Please, some experience from working people

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I have worked for a long time, mostly in hospitals. I got diagnosed fairly late in life, If I had known that the problems I have always experienced where caused by aspergers at an earlier age, I would have made totally different choices.
I would have chosen a different direction when it comes to study and education, I would have chosen another profession, I would not have been needlessly ambitious and critical et cetera. The list is endless.

In my jobs I always had some difficulties with functioning in teams since I am not exactly a team player. In some working environments you get floaded with all kinds of stimuli which became to much for me as well. I can perform on a fairly high level but when I am under a lot of stress and pressure I can barely remember my own name. I never really enjoyed my work so it is actually a relief that I am not working at the moment. I had some boring as well as pretty nasty and demanding jobs in the past but I hope to get a more fitting job in the future.

When you know you have aspergers at a younger age you can avoid all these problems by making the right choices. It is best to choose a job that is based on your special interests and you need to have a lot of knowledge of your strenghts and weaknesses to avoid too many disoppointments and failure. The working environment is also important, the quieter the better.
But that's just my opinion.

As far as the interview goes, don't sweat it too much. Much of the interview will (logically) center on why you want to wok at a specific company, how you think others describe your work (you can mention college or any labor, volunteer services, internships - even odd jobs you get paid for, like clearing brush on a neighbor's lawn or working on a family farm), what you can bring to the company, how you would continue a company's legacy, any problems you had to solve and how you solved them. You may be asked what you know about the hiring company as well. Eye-contact wasn't an issue: I usually looked at my/their hands and glanced up to look at something eye-level behind them, to give the appearance of making eye contact. Also, if you list things, count off with your fingers - Employers like to see things quantified and systematized. Never lie/over-embellish your capabilities or qualifications - they can smell BS from a mile away. If you don't know something (even an answer to a question), just state that you don't know.

Last edited by CyborgUprising on 24 Jan 2013, 6:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Everything Good and well Cyborg.
It may be possible to get through the job interiew and get hired, but after a while your collegues will start to notice that there is something not quite right with you. On average it takes them about 3 months to figure that out and than what?!

You picked a really good career for your traits, Computer Science. Developers, DBAs, and IT people in general tend to be somewhat socially awkward or odd in someway. Those who aren't are the odd ones generally. You will be forgiven for alot of poor social cues in a job interview as long as you know your stuff and can pass a minimum bar that will show you can be polite and communicate well enough to do your job. (Things like "Attention to Detail" and "Excellent Written Communication" will make up for lots of in-person failings, if you can sell them that you're good at those kinds of things.)

Different types of people will interview you, and it all depends on who you get. If you're being interviewed by a manager who focuses highly on perfect social presence or appearances, then it's probably not a job you'd be happy at anyway. Other managers are more focused on the kind of work you can do, again as long as you meet some minimum level of being able to cooperate with others. When I conducted job interviews, I was looking most strongly for these traits: Can this person learn quickly? Can this person look at a problem and find a reasonable solution, even without all the pieces? Not everyone wants that, but some people do.

Remember that YOU are interviewing THEM as well. You are testing them to see if you want to work there. There are enough open positions in the IT field that (depending on where you live), you could probably be a little choosy. It's hard to think of it that way, but try. It helps a little, and some interviewers like to see you asking THEM questions. It shows you're interested and engaged and it even shows confidence.

You might also take a look at the unemployment numbers in sub-categories of IT and Software Development, and tailor your studies to those areas. For instance, last year unemployment in InfoSec was .04%. They are desperate for security experts.

If you're not interested in money, I will tell you from experience that there is something better you get out of a job. And that is the satisfaction of doing the work. My favorite part of working in IT (as Tier 3 Support and a System Engineer) was solving problems and writing documentation. Problems were like puzzles. I had a set of clues and I just needed to figure them out. It was like a big game, thrilling and exciting (and sometimes frustrating). The rush of solving something no one else could solve was a big high for me. As an Aspie Dev, I'm sure you will find parts of your job immensely satisfying - possibly just the beauty of the code, or the joy of creating something that never existed before, or the rational logic of a program. As you go throughout your career, notice what you love the most, and try to find companies that help you get more of that. Notice what frustrates you the most, and try to work for companies who provide you less of that. You will not only set yourself up for success, but you'll like work - maybe even love it.

You're just another quirky person on the floor. The two jobs I work (analyst and factory work) are full of strange people, some far more bizarre than others). If anything, they'll just think you're smart or geeky.

Is that so?
You sure are a lucky man Cyborg.

Then after 3 months they skirt around you, and generally leave you alone. Providing that you don't enjoy going out to social lunches, etc. its not really a problem.

I work in IT, you do get some leeway to be a bit weird\antisocial, and people do forgive this because you fix their problems that they can't fix.

Few tips for a workplace - smile and say Hi to people when you see them for the first time in the morning. After the initial Hi, if you see them again, then just smile in their direction.
Get some small talk happening - ask people about kids, sports, weather, what they are doing on the weekend, what they did on the weekend etc. Generally people like to talk about themselves.

I'm quite happy to sit in my office and just work away on the servers etc, but I've been told that I need to make my presence felt in the workplace, so that means wasting time by making chit chat with random people.

I did have a job and it was a customer service position at a railway station i did like the job however left it because my health started to deteriorate.

I got my current job through a recruitment agency. I sat down with them, told them what I wanted and they searched for like 4 or 5 openings that more or less matched what I was looking for.

I ended up applying for two of them. Both required me to send a sample of code I had written prior to the interview. This put me at ease a little as I knew my code was of good quality and I expected the ones who had to review it to recognize it as such. I dreaded the interviews, but they didn't go too bad. It was mostly about technical stuff and about my years in school and such. You sound like a smart person so if you have plenty of technical knowledge you'll most likely be fine. Both companies I applied to were small (i.e. < 10 employees, that was one of my criteria I gave to the recruitment agency) so maybe interviews for bigger companies are different though. In the end I got accepted for both openings so I had pick one.

The first few months of work were very stresfull for me. Communication was hard but I gradually got more confident and got to know my coworkers a little bit. How I'm getting along now? Well, I've had my current job for over a year now and I'm disappointed. Soon after I joined the two other programmers left. As it is a small company I got other responsibilities aside from my main task as a software developer. I'm responsible for keeping all the servers up and running so I guess I'm sort of a system administrator aswell. All in all I rarely do any real development, it's mostly fixing little bugs, keeping customers happy and maintaining servers. Now it's not like I didn't know I'd get some of these responsibilities, I had just expected the ratio to be very different =/

I guess I'd just like to warn you to make sure that you know what the job entails so you don't end up in the same position as me.

We have an IT company that hires autistics where I live aswell, but it's only positions as testers AFAIK, which is fine if you like that, but I'd get bored really fast in such a position. You're smart so you really should aim a bit higher or you'll end up being unhappy.

Have you had to do any internships as part of your study?

Yeah, the company I'm talking about only does software testing, too. Are you talking about auticon? Not sure if they're in the Netherlands too. I agree that it's not the most interesting thing ever and I would be totally overqualified, but I thought it could be nice as an autism-friendly entry point to the working life, so it's easier to get started.

And I did do some internships (3, I think) as part of my earlier education. And to be honest, all were pretty boring and terrible. Only one really had to do with writing code, and that one was the most bearable, but even that was terribly boring. We had a stupid customer who gave us sh***y, unfocused pictures and expected us to create a wonderful mobile app with them. The boss didn't care at all what we were doing and we didn't get any support. And we had to share the office with another group from the same school, one guy was terribly annoying, whistling and talking all day, and I just wanted to punch him.

One other internship was in a marketing position, boring as well, little to do, and in an office with only women who were condescending and mean once they had noticed that I was kind of awkward. The very first one I did was in a laboratory where I had to do tests all day and gather the results. I liked the tasks - they were easy, but the same every time, and I had very clear instructions - but again it was a big room with many people, and they all wanted to talk to me all day, which was terribly exhausting, and there were some embarassing misunderstandings of nonverbal messages.

Hmmm, no it's not Auticon, it's Specialisterren, but it probably works similary. It might be a nice autism-friendly starting point (and if you need that, then by all means go do it), but are you not afraid of how that might affect future job oppurtunities? I mean, you'll have to put it on your resume, but you might not want potential employers to know that you're autistic from the moment they see your resume.



Ah, that sucks. I guess in a marketing position it's harder to be a bit odd than in a software developer position. I guess a had more luck with my internships.

My first internship I was put in an office on my own with clear instructions to go build something, so I did. I had a good time there, but it wasn't anything like a real job. I could go days without saying anything other than "Hi" and "Bye" to anyone.

My next internship was a proper one. It was anxiety inducing and drained my energy but I learnt a lot about working as a software developer. This was for a rather large company (>200 employees) which was too much for me so the experience made me look for a job with a smaller company.

I'm probably different to the majority here as I have been interviewed and had held around 10 different graduate jobs since 1989 ranging from marketing exec, environmental officer, research assistant, research scientist and policy analyst and tutor. The only positions I held for long periods were research assistant and policy analyst. The marketing exec job was pure fluke as I don't have a marketing degree, just was in the right place at the right time. After all this work I'm currently unemployed now.

Regarding job interviews/applications, you need to emphasise your strengths (i.e. marks, age that you graduated). Try and stay focussed on what the employer wants (not what you want). Even when they ask you "why you applied for the job", "what do you want to do" etc keep in mind what they want to hear as it's an old HR trick to see if you will be a good team player and not self absorbed. Secondly always try and appear relaxed (even if you are not). Speak clearly and at a steady pace. If you think you are going to choke (from nerves) then take a cough lolly or redbull or something that will keep you alert and your lungs clear. Avoid fidgeting and excessive hand movements. The employer is trying to imagine how you will appear in the job so you need to come across as professional.

My advice is to watch mock interviews on youtube, you can get good ideas on everything from dress to delivery. It's really all an act. often the people interviewing you are HR people who do recruitment and will not actually be working with you.

One final thing is to tell them the truth but feel free to embellish your strengths in order to sell your self. Don;t be too honest about your weaknesses. They will ask you to describe your weaknesses. Minimise these and give the impression they are insignificant.

Exactly true. Any time you go in for a job interview, you should do some research and find out what you can about the company. What do they make? Who are their customers? Is it multinational, national, or local? How many locations do they have?

It wouldn't hurt to try to find a good question or two you can ask them that will show that you actually know a little about the company and what it does. If you know someone who works for the company, I would suggest that you talk to them about this before the interview.