Getting work experience

I have finished university six years ago, I have never had any work experience, any jobs paid or voluntary because I have Aspergers Syndrome and employers discriminate. I do not even have any references to use. Where do I start? I can't even get voluntary work because I have no references and they think I'm a freak and react badly to Aspergers, it's as bad as label as being a sex offender or drug addict I have found. Is there any alternatives? I'm searched everywhere and tried every organisation feasible or possible for many years witohut any success and its destoryingh me.

Reply 1

Nitish.L

Have you talked to unison or the CAB?

Reply 2

Gutcruncher

Not Unison (you mean the trade union?), but have CAB, have been pretty clueless. Just said speak to a DEA at the Job Centre, but DEAs are a waste of time and space in my experience. You never get follow up appointments if you have 'difficult' conditions like AS as they are paid by results. CAB also screwed up some benefits claims of mine, never again.

Just wondering, why did you suggest Unison? I'm open to the idea, just curious about why them in particular.

Reply 3

c0nfus3d

I'm not too familiar with how Aspergers can be an obstacle...care to elaborate please? :smile:

Reply 4

Gutcruncher

Original post by c0nfus3d

I'm not too familiar with how Aspergers can be an obstacle...care to elaborate please? :smile:

Loads of reasons too endless to explain. The sensory problems and disorientation, the sociophobia, poor stress tolerance, and all the comorbid conditions (psychosis, depression, severe anxiety) that go with it in varying amounts. It's a very difficult problem to grasp the full depth and breadth of.

The worst problem though is the negative label. A toxic label.

Reply 5

threeportdrift

Careers Forum Helper

Original post by Gutcruncher

Don't be so negative. I know it's hard when you've spent ages trying and you don't seem to be getting anywhere, but people with AS issues do get employed. As we've discussed elsewhere, but for anyone else who is reading and in a similar position, I employ someone with AS in the company I work for. I realise it is a spectrum, and people have different issues and reactions, but this guy has some classics and as an employer, in a large office, we can manage them no problem, for example -

He dislikes changes in environment and schedule, so he sits in a quiet area of the office with little passing traffic and his team leader sets his work a little more rigidly than for other team members, because he prefers it that way. It's no issue at all.

He dislikes noise - he's allowed to wear headphones in the office as are any other workers, and many choose to because it's a large, open plan office and the noise can be distracting to anyone.

He makes socially inappropriate comments sometimes - we deal with it. We know that the comments come from a mind that just works in a different way, and they aren't malicious. He's actually quite fun to talk to, as you never quite know where he's going to take the conversation, he makes interesting links.

He's not doing the job because we've made any calculation about our diversity statistics. He's there because he has a specific set of skills, and they are exactly the skills we need - attention to detail and the ability to focus for long periods of time, in this case.

Sure AS issues can be quite negative in a lot of cases, but there are still strengths you have as a result. You need to think about what those strengths are, and how they could be applied to a work situation. That will give you a direction to pursue professionally. Then you can focus your job search and be more certain of a positive result.

Reply 6

Gutcruncher

I'm not the one at fault, it is the discriminators, it's not a 'negative attitude' problem on my part. It's not. I never said there aren't any positive features/trade-offs, but that is for naught if the vast majority of employers are so rigidly against employing anyone with a heavily stigmatised conditions such as myself: look at the statistics about people with AS/ASD in employment. The 'negative attitude' problem is at the employer's end. I've been sworn at, laughed at, called skitso and psycho etc, had all kinds of abuse that sexual and racial minorities would not have to deal with. I'm not the problem, the discriminatory employers are.