What to say about social skills?

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I am about to graduate in Law and soon I'll be looking for a job; since a) I can usually "pass for normal" and b) I live in a Country (Italy) where "Autism awareness" doesn't exist almost at all, I've been advised not to mention AS for no reason during interviews.

Now the problem is: how can I describe myself in order to appear employable, but at the same time staying away from situations I could not handle at all?
I mean - if they ask me whether I am a people person and I say no, I am not going to be hired; but if I say yes I might be asked to do jobs that require more people skills than I can actually develope.

Then I have another degree in Philosophy, and apparently companies think that is good to work in Human resources. I'd rather work with contracts and papers, though, this is why I took another degree... But how can I say that diplomatically?

I asked my professor for an advice and he said that since I am smart being a bit shy (?) is not a great deal, but then *everybody* can learn social skills if he tries hard enough... That frustrated me very much because it means I have nobody I can ask an appropriate advice. Again, I can't mention AS because here that would sound as "ret*d" and "not employable".

IMHO the fact that everyone can learn social skills is actually true. Just for aspies it is like learning a different language not to do something natively*. If you have a bit migration history, it is good to cover up social inadequacies ("Yes, I am a people person but I grew up in Turkmenistan so I sometimes misjudge a situation."). Works of course only if you grew up in say Turkmenistan.

Shyness is another thing which might be used to explain your lack of inclination to do social things (or being afraid to make a mistake), though during a job interview, I would not mention it (except maybe if a question for a weakness comes up) and instead just pretend that you are the bubbly, happy, social butterfly which actually no one is but everyone pretends to be during job interviews. Just remember not to be acting more during a job interview than you can act during a workday.

About HR... I do not know about working there, but people on this forum who self-identify as aspies work(ed) there. So it is a possibility. *shrug*

* I like to compare NTs to Windows boxen and Aspies to ReactOS. What comes natural for the Windowses is the product of learning and meticulous emulation on the ReactOS side.

First of all, thanks for the answer.

I have no migration history so I cannot use that excuse. Actually I am not technically 'shy' but I find it useful to pretend I am, since it's more acceptable to be quiet than to be random and out of the spot.

It's true that we can learn social skills, but having a job in which they are especially important sounds like draining - i.e. even if I learn all the rules how long am I going to last before I flip out completely or I am so exhausted that I cannot get up from the floor? I'd rather be in a situation that I can deal with.

So what I wonder is whether there is a way to appear like a decent person who is not going to pick up fights with the collegues, but who should rather use her hard skills rather than soft skills. I know I cannot phrase it this way, though.

I would not even express it like that during a job interview at all. I would instead of saying it like that as I said emphasize the strengths you have when working alone as well as maybe tell that you are shy.