Is it possible to have 'the wrong' Asperger traits?

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I don't look like the stereotypical Aspie (in some NTs point of view). Have learned to give eye-contact and smile.

However, I make subtle social mistakes which actually come off as having negative personality traits rather than Aspergers.

For example, I consider myself a realist (pessimist) due to numerous social failures in the past. I don't expect that people will bend over backwards to hire me because i've been rejected in the past! (I come off a bit weird and negative; a friend actually said "desperate").

Thus, rather than coming off as Asperger-like (in NTs view), people think I'm rigid and perhaps a little spooky. I have a hard time telling people how I really view the world - and couch it in positive, breezy terms. (NTs do this quite well)

I don't know exactly what turns off potential employers, but it is probably a combination of the above. It is not an obvious "shyness" - more like a bad vibe and a negative-seeming disposition.

I'm guessing it is part of Asperger's, because if I were NT I would be able to hide it better!

Thank you for reading this rambling post. Just wondering if some of us are not getting hired (or keeping jobs), because we have 'the wrong' Asperger traits (ie traits that don't look like Asperger's but seem more like negative personality traits, like laziness, obstinacy, and so forth)?

Well, there is that saying, "If you met one autistic person (or Aspie, pretty much the same thing), you met ONE autistic person". Very true. NTs tend to misinterpret our communication and body language, some Aspies adapt socially better than others. The pessimistic traits probably come from being rejected in the past. I never got hired at a job except for one (only because a former friend of mine knew someone who worked at that place) because I can't hide my nervousness and I seem unfocused and I completely forget what I was going to say. I am not lazy if I have confidence and encouragement from my peers, and I am good at following directions. But I sucked at faking friendliness when I greeted customers, I think everyone saw right throught that. My job ended in about 2 months. I showed up at work one day only to be told that they gave another employee my hours so that they couldn't say that they fired me. No explanation was given to me. It makes me angry just thinking about that. Discrimination is illegal but yet people find ways to get away with it. I did everything that I was supposed to and always showed up on time, and I was nice to everyone even when I felt like ripping someone's head off.

Maybe you've learned to hide your symptoms so well that the few that remain look like bad NT traits or just bad quirks to the majority populous rather than an actual "issue"?