Answering Questions without preparation

Indeed. 

Especially considering that there can be multiple meanings to word ‘thingy’.. room for misunderstanding I should imagine..

Whilst I cannot currently relate to the difficulty in a work environment, I can relate to the difficulty of being unable to name things in other areas of my life.

When my grandma was alive, it became a bit of a running joke that when she couldn't remember the name of something, it would be referred to as the "thingy". As one might imagine, it could be confusing when there were numerous "thingies", making it hard to determine the particular "thingy" she was referring to.

I am often reminded of my grandma, as I now find that "thingy" features in my own vocabulary. One of the many joys of getting older.  

Thank you for posting Iain, that was interesting.

So, the chances were that no-one was actually listening.

Happily, I'm now  retired and no longer have to navigate the obstacle course of seeking employment, but I know I dropped a couple of clangers in the interview field. And before anyone asks.... NO, I'm not going to reveal them on the forum.

Ben

Thanks that seems to have worked ^-^

Ben said:

............and sometimes, after you think you've given a good answer, no-one seems to take any notice.   Then you're left wondering if it was a good answer; an embarrasingly bad answer; or, indeed, if anyone was even listening!

As someone with a lot of experience in interviewing candidates for a lot of companies, the hard truth is that quite a few of the interviews are just to meet our legal obligatons (ie we already have been told who is getting the job but have to be seen as being "fair" to the applicants.

For the actually open positions, the "feel" of the candidate is more important that their skills - ie specific technical skills are quickly and easily trained but aptitude cannot..

I've always worked on the basis that you are only goint to be interviewed if your CV ticks the general skills and experience boxes so there will be some probing questions for bull dropping artists but the focus is on how you respond to questions and role play scenarios.

The positions I recruited for were for tech support - entry level helpdesk to management. I would make people talk me through how they would diagnose a problem by giving them a scenario and responses to what they would check for - it they didn't understand the principles then admit it then they were out. No space for liars, but acknowledging your skill gaps was not a deal breaker.

Lasly was the "difficult customer" role play where they had to deal with me acting as a problematic user who had an issue and the candidate had to navigate the situation calmly and effectively. So many people caved on this but i t was an essential skill for the role.

A core consideration for recruitment is how well you will fit into a team that is already present and make it better. Are you one to inspire, to encourage your colleagues, to share technical interests etc. I'm afraid this is where most autists hit the red flags - we are typically not team players so won't get the job.

Going bacl to my point, it could be you had already failed the interview so the interviewer was just going through the motions

You can turn reply notifications on at the bottom of each thread. Maybe try that.

I have something ticked to notify on email but I never get anything. 

Unrelated but do you know how I can get email notifications to work?

Mine is ticked on but doesn't actually appear to work :/ 

Or edit the same message too often then it gets flagged and goes for moderation

Thanks for the heads up.

I somehow manage to delete my texts half the time by doing nothing lol XD

....but be careful you don't accidently hit the 'DELETE' button, they're perilously close together.

Ben

Thank you!  

Didn't even realise there was an edit button :p

Goosey, sometimes the 'EDIT' button can be a life-saver.

Ben

I worry about that with my own answers...

I read through everyone's comments. I think you are all lovely people and nice that you take time to reply.

• Yes your example of give us an example of is the type of thing I find hard.  There is probably an example but I couldn't think of it at the time. I was once asked what is your greatest achievement and thought I can't remember doing anything particularly noteworthy, so the example I gave was something from a hobby. I didn't get that job. 

Sometimes we miss it on notifications, so we skip past it because I do that more than I’d like, otherwise I’m all over it..

............and sometimes, after you think you've given a good answer, no-one seems to take any notice.   Then you're left wondering if it was a good answer; an embarrasingly bad answer; or, indeed, if anyone was even listening!

Ben

Number said:

and no words come, with my face looking like I've swallowed my own tongue....or perhaps the soup spoon in question!

Yep we've all been there.

Brain freeze and shutdown. You know the words but momentarily your speech is inoperative lol.

Yes, I really struggle. In situations where I know I will be asked questions I spend ages beforehand trying to prepare for the unexpected by thinking of everything I could possibly be asked. 

That sounds insane now that I've written it down!

But it feels intensely important to know what to say because in live situations I don't. 

This has been a huge problem in interview situations, job interviews but not just that, any situation that requires me to explain myself. 

On the rare situations when I socialise - although I don't actually do this, I attend and hate every second and am only there because I can't get out of it... 

But on those rare occasions, I have memorized a few things to say so that I can 'join in' and not stand out as not like others, since that never leads to anywhere good.

I find job interviews impossible. I have been discounted from so many because I haven't been able to answer example questions, you know - give us an example of how you've done x, or tell us about a time when... 

Of course you can't adequately prepare for the unknown because there are too many variables. But it doesn't stop me trying. I recently attended a job interview, the first for several years. I became so stressed and obsessed about unknown interview questions that I became quite ill, which I was surprised by. 

So yes, I don't cope well with unexpected questions, or the anticipation of them! 

Iain said:

Have you tried learning meditation?

No I haven’t tried but good suggestion it's something I can look into. 

Iain said:

That doesn't allways go down well with my passangers when I'm driving though...

Get them to do it as well and then they will sleep as well lol.