Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi. I’m new to this community but I was diagnosed with autism when I was still a child. It’s been a rough life so far, I’ve experienced what most do, loss, pain and mental struggles but somehow (no idea how) – I’ve gotten through everything that was thrown at me. At times it was dark, I couldn’t see a way forward and yet somehow I got through those terrible days. Finding strength from inside myself when I didn’t think it was possible.
Because I feel better I have been looking at working. I never finished school (too much noise and anxiety, result was a breakdown) and with no grades and qualifications or previous experience in the workplace I didn’t set my hopes too high in being successful in any work I applied for. Still I persevered because I want to make something of my life rather than sit at home all day every day being called lazy and pathetic.
I applied at morrisons last month and about a week later I got an email saying I was unsuccessful – sad but not unexpected. I’ve been rejected by so many people I’ve come to expect it now. It’s the norm. But I still looked and hoped something would turn up and then on Wednesday morning I had an email from mossisons saying I had passed their online questionnaire and they would look at my CV – my CV is bad, very little on it because I could only really say about myself, my skills and interests (no qualifications to add). It read bad and I was sure they would take a brief look and think it’s no good.
And then I had a phone call on Wednesday afternoon (an unknown number) I let it ring because talking on the phone with people I’m unfamiliar with makes me anxious. The call was from morrisons, the woman left a voice mail and said that she was looking at my CV and would be interested in talking to me about it so we could arrange an interview… So now I’ve got an interview on Monday morning. I’m so proud of myself for achieving this, despite having so much doubt and so much negativity from those around me.
I am anxious though. I’ve never been to an interview before and I worry going means I will screw it up. My family have said this to me, they don’t think I’ll be successful which hurts but I fear they are summarising correctly. But my brothers all worked for morrisons at one point and the pay was pretty good and the work benefits were always good. It could secure my future, offering independent living: something I do not have currently.
So really I am here to seek advice on how to get through this interview – and (most importantly) not screw it up! Any and all advice is welcome!
Poppet said:I am anxious though. I’ve never been to an interview before and I worry going means I will screw it up.
I worked a lot in supermarkets when I was going through university and had some exposure to their hiring practice.
First of all, it will be about you as a person so stop worrying about your skills, qualifications or being anything other than yourself.
If the role is going to be customer facing (tills, customer service, bakery / butchers etc) then you need to be friendly and easy to speak to. If the role is more behind the scenes (warehouse, food prep, canteen etc) then these skills are less relevant and all the skills will be taught.
You basically need to give the impression you are smart enough to learn and follow instructions but not too smart that you will get bored and distracted.
A few minor details like decent personal hygine are good things to have, and not to have much in the way of big hair, piercings etc that can be catch hazzards .
When in the interview do your best to be relaxed. Don't get high to relax beforehand as this will be a fail. If you have a routine or medicine that can help you relax but still be good with interactions then go with this. This will let your personality show and give a decent representation of who you are.
Be open about your lack of qualifications and expect questions on why you dropped out of school. If you have a diagnosis of autism then I think it smart to disclose it as the reason for this but make clear you have developed ways to manage the sensory issues that led to it.
Now comes the tricky bit - a lot of the work in a supermarket will involce working is harshly lit and very noisy environments. Think pushing long chains of trolleys all bashing against each other, squeeling wheels and groaning metal. In the warehouse you have rubbish compactors, cardboard balers, air conditioning units, industrial elevators and platforms, freezer units, electric motors and trucks reversing to loading docks to unload 40+ wheeled pallets of goods.
It is a sensory nightmare if you are not able to cope well and wearing headphones is typically against safety policy (some areas allow ear protection however).
You need to consider how you will answer their (legitimate) questions about how you will manage these environments. They have a duty of care so need to be sure you are not puting yourself in harms way by going into these knowing you may suffer.
This may come across as negative but the point is to prepare for it and have answers to make them think you have it sorted.
If you want help in fleshing out any responses then ask away.
I've been thinking about your specific situation and how the questions are likely to be made. The following are tips for you.Because of the lack of experience or qualifications they will want to know more about you the person so you will be asked "tell me about yourself", "describe yourself" or "What brings you here today?"This typically is to ease you into the interview and what they want is to know is what things about you are relevant to the job. They don't want to know if you collect Pokemon cards, like cats or sing in the church choir - that want to know stuff like:You like helping people.You like exercise and being fit.You enjoy completing tasks or challengesYou are organisedYou get on well with othersTry to keep your answer reasonably short ( a few sentences is about all their attention span will run to) so it could be"I enjoy keeping fit and running on weekends and am part of a local running club where it is great to work on team events like relay races or cross country team competitions. I helped organise the last race and helped with the refreshments stand when I wasn't competing.""I have other, less active hobbies like computer gaming but want to spend more time working with others".You will probably get a "why do you think you will be a good fit here" or "why should we hire you" type question. I would suggest something like:
"I'm not afraid of hard work, long hours or working with the public. My brothers have all worked here in the past and have talked highly of the team spirit and supportive management style here and this is something I believe I could contribute to and be a part of."A key to this is not to worry about memorising it. It needs to feel natural so try to get someone to role play the interview with and go through it many times until you really feel the answers.