Published on 12, July, 2020
I managed to get through school, and university. My social skills are okay, and when I've been in workplaces for work experience etc, I have done pretty well. But can I get through the interviews process? i think there is an inbuilt discrimination against people like me at the interview stage since I make bad eye contact, and find them hellish. I'm now in my forties, and none of the jobs I have ever done have ever had reasonable pay or required an interview. My CV is woeful even though my intelligence level is clearly above average. (Not genius level, granted!) I do have some issues, but can function at a high level, yet no one wants me.
What do I do? Even when I've done careers courses, I struggle, and get panic attacks. Yet, I know I can do certain types of work because I have already. Working is not too bad for me. Looking for work has made me feel suicidal. I am lucky I have some level of other support, but this is not enough to pay a lot of my bills and my gas has been cut off.
The really annoying thing is that I got offered a dream job at a bookshop, and turned it down because I was going out of the country for a few months. I have been kicking myself ever since.
Half the time some stranger speaks to me, they ask me what I do for a living. I'm not into the whole peeing contest aspect of that, but I would like to be able answer something other than telling them undiagnosed ASD has stopped me from ever getting a proper job.
I was in the same position in early forties, when I was long term unemployed. My original career had come to an end and I had newly qualified in IT but due to my lack of relevant experience in the field, not being able to translate that into paid employment. The breakthrough ocurred when I saw an organisation was taking on about twenty five people for entry level jobs. I applied and got a six month contract that eventually ran on to fourteen months. Using the work experience from that job, I managed to get another job which lasted for almost six years.The lesson that I learned were that some people interview very well (say all the right things, are able to build up an instant rapport with the interviewers etc) and if there is just one job, they will likely get it, but if an employer is taking on many people then people who know their stuff but don't interview so well have a chance. I have also noticed that some people who interview very well and get a job, might talk themselves into a better paid job elsewhere after a relatively short period of time, that could be to the advantage of the other new starts.