Being made redundant and worrying about job hunting

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I have been in the same job now for over 2 years and I really loved it. However, now the company I work for is closing down so, by the middle of August at the latest, I will have no job. Because of the amount of money I will be getting when I leave, I think I should be ok if I don't find one until the end of September/first week in October.

My main cause for concern is the types of jobs that are out there at the moment - there are currently none in the field that I am trained in in the level of expertise that I am. I am considered to be experienced (non-manager, non-senior) but there is nothing like that out there for me. However, there are plently of jobs that I have done in the past that are completely unsuitable for me i.e. in offices on the phones or in customer service. I cannot work with high volumes of people that are always different i.e. customers as most people are rude and tough to talk to and I don't always understand what they are asking for. For me this is very soul destroying. I already have tendencies for depression and anxiety and situations such as this enhance them as I found out in the past. I once worked in a job like this and I was nauseous and sick whenever I felt I had to go in. Also, I would not enough money in any of these jobs to support myself and my disabled partner, causing me more stress and concern. But then going on Jobseeker's allowance isn't exactly loads of money either. I realise that I may have to take one of these jobs that I hate and risk developing depression just to earn enough money because it would be better than sitting on my bum and receiving £63 a week in benefits. But this whole situation is very frightening for me and I don't do too well in stressful situations for too long. Employers in Manchester (owing to my own treatment) don't seem to be that understanding of autistic spectrum disorders (particularly in the field of sales, office work and customer services) and only think that people with autism are like Rain Man. And because I am nothing like Rain Man, they don't feel I fit with the stereotypes. It's all very stressful and very frustrating.

I was made redundant in a similar situation a few years ago, but luckily for me I found a job pretty quickly because there were lots of jobs around in my area, IT. All I'd suggest is casting a wide net, use agents and the different job boards. It's a difficult climate at the moment, but if you tailor your CV to highlight your relevant experience then you'll have a chance. Good luck, let us know how you get on!

Also,
there are books written by Genevieve Edmonds and Luke Beardon about Asperger Syndrome and Employment. Having been affected by a downturn in employment for me at work just recently - I searched out these books after another WP person told me of these two authors.

The book AS and Employment
gives lots of pointers about how to make the best YOU can in getting work and offers other AS people's thoughts and evaluations on how to cope in a NOT so Level playing field for ASD persons.

All the best....which you probably have no doubt.

I feel your pain. I've been at the same company for 20 years and all of a sudden, out of the blue, they've decided to include in my performance review that I need to improve my "social skills." I'm really concerned about this.

I was laid off in April.

The problem I'm having right now is in finding a position that will pay enough to put two kids (both PDD-NOS) in daycare. So for the summer, I'm "Mr. Mom".

After that I have to decide if I want to work something part time so I can see the kids off to school and be home for them when they get back, or to find something full time and pay for after school care.

It's really bad out there. Like many aspies, we're quite competent in the areas of our expertise domain. Unfortunately a job market such as this one requires the job seeker to aggressively network and be well-connected. However since we have challenges when it comes to social skills, we're at a disadvantage. Also some of us may have unintentionally alienated bosses or coworkers with our eccentric behavior, which make having excellent references difficult. In all, we have to scale Mt. Everest when others have to scale Mt. McKinley to get their next job in this economy.

"Social skills" ???????

we all have some, but NOT having the ones a boss might want aimed at protecting their job; company or assett - this i think is not a 'social skill ' but a bloodhound role protecting whatever at work and has rarely got anything to do with the skills needed for the job..

My point being that in the past with different field posts of what's important for the boss, many of us were agreeable and therefore useful.

"social skill/performance criteria" are hooks to discharge and discard employee numbers.
My Grandad was right to warn me off crude profiteering and the politics of work.

Forgive my rant here, but it does annoy me so, the neanderthal approach to workers...cause i like working, and i don't like someone chopping my choices out.

Agree with you there. Wasn't rehired when our old company lost the contract, so I'm still looking for work, and have been to several 'how to get a job' classes.

Apparently the only way to get a job is to know someone on the inside of the company, who can get you past the 'resume scanning' machine that ensures most peopless resume doesn't even get seen by a human being.

If you need to do networking, you might try Linked-in, which is a professional networking site (think Facebook, but serious, and for job-seekers). You look up old college buddies, or people you know, who can get you 'inside' to get a job.

I can tell you, just working on line doesn't cut it. I haven't even got a rejection, much less a response. The agonizing thing I go through each Monday morning is sort of a 'meet up' at a church (BIG church...more like a high-school-sized building... and sit through two hours of trying to strike up conversations with people I don't know. But evidently, this is how it's done, at least over here.

Hope you find something soon.

Well I now have an interview in a couple of weeks with another science firm. Hopefully it will go well as, by the looks of it, it's going to be nearly three hours long, this is including a one hour test! Aaaagghh!! !! lol.

Fiz,

I'm happy for you, re: interview - and i hope you can prepare some for that test...if not then your best is best for you.
Cheers

Well I thought I'd just add to this thread as opposed to creating another, but I do now have a job, YAY!! !! ! I will be working temporarily (for now) at the university I graduated at being a lab technician, woo hoo!! !!

So Happy for you Fiz.

Well Done!

Cheers to YOU

Can I blatantly plug mu book - Managing with Asperger Syndrome - please.

I am sure that you would find it very useful and it can be found on my website www.aspergermanagement.com

Kornik

Also,
there are books written by Genevieve Edmonds and Luke Beardon about Asperger Syndrome and Employment. Having been affected by a downturn in employment for me at work just recently - I searched out these books after another WP person told me of these two authors.

The book AS and Employment
gives lots of pointers about how to make the best YOU can in getting work and offers other AS people's thoughts and evaluations on how to cope in a NOT so Level playing field for ASD persons.

All the best....which you probably have no doubt.