Badmouthing by former co-workers - concern

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Recently I attended an interview for a great position with a great organization (I'm currently employed but seeking new & better opportunity) and it went very well, the only thing I'm concerned about is that a couple of my former co-workers work there - bit of a coincidence I know - but we used to work for the same organization for a few years in the mid-2000s. During that time, I found myself on the receiving end of their acrimony for my Asperger manifestations - the job involved systems and technical analysis including writing technical specs, and they found that I was hyperlexic (not their word, mine!), didn't get to the point, was mis-perceived as trying to do their job in a misunderstanding once...as a result, they gossiped about me, ridiculed me, made cracks that "if I get one more email/document from Jayo, I'm just gonna delete it" and so forth. One time somebody overheard their negative comments (back in 2006) and reported it to my boss out of concern, who took me into a meeting with this guy (the one who overheard their comments) and said she was very concerned I was getting a reputation and need to get this dealt with, my behaviour is not consistent etc. (I never told any of them that I had Aspergers, but they knew "something was up"). Despite this setback, I improved steadily and continued there till 2008 when a bunch of us were let go in a round of layoffs.

SO - fast forward to today - I was asked at the interview who I know there, I mentioned three names including someone else from my former job (who I was friendly with), someone I took evening classes with, and one of the guys who was bitter towards me back then. I'm not sure why I mentioned one of those guy's names, other than out of concern that later on the interviewers would find out that he knew me, and then think "why didn't Jayo tell us??"

So I'm worried the interviewers might speak with him in the meantime, and he would say something negative - not so much to sabotage me as a vendetta, but more to protect his self-interest that he would find it too frustrating to work with me again, despite my improvements, the damage is done and I have a reputation in his mind. (He would likely give me a lukewarm reference for another job, though.) I once had a job coach tell me that you NEVER want to "blow a gasket" at work (I've never done that!) as not only will it likely get you fired, but your former co-workers may end up at a place that you want to work at - you never know! - and then they will badmouth you over the incident for sure. WELL, sometimes I think that Asperger manifestations are just as likely to get you that treatment from former co-workers at a prospective place of employment - maybe that's cynical of me - but I can just see this guy and his workmate saying to them "Yeah, he was a really bright guy, but he had some sort of problem....he over-analyzed and just didn't get the simplest things sometimes unless you were blunt"....or "Jayo??? well, let's just say that...he's very special."

Maybe I'm being cynical, and I may not be an expert on ToM, but from their point of view they would likely not be inclined to work with me again, remembering me (and projecting me) as "that really smart but spaced-out guy who just didn't get it sometimes."

Am I mistaken??? Do you have a different interpretation or outlook?? It's entirely possible that the interviewers will not even speak with the two guys...but if they did and they gave negative feedback, it seems unlikely that they'd ignore it. But consider these two points:

1) I had an interview at this organization over two years ago, and by coincidence I ran into the two guys coming out of the room beside the interview room, so they knew. I didn't get that job, but I didn't do well in that interview so it was more likely that. Of course, I'll never know, just like in any other case, I'll never know if they said something...

2) A lady I used to work with at the old organization in the 2000s once got blackballed by a former co-worker who coincidentally ended up at the new company she applied to (we stayed in touch after leaving). At the old organization, she protested to the director that certain staff were being treated with favouritism in the performance review - at a meeting with others - one of the other ladies there who was a "favourite" i.e. someone who played politics well and sucked up but didn't accomplish as much as her, took offense to that, and when she ended up at the new company she badmouthed this lady saying that she was "a complainer, and not a team player" - all because she spoke up against the unfair treatment there, she didn't "blow a gasket" but let it be known that she was disappointed. As a consequence, she didn't get the job at the new place.

To put this in a nutshell: You are applying for a new job. That job has people you worked with previously that not only have a low opinion of you, but like to express it openly. There are also people there you are on good terms with that would probably give you a recommendation, if given the chance. In the interview you were asked who you knew that worked there. You mentioned 2 of the good people. 1 of the bad.

You're main concern is that since they asked who you know, there is a likelihood they will ask those people about you.


????

That's a tough one. The thing is if you get the job, everything went fine. If you don't, you don't know if they passed on you based solely on the interview or from bad mouthing, or a combination of the two.

If the job falls through, you're unlikely to ever know the reason why. I think the best thing to do is try and be patient and wait and see. If the opportunities are there you could always occupy yourself with trying to get a better job elsewhere. Basically, not putting all your eggs in one basket in regards to this.

The good news is, you do currently have a job. If you don't get the new one, at least you know things will continue as they are, and you still got money coming in.