Autism and The Job Market

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I've done plenty of job searches using Indeed.com, Monster.com. VitaminT, and others.
I have disability counselor through the state agency who is also struggling at finding job for me and others.
Her coworkers are having the same problem.

A lot of companies have outsourced their programming, engineering and customer services to foreign countries.
Many have also "imported" workers by abusing the visa programs to do stuff like including help desk work and stuff.

Not many companies are willing to take on new young workers, due to the expense of training them.
This is why there is still double digit unemployment and underemployment for college grads even those who have been out of school for 3+ years. You can go to the BLS and read their stats.

Even internships are still hard to find, especially here in the Great Lakes region (I hear it is just as bad on the West and East coasts too).
Even internships require a few years of experience in the given field to get hired for it (includes unpaid).
Many now demand Masters degrees even for unpaid posts.

I do understand where you are coming from.

And I do respect your experiences.

But what can a person do?

I'm not in IT, so I wouldn't know how to do alternative things to gain employment in that field.

The only thing one can do, really, is send out those resumes.

I only wish we can revert back to the old days---when one had the opportunity go to go employment agencies face-to-face, and show off their skills.

There's one other consideration.

And I've seen this happen:

Get hired in something clerical in nature. If there's a computer glitch, make sure YOU are able to fix it, if the Help Desk can't do it. This will bring you to the attention of the bosses. Then...maybe something in the Programming Department will open up. And you'll be hired....because you SHOWED your ability in this area.

Even within a sales environment, computer glitches happen all the time. People who are computer-savvy are sometimes able to "get their foot in the door" of programming jobs once they show skill in fixing these computer glitches.

I work with a person who was originally a data-entry operator. Within about a year, he showed off his computer knowledge, and got a job in the IT department.

No one knows what to do.

Today even hiring is outsourced to HR staffing firms and it is all digitalized.

I mean practically every company has an online portal where you create a profile/account and fill out their online form and submit your resume.
This can literally take between 1-2 hours depending on how extensive the forms are... No joke.
It can literally take you 4-6 hours to submit 3 forms.

You rarely interact with that department or team, it almost all done through HR who uses screening software to weed out most people.
HR process is quite awful these days, because they don't understand what they are hiring for, so they don't understand IT and business stuff.
I am more IT/Business here.

But damn if online applying and HR borderline not worth it, even worse if you are going through a staffing agency or a recruiter.

This alone is causing a lot of people to miss out on jobs.

That happens sometimes.
Mostly today, if you do something like that you run the risk if being fired for breaking company rules and protocol.
In most companies of any real size IT has full control of all the technology and the non IT employees are not allowed to modify it or adjust it without permission.
Doing so, is grounds for firing or if your lucky a massive reprimand and demotion.

Each department has it's own specialty now and has control over their aspect of the business and the other employees have to follow the rules and/or get their permission to do something in that regards.

Going above and beyond your duties is a very good way to get in trouble because you broke the "rules" and violated the culture if not getting punished by HR for neglecting your duties.
I've heard plenty of these stories from others(normal people).

What you say is true. It's possible one could violate protocol, and get fired. No doubt about that.

But I base what I say on what I've observed---in relatively recent times.

Especially in a sales environment, people have to go above and beyond the stated job titles. They "break the rules" all the time to obtain results.

Computers go down, and cost the company money. The Help Desk can't fix it. Imagine if you could save the company thousands of dollars by being able to fix it? That's why I said let the Help Desk try first.

Some companies are sticklers for protocols; others not so much.

It is up to a person to determine the character of the company they work for.

I had a job as a programmer and sysadmin for about seven years but then I burnt out due to workplace bullying. The work itself was fine. The colleagues not.

The full story is in this thread: viewtopic.php?t=305816

Right now, I'm trying to find a suitable job through an employment agency that specializes in finding jobs for people with an ASD.

It'll be impossible to hide the fact I've an ASD, simply because of the employment agency involved. That'll be interesting.

Very slowly, the stigma on mental health related problems is disappearing, and I notice that more and more employers are of the view that autistics are extremely well suited for certain types of work. But there's a long way to go.

I agree with the suggestion that you shouldn't tell employers about an autism diagnosis. Aside from close family I never tell anyone. Firstly, I think I do an ok job of passing as 'normal' when at work so there wouldn't be any benefit. I can put on a mask during work hours and relax and be myself when I get home. Secondly, I want to blend in and giving myself a 'special label' would automatically highlight the fact that I'm different. Some people prefer everyone to know, which is fine. I would hate that. I would only ever tell another employee if I already knew they were autistic and then only if I knew I could trust them not to pass on the information. I've had to fight my way to where I am now in my career and I would be too scared of messing things up for myself.

Some of us can't avoid having to disclose more than we'd like, due to long periods of unemployment on our résumé's that have to be explained somehow.

Besides, if you've got Asperger's and are applying for a programming job, it might be worth pointing out that several companies, including no less than Microsoft, are actively looking for people with the condition, because they recognize that many of us have exceptional talents in that field, and that they understand that we also have difficulty getting employed, even going so far as to make significant adjustments to their interview process.

This is a story I can relate to myself. But mine is quite different and they already knew I was autistic. I'll get into this story later. Just browsin around.

I've been affected by unemployment for nearly 4 years since I graduated now and am absolutely fed up now.

Some days I put on a suit, took the train into Manhattan and walked right into companies and filled out applications and even got a few impromptu interviews. Some bosses were impressed with that because it showed aggressiveness and commitment and I got a couple job offers at once that way in 1986.

Sadly in our post Columbine, 9/11 world if you can get into the building at all, if you do that people will think you might kill everybody in the office and they will try and get you out of that office as fast as possible.

Back in '86 I chose the smaller company because even though I was undiagnosed I knew it was a better fit. Dispite all the changes in the 30 years since I was fortunate enough to have a choice like that I would advise spectrumites to target small firms.

I think it's the people on the severe end of the spectrum that have it easier, they usually have visible signs of unemployability or get the stereotype of not being able to work or not fitting in. Its the others on the able end of the spectrum that have to prove their employability as much as a neurotypical person has to, because it's seen as an invisible disorder, one that you can mask until you show your true colours in the job when your social awareness doesn't come up to scratch or you tend to hide away from groups, want your own private space for work and breaks, and/or isolate your self completely from social situations.

It's a make or break situation with interviews, there is a chance one little detail could mess it all up, for example the interviewer might know how to detect traits of autism if they are knowledgable in the subject, and might single you out in that single aspect, but might dismiss you on other unrelated grounds to avoid a possible discrimination claim.

I personally don't function well in interviews because an underlying anxiety issue prevents me from remembering information and my mind goes completely blank when asked the simplest question; in this situation I leave the interviewer staring at me for a good 10 seconds whilst I think of an answer, I know the answer but I can't translate it into words. Overall though I presented myself well, made eye-contact, sat up straight, smartly dressed, was their ideal candidate out of roughly 5 other people, where I had outdone them with qualifications and experience, I did not get the job. And as a 16-24 year old apprenticeship at 24, they would likely pick the younger more enthusiastic one.

I think the single biggest issue is that while there may well be anti-discrimination laws in many countries, they may as well have been written on toilet paper, rolled back up, and left in the toilet for all the good it does.

As soon as an employer knows you're unemployed and disabled, they know you can't afford legal representation to enforce those laws.

The same thing can happen with colleges/universities failing to provide accommodations, both on the course, and during admission, which in turn affects our ability to get the qualifications, that could improve our chances of employment. There have been a couple of cases where students took their colleges to court over this, but you can bet they had wealthy parents covering their legal fees.

Scorpius14. The "own private space" thing is interesting. Do some aspies with sensory issues need that private office that's normally supposed to be for managers? I dunno. Makes sense to me.

What if wearing glasses was a symbol of managerial rank? That would be an interesting world seeing as I need my glasses, manager position or no. Peers with 20/20 point out something on a spreadsheet. I would just look on at the fuzzy blob and go "Oh yeah, I totally got that." Can't let anyone know I'm near-sited after all. Attention to detail is important. Admitting weakness in that area would be career suicide. Blend, dammit! (1)

So there is that scenario / analogy / whatever. I think it's one way to look at the ADA non-support for autistic employees in of this "Don't Ask Don't Tell" job market. And if that bit made no sense to you folks.... sorry about that. I'll try harder next time.

(1) And yes, I am disregarding the existence of contacts and lasik surgery to make my point.

Good article.

I feel like my bigger challenge is finding ways to weed out the kinds of employers who could destroy my career. I work in the business work, particularly in accounting, and I find out that a lot of companies are both very convoluted and everything's fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants. Training is largely DIY and there'll be laundry lists of things that you need to know that they won't tell you. While I feel like I'm building up enough competencies (now 36) to survive such employers I also have to admit that I'm still living with my parents and may not find myself financially secure enough to move out for a long time. This is partly because I had a series of temp-to-hires fall through (mainly the particular companies going spendthrift and financially splattering, other times it was politics above my head not intended for me but had unemployment ramifications for anyone that particular person had hired in) but also notice that my being different, in any way shape or form, means that I need to put an incredible amount of work in to wash out the strikes that I pick up against myself.