the job arena, because of misconceptions about neurodivergence and how it presents.

Seek constructive feedback, if possible

Celebrate and focus on what went well, as well as your strengths

Seek interview coaching or training, where needed

Each new connection made, each new learning experience, each new completed application form - all is progress, regardless of the outcome. A step in the right direction is still a step forward.

Reframe Your ‘Weaknesses’

Not only do we find it difficult to identify or articulate our strengths - we are also far too honest when it comes to our ‘weaknesses’.

Reframe the way in which you think about your challenges, both as you approach job applications or if you’re confronted with the dreaded ‘what are your greatest strengths and weaknesses’ interview questions!

Examples from our surveys and focus groups: