For many financial services professionals, workforce inclusion conversations stay at the level of principle. Justin Nelson JP Morgan Managing Director and Head of the Asset Management and Financial Principals Coverage Team at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, operates at the level of practice.

Nelson’s Connecticut-based team oversees more than $15 billion in assets, and his approach to talent particularly neurodiverse talent reflects the standards of a high-performing financial operation rather than a corporate social responsibility initiative.

What the Interview Gets Wrong

The case Nelson makes against the traditional interview is not rhetorical. It is operational. Standard interview formats test a narrow band of social competencies the ability to make small talk, sustain eye contact, and respond to open-ended questions with polished answers. Those competencies bear limited relationship to the skills required in most financial analysis, portfolio monitoring, or data-heavy client service roles.

Neurodiverse candidates often struggle precisely in those interview settings. “For neurodiverse candidates, the biggest challenge is typically communication, their ability to interact with people,” Nelson says. Employers who allow the interview to serve as the primary filter are making a systematic error one that costs them access to candidates with exceptional analytical and computational abilities.

Partnerships That Bridge the Gap

Nelson does not stop at diagnosis. He points to organizations like Broad Futures as working models for how employers can change their approach. Broad Futures helps companies develop screening and onboarding processes tailored to neurodiverse candidates, then works to match those candidates with available positions. Adelphi University’s Bridges Program similarly supports high-functioning neurodiverse students as they prepare to enter professional environments.

His involvement with both organizations reflects a conviction that the path to better talent outcomes is institutional, not individual. Justin Nelson’s work at JP Morgan gives him a platform to make that argument to an industry that, he believes, has been leaving some of its best potential employees on the table. Read this page, to learn more.

Find more information about Justin Nelson JP Morgan https://fortuneherald.com/finance/the-future-of-banking-jpmorgan-justin-nelson-on-the-role-of-technology-in-financial-services/