Finding and Keeping jobs - Tips and Advice

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This actually works.
I spent months doing cold calling at my previous job before being switched over to the IT department, and I can vouch that this is the absolute truth.
If you have a smile on your face when you talk to them, they can hear that you're happy to be talking to them, and you inevitably get a better reaction even as a telemarketer who for the most part no one really wants to talk to.

Another tip for people who hate long meetings and daydream. Read the agenda before going in, list what you need doing and make sure you have asked for it, the work has been given to someone and you have a named person for follow up after the meeting. In the same vein, ask the minute taker to confirm any actions you have been assigned from the meeting and associated deadlines (can do this straight after the meeting) in case you missed anything.
Also, mute your mic when you're not speaking, when my attention goes I hum tunes (annoying for everyone else), code and message (noisy keyboard tapping also annoying).

If you have a webcam for video meetings and skype do not place it over your monitor, place it to the side to provide a semi profile view of your face which you can turn in to when it is your turn to speak. Full on stare into the monitor/webcam when not speaking is not good.

Julieme... you said your interviewing has some introvert/extrovert orientation thing going on. You leaving a few things out. Like ambivert. That's me. Mr. Ambivert. It's the guy inbetween both of those extremes. The one that is better off than both of them. There are also things like neurotic, and shy introverts too etc, etc.

There are some nice tips on here. Thank you people. I think I need to get a job, and I need all the help I can get. It is not finding a job for me that is the problem, it's the people. Everyone around me wants me to do my own thing, its just overwelming, until I get a fistful of money. The workforce center does an excellent job of helping people create a resume, it is a requirement for unemployment. There are good classes you can take too. As far as I know, they are public and free. One guy told me that when you make an online resume, you need to put a ton of key words all over you resume in white. That way when it prints, or when someone looks at it they don't see it, but a program will. Apparently, most people get found in a job search by employers, by simply using key words. I don't really know what kind of help I'm looking for on here, I guess I just need an appiffony??? You see, with my knowlege, and experience, I can pritty much get a job anywhere I look. Being an ASE certified advanced master automotive technician, master engine machinist, undercar specialist, and electrical bosch certified, all sounds the tops on a resume, but the job has me deal with a lot of backstabbing commission employed mechanics. Most of wich are hacks!! Than you have the habitual, and pathological liars in the service department, who ulimatley sell the jobs you have to deal with. And when you have a problem with these people, and talk to the boss, its is usually an owner, who only cares about the bottom line, and staying "BLACK"! !! Lol... or one of those pathological liars who has moved up the ladder to a store managing Hitler!! People I know don't want anyone else to work on there cars, but me, and I'm afraid if I stay working for people, I may wind up in the funney farm. Soo, I'm pritty sure my only options are to do my own thing, or go work in a different profession. Being as stubborn as I am, I cannot see myself leaving the industry, and would not be this good if I gave up on it. Every interview I get, these people want to hire me on the spot. The storyline is always the same. I do oil changes. Find something wrong with the car while it's there. Have a pathological liar sell something on it, and make commission. They all tell me I'm going to make 50k a year, and have absolutely no actual work, and nothing to back that statement up. Pritty gay industry!! ! I just want to fix cars, and bikes, and boats, and sleds, and scooters, and big tractors, and airplanes, and big huge mud trucks, and dirtbikes, and atv's, and a pantera detomaso, and a turbocharged honda civic, and a muscle car, and....... ooh...... there I go again....

Another tip, good manners will make people more likely to help you out. The small things like please and thank you when making requests. Saying good morning to the security guard or receptionist at the desk when you go into the office. It becomes more natural with practice, but is something I would advise all new employees to do as people will do more for you if they think their efforts are appreciated and will be more tolerant of any differences.

Someone might be considered 'boring' or a little 'different' or 'quirky' but if they are great at the job, why does this matter?

It shouldn't matter. If you are contributing to the bottom line, it should not matter if you have antennas sticking out of your head. I am 61 and have worked a lot of jobs and lost a lot of jobs. I didn't find out I had Aspergers until I was 55 years old, and now I know why I experienced all the prejudice and bad treatment on the jobs even though I have an excellent work ethic, rarely miss work for any reason, reach my deadlines in good order, follow work rules, have not engaged in misconduct, nor do I have a criminal background, and I have reasonably good credit. I am a pretty decent teamplayer for an Aspie though I have to work at it. Employers have just been close-minded and bigoted towards me, and some, including the most recent employer, a disability rights advocacy agency, no less, subjected me to a hostile work environment. The boss at that place clearly hated people with Aspergers. She even said so in front of the staff during a staff meeting. I was let go after working there for four and a half years for requesting a reasonable job accommodation, an illegal reason as we all knew. The boss wasn't too concerned about that. She knew that the Kansas Human Rights Commission is behind on their investigations by about five years so she was not shy about being as mean and illegal about the firing as she could be. Not only that, she lied in the unemployment insurance appeal hearing about my request for accommodation. I was not able to afford an attorney and the family was unwilling to help with that even though everyone in the family is rich except me. My sisters are married to husbands who make money hand over foot, and I am a widow, a double whammy in life to a person with AS who already has gotten screwed over time and time again simply because I don't have the clout to fight back effectively. I am working for mom for a pittance right now. She will not pay me any more because I am her daughter and because she can dictate pay. My oldest sister (who is a control freak and is bigoted against people with Aspergers) is more less my boss. I am trying to get a job commensurate with my college degree in a town several hours to the north just to get away from my mother and sister who probably realize they are exploiting a person with a disability but think I am too afraid to call them down on it or report my own case to the state Adult Protection Agency. I am getting help from state voc rehab but since this is Kansas, voc rehab is very stingy. Recently, my voc rehab counselor talked to social security and Social Security told them I was getting $1,262 a month which is absolutely NOT true. I am getting only $593 in survivor's benefits, and I have an award letter to show the counselor. I would love to have a word with that person who works in the local social security office who told my counselor that I was getting the $1,262. That was my lump sum payout when the benefits started, NOT my monthly amount. I want to let that person in social security to know that because of their poor attention to detail that they may have ruined my vocational rehabilitation benefits, and I am telling that person's boss too. It made me look like I gave the state incorrect numbers in order to get benefits which I did NOT do. I would not do that because there is a small part of my life that is retrievable and I want to make sure people know I am not lying about my assets. My life has not been totally ruined by stupid NTs, but it has come close.

jesus was autistic. he had aspergers. there all going to hell.

All the NTs you mean?

umm...... no..... just the bad ones... hahahahaha...

The more information we can provide on the forums, in a simple and digestible format is invaluable.

Aspies (or at least me) are very good at learning social and other interactive processes where intuitive impulses normally take over.

one thing I am pritty for sure about is the fact that there is a huge difference between a pathological disorder, and a neurological one. the pathological one is the bad one, and alot of, if not all the nt's have some form of it (narcissism). that seems to be the number one reason why my life gets soo difficult, and my jobs soo unstable. even though im the best one for it. they are not real. they do a really good job believing they can "fix" me. like they fixed themselves into a pathological disorder. wich in turn leaves me with some weird temporary pathological disorder, that they helped create, that can be umade or "fixed", primarily by getting away from the person who did it, and the neurological one that i have, may not even be a disorder, possibly an order, that can never be changed, never want to change, and never be "fixed".

The small software development/hosting firm I work with as recently begun using the Aspie Quiz as an integral part of assessing incoming potential developers. Basically if you aren't ASD enough you won't get hired for a developer job... intentionally combining Aspie powers against something analytical like software development is going to be like building a super-army. We also have no silly NT rules like "hours" or really any concept of physically showing up at all. If you output things that operate then we assume you labored for the equivalent of some hours, and you get paid. If you can skip work and play hookie all day and still manage to get work done sometime, all the better, who cares? It's a little more like the Google environment (see also "The Internship" movie if you aren't familiar).

So my tip is to look toward an industry where ASD features are an asset, and the "dumbest rules" are relaxed. The only reasons I've ever been canned are due to time management problems, being late or having a small social anxiety attack from time to time and not being capable of leaving my house (but still getting work done from home!! ! what's the difference!?!?). Usually I'd show up at least an hour late, work at least 3 hours over, and get tons of junk done, but since apparently following stupid rules is more important than the work you do, eventually they "have to" fire me even though they never want to. I suppose the only other problem is nothing is ever perfect enough for me so sometimes I get caught up in the details and therefore can be much slower than someone who "doesn't care" (I mean NT's).

I like your picture!! ! gyrosport. I'm trying to start my own thing now. connot seem to get a normal job. every time someone wants to hire me, I think of the hard times people give me. I seem to get it worse than others. I do more, and seem to be smarter sbout it. people come up with all these problems. I end up leaving, or they make me go because others have "issues" with me. probably said stuff like this before. anywho, sounds like you have a great job tailored for you.

For parents, I would recommend providing your child with autism as much job experience as possible BEFORE he/she graduates from high school, be it part-time or volunteer work. The earlier those basic job skills are developed, the greater the chances for success in the work world after high school/university.

Glenn Laniewski
author, "Why your child with autism needs to get a volunteer job before high school, and how to help them get one"
Blog:
autismplusmath
PS: Copies of "Why your child with autism needs to get a volunteer job before high school, and how to help them get one" are in the free ebooks section of my blog.

Why is there no advice about how to live without an income. The excepts never address that. Please tell me how to you're able to buy gas or even bus tickets to look for work when you're broke. How about the worthlessness and hopeless one feels because they're unemployable. Suicide rates are higher amongst the unemployed. These are concerns that often get ignored from job advice excepts. I bet none of them lived a day in poverty.