Specialist AS employment agencies - are they helpful?

Post Reply New Topic

Hi there.

I would like to hear people's experiences with using employment agencies that specialise in employment for persons with Aspergers/HFA.

For example AS Capable here in Sydney, Australia, and Specialisterne in Denmark.

Has anyone found employment through any such agencies, and did it help you get a job? Were you placed in relevant employment by the agency or did they help you in other ways? If you were, did you like the job, and were you able to keep it in the long run? What were the downsides of using the service?

I am particularly interested in whether females and people with s higher education (BA, MA, PhD) have used such services and found them useful/relevant.

I am a woman in my 40s and have a Master of Commerce (but am much more interested in other things, such as sociology and animal behaviour) which I took quite late - late thirties. I have a haphazard job history with many short temporary and interrupted jobs, almost always menial jobs. I've had social difficulties - social consequences of not blending in - in pretty much every workplace in different ways. I currently work part time in a job I don't need my education for, and struggle financially. My employer is very good, but the work is quite draining and financially very irregular/unpredictable due to the nature of the work.

I'm thinking to maybe try if I can use AS Capable in Sydney in the future to work out what to do with my employment situation and maybe get a job that can better pay my bills. I don't look like a stereotypical aspie (male, computer nerd, fascinated by train schedules or whatever) like the ones I've seen in case stories for Specialisterne and similar agencies (all male by the way) so I'm not sure if I fit the template of who they help. I've also never heard of anyone who has used them or other agencies - apart from the agencies own rosy case stories - so I would love to get a better idea about the usefulness of such services before deciding whether that could be a way forward.