Today's hiring culture makes it harder for Aspies

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I think that the workplace culture has changed in a huge way over the last 20 or so years. For some reason, there is a huge emphasis nowadays on the soft skills - precisely the kind of stuff that many of us here struggle with.

Might be controversial to say it, but I think that this particular culture has developed because so many HR and staffing agencies have brought a more feminine approach to business - which (no offense intended) can make it even harder for Aspie males to figure out all the expected but unwritten subtleties.

That's not to say it wasn't harder back when it was an old boys' club, because back then, the bully culture surely existed too - in factories but also other fields, where the "top dog" types love to dominate others and play games with people.

Basically, things have gotten hard but in a new way that wasn't so prevalent before. These days, rather than watching out for the alpha male bully manager, you also have to watch out for the alpha female manager, who may despise you because your way of being causes her to instinctively dislike you. How the heck can you win?

These days so much of getting hired anywhere is making the people doing the hiring actually like you. You may be someone who gives a hundred and ten percent to their job, but can't anticipate for beans what mysterious special cues the hiring manager expects of you.

People are turned down from jobs before ever being given a chance to prove themselves. The irony is that sometimes they hire a smooth talker who makes them laugh, but is far less productive on the job.

Which is the smarter decision??

When you can have 500 or more applications each week for one job, you can afford to be a little more choosy with the people you hire. So, if out of that 500 people, you come up with 50 people who have the education for the job, then you can start weeding out for things like lack of experience, semi-nude selfies on FaceBook, felony convictions, poor credit, and the inability/unwillingness to make eye contact.

All you need are three finalists for the job - the one you want to hire, the one you'll hire if the first one turns down the offer, and the one you'll settle for. Each one will have similar job-related skills, education, and experience; good credit ratings, legal clearance, and public reputation (FaceBook, again), and be both able and willing to get along with others (especially women and minorities).

So the smarter choice is the "smooth talker" who has already shown that he or she can show up early, leave late, and will get the job done.

If you stick to highly technical fields you'll have much less in the way of Woman managers to deal with. Also if you are flexible and willing to work odd hours you'll find the qualified applicant pool for positions like that will be much smaller.

Yes it does

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt241840.html

Also the need to multitask and be on call 24/7


My theory besides the economy being more employer friendly is that the baby boom Woodstock generation who are now running things had a dislike for the 1950s "company man" where the individual was loyal to company, for whom they worked for life and wore a suit . They felt it was inhuman and stifling. So they created networking and a more touchy-feely exterior ie soft skills.

Last edited by ASPartOfMe on 29 Oct 2013, 6:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I really don't want to say it's a feminine vs. masculine approach, if for no other reason than I'm a social studies nerd. And not the classic male nerd who's great at math and science.

The same situation could occur with an HR person, say, hiring for computer sales. The HR person is likely to be a nontechnical person who doesn't really understand the technical details, so they are far more likely to evaluate on the traits which he or she are personally good at.

During the same time period, American technical superiority has been on the decline.

While correlation does not imply causation, there are some instances where correlation will metaphorically point furtively and nod in one particular direction while mouthing the words "look over there" ...

even the "ya want fries with that?" jobs don't want me. just as well.

I've noticed in my hunt for a job that it is also largely 'who you know' and how..well, shallowly charming you can be. I know people need to kind of enjoy an interaction with the people who work at whatever company for the company to do well (in the mind of the people hiring especially), and that seems to make it harder when I show up with my flat, uninviting face as opposed to the NTs that can far more easily feign a friendly disposition. It seems in many places you just need to know the right people as well. I have a friend who will likely be getting her brother's job as he leaves it, and that's despite her criminal record and arguably weak resume. I'm still looking to get my first job, and I'm beginning to worry I won't be able to get even the most basic job unless I'm on very good terms with the person making the hiring decisions before I even apply to the job.

If you can fake sincerity, you've got it made.

if it weren't for a bit of financial luck, i'd be living under a bridge someplace.

I used to think that I could feign sincerity and friendliness well enough, but I think because of my ongoing depression and mood problems I haven't been as capable as I thought. Now whenever I have to really act overly friendly and amicable just to get something I want I feel pretty sad and bitter about it, and it's probably been showing through. Honestly the more I've been looking through this section the less hopeful I am about my employment future. I think it would be nice to see more success stories in this section.

Technological/Politically you name it decline. And yes the change of emphasis is a important reason in my view.

You have a bitter old people who have seen the world change ranting here. Employment rate for Autistic's is 20% so some people on the spectrum are getting employed and because of age discrimination you are more likely to be that person then we are. Small companies can be better for people on the spectrum. One reason is obvious we do better with small groups. In a small company the HR "department" is the manager or owner. They are so concerned with the day to day operations because they are doing a lot they don't care of know about the trends in HR and have not changed from their "old school" ways which is actually good.

I second that smaller companies are best. While I only got past one interview for a small company, I found overall I was given a MUCH fairer shake and just plain got beat fair and square, which I certainly don't mind. I lasted a year and a half at a small company and while I was laid off, I still go visit them 8 years later and remain on good terms. Large companies tend to ALL follow the latest pop-psychology trend: it my case (10 years ago) it was past performance indicated future success and that's all they looked at. Guess what that meant for those with strong skills but no experience? Anyone?

It is largely who you know. I was bitter about this for a long time but then I decided to look at different angle: if I was looking for a date, and 100 women wanted to date me (at my expense), I'm going to see if someone can vouch for any of these girls and chances are many of them are time wasters or liars. I only have so much money, time and patience to weed through the pile and need everything possible to shorten the list.

Ditto. Though in my case it is more like I've got five years, with the clock ticking.

can you tell me what you mean by "five years, with the clock ticking"?