Fired from what seemed like an Ideal job... sort of!

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I recently applied for and was hired as an accounting associate for an arts organization. I felt it was a perfect job for me. It tapped my degree of study (Accounting), and had the potential to provide me with additional responsibilities in Information Technology. I felt good about working for the organization because they had a good mission, and were meeting a great need in the community. I was on the job for one month and my supervisor called me into the Directors office, and they asked for my resignation. It was a part time job, but with benefits, and offered a great opportunity for me. The reason given was "my supervisor felt that my skills and performance were not meeting the standard necessary for the job."

There were a lot of issues around the job when I started, training consisted of sitting with my supervisor for about six hours one day, and she quickly went over all the tasks of the job. I found that I needed to document the tasks to ensure that I completed every task as my supervisor requested. I developed procedures to follow for every task I performed. I also requested training on some major systems used on the job. Our vendor provided web based training for an annual fee, which we were already paying, but my supervisor said we didn't have time for it, so I started taking the training on my own time.

After about 4 weeks, my supervisor said, I was not prioritizing my work properly, and she also micro-managed, so every task I did, she would find some small thing I did, that she wanted to be done differently, so I would adjust my procedures to incorporate what she wanted. My supervisor had a written list of priorities she wanted my to use, but never gave me a copy of it, even after implying she would. I felt I was doing everything she wanted me to do, but she always found some new thing she didn't like. There was one big issue she had with my work. We were organizing a raffle fund raiser for the organization, and it was one of my tasks to keep track of the raffle tickets, (distribution, sales etc.) I suggested building an Access database, and she agreed. I built the database, used it to keep track of the tickets, sales etc... and after 4 weeks she said, she didn't understand Access, and wanted me to put everything in Excel spreadsheets. I said I could extract the information, but it would take a bit of time to do so. The following week, she told me we were meeting with the director. The meeting consisted of the director telling me that I wasn't meeting the needs of the position, and they wanted me to resign. Washington state is an "at will" state, so there really doesn't have to be a reason for firing someone. I felt that the way this was handled was unfair. I was so taken aback by the lack of process, and the lack of communications before this meeting, I felt trapped, and unable to say anything. The director asked me if I wanted to work through the end of the day... I was so shaken, I just said no, and went back to my office, got my stuff and just wanted to leave. He had to go take care of an issue, and asked for my keys, etc... It was early in the day so the front door was locked (the office didn't open for another hour), I felt trapped until I recalled that the back door had a self lock and I left through the back.

Was it unreasonable for me to expect that the director should have discussed with me my performance prior to this point? After being hired, should I have told my supervisor and/or director that I have AS? I am still pretty devastated by the way the job turned out, and how the termination was handled. I have a lunch meeting with my ex-director on Monday, it was postponed once already, any suggestions on what I should say at this meeting.

When my director cancelled the original lunch, I had summarized my experience with my supervisor including my concerns about training, the steps I took to resolve them, the micro-managing, and what I felt was poor communications between us, and sent it to him in an email, along with some workplace information about Asperger's Syndrome. I haven't heard back from him.

This is complicated by the fact that I am involved with the Art's organization (as a member), and see the director and a number of other staffers at rehearsals, and other events.

Could it be that the reason they wanted you to resign instead of laying you off or firing you was so that you can't collect unemployment benefits?

The lady sounds like a first-rate jerk. She first agrees to Access, then tells you she can't understand it. She doesn't get you the priority list, she nitpicks. To say that she can't coach a new employee willing to work and willing to learn is an understatement.

And I hate those kind of ambush meetings and 2 on 1s. I just loath them. Maybe someone can suggest a way to take it to the side.

And I would have felt trapped, too. Gee, it sounds like they handled the turning in of the keys as badly and as incompetently as everything else.

This makes me think of how so many employers want experience. Basically, they disdain training people and want workers who can do the job right after basic orientation.

Nobody wants to mentor good people anymore.

Especially since every job has its differences - some jobs you CAN'T hit the ground running in, you have to know how this business does what it does so you can do the same.

I guess if you go ahead and have the lunch with the director, or when you see staffers during rehearsal, try and take the high road to the extent possible. Talk about the art.

Maybe if the director specifically asks, refer to your email. Or say something like, Yes, I do think I was treated unfairly. Among friends here feel free to speak your mind (and that so-called supervisor does sound pretty terrible, and you might be lucky to be out of the place), but with them, be a little strategic. In my experiences with peace activism starting in 1990, slightly understating my case usually was the way to go.

I had a previous job for almost 10 years, but then management changed. The new General Manager cut me loose for vague reasons.

I decided I was done with that place and if I met that manager in another context I wouldn't go out of my way to bring it up. The only thing I salvaged from that job was getting references from my supervisor who in fact asked the GM to not fire me.

So if I was in your situation, I would scrounge up any references from co-workers you got along with.

Yes you should have disclosed you have Asperger's and asked for accommodations. At any point during this ambush you should have done that to protect yourself. It sounds like the main accommodations that would have helped is if you let them know that you needed prioritized instructions and written feedback after you complete tasks.

For your next job, I recommend not disclosing your Asperger's until AFTER you are hired and then disclose to your supervisor and human resources in a friendly, but clear manner. You were hired for this job so you'll be hired for another. You just need to protect yourself once you're inside the organization.

**I'm saying this as a sociologist who researches autism, as the former manager of a department in an IT company, and as a person with a neurological disease who has to deal with accommodation issues for myself all the time**

So I had lunch today with my former director. First thing he did was apologize for having to "support my manager's decision" He also told me that she led him to believe that she was "working with me" to resolve what she felt were issues with my performance. SO my former director is now a "wiser man" and I am still unemployed. Not sure that works for me so much. I do feel empathy towards my former manager, he was put in a difficult position, but I also think he needed to make sure he is more involved in issues like firing someone (oops, I mean "asking for their resignation")...

I need to work on communication skills, especially with people who do not communicate well! Any suggestions on how to do that?

I'll tell you one thing, when I lived in Las Vegas for two years and was trying to make a living playing poker, I can do everything right and still lose a hand (and several in a row). And ragged low ebbs are statistically highly likely, and can cause even good players like myself to lose their rhythm, including shying away from tight-aggressive play.

You raise a very good question about communication skills, including communicating with those who don't have particularly good skills. And since I have patchy skills, good in some areas, not so good in others, that can easily happen. And I think that's true for many of us on the spectrum. The only thing I can think of is continuing to add to our skills, including a steady eddie B game to add to our A skills.

I would go slow in disclosing that I'm aspie to a boss. Maybe first disclose that I have auditory processing issues and like to take notes in my own way (and even this is almost too much information, for the briefer and the more matter-of-fact, the better). Maybe if a boss is reasonable over several months, then I might feel better telling him or her that I self-diagnose on the autism spectrum.

To georger811: Hi, I mentioned your case to an NT. Here's what he said...

"Even though I don't know you at all, I can assure you that your supervisor deserves the blame for causing you to lose this ideal job. No matter what others might say, don't ever blame yourself. Let me assume that you are still young and perhaps a fresh graduate whereas your supervisor is older and much more experienced. Even though experience itself is a good thing to have, when people are too experienced, they might become arrogant and narrow-minded. They might assume that their methods are always the best methods. They might refuse to learn new things. They might reject opinions that differ from their own opinions even if their own opinions are flawed. Your supervisor might have been one such person. If I were you, I might have resigned."

Path 1: You continue to work under this supervisor, obeying her at all times.
Even though you stand a high chance of keeping this job, you will remain trapped in the same position as long as your supervisor is still around. She will prevent you from "growing". In other words, she will prevent you from maximizing your potential and climbing the corporate later.

Path 2: You leave this job or you are forced to leave this job.
Losing this job might have been a blessing in disguise. If you are fortunate, your next supervisor will value you. He or she will be happy to nurture you so that you will be able to maximize your potential. Maybe you will have the chance to climb the corporate ladder.

The NT told me that your experience with the arts organization, though unfortunate, had nothing to do with AS. Many bright and young NTs are fired when their older and more experienced bosses viewed them as threats. (For example, your supervisor might have perceived your knowledge of Access as some sort of threat. On an unrelated note, the NT said that duh, Access, not Excel, is the de facto program for building databases.) A good boss won't mind being outshined by those who work under him or her, but sadly, most bosses hate people who outshine them. By the way, the NT told me that it's perfectly alright to take notes while undergoing training. He himself thinks that employees who take notes display "better attitude" than employees who don't take notes.

I love working for folks that take notes--lots better than reminding them over and over again...

I love working with employees that take notes--lots better than reminding them over and over again...

Would you believe that 18mos ago, the boss got bent out of shape in anger that I wrote down the names of people she wanted me to look up? She assumed it was because I was not going to do it until tomorrow (or something)... she just HATED it and treated me like a moron for not wanting to trust my memory for the amount of time it would take to find the file she was looking for. Like I was both incompetent AND avoiding work at the same time merely by writing down details so I won't forget???

People refuse to believe people really are this crazy and that my "job-hopping" is purely my own failing. I seem to find these whack-jobs wherever they are.