Is This a Real Role?

Some jobs look shiny on the surface. They promise freedom, creativity, and the chance to “shake things up.” But for autistic women, these roles can be especially dangerous.

Many autistic people take words literally. When an employer says they want honesty, innovation, or a “fresh perspective,” they believe it. They assume the invitation is genuine and that the company truly wants problems uncovered and systems improved.

Too often, that is not the case. What the employer really wanted was not a professional with skills and insight. They wanted a fantasy. A “quirky fixer.” A character to make everyone feel good without demanding real change.

When someone is hired into a fantasy role like this, the consequences can be serious. Here is how to spot the trap before it happens.

1. Is this a real role, or just a placeholder for a problem no one wants to fix?

If a job feels vaguely defined, with shifting responsibilities, take note. Sometimes companies do not want someone to solve the problem -they want someone to absorb it. The title may look impressive, but the work is little more than managing messes nobody else wants to touch.

For autistic employees, this can be especially harmful. They may assume the role is genuine, commit fully, and then discover that nobody else intended to see the problem through.

2. Is this a ‘billboard role’?

Some roles exist more for appearances than outcomes. Autistic women have described these as “billboard roles.” On the surface, they signal progress: look, we are tackling diversity, culture, innovation. In reality, they reassure leadership or outsiders without driving real change.

Billboard roles often have no budget, no authority, and no real support. The individual becomes the face of solving a problem while being set up to do it alone.

Autistic employees are particularly vulnerable here because they assume the role is what it claims to be. They gather data and present solutions, only to find the truths they uncover make others uncomfortable. Leadership may resist, ignore, or even turn against the person exposing the problem.

3. Is the focus more on personality than skills?

It is not always about what you were hired to do. Sometimes employers expect you to handle tasks no one else wants - stand up to the office bully, deal with a difficult point of contention, lead events others dread, or speak in public when leadership avoids it. Sometimes there are hidden responsibilities they never disclosed but assume you will manage anyway.

Another warning sign is when interviews emphasise energy, freshness, or quirkiness while skimming over expertise. They are hiring for novelty, not ability. When the shine fades, traits once celebrated are reframed as flaws. Direct becomes blunt, energetic becomes overwhelming, creative becomes scattered.

4. Are you being set up as the culture shift?

Watch out for phrases like “we need someone like you around here” or “you’ll really keep us on our toes.” These may sound flattering, but often what they mean is accountability is being outsourced. You are expected to disrupt without power or structural backing.

5. Are you told to “chill out”?

A common red flag is being told:

• “You’re worrying too much.”

• “Nobody needs this level of detail.”

• “Relax, it’s not that serious.”

  
  

For autistic employees, detail and pattern-spotting are core strengths. When this is brushed off, it usually means the person has noticed something real that others would rather avoid. This is not constructive feedback. It is dismissal, and it signals that genuine work will not be supported.

6. The Fallout: When the Fantasy Collapses

At first, the novelty may be celebrated. But as soon as uncomfortable truths are raised, the atmosphere changes. Emails are ignored. Calls are dodged. Invitations to meetings quietly stop. Behind closed doors, mocking comments and eye-rolls begin. You've become the scapegoat.

The employee goes from “refreshing” to “a problem.” From “the spark” to “the pain in the neck.”

For autistic people, this fallout can be disorienting. They believed the brief was real. They thought the company wanted problems solved. Discovering the role was performative all along can feel like betrayal. Continuing to push may provoke anger or hostility, as if sincerity itself is the problem.

7. The Key Question

Ask yourself: would this role still be valued if the person in it were quiet, introverted, or simply being their full, authentic self? This isn’t about performance, you could be exceeding expectations and outshining your peers, but the moment you stop being their shiny mascot, the role ceases to matter to them.

The Bottom Line

If a role is presented as an opportunity to create change, autistic people they will approach it with full commitment. But if the role was only ever a performance, that commitment becomes a liability.

The truth is this: if a workplace only wants a slice of a person -the quirky slice, the fixer slice, the spark of novelty - then they don’t want a person at all. They want a fantasy.

Healthy workplaces hire people for their skills, support them as whole human beings, and stand behind them when real problems are uncovered. Anything less is a warning sign.

*This article was shaped through a focus group of autistic women discussing their workplace experiences. It reflects common patterns and red flags they have faced, so that others can spot the trap before stepping into it.

— The Unplaced Team