A senior executive at JP Morgan Private Bank is urging financial firms to look past surface-level interview performance when evaluating neurodiverse candidates. Justin Nelson, Managing Director and Head of the Asset Management and Financial Principals Coverage Team, leads a Connecticut-based group overseeing more than $15 billion in client assets. His perspective draws on personal experience with the barriers neurodiverse individuals face, not just professional observation.
Communication as the Real Test
According to Justin Nelson JP Morgan, most hiring processes inadvertently test the wrong thing. “For neurodiverse candidates, the biggest challenge is typically communication, their ability to interact with people,” he says, noting how much easier that comes to neurotypical colleagues in everyday exchanges.
That mismatch means real skill often goes unnoticed. Nelson describes neurodiverse candidates as frequently exceptional in areas like creativity and computation, abilities that can far exceed typical performance and matter greatly in a field built on precise analysis. “Usually what that means is that while they may have a harder time connecting and communicating, they’re exceptional in other areas,” he explains.
Once hired, Nelson says these workers need a management style suited to their strengths. He advises breaking assignments into clear, specific tasks and making sure employees understand how each fits into the overall plan, an approach that plays to a preference for exactness within a defined structure.
Nelson supports this philosophy through outside partnerships as well, working with Adelphi University’s Bridges Program and Broad Futures to help neurodiverse candidates find employers willing to adapt. He describes the leap from school to full-time work as the toughest part of that journey.
Taken together, Nelson’s message to financial services firms is that a talent shortage does not have to mean a shortage of qualified people, only a shortage of hiring processes built to recognize them. See related link for more information.
More about Justin Nelson JP Morgan on https://fortuneherald.com/finance/the-future-of-banking-jpmorgan-justin-nelson-on-the-role-of-technology-in-financial-services/