Congratulations to Shelley!
One of Specialisterne NI’s first candidates, Shelley Corrigan. has shared her experiences working at Tascomi for the past year.
https://www.tascomi.com/testers-academy-one-year-shelley/
Starting the New Year with the Young Foundation
Specialisterne NI is excited to start the New Year with the support of the Young Foundation, as one of 14 social ventures selected to be part of the N Ireland Accelerator programme.
The Amplify NI Scaling Accelerator is an innovation support programme to rapidly accelerate the growth of new solutions to social problems in Northern Ireland. The programme is designed to support organisations who have demonstrated social impact, and is funded by the Department of Social Development.
Specialisterne NI has been selected along with 13 other organisations. We are looking forward to it!
http://youngfoundation.org/social-innovation-investment/finding-gems-in-northern-ireland/
http://www.growingsocialventures.org/en/programme/how-it-works
What I learned about Social Communication in 2015
Last year I loosened my attachment to the spoken word, which may sound unusual for someone who coaches in social communication. People tend to assume that the words they speak are received. I have had the opportunity to observe that this does not always happen.
My interest in communication took shape when I studied languages at University. It developed when I led a team to coach my son to learn to speak. I am interested that when we speak we can assume our words are received as they were intended. However in the space between 2 people the meaning can be lost, it can be as if the words had never been spoken.
Interviewing Applicants with Social Communication Difference
We are delighted to have both Recruitment Consultants and internal recruiters enrolling on our ‘Interviewing Applicants with Social Communication Difference’ morning workshop on 29 January. We coach participants in how to spot talent and manage an interview situation when you believe the candidate has the skills for the job, but it may not be coming across at interview.
How Lego is helping people on the Autistic spectrum build a bright future
For the team at Specialisterne NI, ‘playing’ with Lego is all in a day’s work, a social enterprise recruitment consultancy that pairs people on the autistic spectrum with highly skilled jobs in the burgeoning IT sector.
The tiny bricks and complicated build of Lego makes it a perfect assessment tool to see how job candidates work together and use their skills and abilities.
Specialisterne NI manager Sharon Didrichsen said: “This innovative model that we developed ourselves replicates a work-like activity – that of building and programming Lego Mindstorms Robots in small teams, which is used in addition to the traditional interview, to see candidates’ skills and abilities, as well as any areas of support.”
What does Lego have to do with getting a job?
Today at the end of another Lego Assessment Day at Specialisterne NI’s office at Skainos, Belfast, I am again struck by the difference that using a work-like scenario such as building Lego Mindstorms in groups of two, makes to the Assessment process. A recruiter for over 10 years I have used interview techniques and references in order to best assess a person’s skills, yet when 2 years ago I started working with people with Autism Spectrum Disorders I was challenged to look at other means for assessing skills, given that what you see at interview for a person on the Autistic Spectrum may not reflect the person’s full skills, it’s a bit like being tested at your point of weakness, with the results forming the final answer for what you have to offer.
In a Lego Assessment participants build Lego Mindstorms Robots and programme them in small teams. The Specialisterne NI team take observational data and code this in relation to team, task and self-management factors. In post assessment interviews the interviewer explores moments from the assessment to test what we think we saw, and use this conversation as a springboard to discuss career aspirations and next steps.
The Final Flagship Event of DCAL Creativity Month considers the talents of people on the Autistic Spectrum for Digital Content and Film/Video Production roles
Keynote Speaker: Channel 4’s Adam Gee: Multi Platform Specialist, speaking on ‘Born Risky’: how Channel 4 sets about being risky and pushing the diversity envelope and how its worked for Channel 4 changing people’s perception of diversity.
NOTE: April is World Autism Awareness Month and this year’s theme is Employment the Autism Advantage
Arts Council of Northern Ireland and DCAL commissioned Specialisterne NI to host the final, flagship event of Creativity Month in N Ireland.
Farry supports those on the Autistic Spectrum into work through Software Testers’ Academy
April is World Autism Awareness Month and 2015’s theme is ‘Autism: the employment advantage’. This month also marks the start of new careers in Software Testing for four participants of the 2014/15 Software Testers’ Academy who are on the Autistic Spectrum, and who recently celebrated their success in securing job roles with leading IT Sector employers at the Software Tester Academy graduation hosted by Employment and Learning Minister Dr Stephen Farry at parliament Buildings.
This year’s Software Testers’ Academy was unique in that Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) engaged the services of Specialisterne NI, to recruit four participants for the Academy from the Autistic population in N Ireland.
Specialisterne NI highlight employability for local Austism candidates
Specialisterne NI held a recent conference in east Belfast to raise awareness of the valuable service we offer.
Delegates at the Specialisterne conference in east Belfast were tested on their puzzle solving skills on Tuesday.
The idea was to show that it can be a natural attribute for people with autism, which in turn could make them perfect employees for the IT sector.
But often those puzzle solving and pattern identifying skills can transfer into the creative industries too.
The conference was aimed at bringing potential employers together with potential employees – who may have autism.
The local UTV news were in attendance at the event and there media report can be viewed here http://www.u.tv/News/2015/03/31/Charity-highlights-employability-in-people-with-autism-34636
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