My first job interview

How did the interview go, Karma?

Good luck! I remember my first interview - not long after I graduated from university 11 years ago. Nervous as hell! I didn't get the job but it was great practice for the next few months - and eventually 4 months later I got a job!

Since then I've just had two job interviews - One for an internal promotion (didn't get that) and one for a completely different career (which I got).

You've got this! The percentage of autistic people in full time work is incredibly low, so if you get the job, well done and consider yourself an ambassador for autistic people!

I wouldn’t say that you have no commitments say your flexible other wise they can take the Mickey a but and have you in all the time like they do wirh me (ive even been made ro feel guilty about my sixk note so I’m still working)

Wishing you all the best for your interview.

Try to relax and be yourself. You've got this!

We're all rooting for you ^^

Good luck for tomorrow.

If you are young and it's your first job the won't be too hard on you.

Try to relax and remember to breathe. They want to find ways to get you to talk. Don't give one word answers. I interviewed someone who did that once, or was impossible to form any opinion.

When they ask a question, take a moment to think, you don't have to answer instantly. You can repeat the question to buy some time and confirm you heard it right.

Don't be scared to say you don't know. But then follow up with a guess, to show initiative. E.g. I don't about that, but I would guess it would be something like ....

Have a question or two prepared to ask them at the end.

Karma said:

I have no idea what I'm doing lol

Yay! You're going to fit right in here! (Particularly with that SB avatar.)

This is a huge problem for me as well. I have spent most of my life being a "mute" and not talking to others unless spoken to first because I have no idea what I'm doing lol. 

My brain just freezes when it's time to be social.

Thank you so much. I'll take a look now.

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.

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.

There are some good resources on the National Careers Service.  For example - the STAR method (used to prepare for interviews and to show your skills and experience on a CV or application form.):

nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/.../the-star-method

Karma said:

I do struggle with communication but when it's one to one especially if I've had time to prepare them I'm not too bad. A bit slower than most maybe but I can do it.

Don't we all. It's part of the diagnostic criteria for a reason. Multiple people talking (seemingly at once) turns my brain to mush. Even one-on-one, I can have difficulty keeping up if there is background noise, or if the person is throwing out ideas too quickly for me to do my processing thing. My brain does love to do a lot of processing. Sometimes, I feel like I'm sitting there, watching my brain processing, and thinking, "Come on, come on! I haven't got all day!"

Oh wow congrats to you! That's great. I'm glad you got used to it. Maybe it's one of those things that seems daunting at first but then the more you do it the more you get used to it..

Hopefully that will happen for me too. I am a bit of a nervous wreck when I'm driving lol.

Fingers crossed lol...

Yes so sorry I should have explained about the job more in my OP. It completely slipped my mind at the time when I was writing it. 

Sorry for any confusion.

Thank you. This is very helpful and all good points and ideas. 

I'll be sure to mention being dependable which is true. I have no other commitments, I'm not in college now and I don't have any children, so I'm basically on hand whenever needed really. 

Hopefully this will be a positive that will work in my favour.

 Damojo I do struggle with communication but when it's one to one especially if I've had time to prepare them I'm not too bad. A bit slower than most maybe but I can do it. 

Also, if you (Karma) have difficulty with small talk, you could mention that as a weakness, but maybe phrase it as "I'm not very chatty in group situations, but I'm a good listener and I'm much better at one-to-one communication."

My advice is try to show good communication (as much as you can) in your answers, if asked what your weakness is you could go with attention to detail (employers tend to like that). Draw attention to your abilities (can think outside the box, customer rapport if working in customer facing role).

Commitment usually goes a long way so being dependable is important. Putting this across typically goes in your favour.

If asked how you have handled situations, try to give examples. This will show them that you can back-up what you say.

I’ve had many job interviews over the years so I know it’s daunting but hold your head high my friend.

Best of luck! I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for you

Now that you've explained the job a bit more (in another post), you'll probably be asked questions more along the lines of, "What would you do if...?"

Karma said:

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

Haha, that’s hilarious! Yeah, try to avoid that one

Karma said:

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

Perfect, lean on that! That sounds like the perfect thing you could say for the job you are interviewing for.

Karma said:

Though I'm little nervous on the motorway but I'm hoping everything would be local. 

I totally understand. I have difficulty driving, too (ADHD makes it scary). My current job requires a lot of driving and I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to handle it. However, I’m surprised to say that I’ve gotten pretty used to it. It might be a little nerve-wracking when you start, but it should get better with time and practice.