Shyness/poor social skills/social anxiety/Asperger Syndrome & interviews/applications

Errata

The reasoning behind interviews is partly that someone else may have written your application - with the real person in front of them, do you appear to be capable of what you've written?

Totally agree. Good communication skills mean being able to understand what's being said to you and to talk in a straightforward way, not tempt the interviewer to play bull !!!!!! bingo on their scoring form.

studentphil

Other common sense things to do are to apply to two tick employers and get as much help as you can from job centre plus who have an extensive range of support in place.

http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Customers/Disabled/Dev_009844.xml.html

Savvy_Sue

Phil, while the disability options you mention would be good things for YOU to keep doing, at this stage the OP does not have a disability he can declare. Until / unless he gets at least a semi-formal diagnosis (which is possible even as an adult with the autistic spectrum) then the two ticks scheme isn't going to be much help. And I for one would like to give him credit for having discussed his interview difficulties with an adviser at the Job Centre already ...

studentphil

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Phil, while the disability options you mention would be good things for YOU to keep doing, at this stage the OP does not have a disability he can declare. Until / unless he gets at least a semi-formal diagnosis (which is possible even as an adult with the autistic spectrum) then the two ticks scheme isn't going to be much help. And I for one would like to give him credit for having discussed his interview difficulties with an adviser at the Job Centre already ...

Is AS not a comfirmed issue with the OP then?

anewman

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

would like to give him credit for having discussed his interview difficulties with an adviser at the Job Centre already ...

Well a careers adviser in University not job centre. I suppose it is still worth asking more people who are there to help job seekers as they might know something more about whats around, or have a magic approach (can hope).

No formal diagnosis, it's just been mentioned. Was in fact misdiagnosed schizophrenic at 17 as I was very depressed and a whole scenario (I won't go into) led me to being very quiet, and the psychiatrist saw what would be termed the negative symptoms - being withdrawn, family history, etc as enough for a diagnosis. Needless to say not on any anti-psychotics for many years now and I'm not having any kind of hallucinations or thought insertions and all that kind of stuff.

I have considered the take it as a disability approach and to stick it on the forms which I have not yet tried. AFAIK a formal diagnosis wouldn't give me anything like a certificate so I think whether I stick it on the forms or not depends on whether I feel it would be helpful for the employer in interviewing and employing me, and for me. I guess I would also have to be clear on what adjustments I would be expecting from the interviewer and that these adjustments are reasonable.

Also AFAIK don't they normally ignore the disability stuff and process it separately from the application (along with ethnicity, gender and age to ensure they're supposedly not discriminating)? The idea being if the interviewers see the applicant has a disability in a form they might be predjudiced against - so I would need to blurt out a rehearsed speech at the start of the interview so we all know what's what?

studentphil

anewman wrote: »

Well a careers adviser in University not job centre. I suppose it is still worth asking more people who are there to help job seekers as they might know something more about whats around, or have a magic approach (can hope).

No formal diagnosis, it's just been mentioned. Was in fact misdiagnosed schizophrenic at 17 as I was very depressed and a whole scenario (I won't go into) led me to being very quiet, and the psychiatrist saw what would be termed the negative symptoms - being withdrawn, family history, etc as enough for a diagnosis. Needless to say not on any anti-psychotics for many years now and I'm not having any kind of hallucinations or thought insertions and all that kind of stuff.

I have considered the take it as a disability approach and to stick it on the forms which I have not yet tried. AFAIK a formal diagnosis wouldn't give me anything like a certificate so I think whether I stick it on the forms or not depends on whether I feel it would be helpful for the employer in interviewing and employing me, and for me. I guess I would also have to be clear on what adjustments I would be expecting from the interviewer and that these adjustments are reasonable.

Also AFAIK don't they normally ignore the disability stuff and process it separately from the application (along with ethnicity, gender and age to ensure they're supposedly not discriminating)? The idea being if the interviewers see the applicant has a disability in a form they might be predjudiced against - so I would need to blurt out a rehearsed speech at the start of the interview so we all know what's what?

Normally the disability bit is taken off the form when they short list and then the disability info is brought back in when you have been short listed and arrangements for interview are required to be made. At a two ticks employer there is little fear of discrrimination as they are normally really positive on disabled people.

If you still have depression then declare that and get adjustments you require made on those grounds.

anewman

I think I'll try sticking that in some applications then and see what if anything changes when I get to the interview stage, and if I get any feedback then it will be taking into account their awareness of what I put in the disability section of the form.

Edit: I *know* I *will* put it in some applications.

studentphil

If you write that you have depresssion and it causes social anxiety and present it positively in the adjustments you need to get over these barriers then that is a positive step. I would recommend seeking guidence from the job centre on how to phrase it but most certainly depression is covered under DDA.

Savvy_Sue

Given what you've said about your previous history, I think it might be worth going to see your GP to discuss the way you feel and what might be done to help. Regrettably I don't think there's a magic answer, but equally I DO think there's help out there for you, whether it's through counselling or interview coaching / practice.

As for putting disabilities on applications, whether it helps or not varies from employer to employer. I don't know exactly how the 'two ticks' scheme operates, but I do know that our local council (and I suspect most politically correct organisations) guarantee an interview to anyone declaring a disability whose application demonstrates that they meet the requirements of the job description and person spec. So clearly the information about disability MUST be available at the short-listing stage, although it may be no more than a disabled flag rather than details of the disability.

Also my understanding of the 'social model of disability' favoured by my local council is that you're disabled if you say you are. I'm putting that very crudely, and perhaps misinterpreting it entirely, and personally in your situation I wouldn't take advantage of that without some professional backup, but it might be worth looking at jobs within the 'not for profit' sector, in its broadest interpretation. Saying that you ARE depressed or suffering from social anxiety would be a high risk strategy, IMO, unless you've talked to your GP who would be prepared to back you up, AND you've started taking steps - however small - to overcome these difficulties.

studentphil

Sue, How Two ticks works is , on an application form you have a section that has a bit where you can put the details of your disability but that sheet is normally removed for short listing. But there is another box on the form if you judge yourself to have a disability which you tick , but you give no details of your disability in that section, so that is how they know you are disabled but not not exactly what you have when short listing.