Job Searching and Autism difficulties.

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1)...The Question?

What type of Autism difficulties do you
experience in job searching?

2)...Statements by Ghosthunter!

3)...The Question repeated!

What type of Autism difficulties do you
experience in job searching?

I recently found a job after a whole year of searching and to me, my biggest problem was interacting with the person interviewing me. It's hard enough talking with anyone else but this is the person who potentially decides whether you'll be able to pay your bills. It's like they have your whole life in their hands based on their decision whether or not to hire you so my already nervous self has to fight not to go into full overload and of course, many interviewers sense this and unfortunately, take it as me lacking confidence, thereby seeing it as a sign of incompetence.

I can gladly say my composure is much better since I've started taking anti-anxiety medicines but I still must mentally prepare myself and not be off-guard lest I do or say something inappropiate. As for eye contact issues, it's either too much or too little....well, at least it seems that way. I access my memory by visualizing the event as if it's happening now so my eyes wander everywhere whenever I'm answering a question so it may seem to the employer I'm being evasive.

I found my last job through a staffing service. The lady at the service was very helpful in helping me find something that fit. Maybe you could try something like that GH?

I think this is why the staffing service is such a great strategy. They only get paid when someone hires you. So you don't need to feel nervous with them, because the pressure is on them to help you. Then when you go for an interview, the company already knows a little bit about you and you have a sort of foot in the door. You can then take the roll of evaluating them as much as they are evaluating you. This is something employers admire and respect, when you ask them lots of questions as though you are comparing them to other potential employers.

You hit it on the head! That's exactly how I got the job I have now, through a temp service, something that would've been impossible if I tried applying through the company. Most companies, particularly the bigger ones, hire primarily through temp or staffing agencies nowadays. They do that to weed out any potential problems they might have with a permanent employee.....and if they like you there's always that chance the position will become perminent.

I just registered with a local job agency yesterday. I get incredibly nervous as I've had such bad experiences in interviews and in jobs. Even when I was doing volunteer (unpaid) work, I'd get insomnia the night before the interview. So my mind has been racing and I've been smoking a lot, but all I did was go into an agency and fill in some forms and have a short interview with one of the staff there.

I'm wondering if I'll need anti-anxiety meds. I don't like the sound of Paxil though.

For me, I always have trouble with eye contact. I can think of questions ahead of time in the interview so I can respond better. I also try to research what the company is about so the interviewer at least knows what I'm talking about. However, there are such things as stress interviews where the interviewer makes the interviewee stressed out on purpose to see how well they handle a stressful situation. Usually, it's for high stress types jobs and you got to be able to take the heat.

What do you mean by 'menu-switching' GH?

I know what you mean by the deer-in-headlights thing, but the one time I made a point of always making eye contact with the interviewer (for a job that was basically 'sell knives to your family's friends and neighbors') and I got the job even though I was completely unsuited to it! I think interviewers are trained to look for 'strong eye contact' so they don't notice if you are using 'unmodulated eye contact'. (But you may be talking about something really different, so don't take that as advice necessarily). I didn't actually know that unmodulated eye contact made people uncomfortable until I started reading about asperger's.

It does really make me mad sometimes that the skills needed to get a job are completely different from the skills needed to do that job well.

Amen

sounds like me, postperson

GH - i find the most difficult thing is beforehand - my mind goes into loops at the thought of three classic fear inducers:

1. what's going to happen (i.e., the unknown)?
2. will i understand what they expect of me, and what they're asking me?
3. will i be able to do it?

add to those three:

4. will i look like a complete idiot?

that's in addition to all the practical concerns, like, what happens if i don't get the job, do i really want this job and - most importantly - what am i going to wear? (yes, i do actually worry about stuff like that - causes great anxiety for me - pathetic, isn't it?)

the "deer in headlights" is definitely me - and then my mouth goes into automatic, with my brain struggling to keep a check on what i'm saying. i'm lucky in that i think fast, and so can get myself out of complete disasters, a lot of the time.

eye contact doesn't seem to be a problem for me, a lot of the time, cos i'm shortsighted, and so can't really see who i'm looking at anyway (which helps, cos it LOOKS as though i'm making eye contact). not knowing when to shut up is another one. not fidgeting (i.e., stimming).

hope this is helpful.

The biggest problem I've experienced when working, would have to be none of the above. It would have to be with the jobs themselves, the tasks required. Many of the tasks, my mind just can't seem to comprehend. Its like, the task has so many ways it can be done, and my mind can't latch onto one of them and bring it to the fore of my attention, so I can consciously decide if its a good way to do it. So, it just stays blank and I sit at my desk not doing anything at all. The other problems: eye contact, social skills, telephones (ick!), are all really just side problems; they can be gotten around, once you're in the job. Of course, though, they present real problems when going for the interview, but the other problem prevents me from keeping a job down unless its ritualistic in nature, and requires no imagination etc.

*isn't entirely sure on the question but will reply based on what everyone else wrote*
The only ever job interview I've had was stupidly for a customer service job, but during the interview I didn't make eye contact once, I even said I didn't understand what the question meant when he asked me stuff and I still got the job.. I think the reason was because of academic achievements, not anything to do with if I'd actually do the job well - as everyone else has said I think that it's completely stupid to assume someone will be able to do the job well just because of academic or other things leading them to believe it.
Of course actually doing the job was incredibly hard because of all the people I had to talk to. Even when I was calling up to say I couldn't work I got just as anxious as I did going to work, if not more. I got called up before the actual interview to do a telephone interview... putting me on the spot freaked me out for a start and then getting told I had an interview the next day was just as hard.
Luckily I found a good excuse to quit after 3 months.

Thats how I found my current job, with help from the staffing service and a boost from family friends from church who work there. I am blessed to find a job where my mechanical powers of mind are maximized and my socialization is minimized.

Staffing agencys don't really do much in the way of an interview. They normally ask you questions for their records, but I don't get asked "job interview" questions there.

I used to make more of a effort to make "real" eye contact, but I didn't do it after I found that it would agitagate me. I figure if I am eccentric, at least I would rather try to look a calmer eccentric rather than an agitated eccentric. . . . . .
*sigh* choices, choices.





I get that way specifically w/ E.C. in the interview, and I don't like it.