Interview questions

Top 20 interview questions

^ Check this article out. This gives several of the most commonly asked questions, why they are asked, and the best way to approach answering them.

Some other pieces of advice I’ve picked up from my job helping people with disabilities find employment:
1) If there is silence after you answer a question, don’t be pressured into filling it. Oftentimes interviewers wait a moment before asking their next question to see how you handle silence or see if you have any additional clarifying information. If you fall to the pressure of filling that silence, you could accidentally contradict yourself or come off as over-anxious.
2) If you don’t immediately have an answer to a query say, “That is a really good question! May I have a moment to think about that?” That can earn you a free moment to digest the question while still keeping the interviewer impressed.
3) When they ask if you have any questions, YES YOU DO! Always prepare at least one question ahead of time. Some good generic ones include “What is  the dress code?” “If I get the job, who would I report to?” “How does clocking in work?” “How many coworkers of a similar role will I have?” “Do you have good retention for employees?” But even better questions are ones about the business itself, such as “How long has this business been in this town?” So a great idea is to research the business first and think up questions you have about it.
4) Even if the interviewer appears kind and relaxed, try to stay as professional as possible. You don’t have to be completely stodgy and impersonal, but try to resist totally relaxing and letting loose your whole life story because you are comfortable. I’ve made that mistake a few times lol
5) You don’t have to bring up your diagnoses. You can, but I would be careful and only do that if you feel this employer will be accepting of it. Generally it is best to save sharing your diagnoses AFTER being hired.

I hope that helps!

Hi and welcome to the community.

You might some of these resources useful - they contain a wealth of helpful advice.

Firstly, the NAS's Employment section, which includes:

NAS - Support to get work experience and find a job 

NAS - What are reasonable adjustments and when can they be requested? (I know you've tried asking for some already, but this might still be helpful)

Secondly, Employment Autism (EA), a charity that aims to help autistic people into work. They have a lot of detailed advice and information on their website, which is dedicated to this subject area and includes, for example:

Employment Autism - Understanding interviews and the selection process

Employment Autism - Common interview questions - along with tips for answering them

Elliot_Roy said:

Unless the questions are specific I do not pick up on what details they are looking for in the question. It's really getting to me because I feel like I'm handicapped at interview and no adjustments are ever made in the interview process.

An important thing to realise here is that if you cannot learn and improve your ability to answer these questions then the employer is likely to think that you will likewise have difficulty learning new stuff for your job, so this on its own is likely to be a red flag in the interview process.

You are capable of learning and change - after all you grew up learning and changing constantly while autistic so it can help to look back and realise you have the potential.

Where you can get some help is through local autism charities, possibly the job centre and also on this forum where there are a few of us who have a lot of experience in the recruitment process who can offer specific help.

Where I would recommend starting is to learn what the common interview questions are and what is really being looked for, then if you don't know how to respond then build a list of these and ask us - understanding the question is most of the battle oddly enough as once you know what is expected you largely need to draw on your experience or knowledge to articulate an answer.

Articulation is a skill you can learn - there are courses online you can take and if you can find someone to simulate (eg role play) interviews with then you can practice until you feel you have got it right.

Elliot_Roy said:

I've asked for the questions before the interview, and I've asked for consideration to be made if the questions are vague (which they always are).

The questions are also a test of your ability to clarify the question and to find out what is really being asked. For roles that are any kind of customer facing then this is important as many customers / clients / partners are vague and it will be your responsibility to make sure you know exactly what is required through clarifying the question or request.

A classic example of this is for an IT support job where someone calls up and says "my 'pooter isn't working" and expects you to fix it based on this statement. You need to clarify the issue while not making the customer feel like an idiot (even when they seem to be) and then, finally, you can get on to the task of fixing it.

So in summary, by asking for further adjustments you are actually harming your chances of being employed for the reasons I mentioned so if it is possible I would suggest learning how to understand the questions with help and develop your articulation skills - this will also help you do your job better at the end of the day.