Latest / The Diversity Career Podcast with Fexingo: Inclusion, Equity, and Underrepresented Professionals / How One Company Makes Its Internships Truly Accessible for Neurodivergent Talent
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, I want to talk about internships today — specifically, a company that redesigned its entire internship program to be genuinely accessible for neurodivergent candidates. And I don't mean they added a line to the job description. I mean they changed how they recruit, interview, onboard, and mentor. Luna: That's a big shift. Most companies just say 'we welcome neurodivergent applicants' and then put them through the same gauntlet as everyone else. Lucas: Exactly. So the company in question is a large tech firm — I'm not naming them because they don't publicize this, but the data is available from a case study published by the Neurodiversity @ Work Employer Roundtable. They started by looking at their funnel. They had about three hundred interns per year, but fewer than five percent identified as neurodivergent. And exit interviews with those who left early suggested the problem wasn't capability — it was the process. Luna: What was the biggest bottleneck? Lucas: The group interview. It was essentially a whiteboard session where candidates had to solve a problem in real time while being watched by three engineers. For someone with social anxiety, ADHD, or an autism spectrum condition, that's a nightmare. So they replaced it with a take-home project — candidates had forty-eight hours to complete a task and submit it asynchronously. Then they had a one-on-one debrief where they could walk through their thinking without the pressure of an audience. Luna: That seems so obvious in hindsight. But I bet it also changed the quality of the signals they got — they were evaluating actual work, not performance under stress. Lucas: Exactly. And that's just the first change. They also stripped out any timed coding challenges from the application. Instead, they asked candidates to submit a portfolio or a past project they were proud of. The hiring team scored it on a rubric — not subjective 'culture fit' — but specific technical and problem-solving criteria. Luna: So they removed the two things that often screen out neurodivergent candidates: live performance and time pressure. Lucas: Right. But here's where it gets really interesting. Once candidates were accepted into the internship, they didn't just throw them into a team. Each intern was assigned a mentor who had undergone a full-day training on neurodiversity — not just awareness, but concrete strategies. For example, how to give feedback without ambiguous phrasing, how to structure check-ins for someone who might struggle with open-ended questions, and how to provide written summaries of verbal instructions. Luna: That's a huge investment. A full day of training for every mentor. Lucas: It is. But the company estimated that the cost was about fifteen hundred dollars per intern — compared to the typical cost of recruiting and onboarding a new grad, which is something like thirty thousand. And the results were striking. In the first year, they saw a forty percent increase in applicants who self-identified as neurodivergent. But more importantly, their offer acceptance rate for neurodivergent interns was ninety percent — compared to the company average of seventy-five. Luna: That tells me the interns felt supported. They weren't just surviving the summer — they actually wanted to stay. Lucas: Yeah. And retention data backs that up. The neurodivergent interns who converted to full-time employees had a two-year retention rate of eighty-eight percent, versus seventy percent for the broader cohort. The company attributes that directly to the mentorship structure and the upfront accommodations — things like flexible start times, noise-cancelling headphones as standard equipment, and the option to work from a quiet space rather than an open floor plan. Luna: I love that they made those accommodations standard, not something you have to ask for. Because asking for accommodations is itself a barrier. Lucas: Exactly. And that's a key design principle they followed: universal design. Instead of creating a separate track for neurodivergent interns, they made the whole program more flexible. Every intern got a written daily agenda instead of just verbal instructions. Every intern got the option to work remotely on certain days. And every intern had a structured weekly check-in with their manager using a template that included a 'what went well' section and a 'what I need' section. Luna: So the changes benefited everyone, not just the target group. Lucas: Right. And that's the smartest thing about it. They didn't frame it as a special program. They framed it as a better way to onboard people — and the data showed that satisfaction scores went up across the board. Neurotypical interns also reported feeling more supported and less anxious. Luna: That's the kind of thing that makes me think: why isn't this standard practice? The cost is modest, the results are clear. Lucas: I think part of it is inertia. Companies have been doing internships the same way for decades. And there's a fear that if you change the screening process, you'll lower the bar. But that fear is unfounded. The take-home projects in this program actually had a higher correlation with on-the-job performance than the old whiteboard sessions did. Luna: So they got better hires and better retention. That's a win-win. Lucas: It's a textbook case of how removing barriers doesn't lower standards — it just reveals talent that was being filtered out. And I think there's a broader lesson here for any company running a pipeline program, not just for neurodivergent candidates. If you look at your funnel and see a cliff where a specific group drops off, that's a design problem, not a talent problem. Luna: I want to sit with that for a second. Because I think a lot of listeners might be thinking, 'Okay, but I don't work at a big tech company. Can I do any of this?' And the answer is yes. Even small firms can change their interview format or provide written instructions. It's not about budget. Lucas: Absolutely. The principles are transferable. You don't need a full-time DEI team. You just need to ask one question: Is our process testing for the skills we actually need, or is it testing for comfort with the way we've always done things? Luna: Yeah. And that's really the core of inclusion — it's about being intentional about who gets through your filters. Lucas: So if this episode helped you think about your own hiring pipeline or gave you a concrete model to point to, I'll say what I often say: if it was worth a coffee to you, there's a link. It's buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. And honestly, that kind of listener support is what lets us keep the show ad-free and focused on these deep dives. Luna: Yeah, it really does make a difference. And we appreciate it every time. Lucas: Okay, back to the data. One more thing I want to highlight: the company also changed how they evaluated intern performance at the end of the summer. Instead of a single manager review, they gathered input from three people — the mentor, the project lead, and a peer. That gave a more rounded picture and reduced the chance that a manager's unconscious bias would outweigh actual performance. Luna: That's smart, especially for interns who might not be as vocal in meetings. A peer might see their contributions in a different light. Lucas: Exactly. And they found that for neurodivergent interns, the peer and mentor ratings were often higher than the manager's rating — which suggests managers were undervaluing them. The multi-rater system corrected for that. Luna: So what's the one takeaway you'd leave listeners with? Lucas: I'd say: start with your biggest drop-off point. Look at your application funnel and ask where neurodivergent candidates are leaving. Then ask yourself if that step actually measures job-relevant skills. Chances are, you'll find something you can change without spending a dime. Luna: And if you're a candidate listening, I'd say: look for companies that talk about accommodations openly. If they're not mentioning it in their career page, they probably haven't thought about it. Lucas: Good point. Thanks, Luna. That's a wrap on this one.