Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi everyone,
I was diagnosed at the age of 43. Two years prior to that I received an ADHD diagnosis and before that, an SpLD diagnosis of dyscalculia - unfortunate since I'm a science guy and would love to master the art of data analysis. I have since graduated from university with a third class honours, and as such, am finding it extremely difficult getting shortlisted for interview for graduate (and even non-graduate) employment within my sector of interest. Some feedback I got from the Environment Agency is that I failed to evidence 'good communication skills' on my application form, which is why I didn't get shortlisted for interview. The annoying part of that is that they have a policy of guaranteeing interviews to disabled applicants who meet the criteria. Which raises the question, is it worth disclosing that I am autistic on application forms?
I also suck at relationships, and seem to attract/ be attracted to women with mental health problems. My latest disaster was because she refused to accept that I cannot read signs and that she expected me to pick up on the signals and take hints. I expressly asked her to verbalise boundaries etc, so that I could be respectful, but she wasn't willing to accept that.
So, how do you all negotiate the employment and relationships minefields? Are there any careers advice places that are geared towards helping autistic adults into employment? I currently work as a cleaner but I'd love to use my science degree to get into research as I know I would excel in that field. Ideally, I'd love to get accepted to do a Masters by Research but most institutions require a 2:1.
What sort of jobs are you looking for? I've always found nerdy/techy jobs working alone to be much easier for my temperament - public facing or sales type jobs would be a nightmare. If you're getting nowhere without playing the autie-card, give it a whizz - it might be useful to you.
The EA job was for a data analyst apprenticeship. Apparently, my application was strong apart from the section on evidencing communication skills. My degree is in earth and environmental science and ideally I'd like something lab-based, field-based or both. I would love to go into research. My interests include caving, and understanding catchment behaviour in karst environments. I also like aquatic biogeochemsitry, and do have a fascination with water.
So what communication skills evidence are they looking for? Your written communication looks fine here - If they don't give you a clue, you can't improve yourself.
I appear to be very interactive - but when dealing with liars and fraudsters I lose the ability to be nice - I can't play the game so I might come over as abrupt to their face - and a lot of middle managers are liars. .
I was diagnosed with high functioning autism but told that it used to be called Asperger's. I did play the autie card as they offered a guaranteed interview for disabled applicants that met the criteria. I don't think I mentioned ADHD or learning difficulties. I think the guaranteed interview is just for show, as I guess I didn't meet the criteria in terms of communication skills.
Sounds a bit like a fob-off generic reason they give to all the unsuccessful applicants - nothing you can actually measure so it's very frustrating.
Try playing the autie card with your next application - see what happens. Are you autie or classed as Asperger's? I'd not mention the ADHD stuff yet.
Here's the feedback I got.
'Overall it was a good application, one question in particular let you down and that was around Communicates Effectively. Here you made a lot of statements about communication but those were not backed up by enough evidence. To improve this answer I would suggest using the STAR approach: Situation, Task, Actions and Results. This way you will not only tell us what you achieved but how you achieved it (actions) which is the most important thing we are looking for. We are looking for the details which is what your answer was lacking i.e. what made your questions and verbal communication so good? What written comms have you produced? Who was it for?'
I'm not sure how I could have evidenced this as I didn't save the bottle of wine my lecturer bought me to thank me for my input during a field tour of a flood risk zone by a visiting Rivers Trust employee!