What makes Aspies successful in their career?

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12 Jun 2012, 7:09 pm

So a bit of background info. I've noticed that NTs who have accumulated a lot of money in their lives have a different view on life. They socialize in a way that is cliquish, but emphasizing good quality service, and pleasing their friends. My guess is that some have made it big partly due to their ability to consistently tell who to please and how.

Now if that is true for some of the rich NTs, then what is the secret to success for those with AS? I want to note that though you may talk about valuing career satisfaction over money, I am purely interested in the money aspect. Some NTs seem to have both, so why not those with AS as well?

What do you think makes Aspies successful in a large scale? Is it different than NTs?

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cathylynn
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12 Jun 2012, 8:42 pm

aspies will succeed in careers where technical knowledge and ability are more important than social skills, like engineering and systems analysis.

redrobin62
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12 Jun 2012, 9:41 pm

You know why those NT's are successful? They've learned how to treat their underlings like disposable pieces of meat. They've learned that anyone can be replaced at any time and it's every man for himself in the Great Rat Race. They've learned how to harden their feelings, step over their associates like hurdles, and keep their eyes on the prize - so to speak.

<--- Not a gold digger.
<--- Will NOT treat anyone like a carpet.
<--- Looks out for the low man on the totem pole.

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namaste
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13 Jun 2012, 5:29 am

i doubt are aspie's sucessful in their career??

maybe mark zuckerberg and bill gates are........

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Sweetleaf
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13 Jun 2012, 5:31 am

cathylynn wrote:

aspies will succeed in careers where technical knowledge and ability are more important than social skills, like engineering and systems analysis.

I would suck at engineering and systems analysis.

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NowWhat
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13 Jun 2012, 7:56 am

namaste wrote:

maybe mark zuckerberg and bill gates are........

Luck, drive, and technical skills. Both of those guys were skilled programmers who made someone elses idea better. They are both ruthless businessmen that play to win. They both had the right skills at the right time, and siezed an opportunity.

Those with AS have to be better than NT's at there job to keep it. They also have to be lucky enough to have employers/clients that recognize the value of their skills, and are willling to overlook their social shortcomings.

ghoti
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13 Jun 2012, 8:13 am

cathylynn wrote:

aspies will succeed in careers where technical knowledge and ability are more important than social skills, like engineering and systems analysis.

I am an unemployed engineer and have to disagree here. Employers want "excellent oral and written communication skills" and are valuing that over the technical skills :wall:

deltafunction
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13 Jun 2012, 8:36 am

Hmm, interesting.

Does anyone disagree with me as to what makes NTs successful, or have any other traits to add?

NowWhat wrote:

Luck, drive, and technical skills. Both of those guys were skilled programmers who made someone elses idea better. They are both ruthless businessmen that play to win. They both had the right skills at the right time, and siezed an opportunity.

Those with AS have to be better than NT's at there job to keep it. They also have to be lucky enough to have employers/clients that recognize the value of their skills, and are willling to overlook their social shortcomings.

I think you have a good point there. Do you mean in terms of technical skills? Would we be doomed to fail in a job that requires social skills, then?

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androbot2084
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13 Jun 2012, 9:42 am

So as far as engineering and technical skills go many autistics are regarded by management as slow learners who do not have the ability to retain information in addition to having poor social skills. Also management considers many autistics to lack the confidence to perform the job because many times managers feel autistics are unsure of themselves. Managers feel that autistics require constant supervision and a large amount of staff time to train.

Robdemanc
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13 Jun 2012, 10:02 am

People (NT's) who are successful have got there with any combination of the following:

1 - Hard work (They are usually married to their jobs)
2 - Excellent social skills (They can negotiate, influence and persuade)
3 - They use their sexuality in a clever way (even if that means shagging the boss)
4 - They want what they are aiming for (They really want it)
5 - They take opportunities and are ready for them
6 - Their face fits
7 - They know who the right people to know are and they get in with them
8 - They are willing to be ruthless
9 - They play the game
10 - They are not out to make friends (unless it means getting a leg up)

There is probably more to add to the list but these people are nothing special, they just want to be succesful and devote all their efforts to that cause.

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13 Jun 2012, 10:08 am

androbot2084 wrote:

I am unsure of myself...not really a slow learner though, I am a slow worker though which tends to be a bit of an issue. Though I was never fired for being autistic, because guess what? most people don't even know how to identify whether someone is autistic or not. As far as they where concerned I was just some lazy, difficult slow neurotypical employee.

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ghoti
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13 Jun 2012, 11:32 am

androbot2084 wrote:

Yes I have poor social skills and no confidence due to being burned so often. But to equate that to being a slow and forgetful learner is really not fair and does not describe me. But that misconception is another thing holding me back. And the constant supervision does backfire as i don't like being watched and it is hard to resume concentrating on my task when getting interrupted.

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13 Jun 2012, 10:09 pm

From an anonymous source:

Quote:

Getting the work done is more important than socializing. I have poor to moderate social skills, but I have an engineering degree. While others are arguing over what the problem with a system may be, I'm already in there solving it. While others are gaffing off about last night's game, I'm already set up and started on my current project.

Advice:

- Show up early.
- Start on time.
- Focus on the tasks at hand.
- Take breaks only at the regularly scheduled time, and get back to work before the break is over.
- Keep your work area neat and tidy -- never leave a mess for others to clean up.
- Answer every work-related question honestly.
- Answer every personal question in the vaguest manner possible (unless it comes from H.R.).
- Keep your private life private -- what goes on at home stays at home.
- Don't complain about your past employers.
- Don't complain about your present employer (except to H.R.).
- Otherwise, it's "Yes, sir", "No, sir", and "I'll try to find that out for you, sir".
- Document everything -- make sure you write down names, dates, places, projects, and everything else related to your job, and keep that data handy.

That's about it.

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You seem to have both Aspie and neurotypical traits

NowWhat
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15 Jun 2012, 8:50 pm

deltafunction wrote:

Hmm, interesting.

Does anyone disagree with me as to what makes NTs successful, or have any other traits to add?

NowWhat wrote:

Luck, drive, and technical skills. Both of those guys were skilled programmers who made someone elses idea better. They are both ruthless businessmen that play to win. They both had the right skills at the right time, and siezed an opportunity.

Those with AS have to be better than NT's at there job to keep it. They also have to be lucky enough to have employers/clients that recognize the value of their skills, and are willling to overlook their social shortcomings.

I think you have a good point there. Do you mean in terms of technical skills? Would we be doomed to fail in a job that requires social skills, then?

Yes. NT's have an advantage in being able to read social cues, make small talk, bond with others, get into the clique.

I think it is important to add that someone with AS could be successfull or unsuccessful in the same job description depending on the work environment. For example an AS engineer may be more successful in a for profit company where their technical skills make the company money. As opposed to an engineer at an electric utility where there are no production goals, and the staff has time to nitpick eachother over personality. An AS engineer is unlikely to climb the career ladder to the top because of the social skills required, they'd have better odds building their own ladder. Like a ladder know one else can offer.

TheHaywire
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23 Jun 2012, 3:31 am

Your skills and talents need to trump your inability to make small talk. Are people willing to overlook your "issues" because you are valuable? NT's may be better at daily bs but Aspie's are brilliant and innovative. The trick is to not let this go to waste.

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23 Jun 2012, 6:33 am

To go back to the first OP question.

I suspect that having poor social skills (whoever you are) can really hold you back in some jobs but not others.

I also think it depends how much money you want to make.

If you want to be really really rich and have poor social skills
then I suspect you either

- need to have a completely brilliant original innovative idea and someone to help you fund the start of it eg Google
- need to be incredibly good at doing something other people want
- have a bit of luck or serendipty e.g. your family living in the right place early on in developing these skills helps (Bill Gates had access to some very advanced computers from an fairly early age)
- You need to have the time to practice getting really good at your skill - I think it's about 10,000 hours (there's a book about this I think by Malcolm Gladswell can't remember for sure) - so if you're struggling to survive day to day this is going to be very hard to do.
- coming from a well off background probably helps a lot too..

However if you want to just wbe comfortably off (rather than mega rich), but not take advantage others by mistreating them to get there, I think that is possible for lots of people with poor social skills.

However you probably need to identify what your particular talent is, and practice at using it; this may require advanced education or instruction so you get very good at it, then there is a good chance you can find paid employment or self employment doing this.

In my opinion this may mean you may need to do extra training later in life as you may not know what you're real strengths are at 18, it could take until your 30.

Again it takes a lot of perseverance and if you come from a relatively wealthy background that makes it a lot easier, assessing potential risks and benefits carefully (something people with very logical brains are good at) helps too.

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