Conversations that most colleagues would consider effortless can be a real obstacle for neurodiverse job seekers, according to Justin Nelson, Managing Director at J.P. Morgan Private Bank in Connecticut. Nelson, who heads the Asset Management and Financial Principals Coverage Team at JP Morgan, says communication, not competence, is usually what keeps talented candidates out of the door.

“For neurodiverse candidates, the biggest challenge is typically communication, their ability to interact with people,” Nelson explains. Justin Nelson JP Morgan points out how basic the barrier can be. “Things that you and I probably take for granted, that makes it so easy for us to be having this conversation right here, it’s very hard for them.”

Talent Hidden Behind the Interview

Nelson’s team manages more than $15 billion in assets, and he says financial firms lose out when they judge candidates solely on interview performance. Neurodiverse applicants, he notes, often carry exceptional creative and computational skills that never surface in a traditional thirty minute conversation with a hiring manager.

Rather than treating this as a fixed obstacle, Nelson calls on employers to redesign how they evaluate candidates in the first place. “Employers really need to change how they think about engaging with these people,” he says.

Once hired, neurodiverse employees benefit from a different management style, according to Nelson. Assigning broad goals without structure tends to fail, so he recommends breaking projects into specific, well-defined tasks tied to a clear larger plan. “You have to assign tasks and ensure that they understand how this fits into a larger plan or set of rules,” he says.

Nelson credits that structured approach with turning neurodiverse hires into some of the strongest performers on a team, provided managers commit to clear expectations. His comments arrive as financial services firms search for new talent pipelines, and Justin Nelson’s framework, paired with his outside advocacy work, offers a template other JP Morgan peers and competitors alike could put into practice. See related link for additional information.

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