The Bath Employment Spring School for Autism (BESSA) is a free two-day event for Autistic students or graduates (with or without a diagnosis). It aims to help with the transition from university to a range of opportunities like internships, placements and graduate employment.

The event is organised by the Centre for Applied Autism Research at the University of Bath, and JP Morgan (JPM).

If you're an autistic student or graduate (with or without a diagnosis), you can attend this event where you'll get support and guidance for the transition from university to work.

For an in-depth look at the autism-related workshops and activities we run at Bath, read our case study.

31 March 2020 (Day 1)

Name: Bath Employment Spring School for Autism 2020
Start: 2020-03-31T09:00:00+01:00
End: 2020-04-01T17:30:00+01:00

Provisional schedule

Location: 10 West 2.47 University of Bath campus.

Time	Event	Description
8.30-9.00am	Registration in 10 West outside 2.47	Refreshments will be provided while delegates register for the programme and receive their materials for the day.
9.00-9.10am	Welcome and introduction to BESSA	Run by CAAR, we will welcome delegates and outline the plans and objectives for Day 1.
9.10-9.25am	Autism strengths and Employment	Run by CAAR, this session will highlight findings and data from research and theory related to autistic strengths and employment.
9.30-10.15am	Employment skills session 1	Run by Bath Career Service, this session will address what autistic people can do to help prepare for employment and for their careers.
10.15-11.00am	Work Experience	10.20-11.00am Work Experience Run by Ambitious About Autism, this session highlights the role of work experience for autistic people.
11.00-11.15am	Tea and coffee break
11.15-11.45am	Disclosure: Who, how, when	Run by the National Autistic Society, this session will provide information and address issues about disclosing a diagnosis of autism to your employer or potential employers.
11.50am-12.25pm	Employment skills session 2	Run by Bath Career Service this session will be on how to prepare applications, CVs, and what to expect at interviews.
12.30pm-1.00pm	Personal experiences of autistic people within employment	This session will involve autistic people working in different jobs talking about their own personal experiences of employment, highlighting both the strengths and difficulties they have found in their work situations about how they have dealt with them.
1.00pm-2.00pm	Lunchtime	A catered lunch will be provided.
2.00pm-3.30pm	Organisations and their environments for autistic people	This session will include talks by companies about their policies and work environments for autistic people.
3.30-3.45pm	Tea and coffee break
3.45-4.45pm	Employer perspectives about autism by JP Morgan	This session will highlight the views of JP Morgan towards autistic employees, highlighting current initiatives and policies to facilitate the hiring, transition and success of autistic employees at this organisation.
4.45-5.00pm	Summary of Day 1 and outline of Day 2 at JPM	This session will highlight key messages from Day 1 of BESSA, and will provide an overview about Day 2 of BESSA at JPM Bournemouth.

1 April 2020 (Day 2)

Provisional schedule

Location: JP Morgan Bournemouth Corporate Centre

Return travel from Bath to Bournemouth is provided.

Time	Event	Description
7.30-10.00am	Travel together from Bath to Bournemouth	Specific details will be provided nearer the time.
10.30-10.45am	Welcome and Introduction to BESSA Day 2	We will welcome all the participants and delegates to BESSA Day 2, outline the plans and objectives for the day. Refreshments will be provided.
10.50-11.40am	Site tour	Participants will split into smaller groups and have a tour of the campus including high performance workspace, dining facilities, social areas, atrium and surrounding green environment. The tours will be run by employees of JPM, some of who are autistic, and they will share their experiences of working in the campus environment as part of the tour.
11.50am-12.30pm	JPM programmes, roles and job families	Participants will split into smaller applicable groups (to their year of study and discipline) and cover information about the different roles, job families, programmes (graduate, internships and placements) available at JPM and aspects of the interview process for each applicable programme.
12.30-1.15pm	Lunchtime	A catered lunch will be provided.
1.15-2.15pm	Interview techniques	Participants will split into their smaller groups, observe example mock interviews taking place and have the opportunity to discuss the interview process and feedback as well as discuss example answers and interview techniques.
2.25-3.10pm	A day in the life of a JPM employee	Run by JPM autistic employees and a manager of an autistic employee, this session will provide an insight what it is like to work at JPM when you are autistic. The employees will be from different lines of business, performing different roles and at different stages of their career. They will share their experiences on social aspects and team interactions, followed by an interactive question and answer opportunity.
3.15-3.45pm	Summary of Day 2	Key messages from the various sessions during the day will be highlighted.
4.00-6.00pm (rough estimate)	Travel back to Bath

Who should attend

This event is addressed to autistic students or graduates (with or without a diagnosis)

Accessibility

This building has ramp access to the building and there are lifts inside.

Bath Employment Spring School for Autism 2020

If you're an autistic student or graduate (with or without diagnosis), then this event provides support and guidance for the transition from university to work.

31 March 2020 (Day 1)

Provisional schedule

1 April 2020 (Day 2)

Provisional schedule

Who should attend

Accessibility

Location

Enquiries