Do Aspies have a hard time finding jobs?

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dimensionaltraveler
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04 Dec 2006, 2:14 am

I am a Aspie and I am having a difficult time finding a job. There have been times when potential employers have found out that I have Aspergers and denied me a job. Have you had a hard time finding a job or have been discriminated because you have Asperger. Has it been a difficulty keeping a job because of your Aspergers? If this topic have been discussed before I am very sorry. I had not seen the previous responses. I am looking forward to reading your responses.



krex
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04 Dec 2006, 2:36 am

How did your employers find out you have AS?Isn't there a law against discrimination of people with disabilities?Dont companies have to make adjustments for individuals with disabilities......sorry,more questions then answers.

I have had many jobs in my 25 years of working.None of them have been to great,most have been for min.wage,dirty,smelly,noisy and confusing but I am a hard worker and willing to work overnights,which is a position tha is difficult to fill.I found a "nitch" that works for me but not without many drawbacks.I think for my education(BA in Psych)and my age(43)and my work ethic(hard worker,on time,resposible)I am working well beneath my full potential.So my answer is that I think it can be more difficult to find appropriate,well paid work if you have problems with social skills or sensory issues.All this is has nothing to do with having a DX for AS,since I only received that in the past few months.I applied for many jobs that I will never know "why" I wasnt offered the job....but it wasnt because of a DX it was probably because of Aspie traits(maybe lack of eye contact,saying the wrong things,over all "she is different" fear.)I would love to know what it was about me they found "unqualified" but they certainly were right that I am not much of a "team player" but they also missed someone who is an inovative thinker,compassionate and responsible employee.


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Tim_Tex
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04 Dec 2006, 3:55 am

I have had 4 jobs since the age of 19 (I'll be 27 next week). I have been at my current one for over 3 years. I was unemployed for most of 2003, but that was because of a massive recession. And I lost an internship in 2001 because of a misunderstanding between the technical college I was attending and the group sponsoring my internship. I got an internship in the spring of 2002.

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04 Dec 2006, 7:21 am

It's hit and miss. I've applied for jobs, gone through the interview, thought I'd cinced it, and gotten the reject card. Other times, I thought I did terrible at the interview, and got the job!!
But it's really the work environment. How devious my fellow employees are. I've gotten fired because I trusted the wrong person.

Excuse me while I go back to writing the next "Watchmen".


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krex
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04 Dec 2006, 11:29 am

Prof_Pretorius wrote:
It's hit and miss. I've applied for jobs, gone through the interview, thought I'd cinced it, and gotten the reject card. Other times, I thought I did terrible at the interview, and got the job!!
But it's really the work environment. How devious my fellow employees are. I've gotten fired because I trusted the wrong person.

Excuse me while I go back to writing the next "Watchmen".


Pardon the intrusion Prof....is that the "who watches the Watchmen,comic book series?"

It was the only comic I ever read....."look not into the abyss...etc"I never knew that I comic would quote Nietzsche... 8O


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04 Dec 2006, 7:10 pm

It used to be more difficult. It helps that I've settled on a (civil service) career path and learned the ins and outs. I can talk a pretty good talk in an interview for a library job. I know what they're looking for.


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dimensionaltraveler
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05 Dec 2006, 2:22 am

krex wrote:
How did your employers find out you have AS?Isn't there a law against discrimination of people with disabilities?Dont companies have to make adjustments for individuals with disabilities......sorry,more questions then answers.


My employers found out from a fellow employee. I do not think that AS is covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act. I have never worked for a employer who has made adjustments. The only adjustments they make is when they are handing you a pink slip and showing you the door.



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05 Dec 2006, 2:37 am

I left my old job due to harrassment from an employee and a major depressive episode (traumatic event) caused me to be unable to get out of bed and go through the motions of life for a period of time. Currently I am looking for work while I take some time from school off (to earn more money for school!). I am very nervous to enter the workforce and I fear being harrassed by coworkers. Also, I need to be very picky about the job I apply for. For example, I prefer to work mostly alone and it needs to be ok if I so happen to have poor interpersonal skills. I put out maybe 3 resumes a week if I am lucky... I think I could put out more resumes if I had stronger interpersonal skills.

I found out I have AS only a couple of months ago... and I am unsure how to handle the situation. On one hand, an understanding employer may find it helpful to have this information, and it may not necessarily cause me harm (could make my life easier, in fact). Or I am discriminated against. I don't know.



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06 Dec 2006, 3:21 am

I am training to be a geologist, and employers (mainly in the oil and gas industry) are desparate to hire them. This is because very few people major in geology, and many of the current geologists are approaching retirement age.

This is why some employers are offering starting salaries as high as $75,000 per year. But any recent geology graduate should expect a starting salary of $40,000 per year.

Tim


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troymclure
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07 Dec 2006, 12:55 pm

I find it difficult to hold down a job rather than get one. I've gone for two job interviews and got two jobs (just convenience store type stuff). Neither one lasted more than a year, got fired once, quit once, not sure if it's cause i'm lazy or the AS though. :P



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07 Dec 2006, 1:09 pm

I am also having difficulty deciding on what kind of job to apply for.I want to know every detail.What kind of environment will it be,what kind of co-workers will I have,will the manager be understanding and efficient or a jerk,do I have to have a degree,how many openings are there in this field,can it be out sourced or "out technologied",how far will I have to drive for possible job in this field?

All these unknowns has kept me in a job I hate for years because....the evil you know is better then the evil you dont.I keep waiting for a "lightening bolt" of inspiration" to strike me(and it is about as likely as being hit by lightening).I just ordered several books about AS and employment and will share any info I think is worthy here,(if Amazon gets off their hynnes and mail them...it's taken over 2 weeks now and still no books!! !)


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08 Dec 2006, 12:42 pm

I've never had a problem GETTING a job. My employment routine so far has been to seek out a job, apply for it, go through the interview process and be selected over a dozen other people for the position and get hired - and then find out that the job description was a total lie and they have hired me to do something I was unprepared for.
Last week I went through the interview process and training for a job doing 5 minute neck and shoulder massages for a large, well respected and established company with locations in many cities. After training was complete there was a regional staff meeting before my first shift. At that meeting the majority of the other staff were drunk (meeting was held in a function room above an upper-crust bar), the 'corporate culture' was rowdy, extroverted and they took delight in humiliating the new kids. We were then told that we would be performing these massages in nightclubs and bars - only in places where alcohol was served. So I hadn't been hired to be a relaxation massage provider, I was promotion staff for nightclubs and bars where I'd be expected to field rude questions from drunk people about 'happy endings', work entirely on commission as well as participate in an alcoholic, aggressive corporate culture. Their christmas party is next week - i was expected to engage in binge drinking with the other staff.
Yessir, I quit immediately.
I have another interview for a job on monday morning as a waitress. And so the process continues. It would be very easy to stick with the IT work, fiddling around with computers and all the things that make them go, but as much as I dislike social environments I get very lonely. Working from home behind a computer for months on end makes me feel sad. I'd like to make some new friends through work that aren't smelly geeks for a change, but job descriptions are such hollow, deceitful things. (or maybe I'm just not reading them right...)



11 Dec 2006, 7:13 pm

I had problems getting a job. I go and apply but never get hired. I got one interview when I was 16 but didn't get hired. My mother told me its tough for everyone to get jobs when they've never had one before and she told me it took her brother almost a year to get a job as an artecht and he had a degree. I can remember him living with us for a while when I was 5. Then he started looking for one out of town and got one that was a few hours away from Portland so he moved there. He is NT.

Mom told me only way to get a job is volenterring at places and then they recommend you when you apply elsewhere ebcause the palce contacts them but when I was 18 it was a fortunite when a folkshop needed someone to keep the place cleaned and picked up so the manager's wife recommended me so I was hired. Wasn't a great job because I wasn't there very long but kept it because at least I had a job and I wanted to use it as a reference. I still go and apply at other palces but never got hired so my mom started going around telling people about me so they can hire me. She felt no one wanted to hire me because I was a speciel ed person. Then a place was going to hire me but then a palce I applied at, the boss in housekeeping decided to try me so she interviewed me and hired me and I still work there. I haven't applied anywhere else. I thought about jt but I work more hours there this time of year then i did last year because I don't collect laundry all the time, I stay in the laundry room and fold and wash and iron the catering. I do other thigns too to put in more hours.
My boss is a little ignorent but works with me. She never fired me for tantrums or other stuff I've done like eating up all the sweets in the breakroom. I try not to do it. I just try and pretend it isn't there. I might go in one day and see cake on the table and I only have one piece like everyone else does. Not have all different kinds. I do that when I'm going home and I see there is still some.
One issue I had at work was knowing personal space but I think I've gotten better at it or I'm just not collecting laundry anymore as much so people don't get the chance to complain about me. I remember my boss hiring soemone else to do the job and she kept me in the laundry room folding. Now I work in there by myself and it's helped me a lot. I put in more hours now. Someone at work quit her job because she didn't agree to soemthing and she had been working there for 4 yrs so now I'm in there alone but I still get extra help in there when I fall behind.



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17 Dec 2006, 6:51 am

That's good. The job I have has had its problems at times but things could be a lot worse.


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18 Dec 2006, 5:56 pm

I've found that never mentioning that you have Asperger's is a great way to get and keep a job. Then, only apply to jobs that don't involve a lot of work with people.

I liked* the job I had at Wal-Mart as a merchandise truck unloader. I only had to interact with a maximum of ten people a day, and they were too busy loading palettes to bother me with their small talk. Well, I did have to stock the shelves later in the day. It's not so bad, though, since I rarely had to talk to more than three customers an hour, and they generally left me alone after telling them where to find the french fries.

Just a little something to ponder on.

Right before the Christmas season they laid off at least half their employees, me included. Bastards.



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18 Dec 2006, 8:03 pm

I was hired as a special contracter for a complex programming project today. Yay! (On the other hand, I wonder, what have I gotten myself into: this project is huge!) The interview had a few awkward points, such as my inability to understand some jokes. Or perhaps I inappropriately laughed at some things which were not meant to be jokes. Nonetheless, I must have made a good impression, and, as you probably know, that is the starting gate.