Liambruno
Member
Hi. Need a bit of advice from those who are better than I am at surviving the more pretentious popular rituals that have snuck into job interview processes. To avoid a long soliloquy and a bunch of attendant whining about the unfairness of life (which, my analysis tells me, is an indifferent natural force and not the malevolent entity my paranoid side imagines must surely be bent on my destruction alone), I'll just spill it.
I'm between jobs right now, having depended on recruiters and dumb luck to this point to get me to a decent professional position as a software developer. Thing is, luck doesn't appear to be on my side this time. I'm two months into this unemployment stint, and I'm coming up against this cultural fit thing. Prior to being diagnosed, I was shocked and dismayed when I failed these tortuous panel interviews where I'm asked disorienting questions like "what video games do you like?" (when does a working dad with executive dysfunction have time to play games?) and "what do you do for fun?" (geez, nosy much?). I've always thought I was doing well, and then I hear the inevitable words when I get the word back on the panel decision: "you're technically qualified, but we're concerned about the cultural fit." Translation: "You didn't say or do the right things, so we decided we didn't want you working here." Silly, but I think that's really what it amounts to.
I present well enough that most people are surprised to learn that I'm on the spectrum. But these cultural interviews are killing my chances in jobs where I could likely do very well--unless the people interviewing me are so picky about their associations that they really can't stand to have a somewhat eccentric, quiet colleague in the office who doesn't give a crap about wine tastings or the Super Bowl.
Well, great. I wanted to avoid the soliloquy and I've written it anyway. Hey, it was fun; I enjoy writing. Anyway, to the point of my message (and sorry if that's all whiny; I'm really not trying to whine so much as to make fun of the problem while seeking advice). Experience tells me that my reading of people is more often a misread. I know I need to try different approaches for presenting myself and interacting with these interview panels, but I'm not sure I want to reinvent the wheel. What's worked for other employed people here in the cultural fit vein? Thanks for reading this.
I'm between jobs right now, having depended on recruiters and dumb luck to this point to get me to a decent professional position as a software developer. Thing is, luck doesn't appear to be on my side this time. I'm two months into this unemployment stint, and I'm coming up against this cultural fit thing. Prior to being diagnosed, I was shocked and dismayed when I failed these tortuous panel interviews where I'm asked disorienting questions like "what video games do you like?" (when does a working dad with executive dysfunction have time to play games?) and "what do you do for fun?" (geez, nosy much?). I've always thought I was doing well, and then I hear the inevitable words when I get the word back on the panel decision: "you're technically qualified, but we're concerned about the cultural fit." Translation: "You didn't say or do the right things, so we decided we didn't want you working here." Silly, but I think that's really what it amounts to.
I present well enough that most people are surprised to learn that I'm on the spectrum. But these cultural interviews are killing my chances in jobs where I could likely do very well--unless the people interviewing me are so picky about their associations that they really can't stand to have a somewhat eccentric, quiet colleague in the office who doesn't give a crap about wine tastings or the Super Bowl.
Well, great. I wanted to avoid the soliloquy and I've written it anyway. Hey, it was fun; I enjoy writing. Anyway, to the point of my message (and sorry if that's all whiny; I'm really not trying to whine so much as to make fun of the problem while seeking advice). Experience tells me that my reading of people is more often a misread. I know I need to try different approaches for presenting myself and interacting with these interview panels, but I'm not sure I want to reinvent the wheel. What's worked for other employed people here in the cultural fit vein? Thanks for reading this.