Special interest jobs and social skills

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Does getting a job related to your special interest mask your social issues? My driving instructor is an aspie. I strongly suspect driving was his special interest at one point. He’s the best instructor in the school and most people consider him a favorite. He’s very upbeat and fun.

Social Skills are complicated. i think getting a profession in a area of special interest is definitely worth shooting for and can only help in improving socialization. meeting people with similar interests and such. however this doesnt resolve issues like eye contact, appropriate behaviour, scripting and having difficulty picking up on social cues.

in short i think it can help people make friends but i dont think it will improve social skills persay (however maybe through experience it will indirectly help social skills,)

Im a cashier at a family run gas station, i wish i could work involving my special interest.

If your special interest makes you a master at your craft, people will find a way to work with your personality. Ferrari used to keep millionaires waiting for hours, and expected to see a full crew working on Christmas afternoon. Your friend may have a combination of a deep understanding of driving combined with a knack for one-on-one instructing. I also heard of a wildly popular driving instructor who had been the "safe adult" - someone that a teenager could confide in and ask advice without risk, and reasonable odds of better understanding. I don't know why, but many people have told me rather private things - aspies may make other weirdness feel less strange.

It depends a lot on your interest and your job.
For me, working with my interest is absolutely perfect, because in this job I work from home, and the standard mode of communication is via email, so poor social skills does not matter as long as I can express myself through text.
For someone else I know, social skills are highly appreciated at her workplace, but not actually a demand. She is awful socially, but great at her job, so she is still a highly valued employee.
As for another person I know, it's a guy who's only way to work with his interest is by teaching, which demands good social skills. Unfortunately, him being absolutely fantastic at his interest does not make him a very good teacher. He knows all about it, but is not good at passing that knowledge onto others.

I work in my special interest and the common ground helps with the conversation part of social skills, but for me the other aspects have been learned through cognitive training. The interaction with people and patients is easy in that I know what to say most of the time just from previous experience.

Best advice is have a job you enjoy and the rest will fall in place over time.