Drinking alcohol to pass interviews

Post Reply New Topic

Anyone else have a similar situation?

I find that if I down the equivalent of more than 3 standard drinks, my social behaviour starts to become more similar to that of the NTs around me. I usually stop at about 6-7 standard drinks from all the dizziness effects that occur from that point on and so I've never actually been drunk though.

I wonder if drinking enough alcohol before an interview might reduce the chances of me getting rejected for being strange. So far I've been to 4 interviews of varying types, and have been rejected from all 4, in spite of being technically overqualified for all 4 positions. I was completely sober during all interviews.

I have the peculiar honour (shame?) of being the highest qualified person in my entire country who didn't manage to get a scholarship. Over here in Hell, we like to use academic results to determine eligibility for stuff, especially scholarships. They call it 'meritocracy'. For my last level of education, my results were within the top 0.1% of the country, and there were enough scholarships for the top 5% or so, but people from the 95th percentile got the scholarships over me. So apparently, 'meritocracy' may only apply to Neurotypicals. Given the Aspie occurrence rate of 0.3%, I daresay I might be the only Aspie in the the top 0.1% percentile, even if we revise the rate upwards since we seem to have higher mean IQs than Neurotypicals.

Also, I'm the only Aspie within the entire cohort of my current major, but for the major the occurrence rate should be revised down since it's apparently a rather social job.

But back to topic, does anyone:

1. Have the experience of acting more neurotypical when half-drunk
2. Recommend getting myself half-drunk to bypass the neurotypical bias during interviews

So I can actually get myself a job?

"Well I'd hate to recommend drugs, alcohol, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me."

True story.

ahhh...yes.

Not so much drinking, but I've been accused of abusing propanolol before, when I have exams, interviews or a big party. Hey, it worked well - just one pill and no more palpitations, sshaky legs, tuttering or slouching. The trouble with propanolol is that I had to take rather alot in the end for it to have an effect. Maxolon is another one that helped me.

I want to point out though that your behavior isn't becoming 'more nt' per se. Alcohol, propanolol, maxolon, cannibis are all examples of drugs that reduce symptoms of anxiety. In my case, getting rid of my physical anxiety symptoms allows my to relax and be myself. In your case (correct me if I'm wrong, I'm merely speculating) when you drink, your insecurities and anxious thoughts are suppressed by the alcohol and allow you to speak with confidence.

_________________
http://defeatingthedoginthedaytime.blogspot.com/

the trials and tribulations of a girl pretending to be normal

I don't really get any thought suppression outta it, but it does raise the confidence level for some odd reason.

And I become more able to do small talk and all that rubbish. I don't gain any ability to read body language or anything still, but it eliminates some of the other barriers.

Yehah, thats it. I remember studying the effects of ethanol on the brain during my medical science studying days...loooong time ago but physiologically speaking ethanol(alcohol) is a depressant. That means that the functioning of your brain slows. Now, seeing as people with AS frequently have a very active cerebral cortex for a number of reasons - anxiety being a big one, for me anyway - its normal that after a few drinks as they lose their inhibitions, they start following and participating in conversations more naturally. You won't gain special powers or understanding (despite what some drunks seem to think.) Suppression is a bad word for it I guess...maybe you could say it's not occuring to you have reservations about talking to the people you're with. As long as you don't over do it I see nothing wrong with that - as I said I always 'predrink' a few before a big event.

_________________
http://defeatingthedoginthedaytime.blogspot.com/

the trials and tribulations of a girl pretending to be normal

Yes. I like to drink because it gives me confidence. But too much of the stuff, and too often is definitely a bad idea, so now I try not to over-do it.

Well yea, liquid courage, why you think they sell it??

Oh definitely, frequent alcohol intake is bad for the liver, the heart, and blood pressure.

But interesting to see other people have already been using the same solution I only recently came up with.

I'm not intending to use it as a long-term social strategy or anything. Heck, our alcohol in Hell is taxed 120% (yes, we pay more tax than the actual cost of the alcohol itself) and so there's no way I can afford to do something like that, even if it didn't have health drawbacks. But use in the short term for important social events (like interviews)... that's what I'm considering.

Since it seems to work for at least some of you, I might try it out the next time I need to do something like this. Once I get the job I can go back to normal, bosses find it harder to fire existing workers than to refuse to hire potential ones.

Especially when the existing worker is more efficient than the usual NTs.

In regard to interviews I can assure you they can smell it on you. I don't drink anymore and when I am around someone who has been drinking now in a non drinking environment I can really smell it. That could be why you were rejected.

Only if you don't take proper concealment measures.

#1: I haven't used this approach before up to this point. So it can't be a reason for the past rejections. Rather, it's likely the atypicality of my behaviour that is.
#2: I don't drink beer, or wine. I drink cocktails, and it's nigh impossible for someone to smell the alcohol past the coke/mountain dew/root beer I mix it with.

I used to think so, but it doesn't work as well as you think.

Drinking alcohol before an interview is most assuredly not the way to go. You do not want to say anything rash in an interview and alcohol has a direct effect on inhibitions and self control, notwithstanding the fact as others have mentioned of being automatically disqualified if the interviewers suspect you have been at the bottle.

Instead concentrate on preparing for the interview. Find out as much as you can about the place, the people and the role. Think about questions they may ask you and have a few well thought out and relevant questions to ask them.

Be relaxed and remember that you are also there to find out if you want what's on offer as much as do they want you. With that attitude you avoid being intimidated by being the supplicant.

If you have not done many interviews then do not be discouraged if at first you aren't successful as it is an acquired skill which does take practice.

That's the standard textbook advice, which unfortunately never applied in my case. Most of the time I never really do get to ask anything, and they ask me very, very ODD questions.

One of the interview boards actually dragged me into a philosophical discussion about truth and objectivity from the get-go without any of the usual "why are you applying for this job/scholarship/exco position", "what do you know about us", "what do you think you can contribute" stuff. It seems as if my body language is sufficient to throw most of the interviews into an odd mode even before I say anything at the outset. And it was restricted to me, everyone I talked to who went before and after me got the usual interview questions.

Until I can get a textbook interview case, I can't use a textbook interview solution. It's not as if the first thing that comes into most people's minds when they fail an interview is "should I have been half-drunk earlier instead?" And most of the earlier attempts at changing stuff didn't result in any improvement, I've still never qualified for the second round of any interview.

And as most people of our level should know, when something doesn't work, "try and try again" is a pretty useless way to go about things. Same input leads to same output, should an output change be desired, an input change must precede it.

I do use alcohol to self-medicate, especially for work functions where a small amount of it is being served anyway and people are expected to have a glass of wine in hand. I find anything above 2 works, so I try to stick around 2-3 to keep my wits about me, but the notes up here about anxiety and relaxation are really it. 2 drinks has a smaller effect on me than 1 Xanax, so I choose the 2 drinks to keep my side effects minimal.

I've never tried it for an interview, but then again, I've never had a job offer that wasn't facilitated by a friend looking out for me. On that front, I would only drink the absolute minimum you need in order to gain the benefits, and I would say stick to something that has a smell that would not be out of place. For instance, Peppermint Schnapps will only smell like mouthwash unless you drink so much you make yourself silly.

My advice may sound like very lame textbook stuff but sadly it is all true. When you are a relative novice to interviews that will also show. You must get used to the knocks because it will happen time and again.

As to the odd questions you get I can confidently say that everyone has had this experience at some time. Either you just don't "gel" with the interviewer or they are simply strange or eccentric. And don't forget everyone has a different style so expect the unexpected.

I used to be terrifically bad at interviews, but after many years I now think I'm ok. When I go for an interview I see it somewhat like an acting role; they get to see someone gregarious and confident. It is an immensely mentally draining act that cannot be sustained but it appears to do the trick.