Work hiring practices

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Sorry for the poorly phrased title, I just can't think of a good one. But do you think that our economic troubles will be solved for all of us if there was an impetus for companies to drop discriminatory hiring and firing practices for Asperger's/autism or certain other groups with a high unemployment rate?

It sounds like a win-win to me if there was impetus to hire more of us in the workplace around the whole country. I think the whole economy may improve with that.

But how will this reform work?

The discrimination is so deep-seated that they don't even consider it discrimination.

Probably, most of us cannot completely "hide" our ASD in an interview.

1. I had one interview where they laughed at me because of poor speech.
2. I had one interview where the interviewer slammed his notepad shut (emphasizing, "this interview is over"), because I had poor communication responses.
3. In many interviews they ask personal questions, that I find especially difficult.

Like, one interviewer asked me, "Name something people don't like about you "? First thought was, "they say I don't socialize enough", and apparently that was a terrible answer. Later, a relative told me I should of said, "sometimes I wear dirty socks".

My best luck is with tiny (desperate) companies, or English is a second language interviewers.

Did you mention you have ASD?

No.

1. It seemed to me that I was more likely to be hired if I "hid" my ASD.
2. Moreover, it's awkward, and requires me to say, "I have a mental disorder. I am not normal. Something is wrong with me", which I would loathe.

Is it really discrimination if people are not aware you have ASD?

I do not socialize well or enough is the worst possible answer to give on a job interview. Better to say sometimes I am so determined to complete a task right I lose track of time.

I do recommend targeting as small a company as possible if you are on the spectrum. Very small companies tend not to have no HR department or the department is one person. The main purpose of many HR departments is to weed out people who are not team players. In big companies, you often have to go through multiple interviews with multiple people and personality tests. In a tiny company, it may be just one interview with your potential supervisor or the owner. If you get the job you have to deal with fewer people and less office politics than with larger companies.

As far as disclosing ASD it is a crapshoot. Legally they are not supposed to discriminate against you based on your Autism. But HR people are often hired to find loopholes in these laws. Reasons HR people are tasked with finding ways to discriminate and the extreme emphasis on team players besides personal prejudice are not wanting to pay for the required accommodations and dissatisfied employees suing the company for discrimination, launching a viral campaign against the company, hacking the company, shooting up the office. There has been a lot of media attention lately about companies purposely hiring autistics because these companies realize autistics have useful skills. While hopefully this is a beginning of change it must be remembered it is newsworthy because it is unusual. Maybe you get lucky and the person interviewing you has a relative on the spectrum.

I've learned that it's best not to talk about it at an interview. Self-screen for jobs you know you can do reasonably well at, when things are going well and if you're at some type of social event like a work dinner or in a small-talk situation where your boss or close co-workers are talking about their own issues and showing some degree of endearment or vulnerability it's not a terrible to time to mention it in passing so long as it's on-topic. If you can mention it in passing innocuously great, if not offer it on a different occasion where the opportunity does come your way.

I think the point is - you can mention it so long as it's just mentioned in passing and doesn't involve asking for things. For example if you get the hint that people start catching that you're a little different you can throw that out there at the right time and they then have a context for it. You'd rather they not think of you as autistic upfront, rather they can hear about it later when it helps them connect the dots - this way you're you to them first and maybe a diagnosis third, fourth, or fifth.

I know that's probably of absolutely no help to people who have strong symptoms, the best I can offer advice on is for those of us who'll come across as pretty normal to them in an interview or the first few days but where the differences start coming out on people's radars over the coming weeks. I say that because it's really all I have experience with and I can't speak to the complexities that people deal with if their situation is readily apparent externally.

Try this next time,
"When I chastise them for focusing on the negative."

If I were going to disclose it at all, the way I would do it is after I've been on-board for a while and have proven myself. Once you're in the door and assuming you havent screwed the pooch it's cheaper for them to keep you. To let you go at that point would mean having to go to the time consuming (expen$ive) pains of hiring a replacement. Even then I'd use discretion on who I disclosed to.

The purpose of the resume is to decide who gets an interview and the purpose of the interview is to eliminate the candidates whose resumes have made the cut. Don't bring ANYTHING to an interview that's going to cut your own throat, and a disclosure about a mental condition could very likely do just that. Best to focus on your interviewing skills so that maybe any communication issues you have won't be so noticeable. Interviews are stressful and interviewing managers and HR people know this so a little awkwardness is sort of expected. If you can, it's best to try and mask your condition with that.

I know from experience that panel interviews are much more difficult for the socially challenged and I screwed one of them up royally. The interview for my current position I only had to talk to the hiring manager, the HR manager, and one guy from the department I'd be in, It was an easy interview as interviews go.

Personally, I've never felt the need to disclose as of yet. It's obvious that I march to the beat of a different drum but I'm high functioning enough to get by. I make up for my shortcomings by capitalizing on my few strong points.