Homo_Economicus wrote:
Tyri0n wrote:
As for the original problem, yes, it sucks. This is why I have really only worked for the public sector, not the private sector, except for my job in China that I held for nearly two years. I don't really think there is a good way for aspies to function in most private sector jobs unless it's an aspie-friendly environment, like engineering or tax accounting. Too much politics. I always dread being put in this or a similar situation, but I have successfully avoided it for the most part in 8 years of living independently simply by avoiding jobs and situations where it could be an issue.
Schedule A disability preference for the feds and similar things in most states -- it's something to check out if you have special skills. Capitalism/the private sector is our worst enemy. I will be working for one of the federal agencies in Washington, D.C. when I graduate.
I have also thought sometimes that aspies and private sector don't mix too well. Though I do not wish to exclude that there be some small companies with an aspie-friendly environment. I tend to look for jobs where people are judged on their performance and not on how well they get along with their colleagues.
Yeah, or where your colleagues have aspie traits also. I bet some software engineering companies and tax accounting firms are like this, even some of the large ones. In fact, when I did a call-back interview in the NYC office of PricewaterhouseCoopers' International Tax department, it seemed to be such a place.
My "guide" for the day was quite clearly an aspie and had lasted there for 5 years and moved up into management. But unless you are tech savvy or accounting savvy, I'd say most private sector jobs other than academia are a bad choice for anyone not only not neurotypical but not extroverted also.
You're never going to be judged solely on your individual performance since part of your performance is your ability to work well with other people. So the goal is not to find a company that judges solely on performance, but a company/job that either employs many people just like you (like PricewaterhouseCoopers) or else is very disability-friendly and where it's difficult to fire people, like the government. I have no trouble working well with people who are similar to me; I just always clash with extroverted type A's who are immersed in NT drinking culture, so I try to avoid situations where I have to interact with such people.
Also, in government, it's guaranteed that most of my co-workers will either be older married men or minority female. There are a few ugly or socially awkward young white males, but I usually get along fine with them, as well as with my minority female and older married white male co-workers. It seems that most Type A young white males go for the private sector, which is good for me, because it allows me to avoid them.
Occasionally, there are hot white NT women (sorority types) in these types of working environments, which could be a problem for some aspie men and women, but they usually just treat me like another girl--sometimes, comically, even trying to engage in "girl talk" with me-- so it isn't a big issue, just occasionally cute and mostly annoying. I haven't really had interpersonal problems in the employment context even though I'm probably worse than most aspies when it comes to getting along with people from an objective standpoint.
Be smart. Consider the interpersonal landscape before you choose a job or a career, and even an unpleasant person like me who can't maintain real relationships of any sort will typically not have problems.
21 Apr 2013, 2:00 pm
