Mock job interview has me stressed out.

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Wasn't sure which forum to put this in but I figured this was the closest match.
So In one of my engineering classes we're doing a mock interview, where we will be graded on our communication skills, eye contact, and other things important in a job interview.... not exactly an aspie's strong suit.
Anyway the whole thing has me stressed out because I already know what's going to happen.
I'm worried I'm might even break down and have a panic attack during the interview...
Should I tell someone about my AS for maybe some sort of accommodation, or should I just tough it out?
I don't want to be treated special or something because I need the practice but I just don't know what to do.

First off, why are you so sure you know how the interview will play out? You actually have no idea. People on the autism spectrum get jobs in all sorts of areas, so being on the spectrum obviously does not doom a person to lousy interviews. When you have a thought like "I'm stressed out because I already know what will happen", make yourself rephrase it into something more realistic, like "I'm stressed because this is new and intimidating, but I can do it". If you convince yourself that you will fail, that is what the interviewer will see -- a person who is convinced he will fail. If you tell yourself this is a challenge that you're going to work hard at, they will see a person who rises to challenges.

Interviewing is a skill that has to be learned through practice. I've interviewed tons of people for jobs, so I can assure you that you do not need to have a perfect interview to get a job (actually, perfect can come off as slick or fake, which can hurt your chances). Good interviews are ones where the person is able to communicate two things: 1) they understand the job & can do it and 2) they are someone who we will like working with all day. Eye contact, listening to questions before answering, mirroring the interviewer's body language, etc are cues that communicate those things. I would pick three cues to work on, and find someone to practice them with. Don't worry that you aren't great at all of them, because no one is.

As for asking for an accommodation for the class... hard to say since I don't know any of the particular circumstances. But assuming you want to go on to a career in engineering, you will have to learn to do interviews. Maybe now is as good a time to start as any?

Good luck!

Better to have a panic attack during the mock interview than the real thing, you know?

I know what you mean, though. I SUCK at "acting." I have a grad degree in psychology, and when I had counseling classes we had to "fake counsel" people in these role-playing type situations and the mere thought of it makes me want to crawl in a hole and die.

To begin with, I really can relate to this. I detest job interviews. The eye contact thing can be learned, but it's hard. For me I had to learn it fast to survive in uniform. You may want to do a few practice runs with a career counselor. Telling people you're an aspie, in my experience, is one of those gut instinct things. Our diagnosis is not all that well known yet. My superiors know, but it has been kept from certain civilian authorities for some good reasons. But I do wish you well and admire your achievements.

Longshanks

Don't let the mock interview stress you out, save that for the real interviews! If your university has a career services center, you could maybe contact them and see if you could set up a mock interview with them beforehand (in other words, a mock interview to practice for the other mock interview lol). That way, you wouldn't have to worry about your performance since there would be no grades or anything, and they could provide constructive feedback on what may need improvement and how to prepare. Interviews are a necessary evil, and I learned the hard way just how much weight employers place on them. It's certainly a skill you'll likely need to develop one way or another.

Something that helps me at interviews, aside from practice obviously, is to have a list of specific things that you want to highlight or talk about, and try to work your answers around those topics. Interviewers may ask any of a huge range of questions, but for the most part they are all about the same things: your educational/work experience and goals in life. So what I do is have 3-5 experiences I feel confident talking about, and then try to build my answers to all (or, most I should say) of the questions they ask around those.

As for eye contact, I usually try to imitate exactly what the interviewer is doing. In other words, I make eye contact when they do, and any time that they break it I do the same. That way I'm making exactly as much eye contact as they are. It's taken some practice/concentration but it seems to work well for me personally.

Hope I was able to help a bit! Hopefully it all goes well for you.

They *grade* you based on how well you do on a mock interview? That's stupid. They should be *teaching* you how to behave during an interview, instead, and help you practise until you get it right... just what Stargazer43 said. If the option he suggests isn't available, maybe you can get a friend to help you do a mock interview. I got a document with the usual things interviewers focus on (part of an additional class they were giving at my last workplace to the students that finished their classes - probably attending those classes to help the teacher with his powerpoint presentation the most useful thing I got from working there), I've been thinking for several weeks about sharing some of the points in it here, but never actually got to do it...