Do Aspies need more education?

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Do we need to attain a higher level of education and gain more credentials to make up for our inability to schmooze our way to getting good jobs on fewer qualifications?

Is university our high school?

I would guess that it helps offset the social awkwardness. My dad has hired some very socially awkward engineers that went above and beyond on their studies. It helps to have excellent credentials that will help "speak for you".

No...

You don't need additional education.

Just do what is the norm for your sector of society and get on with it.

Jobs aren't simply awarded on the basis of your degree. In fact, often being "over-qualified" prevents you from getting a job because people with degrees are supposed to be paid more than people without. Employers often won't hire people with multiple degrees in low qualification positions because they think they'll leave as soon as something better comes along.

Since social skills are where we are lacking, that's where we need PRACTICE.

I started working in a library before I went into computers (while I was studying part-time). This gave me an opportunity to practice my social skills with customers (and staff members) every day. It helped me big-time.

But any low skill run-of-the-mill job that anyone can do but actually pays well will most likely go to those who can buddy it up the best, right?

Shouldn't aspies concentrate on their areas of strength, which usually involves skills that require a higher level of specialized learning?

In all honesty, you really want me to say "yes" to justify your own desire to do more study. You certainly don't need my permission - you should do what you want.

It won't make much of a positive difference in the job market but it's likely to make a negative one.

I know because I saw my group of friends go through this when they left school. Some of them degree-hopped for years before finally ending up with either;
a. Nothing but a string of unfinished degrees behind them.
b. A degree in something they couldn't use.

None of them ended up with good jobs as a result of their degrees.

One got a teaching qualification but works as a male nurse.
One got an electrical engineering degree and has now been unemployed for 10 years
One got a management in bio-engineering qualification and now works repairing PCs

Do what you want, just don't try to convince yourself that it's a necessary part of career progression.

BTW: I did start a degree in Civil Engineering (and failed miserably) though I got a High Distinction in Computing. I quickly realised that I wasn't cut out for handling all those subjects at the same time and that I wanted to be with a more mature crowd - not the same people who recently left high-school. I got a job and did an Applied Science - Computing degree part time. Best career choice I ever made - plus... my employer paid half my fees provided that I passed. Talk about incentive.

Uh no. Just looking for truth.


Any idea why they were unable to get a job in their field of study?


So you did pursue a degree after all.

The idea I'm getting here is get out into the real world, and know what's out there and what's right for you, before committing to any higher learning and qualifications.

The teaching person wasn't happy with his high school mark and went to a different school and re-did the last year of school. His mark increased by 1 (seriously).
He started doing a music qualification but wasn't happy with the way they treated his work (it's a sad thing that happens if you're good at art or music at school and you go somewhere where everyone is good at those things... not good for self-esteem).
He then started doing education but had problems with computing - lost his work on essays, had lots of social issues.
He left, did nothing for a year and then returned.
He made it to the third year of the degree but had lots of problems with the practical teaching work and eventually lost interest in teaching.
By the time he became qualified, he realised that he had no interest in the subject and didn't like being exposed to all those kids (who don't want to learn and are mostly like the bullies he left school to avoid).
He eventually went to a nursing home because there are always jobs for stronger guys there. He was embarrassed to tell us about his job because he thought we (our group) would laugh... instead, we were proud of him.
After a few years there, he became settled and started to do nursing.
He's only just qualified as a proper nurse and moved into a hospital but now he's happy.

The PC Repairman started off similarly disliking his marks at the end of school. He had another shot (via a year at a technical college) and got about 50 marks more (out of 500).
It still wasn't enough to get into his dream job of becoming a vet.
He decided to do civil engineering instead (even though he'd never had any interest in it before).
He failed first year (many of us did - more than 50%).
He failed first year two more times but passed it on the fourth try. He took two years to do the second year... then gave up.
He was very miserable because he'd already lost 7 years.
Then he did bio-chemistry (because he loved animals). Found that there were no jobs.
Then he did management because there are always jobs in management.
People took one look at his resume which said ... "no job for 9 years", "lots of study but no experience"... and if that wasn't enough incentive not to give him a "management position", he had poor social skills.
He tried for lower positions but nobody would hire someone with a management degree and put them under a "manager" in case they had conflicts.
Eventually, the only way he got a job was to change his resume to hide his qualifications behind "overseas travelling/work".
He got a tech support job at IBM and discovered that many of his colleagues were in the same position.

The Electrical Engineering person left college with a degree after taking 8 years to complete the 6 year course - and he was one of the smartest kids in our school. (the degree and university life in general are really that difficult). Anyway he got a job fairly quickly but couldn't cope with people standing over him, deadlines, meetings and the other social demands that came with the job. He changed jobs to a less social one but quickly found himself thrust into social positions again (he just wanted to do coding but kept being dragged into meetings). Eventually, he left but was overqualified for jobs. He got one more job before having a breakdown. Then, he started delivering Pizzas for a year until he got attacked by a dog and became too scared to do that. Now he lives by himself and is unemployed. He dreams of having a job and codes brilliantly but nobody will employ him because he's got a 10 year gap in his resume.




Yep... that's the idea.

Get into a place and see whether you like it.
See if they'll help fund part-time study. Government jobs usually will.

Also... Follow your special interest and even if you don't get the marks to do what you want... do it anyway.

eg: My friend didn't get the marks to be a vet... One of our other (mutual) friends decided to become a vet after being out of school for about 5 years. They didn't get the marks either but because they'd been working with animals, they were allowed in as a mature aged student.

In short. No.

Schools DO NOT teach things Aspies NEED. They could teach some of the mechanics of social interaction, but Aspies need training along the lines of vocational rehab for the disabled, and most all school do not have classes tailored like that.

Agreed.


Also true.

Having some degree can help to attain certain jobs. But the better paid the job, the more social interaction is expected... Studying helps, but without good training in communication it is not complete.

With the job I have now, also come a lot of courses. So I study a lot of social interaction things and some certificates to have some real IT qualifications besides my degree.

I'm not sure if all Aspies will need extra credit for a job (for some jobs, you don't need too many social skills, so a person with good qualifications will have a good chance), but statisticially indeed Aspies are more likely to be underemployed.

^^This.

Anything in banking/finance/private or public administration is all about people skills and networking, unfortunately.

Not that I want to complain but if he want to do coding he should go in informatic not electrical engineering, for coding is just a secondary formation in electrical engineering (mostly just so you don't have to rely on programmer all the time) while it one of the main component in informatic. So medium/big project, once the reading/coding interface is in place, nothing prevent a computer scientist from doing the coding.

I know he must be at some age now, so going back to study is maybe out of question but it is mostly is only hope if he really want to do coding, for business don't employ electrical engineer for coding but for knowledge in electronic circuit and electrical component. Coding, mecanic, hydrolic and others are just bonus skill so you don't have to always need a specialist around.

(Would be in electrical engineer also if I didn't become depressive 7 years ago, finaly came out of it 1 month ago, mostly in reevaluation period right now, want to go back to electrical engineering but risk to be too hard to budget so thinking of going electrician so I can have a job faster and which will tend permit me to continue study since it is well paid and possible to work on your own schedule (thinking about on call evening eletrician, which would match well with normal study schedule). I admit don't risk to be has fun to me then electronic stuff but it still electricity related so at least it something to don't put me too far of what I want until I can get it)

Not really... If you're in the union, you can make up to $30/hour as a construction worker (completely unskilled labor) plus overtime. And some of the jobs are very slack and slow paced.

Well that was my theory tbh. Socialising not amazing, I can get by but would probably fail at the sort of socially based businessy type jobs. Therefore I'm relying on my education all the way.

Having said that, I'm hoping to go into academia where the level of education I'm aiming for is the minimum. I've just finished my degree and I'm starting a phd in October.

At the time we did our degrees, the world was on DOS. Informatic Engineering was non-existent in Australia.... and this particular person hated computers and never wanted to work with them.

That's the weird thing about leaving school and going straight to college... most people don't know what they want to do.