News and Knowledge

Furloughs and sustained unemployment can offer job seekers some unexpected time to explore new career options that they might not otherwise have the opportunity to research.

For interested Hire Autism job seekers, OAR is providing a free career assessment tool that can be used to help focus their efforts on jobs that match their skills and interests. Since the beginning of 2020, OAR has been offering job seekers registered on the Hire Autism jobs portal the chance to use a career assessment tool called Jobtimize, created by Fit First Technologies, a company specializing in online career matching technology.

The test period was previously scheduled to end on April 30, but Fit First generously extended the offer through the end of June to benefit all job seekers, especially those affected by the economic effects of COVID-19. Based upon an individual’s behavioral traits, attitudes, interests, education, and experience level, Jobtimize provides job seekers with personalized job recommendations and listings in their area. Approximately 73 Hire Autism job seekers have already signed on to use Jobtimize.

Jobtimize provides job seekers with an autism-friendly assessment experience by:

• Offering a shorter assessment compared to other pre-hire assessments
• Giving job seekers the ability to stop and save answers to break up the assessment process if they are feeling overwhelmed or stressed
• Providing personalized insight into areas of strength and challenges
• Placing job seekers in front of employers based on fitness for the job, not what is in their resume (for positions through the Jobtimize platform, not third-party job portals)

Job seekers can use their Jobtimize report to aid in career planning or as a standalone resource to help them better understand the skills and traits that can distinguish them from others when they begin searching for a job. Jobtimize also provides links to jobs listed on Indeed in the job seeker’s local area.

To access Jobtimize, individuals must create a profile on Hire Autism’s website. After successfully registering, they will receive a welcome email with a link to access Jobtimize. OAR encourages parents, job seekers, and autism professionals to share this information with others who may be interested.