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ALADDIN_1978
Snowy Owl
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07 Feb 2008, 5:30 pm

When I was younger, I used to think that what you do in your studies matches what you do in the job but I realised that skills and experience were also required and the concept that applying as a programmer in finance is different to programmer in health care. I also did not know about alternative routes into job roles. I had a very lonely childhood and lack people to give me good advice including a bad school experience. Is it an aspergers problem or just family background? I think it is based on family background but for some people with more severe asperger syndrome their asperger syndrome makes them less mature.

Someone who has graduated from a low ranking UK university studying multi media studies but he has never worked (paid or unpaid), his asperger syndrome is mild/fairly mild. He just asks people and gets to get a well paid job but I think it will be hard in this age of graduate jobs. He does not know what he wants to do as a career, how to go about it and has not seen the competition. I think his aspergers kicks in but he is probably the first in his family to go to university. What is his future, will he work? Woking in a retail outlet, maybe administration.



nory
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23 Feb 2008, 7:12 am

I think your post is interesting. I understand what your saying, studies don't often match jobs these days, and real life experience is big. I have the same problem myself actually.
I think a lot of people find jobs through connections and if you have a lonely childhood, or move around a lot, then you lack the interconnections that can lead to these job recommendations. Family also plays a part. A lot of people find work in family ventures or through family, or connections etc...

I don't have any advice as I'm in the same boat. Multi-media studies is tough. I did a diploma in film once and I couldn't even handle the pretty much mandatory volunteering that went along with it, I found the industry so tough.

I think you need to clarify your questions. Write a big list and then hire a professional career counselor. Someone to do this kind of thinking for you, and help guide you. Then you give them a percentage of your first paycheck, but its worth it to get you there. They will also have the worldly knowledge for you, i.e.: the competition, the realities etc…

Also, mention the Aspergers and be realistic about what you can and cannot handle. But don’t accept it if they tell you to settle for less, make sure they know this can be an asset in the right job as you will be diligent and committed if given the right time and space etc…. Tell them what you want and that you have hired them to find it for you so you won’t have to settle for less.

You can always go into teaching. This is what its coming down to for me.



RedTape0651
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23 Feb 2008, 11:32 am

ALADDIN_1978 wrote:
When I was younger, I used to think that what you do in your studies matches what you do in the job but I realised that skills and experience were also required and the concept that applying as a programmer in finance is different to programmer in health care. I also did not know about alternative routes into job roles. I had a very lonely childhood and lack people to give me good advice including a bad school experience. Is it an aspergers problem or just family background? I think it is based on family background but for some people with more severe asperger syndrome their asperger syndrome makes them less mature.

Someone who has graduated from a low ranking UK university studying multi media studies but he has never worked (paid or unpaid), his asperger syndrome is mild/fairly mild. He just asks people and gets to get a well paid job but I think it will be hard in this age of graduate jobs. He does not know what he wants to do as a career, how to go about it and has not seen the competition. I think his aspergers kicks in but he is probably the first in his family to go to university. What is his future, will he work? Woking in a retail outlet, maybe administration.


As someone who recently graduated college and is now in my first year with a job, I cannot agree more about skills from academia not applying in the real world. Here is what I have to say about this:

1. First of all, remember that Aspies are often more sensitive to details and differences than NTs. Hence, for you it may seem that being a programmer in finance is very different from being a programmer in health care. However, to an NT, they may seem very similar. I cannot explain how an NT can generalize skills from one field to another seemingly different field, but they can often do so. Hence, you may need to expect that things will go more slowly when you switch from one field to another.

2. Second, remember that since most people are NTs, school is geared to teach NTs, not to teach Aspies. School often involves a lot of memorizing, often for extended periods of time. I believe that Aspies generally have a better long term memory than NTs (even though our short term memory may be weaker). So it is easy for us to get through school without learning much: we can exercise our memories, but those are already strong for us. In the meantime, teachers assume that everyone's executive function and time management skills are already developed, when those are our weak points. For example, in high school, I would often spend long hours on written assignments, but never studied for a test.