"We're impressed with your qualifications...."

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I had a Boss slam me and made me confess on my performance that I was easily distracted. But it was not that. I was working at a hospital with wheelchairs and I was attempting to obsolete the wheelchair using robot technology.

Just curious - if they are quizzing you about your AS, are you giving them a reason to do so? I hope you're not volunteering that info.

Hey, I hear you. I am also between jobs and searching hard. I'm either on the phone or on the road four days a week. I'm trying to pull off a career shift (not a complete change), and was hoping I could stay with my previous firm until I could get some additional credentials. I have engineering registrations in two states and an unspectacular career over thirty years, distinguished by multiple job losses, re-locations, company re-structuring, what-have-you. Some of it is likely linked to my BP, AS, OCD, and just plain low self-esteem, however mild.

When I was let go last June, I was stuck like never before. Last time, updating the resume was pretty simple - change some dates, add the last description, tweak format, good to go. This time, I could not do that - I had to start completely over. It took months. I failed over and over again. I was getting in some doors but choking in the conference room. But in no case, whether working, not working, interviewing, or taking recruiter calls have I ever been asked about my mental disorders. Good thing, too. 'Cause I was too busy taking the classic approach, with classic marketing tactics, which are now mistakes.

First, I didn't position myself correctly in my intended market. Second, I emphasized my work objectives. Third, I failed to appreciate the ways in which candidate screening is now performed. Fourth, and worst, I did not have a professional network of relationships in place.

I invested some coin in some web-based job services, read everything that crossed my screens about making sales presentations, interviewing skills, negotiating tactics. And like you, I'm getting better as I go along. Now, you might say, wait a minute, I'm in engineering, not sales. Friend, at this stage of the game, we are ALL in sales. Things are starting to happen for me. Let me tell you what I am doing.

First, I figured out what I am pursuing - in detail, so I know whom to approach.
Second, I realized that I was missing opportunities by emphasizing my objectives. Managers don't care about my objectives, they care about theirs.
Third, I learned to make the best use of the space on the top third of my resume so it passes the keyword search and the "four-second" test.
Fourth, I got on social media. Finally.

The reason I'm using so much space here is to tell you that I'm having more success at finding candidate employers who are interested in what I can do for them, not in my "qualifications", or for that matter, my "experience". Certainly not my mental health. It's not about you - it's about them.

Finally, I read a piece somewhere recently about what's going through a hiring manager's head during this whole, agonizing process. S/He is trying to gauge my fit into their culture using three factors: 1) mindset, 2) mindset, 3) mindset. In that order. This can only happen in person. More than once have I passed three phone interviews only to blow it over lunch. But then again, maybe it wasn't a good fit for me either.

Only you can figure out what you want (besides a job), what value you can bring, whether you will like it there, AND whether you can tolerate each other. All of those have to be in place before they make the offer. I'm not an expert at this, or I would have been working months ago. This is just some of what I've learned, and you can take it with as many grains of salt as you wish. I offer it in hopes that it will get us both out of this mess.

Peace and prosperity for us all.

What is the reason you had to start over?


What is the difference, and what is the new tactic?


What is the wrong and the correct positioning?


How is candidate screening now performed?


Which is?


Who should one approach?


Just put up the CV or more?


The correct mindset is?


On what?

Sorry for asking.. but the devil is in the details

Great questions, Keyman. My post was intended to be a summary of my recent experience. If I elaborated on every point I probably would have been on-station until dawn. I would be happy to discuss the details if it would help you, and anyone else in here. I'll try to be concise (not my strongest suit ).

I had to start the resume over because I spent thirty plus years in building systems design and decided a few years ago that I wanted to move into building commissioning and energy services. The background I have prepares be for moving in this direction, but it doesn't automatically qualify me to do this new line of work. So I have to demonstrate relevant proficiencies, rather than say, "Been there, done that". One of the first things I heard was, "Market your potential, not your past".

Marketing oneself now is radically different from what it was even five years ago. I was trained from my university days to make my resume look pretty much like every other one. We were commodities, and there were enough jobs to go around, so the competition was lax. Hiring managers could take time to review resumes in detail and cull details they thought were important. Now, these poor folks get dozens, scores, hundreds of resumes each day. So, many firms have Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). Your resume enters a black hole, and depending on what keywords it contains (or not), may never be seen again. You may have seen "job boards" like indeed. com. Companies were using them for a time, but they're expensive. Besides, managers also know better ways of searching for talent - and that brings us to SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

Managers would much rather find talent through internal networking. Many are offering their employees hefty bonuses for referrals. They are also on Google, looking for resumes with the right set of keywords. To get the phone to ring, you now have to be in places on the Net where you can be found. It's pretty hard to keep turning up on the front page of a search engine every day, but there are techniques. I don't know them, so I paid for some help.

The other places they are going are social media. This was brand-new to me, and a shock. They are going on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, all the rest. Talent hunters are now tweeting each other about vacancies before the jobs are even advertised. There are ways to look in on that traffic. So I have to develop and maintain a public presence that speaks to my personal brand of service delivery. Me, I'm on LinkedIn. Lots of activity in there - check it out, then set up a profile and build on it. And no, don't put your CV there - they probably already have it, and you don't want to duplicate the content. I'm getting calls from recruiters who have viewed me. And, FYI. if you contact any hiring source now, LinkedIn is the first place they go to check you out. Took me weeks to realize that.

"Branding" is one of the new buzzwords making the rounds. For me, this is the most difficult part, because it's hampered by my AS side and I still get sick working on it. But it is key to making myself memorable to my target audience. The mission of advertising is to make lasting impressions on consumers that influence their decisions to buy. My next new boss is the consumer, and I'm the product.

This "mindset" thing is pretty new to me. Wikipedia defines the term to mean a collection of assumptions or methods established within an organization that fosters and reinforces a set of prior behaviors.... (I'm paraphrasing here). I think this just another way of saying that our means and methods need to match their means and methods, at least to a certain extent. This is a "soft skill" ('nother buzzword) that is extremely difficult for me, having so much trouble articulating emotions, reading faces, and empathizing with people. It's at least as important as the technical value I can bring to the job. Unfortunately, we don't get much time during the recruiting process to evaluate that - usually about an hour. The market is so competitive now that employers will screen you on the tiniest things. That's what I meant by blowing it over lunch. I have to learn a lot more sensitivity to the nonverbal stuff. The importance can't be overstated - hopefully, we are going to be stuck with each other for a very long time.

There are some excellent resources out there for resume (CV) building, constructing and maintaining profiles on social media, handling phone and face2face interviews, salary negotiation. I can steer you to them if you want. Hope this rant is at least partly helpful.

First off, get that diagnosis off any record they can check.

Secondly, when asked "So, what is this gap in your resume?" here are some options :

- Have any family or close friends that were sick and ideally died at that time? Tell them that you were staying at their house helping them out, because they were really important to you and bonding with them helped you realize the meaning of loyalty and family.

Is one of them, just practice and imagine until you believe it and you'll be quite convincing.

I wouldnt recogmend that you tell employers about your diagnosis off hand. There are all sorts of reasons why you could have a 2 unemployment gap between your bachelors and masters. Sit down and try to come up with some plausible reasons. Perhaps get someone to help you. So what were you doing during that time anyways? Whatever happen during that time, you can take that and frame it in a acceptable way. Like I was trying to find myself.

A very NT:ish person I got to know slightly got his friends to make up fake front companies. Where he was an "excellent employee" ..
And yeah he got the job and kept it with good salary.