Autistic Female's Blog

UPDATE: I wrote this years back but the information still holds true to this day. I encourage any newly college graduate on the Autism Spectrum and their families to read this blog to help make the next transition in life a bit smoother.

Not to long ago I was in the same position as a lot of people are right now. I spent hours on end sending out resumes praying that the dream job would come knocking on my door. It is during this time which I came up with a few tips to help ease the rocky road of the interview process.

1) Have an experienced member of the work force look over your resume. What looks good to the average person may not be exactly what a company is looking for.

2) Go to your local library or book store and get a book of interview questions. There will be many different types so take time to look over each book and pick one that works for you.

3) It is a great idea to highlight or post it note questions that are appropriate for you. Remember interview books are meant to serve a wide range of people.

4) Write out each question on a legal pad or word document. Sit down with a family member or friend and come up with relevant appropriate answers to each question.

5) Buy a binder and protective cover sheets to put your study sheets in. That way you will always have a reference for quick reviews.

6) Rehearse , Rehearse and Rehearse. Since many Autistic’s need constant repetition while trying to gain new skills the same needs to be applied with learning how to interview. Practice every single day until you feel comfortable answering every question. Given the fact that not all interviewers will phrase everything the same way it is beneficial for you if the person you’re studying with reworded some questions.

7) Go on the interview and discuss relevant commonalities. It will help ease the tension in the air but most importantly it will show that you have knowledge on other subjects other than what is being asked of you. For example on the place of my current employment my old boss grew up in the same home town so I spoke about that with him for a majority of the time.

8 ) Write a thank you email the same day. This will keep your name fresh in the mind of the employer and show that you are serious about wanting a job. Even if things did not pan out as smoothly as planned you still want to show that you handle yourself professionally. Also you never know if you will encounter this person again later down the road.

9) Take rejection graciously. I know this is hard to do when by nature our first instinct is to get defensive but it is extremely important not to have a verbal altercation with the person on the other end of the phone. Keep your response short but sweet and then after you hang up feel free to vent to someone you trust.

I hope that you can take these tips and use them to your advantage no matter what point of the interview process you are in. Like everything else it is something that takes practice until you get it perfect. Good luck!

Good luck & Thank you for reading!
Autistic Female