My first job interview

Welcome and congrats on getting an interview!

Two questions that get asked a lot (from my experience) is what are your strengths and what are your weaknesses.

For strengths you’ll want to list something that applies to the job. Like, being amazing at Super Mario 64 is great, but probably not for an interview lol. For example, if you are applying for a job as a custodian, attention to detail is a great strength to have.

For weaknesses it’s a little bit harder. We all have things we can work on. You want to be honest, but you also want to give a weakness that does not conflict with the job or one that might be seen as a positive. The most obvious one I know of is that you care more about others’ wellbeing over your own. That can be a negative, but it can also be a positive. Being too overly focused on details is one I know a lot of ADHD/Autistics can use. Just don’t do what I did on my last interview and say communication if communication is a core element of the job lol

I hope that helps, and good luck!

Thank you!! I'm actually so surprised I heard back about this job...I wasn't expecting to hear anything back and then I got the email and I was like oh wow yay! Lol. 

Reading through the lines I think the job will be assisting this older lady like making her food, taking her shopping and thinks like that. One thing that does work in my favour is that I can drive, so if she needs taking anywhere I'll be able to do it. Though I'm little nervous on the motorway but I'm hoping everything would be local. 

If I get the job of course. 

Another thing that worries me is I'm nearly 19 and I don't want her to think I'm young and immature. Sometimes a lot of older people can have a bad impression on younger people.

Maybe I'm just overthinking it though. Probably lol.

Lol funny enough communication was the first thing that flashed through my mind and then I was like "No Bri don't say that" 

I like the one about saying I care about others wellbeing more than my own is a good one and oddly accurate. I've always cared more for other people, sometimes even people I don't know; more than I do for myself.

I'm very empathetic and that can be a bit of a curse at times. 

This helps a lot! Thank you so much. I'm grateful to you all for helping me with this today. It's my first interview and I so desperately want to get this job. My anxiety is telling me no but my heart is like yeah let's go for it.

Karma said:

funny enough communication was the first thing that flashed through my mind

One bit of advice I would give if you get this job is to make it clear (probably in as many words) the the lady you look after and your boss that you work best when the instructions you get are clear and explicit.

Many of us autists can struggle with grey areas in communication and being told "just help her" when there is no clear instruction as to what help to give.

For example, she may need help with transport, cooking, cleaning (maybe) and shopping, but it is going to be to much to help her do her taxes, install a new kitchen or go roller skating.

Asking your boss to take a little time to make it clear what is expected and give tips on prioritising tasks when there are multiple things to do will make your planning much more straightforward.

Knowing when and where to escalate situations will also be a great thing to talk over with your boss who can give you a list of contacts of who to call in case of emergencies.

In the end it will be almost all straightforward stuff with a tiny amount of the unexpected mixed in and by talking this through with your boss you will know what to do so can be more confident if it comes to pass.

Good luck - I'm sure you will be good in this job.

Karma said:

funny enough communication was the first thing that flashed through my mind

One bit of advice I would give if you get this job is to make it clear (probably in as many words) the the lady you look after and your boss that you work best when the instructions you get are clear and explicit.

Many of us autists can struggle with grey areas in communication and being told "just help her" when there is no clear instruction as to what help to give.

For example, she may need help with transport, cooking, cleaning (maybe) and shopping, but it is going to be to much to help her do her taxes, install a new kitchen or go roller skating.

Asking your boss to take a little time to make it clear what is expected and give tips on prioritising tasks when there are multiple things to do will make your planning much more straightforward.

Knowing when and where to escalate situations will also be a great thing to talk over with your boss who can give you a list of contacts of who to call in case of emergencies.

In the end it will be almost all straightforward stuff with a tiny amount of the unexpected mixed in and by talking this through with your boss you will know what to do so can be more confident if it comes to pass.

Good luck - I'm sure you will be good in this job.

Oh thank you for adding these tips. That's very helpful and great advice and is much appreciated. Thank you!

Making sure everything is explained clearly is a good idea. This is something I struggled with at school when it wasn't explained to me fully and then resulted in things being done incorrectly or not at all because I spent the whole lesson overwhelmed because I didn't understand.

It's like when someone says how are you and I'm not sure how to respond because I don't know how to respond to questions like that because I can be feeling well but really exhausted and my eyes are more sensitive today...But if I tell people exactly how I am they look at me and I know I've said too much and a "Fine" world have sufficed.

Why can't people be more precise lol.

Thank you for your input here it's very good of you to help me out and I am very grateful.