Career Advice

Unknown said:

What do I need to do to get a job?

I would start by creating a portfolio of practical application of your skills to show any potential employers that you can turn those maths skills into something useful.

A starting point would be to find an area of personal interest (eg trains) and locate sources of raw data to crunch through in order to create information that is useful at the end, For example:

Find a database of historic train times of arrival at stations and you can easily build up maps of the most significant consistent delays, corrolate it with other events in the areas in question and start to build targets for improvement. The corrolations with other events (eg football matches, road works, bus strikes etc) will enable the train companies to plan additional services to cope with these demand surges or station staffing.

Practice making your skills translate to something useful and you will have the essence of what the employers will look for - capability, experience and initiative. Always thing "how can they make use of the conclusions this data offers?".

Once you have this portfolio ready then look for employers in the fields you have been practicing with - here it would be train companies.

Keep a close eye on sites like Jobserve for data scientist jobs but while you are applying keep building the portfolio and looking for ways to enhance practical uses of your skills. Get onto online forums about the subject, follow related Instagram feeds, blogs etc and immerse yourself in the world so you know the latest news, find tips from others and grow to know the real world uses like the back of your hand.

Unknown said:

how do I find a company where I can just be me and don't have to mask.

Sorry to break it to you but it is unlikely to find a good one. Typically an OK one is the best you can expect so learn how to cope better would be my recommendation.

Unknown said:

How do I even know who I am without the mask?

Get a therapist with a specialisation in autism and work through this with them. It isn't a clear cut thing - more of a process and chances are you will always have to mask at work as neurotypicals are typically not accepting or understanding of autism and you will need to mask to avoid friction.

It shouldn't be that way but in reality it is - just helping manage your expectations.

If you go into academia then there is a better chance of being accepted but as some here will attest, it brings different challenges.

Good luck with the job hunt.

Unknown said:

What do I need to do to get a job?

I would start by creating a portfolio of practical application of your skills to show any potential employers that you can turn those maths skills into something useful.

A starting point would be to find an area of personal interest (eg trains) and locate sources of raw data to crunch through in order to create information that is useful at the end, For example:

Find a database of historic train times of arrival at stations and you can easily build up maps of the most significant consistent delays, corrolate it with other events in the areas in question and start to build targets for improvement. The corrolations with other events (eg football matches, road works, bus strikes etc) will enable the train companies to plan additional services to cope with these demand surges or station staffing.

Practice making your skills translate to something useful and you will have the essence of what the employers will look for - capability, experience and initiative. Always thing "how can they make use of the conclusions this data offers?".

Once you have this portfolio ready then look for employers in the fields you have been practicing with - here it would be train companies.

Keep a close eye on sites like Jobserve for data scientist jobs but while you are applying keep building the portfolio and looking for ways to enhance practical uses of your skills. Get onto online forums about the subject, follow related Instagram feeds, blogs etc and immerse yourself in the world so you know the latest news, find tips from others and grow to know the real world uses like the back of your hand.

Unknown said:

how do I find a company where I can just be me and don't have to mask.

Sorry to break it to you but it is unlikely to find a good one. Typically an OK one is the best you can expect so learn how to cope better would be my recommendation.

Unknown said:

How do I even know who I am without the mask?

Get a therapist with a specialisation in autism and work through this with them. It isn't a clear cut thing - more of a process and chances are you will always have to mask at work as neurotypicals are typically not accepting or understanding of autism and you will need to mask to avoid friction.

It shouldn't be that way but in reality it is - just helping manage your expectations.

If you go into academia then there is a better chance of being accepted but as some here will attest, it brings different challenges.

Good luck with the job hunt.