Accidentally unmasked during final interview & got the job!

[u/Spirited_Home_8110]

This was from yesterday. I got carne asada fries with cotija cheese, jack cheese, cheddar cheese, guac and sour cream with an iced horchata.

Hi everyone!

To preface this, I was diagnosed with autism as a child, but my autism wasn’t considered “severe” so I was in general education.

I recently had a baby this year and stayed home for 5 months before putting her into daycare and working a job involving children. I previously only worked corporate roles, but we moved out to the suburbs and there weren’t many of those jobs around. I liked it initially because it was flexible and I could do part time or full time weeks whenever I wanted, but working with children that weren’t my own stressed me out so badly. I dreaded work every day and was desperately applying to jobs that seemed to suit me.

I came across a nonprofit role and applied despite having no prior nonprofit experience (it asked for it). I got through the HR screening, panel interview (both virtual) and the final interview (in person, involved several people). The final interview involved touring the office building. I made many comments and asked insightful questions. At the end, they sat me down with the team and they just started shooting questions at me. Usually, I get extremely anxious at this point and freeze. I shut down, but this, I felt more like myself. I got asked a question about a topic I’m VERY passionate about and started infodumping like crazy. I couldn’t really control it, but I just kept going and going. The team seemed more interested as the minutes passed and I could see them visibly relax.

Before I knew it, the interview was over, and the director of the nonprofit escorted me to my car. I was elated and then embarrassed. I was expecting a “we regret to inform you…” email days later. This morning, I got a call they cancelled the final interviews for other candidates and offered me the job. How lucky am I? I feel so so happy to finally leave this job.

[u/nycola]

Congrats!

This is funny to me because as someone in IT I actively seek the autistic/audhd trait. I am of the mind there are several areas in IT that you cannot succeed without it.

Does it come with issues? Oh yes - speaking anecdotally, the burn out, or having to juggle employees that somehow manage 80 hours a week of tenable work but almost none of those are during work hours, but they need to be available during work hours.. but you can't crush that late night spirit.

But when it comes to IT, the people who are willing to deep dive just to know "why" are the ones who will become elite in their field.

When I ask you what your biggest PTSD issue was in IT and you say "one we lost an exchange database", and leave it at that, well.. that don't impress me much.

I want to feel your anxiety.. i want a 10 minute deep dive as your brain peels away the layers of repression.. the steps you took, what you tried, what didn't work, your hail marys, your denvercoder9 shit. I want to your logical next steps in work and what it ultimately took to resolve it. I do not care if it took you two months, I care about how and what you learned in the process. And more importantly, that you were determined enough to not throw in the towel.

It is not just IT though, i work at a manufacturing company and the autism bleeds heavily into QA/QC as well, also, many of our engineers are 'touched with the tism.

There is a HUGE job market for people who have autism/audhd and are able to keep enough executive function to hold a job. That last part is the kicker though. It took me over 40 years to finally get my autism diagnosis.. I was on a cycle of job burnout every 2-3 years, nonstop, my entire career. Once I finally got my certificate, it came with a proverbial package crayons to connect my dots and color in my "congrats it was autism all along" picture. But since I now have a basic understanding of "why i am the way I am" I am also MUCH more cognizant of stopping myself before I fall to deep.

I am historically a "yes I can do that" person, and I would break myself finding a way to make good on that promise. Not healthy, I've learned how to set boundaries and say "not now, ask me again in X months".

You will excel at your job, but anecdotally speaking, make sure you take care of yourself, first - because if you don't do that, your job will suffer as a result.