Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi Everyone.
I have a job interview tomorrow, I cant decide whether i should disclose or not, I've done a search but I cant find a solid answer other than 'its good to' or its bad to'.
Im applying for a part time a job in a supermarket, it says fully flexible shifts between 5am and 11pm.
I need a routine, they say they are fully flexible but I hear horror stories about managers not being able to organise a rota more than 3 days ahead. I really need a regular start time, and not to be given a different one each day. Im also worried about being constantly messaged by a manger changing my shifts at short notice. I also don't want to have to use an app for anything.. I often leave my phone it in the house when I go out. I'm not someone who has their phone hard wired and I see it as an intrusion. Legally do I have to disclose in the interview? will hitting them with 'demands' if I get the job make me a pariah?should I say all this in the interview?
what would you do? I need a job but I don't need a breakdown. I worked there in the past and I left because of a member of staff bullying me (before I was diagnosed) but he's still there. Although to be honest the place I went to next was much worse and only having one person doing it would be a relief.
As a newbie in the whole thing I am a bit surprised by everyone's answers. In my head I kind of thought that now that I know I am autistic life would be a bit easier.
For me it has been super challenging finding a job. I have never worked in the right places. I believe now it is a problematic case of me coming across as a completely different person than who I am (accidentally of course).
For that reason I was considering to write about my autism in my cv even. But after reading all these comments I guess I shouldn't?
On the other hand I really don't want to be missunderstood anymore.
KLM said:For that reason I was considering to write about my autism in my cv even. But after reading all these comments I guess I shouldn't?
I would think that unless your autism causes major problems for you in a working environment then it is best to not disclose it at interview stage.
The majority of people in this world do not understand it well and it unfortunately is likely to cause them to think of you as a liability.
It sucks but we are still decades away from a useful understanding of autism reaching the masses.
I was just debating. I am not the one who got the chance to do an interview.
KLM said:I have strengths that nt people can only lie on their cv about.
At the interview stage, what do you realistically think the chances are of the interviewers knowing enough about autism to realise that there is a chance your stated skills are any more than the inflated claims that NTs make?
I expect they are probably going to use their exposure to autistic media personalities (Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory), the guy from The Good Doctor, Dustin Hoffman from Rainman etc and see all the problems that this brings.
I don't think that enough of the masses understands enough about us yet and the best way is for us to get into positions of influence and spread the work once in position. It worked for me in my last job and I probably educated 40+ people over a year that it is possible to be autistic and function fairly normally in a job while having my own private struggles with it.
I respect your choice to go in waving the flag - good luck and please let us know how you feel it went if you are willing to share.
I want to believe that we are towards a more understanding and inclusive society. That's why I still think I would mention my autism and even embrace it as part of why I am great at the things I'm good at. I have strengths that nt people can only lie on their cv about.
An inclusive world can only start by us accepting ourselves and finding our place inside society. Because we have a place there. In every workplace and every profession there are things people like us can do better. We just need to learn our strengths not just the weaknesses.
Not gonna lie, it is difficult finding the right strategy. It depends on your whole story up to now too. And I guess some people just don't do for some particular jobs. The thing is, when I used to work in a place I "thought" I liked suddenly I would get the melts and then everyone would think I'm faking it or just quiting because I never took it seriously. If only I knew I was autistic back then I would never even set a foot in these places. Or they would have been more understanding. The expectations should be different from us. Not less - different.