Advice for a young jobseeker

DanDare999

Civic2056 said:

elsien said:

Have you sat down with someone who knows you well and done a proper skills analysis? 
Being passionate about something isn’t enough. Lots of people have passions that wouldn’t work for them as a full time job for various reasons. 

I’m also not sure that you’re fully appreciating the impact your body language etc may be having and the impact this will have on jobs such as the police. I’m not saying it’s impossible - I was watching Ambulance the other week and there was a paramedic with an autism diagnosis who seemed to be doing a fine job. But your posts have been about how employers should accommodate you, and as you have found, that only goes so far. Some accommodations will be a step too far.

An audit of your strengths and less good areas might help you to target careers more effectively. You will benefit from someone who will be upfront with you, to do that. 

For example, you’ve not properly said (or not in a way that I’ve understood anyway) why your computer business account has been suspended? Is that something that could have been forseeable?

I changed my phone number, They suspended it like a day after and have been unable to get it back. Before that they weren't even displaying half the reviews people were putting on there. There's no contact number for google just an email which they never reply. It's out of my hands. 

Ultimately, I'm not aware of how my condition may manifest in a job until I start, and I may do things subsconsciously I'm not aware of. For example, myself and many oither autistic people find it difficult to have phone calls, and I often hang up on someone before they're finished. I was never really aware I did this until someone pointed it out to me. 

But autistic police officers are far from being small in numbers, there's even a National Police Autistic Association, and a lot of it is well suited to autistic people because of the routine; clear rules and hirearchy. I think this was partly why I excelled in school but struggled with univeristy where I was expected to work independently and had lack of supervision. In the police, for starters for the first two years you're on probation, and in the force I've applied you're always paired with someone as a matter of routine anyway. 

The army is also similar, but in what seems extremely discriminatory in 2022, autistic and adhd people are barred from serving, which makes zero to no sense. That said in that environment bullying is rife and also with my dyspraxia, i can struggle with coordination. 

Unless you join on the graduate entry scheme where your probation is three years. After completing your initial training you'll be on your own after 10 weeks. 

theoretica

Civic2056 said:

annabanana82 said:

Civic2056 said:

elsien said:

Have you sat down with someone who knows you well and done a proper skills analysis? 
Being passionate about something isn’t enough. Lots of people have passions that wouldn’t work for them as a full time job for various reasons. 

I’m also not sure that you’re fully appreciating the impact your body language etc may be having and the impact this will have on jobs such as the police. I’m not saying it’s impossible - I was watching Ambulance the other week and there was a paramedic with an autism diagnosis who seemed to be doing a fine job. But your posts have been about how employers should accommodate you, and as you have found, that only goes so far. Some accommodations will be a step too far.

An audit of your strengths and less good areas might help you to target careers more effectively. You will benefit from someone who will be upfront with you, to do that. 

For example, you’ve not properly said (or not in a way that I’ve understood anyway) why your computer business account has been suspended? Is that something that could have been forseeable?

I changed my phone number, They suspended it like a day after and have been unable to get it back. Before that they weren't even displaying half the reviews people were putting on there. There's no contact number for google just an email which they never reply. It's out of my hands. 

Ultimately, I'm not aware of how my condition may manifest in a job until I start, and I may do things subsconsciously I'm not aware of. For example, myself and many oither autistic people find it difficult to have phone calls, and I often hang up on someone before they're finished. I was never really aware I did this until someone pointed it out to me. 

But autistic police officers are far from being small in numbers, there's even a National Police Autistic Association, and a lot of it is well suited to autistic people because of the routine; clear rules and hirearchy. I think this was partly why I excelled in school but struggled with univeristy where I was expected to work independently and had lack of supervision. In the police, for starters for the first two years you're on probation, and in the force I've applied you're always paired with someone as a matter of routine anyway. 

The army is also similar, but in what seems extremely discriminatory in 2022, autistic and adhd people are barred from serving, which makes zero to no sense. That said in that environment bullying is rife and also with my dyspraxia, i can struggle with coordination. 

"Discrimination" against some disabilities and illnesses in the armed forces I'd say is overall a good thing. The safety of you and those you'd be serving with is paramount.

Regardless of your role within any of the armed services you are first and foremost a soldier that is highly likely to be involved in armed combat during your career, having barring on some people joining a fully rationale and sensible decision. 

How does being autistic make you "un-safe"? There's no logic for that. I can see potentially why ADHD might be an issue but providing you're medicated, how is it any different to say taking insulin for diabetes (i'm not sure about this in the army but i can't imagine its illegal). Seems to me it smacks of the same laws that forbade gays from being in the army. 

In Israel, they actually have an army unit specifically for autistic people because they know they are very good at spotting things that neurotypicals miss.

Also it doesn't make sense, because there probably are autistic soldiers or ones with adhd in the army but just aren't diagnosed, so whats the difference between someone having asd but no diagnosis and one having a diagnosis? It doesn't change anything, you're still autistic either way. 

This army captain with years of good service in the army was kicked out the moment he was diagnosed. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/armed-forces-cruel-rule-sees-23931389

I thought this can't be compatible with the equality act but i've just seen the army is exempt. Which seems problematic on so many different levels, but then again, it was only 20 years ago that gay people were forbade from being soldiers.

Currently, being diabetic does disqualify you from active service in the UK armed forces.  I see food intolerances may too - which would be me out! 

Also, I would suggest that a significant difference between having an undiagnosed condition and having it diagnosed is exactly the issue of needing adjustments.  If the level of someone's symptoms is such that life is fine without adjustments, then they are unlikely to seek or undergo assessment.  It would be different if there were mass screening. 

DanDare999

MalMonroe said:

Hi, I've read this thread with interest and I really think that you have a great talent for writing and putting forward your point of view eloquently. Is that something you'd like to take further? Somewhere like your local council? I don't know why I thought that but it just popped into my head! I know that at my own local council you can start off as an apprentice - not just in physical work but in all kinds of administrative work as well. Where I live they are often advertising for apprentices - they seem to love to teach people while they pay them. Is that something that would appeal to you? (Sorry for asking so many questions.)

You managed to get yourself a place on a politics and international studies university course in the first place, no matter that you left. That's something you just brushed over - but really it's a great achievement. Don't think you failed anything because of that, many students find that the course they are on is not what they want to do.

You could have a look at your local council website to see what, if anything, they offer. The great thing about being an apprentice is that although the pay isn't fantastic (in fact probably pretty darn poor) at the outset, you do get a salary. And probably you get serious consideration for a job with them at the end of your training period. After all, they don't want to have to pay for training if people are just going to leave when it finishes. Plus, you have the opportunity to work in several different areas and departments, if you wish, so you get a good all round experience.

Even if not your council, other places also have apprenticeships or training opportunities. It's really worth a look. Or a quick google. 

I have to agree with some of the people commenting on here that I don't think the police would be a great career for you. My brother joined years ago because he had always wanted to be a cop, as he thought. Turned out that he was really just obsessed with the letter of the law, rather than with enforcing it. So he left the cops and did a law degree instead and went in to local government, where he ended up working for Home Office. Not saying that'd be for you but just an example of what people think they want to do can be a little skewed. 

Being a cop, he found, wasn't a regular occupation because no day was ever the same. And it was dangerous - some of the people he came into contact with were really awful - worse than antisocial - spitting on him (a very regular occurrence), punching him, on one occasion trying to stab him and hit him on the head with a brick. He ended up in A and E that time, and he was glad when he left.

So rather than a life of policing, I offer my alternative suggestions. I actually also have a very good friend who was diagnosed with autism at the age of 61. I met her at uni when we were mature students and she graduated with a first class degree. I may be naive but I do not think of autism as a disability although I know there are different categories on the spectrum. Another friend has twins with autism and they are only 10 but they are managing in a mainstream school.

I really believe that a good employer will see your abilities and your potential, rather than anything else.  

I wish you all the very best for the future and hope that I've provided just a little something for you to think about.

None of those area regular occurrence and the ones most assaulted are the ones who struggle to speak to the public properly. 

DiseasedBunny

DanDare999 said:

MalMonroe said:

Hi, I've read this thread with interest and I really think that you have a great talent for writing and putting forward your point of view eloquently. Is that something you'd like to take further? Somewhere like your local council? I don't know why I thought that but it just popped into my head! I know that at my own local council you can start off as an apprentice - not just in physical work but in all kinds of administrative work as well. Where I live they are often advertising for apprentices - they seem to love to teach people while they pay them. Is that something that would appeal to you? (Sorry for asking so many questions.)

You managed to get yourself a place on a politics and international studies university course in the first place, no matter that you left. That's something you just brushed over - but really it's a great achievement. Don't think you failed anything because of that, many students find that the course they are on is not what they want to do.

You could have a look at your local council website to see what, if anything, they offer. The great thing about being an apprentice is that although the pay isn't fantastic (in fact probably pretty darn poor) at the outset, you do get a salary. And probably you get serious consideration for a job with them at the end of your training period. After all, they don't want to have to pay for training if people are just going to leave when it finishes. Plus, you have the opportunity to work in several different areas and departments, if you wish, so you get a good all round experience.

Even if not your council, other places also have apprenticeships or training opportunities. It's really worth a look. Or a quick google. 

I have to agree with some of the people commenting on here that I don't think the police would be a great career for you. My brother joined years ago because he had always wanted to be a cop, as he thought. Turned out that he was really just obsessed with the letter of the law, rather than with enforcing it. So he left the cops and did a law degree instead and went in to local government, where he ended up working for Home Office. Not saying that'd be for you but just an example of what people think they want to do can be a little skewed. 

Being a cop, he found, wasn't a regular occupation because no day was ever the same. And it was dangerous - some of the people he came into contact with were really awful - worse than antisocial - spitting on him (a very regular occurrence), punching him, on one occasion trying to stab him and hit him on the head with a brick. He ended up in A and E that time, and he was glad when he left.

So rather than a life of policing, I offer my alternative suggestions. I actually also have a very good friend who was diagnosed with autism at the age of 61. I met her at uni when we were mature students and she graduated with a first class degree. I may be naive but I do not think of autism as a disability although I know there are different categories on the spectrum. Another friend has twins with autism and they are only 10 but they are managing in a mainstream school.

I really believe that a good employer will see your abilities and your potential, rather than anything else.  

I wish you all the very best for the future and hope that I've provided just a little something for you to think about.

None of those area regular occurrence and the ones most assaulted are the ones who struggle to speak to the public properly. 

So an ideal job for someone with autism who by their own admission doesn’t communicate well with others? 

Ath_Wat

theoretica said:

Civic2056 said:

annabanana82 said:

Civic2056 said:

elsien said:

Have you sat down with someone who knows you well and done a proper skills analysis? 
Being passionate about something isn’t enough. Lots of people have passions that wouldn’t work for them as a full time job for various reasons. 

I’m also not sure that you’re fully appreciating the impact your body language etc may be having and the impact this will have on jobs such as the police. I’m not saying it’s impossible - I was watching Ambulance the other week and there was a paramedic with an autism diagnosis who seemed to be doing a fine job. But your posts have been about how employers should accommodate you, and as you have found, that only goes so far. Some accommodations will be a step too far.

An audit of your strengths and less good areas might help you to target careers more effectively. You will benefit from someone who will be upfront with you, to do that. 

For example, you’ve not properly said (or not in a way that I’ve understood anyway) why your computer business account has been suspended? Is that something that could have been forseeable?

I changed my phone number, They suspended it like a day after and have been unable to get it back. Before that they weren't even displaying half the reviews people were putting on there. There's no contact number for google just an email which they never reply. It's out of my hands. 

Ultimately, I'm not aware of how my condition may manifest in a job until I start, and I may do things subsconsciously I'm not aware of. For example, myself and many oither autistic people find it difficult to have phone calls, and I often hang up on someone before they're finished. I was never really aware I did this until someone pointed it out to me. 

But autistic police officers are far from being small in numbers, there's even a National Police Autistic Association, and a lot of it is well suited to autistic people because of the routine; clear rules and hirearchy. I think this was partly why I excelled in school but struggled with univeristy where I was expected to work independently and had lack of supervision. In the police, for starters for the first two years you're on probation, and in the force I've applied you're always paired with someone as a matter of routine anyway. 

The army is also similar, but in what seems extremely discriminatory in 2022, autistic and adhd people are barred from serving, which makes zero to no sense. That said in that environment bullying is rife and also with my dyspraxia, i can struggle with coordination. 

"Discrimination" against some disabilities and illnesses in the armed forces I'd say is overall a good thing. The safety of you and those you'd be serving with is paramount.

Regardless of your role within any of the armed services you are first and foremost a soldier that is highly likely to be involved in armed combat during your career, having barring on some people joining a fully rationale and sensible decision. 

How does being autistic make you "un-safe"? There's no logic for that. I can see potentially why ADHD might be an issue but providing you're medicated, how is it any different to say taking insulin for diabetes (i'm not sure about this in the army but i can't imagine its illegal). Seems to me it smacks of the same laws that forbade gays from being in the army. 

In Israel, they actually have an army unit specifically for autistic people because they know they are very good at spotting things that neurotypicals miss.

Also it doesn't make sense, because there probably are autistic soldiers or ones with adhd in the army but just aren't diagnosed, so whats the difference between someone having asd but no diagnosis and one having a diagnosis? It doesn't change anything, you're still autistic either way. 

This army captain with years of good service in the army was kicked out the moment he was diagnosed. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/armed-forces-cruel-rule-sees-23931389

I thought this can't be compatible with the equality act but i've just seen the army is exempt. Which seems problematic on so many different levels, but then again, it was only 20 years ago that gay people were forbade from being soldiers.

Currently, being diabetic does disqualify you from active service in the UK armed forces.  I see food intolerances may too - which would be me out! 

Also, I would suggest that a significant difference between having an undiagnosed condition and having it diagnosed is exactly the issue of needing adjustments.  If the level of someone's symptoms is such that life is fine without adjustments, then they are unlikely to seek or undergo assessment.  It would be different if there were mass screening. 

Let's be fair, it should be blindingly obvious why you wouldn't want to send someone dependent on insulin to a war zone.

Civic2056

DanDare999 said:

Civic2056 said:

elsien said:

Have you sat down with someone who knows you well and done a proper skills analysis? 
Being passionate about something isn’t enough. Lots of people have passions that wouldn’t work for them as a full time job for various reasons. 

I’m also not sure that you’re fully appreciating the impact your body language etc may be having and the impact this will have on jobs such as the police. I’m not saying it’s impossible - I was watching Ambulance the other week and there was a paramedic with an autism diagnosis who seemed to be doing a fine job. But your posts have been about how employers should accommodate you, and as you have found, that only goes so far. Some accommodations will be a step too far.

An audit of your strengths and less good areas might help you to target careers more effectively. You will benefit from someone who will be upfront with you, to do that. 

For example, you’ve not properly said (or not in a way that I’ve understood anyway) why your computer business account has been suspended? Is that something that could have been forseeable?

I changed my phone number, They suspended it like a day after and have been unable to get it back. Before that they weren't even displaying half the reviews people were putting on there. There's no contact number for google just an email which they never reply. It's out of my hands. 

Ultimately, I'm not aware of how my condition may manifest in a job until I start, and I may do things subsconsciously I'm not aware of. For example, myself and many oither autistic people find it difficult to have phone calls, and I often hang up on someone before they're finished. I was never really aware I did this until someone pointed it out to me. 

But autistic police officers are far from being small in numbers, there's even a National Police Autistic Association, and a lot of it is well suited to autistic people because of the routine; clear rules and hirearchy. I think this was partly why I excelled in school but struggled with univeristy where I was expected to work independently and had lack of supervision. In the police, for starters for the first two years you're on probation, and in the force I've applied you're always paired with someone as a matter of routine anyway. 

The army is also similar, but in what seems extremely discriminatory in 2022, autistic and adhd people are barred from serving, which makes zero to no sense. That said in that environment bullying is rife and also with my dyspraxia, i can struggle with coordination. 

Unless you join on the graduate entry scheme where your probation is three years. After completing your initial training you'll be on your own after 10 weeks. 

For the met I don't think they ever put officers on their own even well after their probation. Non met, yes but in the met they always double crew. Think it's because it takes forever to get on a driving course in the met

DanDare999

Civic2056 said:

DanDare999 said:

Civic2056 said:

elsien said:

Have you sat down with someone who knows you well and done a proper skills analysis? 
Being passionate about something isn’t enough. Lots of people have passions that wouldn’t work for them as a full time job for various reasons. 

I’m also not sure that you’re fully appreciating the impact your body language etc may be having and the impact this will have on jobs such as the police. I’m not saying it’s impossible - I was watching Ambulance the other week and there was a paramedic with an autism diagnosis who seemed to be doing a fine job. But your posts have been about how employers should accommodate you, and as you have found, that only goes so far. Some accommodations will be a step too far.

An audit of your strengths and less good areas might help you to target careers more effectively. You will benefit from someone who will be upfront with you, to do that. 

For example, you’ve not properly said (or not in a way that I’ve understood anyway) why your computer business account has been suspended? Is that something that could have been forseeable?

I changed my phone number, They suspended it like a day after and have been unable to get it back. Before that they weren't even displaying half the reviews people were putting on there. There's no contact number for google just an email which they never reply. It's out of my hands. 

Ultimately, I'm not aware of how my condition may manifest in a job until I start, and I may do things subsconsciously I'm not aware of. For example, myself and many oither autistic people find it difficult to have phone calls, and I often hang up on someone before they're finished. I was never really aware I did this until someone pointed it out to me. 

But autistic police officers are far from being small in numbers, there's even a National Police Autistic Association, and a lot of it is well suited to autistic people because of the routine; clear rules and hirearchy. I think this was partly why I excelled in school but struggled with univeristy where I was expected to work independently and had lack of supervision. In the police, for starters for the first two years you're on probation, and in the force I've applied you're always paired with someone as a matter of routine anyway. 

The army is also similar, but in what seems extremely discriminatory in 2022, autistic and adhd people are barred from serving, which makes zero to no sense. That said in that environment bullying is rife and also with my dyspraxia, i can struggle with coordination. 

Unless you join on the graduate entry scheme where your probation is three years. After completing your initial training you'll be on your own after 10 weeks. 

For the met I don't think they ever put officers on their own even well after their probation. Non met, yes but in the met they always double crew. Think it's because it takes forever to get on a driving course in the met

They do and you'll be one of them if you join. 

MovingForwards

Have a read through these, the lad is in a very similar situation to you and coincidentally wants to join the police:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6320715/have-i-been-blacklisted-from-a-job-seeking-reference-for-a-new-one-police/p1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6370053/good-jobs-for-someone-with-adhd/p1