From Struggle to Strength: Lee’s Progress with WE Work
June 16, 2026
When Lee joined WE Work, he had finished university and needed help updating his CV and cover letters.
“When I started the scheme, I had been getting rejected from applications and interviews for over a year, and it had significantly reduced my already lacking confidence.”
Not only did Lee’s navigator help with personalising his CV but they also had in-depth conversations about living as an autistic person.
Lee says, “this really helped me understand exactly how it was impacting me. A good example of this is ‘body doubling’. This is where some neurodiverse people can focus better by having someone else working nearby. It doesn’t need to be someone you know or working on the same thing. I didn’t know this was a trait I had, or even that it existed, but I realised how often I had used this in the past without realising.”
Talking about this in a safe space helped Lee feel more confident and comfortable about being an autistic person.
Delivering a Presentation
Lee has also been supported by Seetec, another employability programme. He was invited to give a talk about living with autism in the workplace. Lee’s navigator helped him prepare, giving him support and encouragement.
“The presentation was a great success, and Seetec have asked me to give the presentation again to another group of employees in the company.
Not only has this given me something amazing to put on my CV (and the potential for these presentations to become paid work in the future), but the success after so many struggles in applications has also helped reduce my pessimism and boosted my confidence both in the workplace and, hopefully, in interviews. None of this could have happened without the support that Kate gave me to understand and be able to discuss my experience with autism.”
Lee’s Advice to Future Participants on WE Work
“To anyone thinking about joining WWfE, I would say that it’s a really valuable experience that you should try to make the most of. Unlike other services (…) that place expectations on you, WWfE allow for a much more comfortable service. My advice is that it works best when you can be honest with the Employment Navigator so that they can do their best to help you.”
