Denied Job

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I was always wondering and it's not that serious, but how come despite intelligence, social skills and keeping customers coming back or forming a bond are usually a must?. The job was at a Petco, he told me I was a nice guy but too quiet, serious, withdrawn, how come we are hardly giving a chance in sales? I don't think I am better than everyone I am just a regular guy, but how come intelligence and ''deep thinker'' is rarely valued?

A lot of customer facing jobs value a staff member making a customer feel socially comfortable, which might be a challenge for an autistic staff member.

Unfortunately, sales jobs require advanced social skills. Looking at people (particularly eye contact), smiling, making small talk, and quickly connecting with people go a long way in convincing people the product you're selling or the company you're promoting is valuable.

I had to put on what I called my "Work mask" and it took me a while to do this... Appear jolly and outgoing when inwardly I was shy and withdrawn! As soon as I left work, the masking came off and all the work stresses and pressures would be transformed into cycling on the way back home where I was known to overtake cars!

My BFF and I find that our passion for a topic can compensate for those things when given the chance. My niche is supporting sales for a larger organization that can afford to have the person to care for the relationship (Ms. or Mr. Salesperson) and the intelligent, deep thinker to do the technical work (me). It helps when (1) we are given a chance (it was an ASD manager who gave me the chance and an ND peer who gave my BFF a chance) and/or (2) we display or explain our passion (enthusiasm) for the subject. Wishing you find a good fit!! ! If Sales interests you, keep adjusting and trying ... there's great fit somewhere! (perhaps not easy to find -at all-, but possible)

We have a different set of skills. Many times we find jobs in the back room. Something needs to be fixed and we fix it. As a result we do not perform well in jobs that require us to be in the front lines, such as sales.

It doesn't matter "how come". Petco (and any other company) can hire anyone it wants, for any reason or no reason. In statistics, it is hard to separate causation versus correlation. In states that are "at will" employer, any company has the authority to make any employee redundant, for any reason or no reason, unless it is illegal (ADA, OSHA, FMLA, EEOC). Petco (and any other company) can do anything it wants, legal or illegal, and you can't stop Petco, unless you win a civil lawsuit against Petco. For example, discrimination lawsuit. However, lawsuits sometimes take a long time and a lot of cash and energy and the outcome is not guaranteed, even if you have the moral high road.

Different jobs require different skills. "Deep thinker" and intelligence are valued more in different jobs. For example, maybe lawyers have to be deep thinkers. I don't know. But the solar system contains a wide variety of jobs and they have a different requirements.

Deep thinking is necessary in some situations. In other situations, deep thinking is not necessary.

It is not possible to objectively measure "deep thinking". You might think you are good at deep thinking. You might be good at deep thinking, but the hiring managers could tell you that you are not good at deep thinking. Anyone can say anything

It is not objectively possible to measure social skills either. Your social skills might be good but the boss might tell you that your soci skills are bad.

Everyone is "intelligent". It means nothing. IQ tests are allegedly culturally biased. Bell curve.

Sometimes a job posting gets a couple hundred applications and they only hire one person. Just because Petco did not hire you that time, doesn't mean that no job will ever hire you. Even a different Petco might hire you. Two different Michaels stores gave me job interviews. A couple of years a I had a job interview at PetFoodCo and it didn't hire me. It didn't tell me why and I didn't ask.

Also I have gone to plenty of job interviews and the vast majority of them last only a couple of minutes. The interviewers impression of you might not have been a representative sample

Some industries might be a better match for your personality than retail.

I used to work in a pet store. I was never allowed to work the register. In the manager's own words, she didn't have "confidence in me for that type of work." They'd just have me cleaning out enclosures and would tell me to go help customers who they noticed shoplifting (without telling me they were shoplifting), because they thought it was funny to watch how awkward the situation would get. They were not very good co-workers.

Over the years, I've found it's best to just move on to the next gig when you've found yourself amongst peers and superiors who don't appreciate you. Some people will never see differences as assets, but many will. It's worth finding those good spaces to be in. I do sometimes wonder where that manager is today, and if she'd think it funny that the person she didn't trust to work a cash register now runs her own research lab and manages hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in the process.

No offence but sales is one of the most anti ASD jobs there is you’ll be best advised to choose a different career.

Sales is to autism as glamour modelling is to old age