Accessibility statement

Careers support for autistic students

We are here to support you during your time at York with your career planning and skills development. You can book careers appointments, come to our events and get involved with the York Strengths Programme and other activities we offer. You can contact us to request any reasonable adjustments or support you need to access our services. This might be, for example, a longer appointment or support to make it easier for you to join a York Strengths development session.

How to contact us

You can send us a message via Handshake or email careers@york.ac.uk 

The Careers and Placements building is on Campus West, next to the Spring Lane Building and Central car park.

Careers appointments

Careers advice appointments, with one of our careers consultants, are 20 minutes long. We can offer longer appointments if that would be useful to you - or you can start with the standard 20 minute appointment and come back another time for a longer one. You can choose an in-person appointment, in the Careers and Placements building, or an online appointment via Zoom.

When you book an appointment in Handshake, you’ll be asked to indicate (from a list of topics) what you’d like to talk about. Don’t worry if you don’t really know, or find it difficult to start the conversation - our careers consultants can help. Topics could include:

  • Career options / generating ideas
  • Work experience
  • Advice on CVs and applications
  • Preparing for interviews
  • Talking to employers about support you might need to succeed in the workplace
  • Or anything else to do with careers and employability.

You’ll get an email confirmation of your appointment booking, and a reminder 24 hours and 1 hour before the appointment time (unless you have changed your notification settings in Handshake).

At the end of your appointment, you can agree some next steps or action points with the careers consultant. These can be recorded in the appointment comments in Handshake for you to review later, and we can also send you an email summary if you prefer.

Short courses for autistic students

We offer short courses for autistic students and recent graduates, to help you prepare for work. The Into Work course for first and second year undergraduates helps you prepare to apply for part-time work. The Graduation to Employment course for final year students and recent graduates supports your move from university into employment. 

Career coaching

If you are a final year undergraduate, or a recent graduate, you might find career coaching helpful. A career coach can offer you a series of online sessions to talk about what you want to achieve and support you as you plan your next steps. The career coaching page has more information, student stories, and a brief form to complete to apply for coaching.

Help with finding work

These organisations offer support, online courses, and resources to help you with looking for work and starting a new job:

  • The National Autistic Society offers support with looking for work and applications, including a free online training module on Finding Employment (scroll down the page to find the free courses). They also have helpful information for employers. 
  • Ambitious about Autism supports autistic young people, and advertises work experience including some summer internships. They may be able to offer support during the application and recruitment process. Their offer for candidates includes a link to register for updates on job opportunities. 
  • The IMAGE project has a toolkit to help you with the transition from university into employment. It aims to help you with choosing a career, applying for jobs, and settling into the workplace. (IMAGE is an EU-funded partnership of five European universities, including Leeds Beckett University.)  
  • Free job search tutorial for autistic and neurodiverse candidates - Employability skills for autistic students and graduates, includes downloadable resources to help you prepare for job applications and interviews and think about adjustments you might request. Available free of charge via the Udemy platform (you will need to register but this is quick and easy to do).
  • Enna seeks to help neurodiverse adults find jobs with inclusive employers. They have a jobs board, resources to help with CVs and preparing for interviews, and also offer job coaching (six free sessions on Zoom or phone). 
  • MyPlus Students’ Club supports disabled students and graduates into employment. Their career guides include advice on being open, communicating your strengths, advocating for your needs, getting the support you need in the recruitment process, and lots more. You need to register (free of charge) to access these guides, other resources and online events.