Only NTs need to apply.

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I got laid off last year, along with the rest of the staff so it had nothing to do with my job performance.

But my job search has been one huge endeavor in frustration. One aspect is that they want to weed out the AS. In almost every (95%) of the job requirements, there is an item such as "Excellent or Outstanding communication skills" or even more explicit stuff like "must be an extrovert" or "must be a natural communicator." These may be necessary in professions where personal contact is the primary purpose of the job, such as a counselor or a sales representative. But I am a civil engineer and what I said are on engineering job openings.

I feel I am top-notch in the technical aspect but not so hot in the "people" aspect. And I thought engineering was an excellent field to enter with those aspects. Also, they expect you to become a manager after a few years experience, something I have no acumen in becoming and I am getting dinged for having none of that experience.

But i can't get my foot in the door as it appears that the hiring department can sense someone who is "different" a mile away.


Any other professions that would be good for AS but only NTs are being considered for hiring?

I've got 15 years work experience in the transportation industry, and I'm worth my salt as well. I have the skills and training to do a transportation job well, with the work ethic to back it with. Yet I've experieced the same hurtles you're experiencing.

After I lost my last job due to a work place injury in 2008, I was out of work for 18 months. In that time I had 42 job interviews. (On the 42nd, I was hired for an entry level position that I am overqualified for). Its a good place to work, the best job I've ever had, but I make less money than I did 4 years ago, and as you say, short of moving into management which requires excellent people skills my prospects for 'growth' are bleak.

When I was out of work my biggest hurtle was the personal refernces issue. I don't know anyone outside of family. On many application forms where refernces were required I would write in NOT-APPLICABLE.

My advise to you would be to apply to all the jobs that say, 'Must have excellent interpersonal skills', or 'must be a natual communicator', they can ask in the ads, but its been my experience as a junior manager that good staff is hard to come by. If you've got the skills to do the job, they'll hire you anyways knowing that 'good staff is hard to come by', and this is the best we can do for now.Patience, persistance, and preseverence are the keys that have worked for me.

I had one job interview where I arrived on time for the interview. They made me wait a 1/2 hour in a reception area with no chair, only to say to me- we sent you an e-mail this morning rescheduling your interview- I guess you didn't get it! I went into see the boss anyways; the guy looked like a mafia guy from 'The Soprano's', he was wearing heavy cologne, had his shirt open exposing his chest where he wore a huge bronze medallion around his neck. We could both tell just from looking at each other that it 'wouldn't work', We both said a few sentences and I left propmtly. Such are the things you have to put up with to land a job eventually.

Good luck!

I personally come up against the 'Team Player' requirement - in my second to last interview they asked me about how I was a 'tram player' and I went into the importance of working with the team to ensure everyone is doing the best they can and offering support where I can in order to ensure the whole team moves forward in providing excellent service...apparently this makes me a LEADER and not a TEAM PLAYER.

My experience is the HR are not looking for the best person for the job and so they are incapable of spotting potential, they just want you to tick boxes for buzz words like 'team player', 'communication', etc. - so in actuality you don't have to be a good communicator, you just have to have the right combination of buzz words to get a foot in the door. Imagine interviewers like gate keepers, you have to figure out the code or key to the door they're guarding before they'll let you pass.

To be honest, I think that every job out there asks for this, even things like "librarian". Whether or not you have those skills, say you do anyways if you ever want to find a job. It's kind of like motivation...even if you have absolutely none whatsoever, you always say you're "a highly motivated individual" when looking for a job lol. I think the main reason they ask for communication skills is because they want someone who will be able to work well with coworkers. And for an engineer, to communicate effectively in meetings/presentations. My communication skills are certainly not the best out there, but I don't let employers know that if I can help it .

If you've got top-notch technical skills I'm sure you'll be able to find something, most engineering firms care far more about education/experience than interpersonal skills.

I come up against it all the time in Statistics jobs, when applying to the ONS. The ONS proudly displays the positive about disabled people logo, and offers a guaranteed interview for people with disabilities. However, I always get feedback stating "did not show enough evidence of team work or managing work", which to me reflects my Asperger's. I guess where working in a team comes into statistics, is in delegating tasks with others, so you can work together effectively. It matters little that I might actually be better at that type of work due to Asperger's. The law says reasonable adjustments should be made, etc etc, but people only want the best person for the job. The team work stuff is something that's come from Human Resources pen pushers wanting to make themselves seem useful in their job IMO.

It seems like between jobs that require good social skills and a drivers licsence as well as my own vehicle...it seems there is hardly anything. Though I've given up on my job search for now.

As others have said, just ignore the "outstanding communication skills" requirement. It's just part of the game candidates and HR people play. Now, it is important to have decent communication skills, but they can't say that in the ad or they'd get people with terrible communication skills. It's a bit like used car ads. The seller never posts a fair price that they'd be willing to accept. If they did that everyone would offer much less. So they have to ask for a price that they and the buyers both know is way too high and haggle from there. It's a stupid game and I wish we wouldn't have to play it, but we do.

The other aspect of this is that HR people tend to be very NT. To them good communication skills = extroversion. That's not true - communication skills are about making yourself understood and I think aspies can be good at that given a chance. So you just have to fake it well enough to get past them and hopefully you'll get an interview with someone who actually knows what the job involves and what skills are important to it.

recently, I've started to wonder if I'm being too paranoid and afraid to try when it comes to searching for a job. For years, I felt people sensed something different about me in social interaction but never said anything specific. As a result if a friend doesn't contact me right away in something or people are talking in my presence but not with me, I tend to overthink and worry if they found something wrong with me.
Maybe I'm doing that for job searches and thinking that because I didn't hear back from a place I applied to, they must have sensed something wrong with me and that I'm cursed or jinxed from being considered seriously. If I do get an interview, I always worry I said something wrong that somehow was an instant deal breaker.
I've been told many times most places won't even reply to my application and that I just need to apply to a lot of places to increase the odds. But somehow, I get the sense that I can't win, that the application and/or interview is out to get me and I don't know why.

I do know that in order to get better at making friends, I had to practice and basically be taught what to do because I didn't learn from instinct like most others. I feel like searching for a job is the same thing. Sure it's hard for everyone. But most other people seem to already know what to do or have some kind of advantage while I'm clueless.

Does this make any sense?

Knightmessenger, I've personally found myself much more successful at getting a job than making friends, so to me they're different. I know now how to go about getting a job, but still have no idea what to do to make friend.

The whole job changing process is very "artificial" - it has nothing to do with doing the job. You're right, the vast majority of recruiters you apply to will not tell you that your application was rejected. There are actually reasons for it (apart from them being lazy bastards, that is):

1) They want to keep their options open - if their preferred candidates are not available they might go back to those they initially rejected, but they can't do that if they already sent rejection letters to them.
2) They don't want to deal with people who might reply to the rejection letter with questions or, worse, arguments.
3) They get so many applications that the effort involved in sending even "template" rejection letters becomes considerable and they don't want to do it automatically because of reason 1. It's just not worth their time. Being polite doesn't enter into consideration here. Recruiters are ruthless and, to some extent, they have to be.

I'm not making excuses for them here - I really hate recruiters. I'm just explaining their reasons, so you can see it's very unlikely to be anything personal against you.

Yes, I've noticed this many times - you click and it says the whole normal "Good with people, excellent communication skills"... its quite, bothersome. Its like they are saying - you thare! Do not pass thy gate.

I wonder if Aspies here would agree with me on the following?

It seems employers (and everyone else for that matter) believe these communication, interpersonal, teamwork or whatever skills employers yearn for so much - are something you learn.

One thing that seems prevalent in forums where people with Dyslexia post, is someone will instantly jump on their back correcting their grammar and spelling. Often continuing even after the poster has highlighted their disability. I suspect people believe they learnt these skills themselves, so if other people don't they're too lazy or stupid. (Also people like to put others down because they have low self-esteem and want to feel better about themselves).

I guess it's true some people may have disabilities that make them incapable of completing a degree. This would likely make them not capable of performing well in a graduate role. However, I would liken Aspergers to a wheelchair user or profoundly deaf person in terms of obstacles to employment. What I mean is a wheelchair user might need a ramp, lift, and height adjustable desk; or a deaf person might need a sign language interpreter or to discuss work by email/have instructions in writing, to enable them to work. We may need adjustments to enable us to interact effectively with others. Sometimes a little consideration can go along way, but it's something often lacking in NT's.

Sorry if the post seems unclear or wishy washy, I haven't slept.