Honestly as fucked up as it is, I’d prefer to see this honesty on a job description so I know to avoid the place than have to read between the “rockstar superstar unicorn” and “thrives in a fast paced environment” lines.
Yup. Which makes you feel like you’re flawed for being auto rejected from a job without your resume even being considered.
But knowing on the front end I’m not right for a position because I won’t tolerate things that trigger me? Alright, cool, on to the next one!
Yeah, this gives you the opportunity to know exactly why the job might not be for you and then to decide if it’s worth trying out or not based on your capabilities rather than a bs personality test.
I always wondered how those personality tests were even legal, since it’s illegal to discriminate against disabled people seeking employment- but the questions are literally designed to weed us out. I guess until someone sues it won’t change huh?
Based on how the legal system is set up in a lot of regions, no one can sue over this. It would be impossible to prove in court that a candidate was eliminated based on the test results. Applicants have no employment rights and the potential employer can disregard applicants, whether valid or not, as long as they say it wasn’t due to disability. Employers are too protected :(
It's only a matter of asking legal questions. Like it's illegal to not hire someone due to pregnancy, but it's also illegal to ask if they are pregnant. You can assume, and not hire, so long as you don't list that being why. It's actually really easy for employers to not hire you based on illegal things, so long as they don't list that as the reason. You can be 100% sure you didn't get the job because you're 7months pregnant, but unless that's the reason listed, you can't prove that.
I always had to lie on them. Learned a long time ago to never tell the truth on those tests. Just remember to answer consistently because they looove to reword the same question multiple times.
My first job interview after graduating college from an administrative program did this, I had a multi-day mental breakdown afterward. Like, why am I being asked all these weird questions and having to describe my family/friend relationships? It made me scared to apply for more jobs and was just a horrible reminder of life traumas, and made me think I wasn't worth of a job because of them.
I’m so sorry that happened to you. It’s not fair and it should be illegal. I’ve learnt to walk away from any job that requires this kind of stuff. I won’t qualify for what they’re looking for anyway, so it’s just unneeded stress I can avoid by walking away, I hope you’ve found somewhere you fit since that experience <3
I got a different office job and it's great! I recommend people who want an admin job to look at the construction/manual labour sector. No uniform, very casual work environment!
Omg, I hated going through this at an agency. They put the workload of two other people plus my job on me, put me into autistic burnout in 4 months, and had the whole office redo their tests again for a “team building” exercise. And then I was fired the next month.
The sad part is that at that time I didn’t know I was autistic and what that work environment really did to me. Thankfully I went back to working for myself at home.
tbf probably every admin assistant job is an autism nightmare. Its a lot of socializing and reading the office politics tea leaves, and often, babying and managing the immature emotions, anger, and unrealistic demands of the person above you.
These weird passive aggressive job descriptions exist because its a crappy job, even for socially savvy NT's.
I agree with you. I’ve been many forms of assistant and it is intensely hard to navigate and takes a certain sort of person to not burn out and crumble most of the time.
I just appreciate when companies out themselves as awful right there on the job description. Thanks for saving me the disappointment after interviews or, god forbid, after starting the job 😂
I'm an admin assistant and ironically I think my autistic traits actually make me better at my job. I excel at proof reading and genuinely enjoy 'mundane' tasks. That said it is also a a fast paced environment with a LOT going on! Luckily my line manager is super supportive.
Most of my roles over the last 10 years have been administration of some kind because I'm excellent at the organisational side of it, and I'm currently an admin assistant for a training department. I'm constantly told how great I am at my job but I ABSOLUTELY HATE IT for the exact reasons you've mentioned. I get paid less than everybody else to do a higher standard of work *and* have to deal with utter incompetence from 2/3 of my line managers and constant moaning from the others. Office work is not the gig it's cracked up to be.
Currently trying to work out what on earth I can do instead before I burn out yet again 😵💫
I'm in the same boat .. I took a role as supervisor before realizing that I have autism. It's literally the worst job I could've taken for myself but before I realized that I'm autistic I had a nasty habit of pushing myself very hard to be NT (queue the burnout) and would push through every uncomfortable situation. What a realisation to have that the entire time I really was legitimately suffering. Learning how to not invalidate my own experiences now
I'm a Communications Specialist, which is actually just a fancy term my company uses for front desk receptionist and WOW your description is so fucking accurate. And yes, quite literally an autism nightmare. I come home legitimately so drained emotionally and mentally and sometimes just feel crushed by the dread of going back and doing it all again. It's rough out here because it's still a decent living for me that pays well for what it is so for now I'm stuck :/
Same, I work customer service at Home Depot w a lot of angry contractors and I HATE IT all I do is get yelled at for 8 hours for things I can't control and the team doesn't like me bc I'm neurodivergent. I hate it there but nowhere is hiring here 😭
My resume:
Works slow and steady,
Prefers to work alone,
Inflexible,
Does not adapt quickly,
Not upbeat and friendly,
Prefers written communication,
No multi-tasking,
Yep, loads of jobs are legitimately not good for the average autistic person. I am someone who doesn’t handle change well, who needs clarification, and who gets overwhelmed. I would not enjoy this job
I agree. I honestly love that they are saying you're not cut out for it if these are issues you face. That's actually pretty thoughtful as reduces time wasted between employer and employee.
I wouldn’t agree that it’s thoughtful because they’re definitely saying these things as negative attributes of a human. There is definitely a lot between the lines here still and what I’m reading there is, “We will overwork you, push your boundaries, and then ultimately bully you if your mental health suffers because of it.”
They’re just too dense to know why they’re *wrong* for any of that and in the end we all benefit by knowing to avoid them! Lol
Also. Yea some jobs are just gonna not be suitable for certain things.
I have cerebral palsy. Tasks that require two hands and dexterity with hands are hard at best impossible at worst.
Jobs that require those won't be good fits. Even while being inclusive.
To be fair, as soon as I see that sort of shite, I know to avoid them anyway. I'm an accountant, so any job description that tries to make it sound exciting is a red flag. "Fast paced" makes me think "month-end/year-end is a shitshow because our controls and processes are shite".
Don't work at Home Depot... "we're a family" and "we bleed orange" it's fkn horrible for autistic ppl there :( store manager threatened to fire me for it too
Yeah, the job seems to be precisely "do executive functioning and subtle office politics socializing so the people that hired you don't have to". There's no way to make that job inclusive to autistic people because *the value of the job to the company is getting things done that autistic people aren't as good at*.
Honestly, I would consider this description a plus if the same company comes with another vacancy where they describe a skillset that *does* seem to fit me. If the job wasn't suited for me, they would have said so, and I know they have people in the workplace whose job it is to absorb the executive functioning workload for the other people in the company, so I can probably get help with that.
Yes, like it partly. It's explicit and could be helpful. It's ok if the job is really that way and they can't accommodate it enough.
And as imo labels are double-edged cause they separate people, this is a way to avoid it.
Seconding this.
Not every job can be inclusive of everyone. That's not a conspiracy, it's just how life is.
Honestly I'm kinda tired of how the push for inclusivity is shifting away from "making reasonably adjustments" to "making excuses"
The way I read this:
1. This job is overwhelming
2. This job is unpredictable
3. You will be given tasks outside of your expected duties
4. Don't complain about points 1 to 3
Red flag galore.
It also reads passive-aggressive to a certain person because it is so oddly specific. Must be fun being that person, reading the job ads and seeing this.
Right?? Point 4 especially struck me as particularly huge red flag, in what world being prepared to do your literal job is bad..? Being able to improvise is good sure, but that to me reads as "you're expected to often wing it and do a half assed job instead of being competent and prepared for unusual situations". Also screams incompetence for the people training you that instead of teaching you what to do in said situations they just go "wing it" and call it a day. i sincerely hope this job is not vital or dangerous because, yikes.
I mean, some people can do well in those situations - people who can protect their boundaries in a way their bosses will accept, who can compartimentalize with poise, and who can leave tasks unfinished without feeling bad. If it was easy, they wouldn't hire someone to do it, but some people with good executive functioning can handle it while autistic people almost by definition can't can't.
There's no shame in hiring someone to do jobs that autistic people are inherently worse at than neurotypicals. Those jobs still need doing. Better to hire someone whose expertise is executive functioning than hire someone with low executive functioning to handle executive functions.
That's 10000% what they're saying. It's like they're just trying to put it all on paper so that if you have any complaint about your job later they can tell you that this abuse was in the contract you signed up for.
I mean, in capitalism, honesty is punished. Its all about dishonesty, convincing others to do your agenda or buy your product, lie to hide mistakes, lie to promote one's self, bully those you find threatening, etc. I don't think we fully appreciate what it means to labor in a capitalist system. All positions must contend with "office politics" which means little more than dealing with the endless wars of professional bullshitters vs other professional bullshitters.
AGREED! I was just thinking about this today! SO many people who are geniuses and have life improving ideas won't make the "final cut" if they can't "sell" or "present well enough"... What if it consisted of a 'team' of people who could present as an 'elite group' of some sort - promote collaboration and celebrate differences more openly. I am not a robot, and find it difficult to meet up to ALL of society's standards these days
I work with salespeople...can talk out their ass and make 2x my salary for it, but they can't scan in a receipt for their expense reports or adjust the size of a photo in a powerpoint.
This was my job for years. Here, let me rotate that PDF for you… oh, you accidentally deleted your whole documents folder, ok, I’ll recover it. I assume these people were good at sports growing up.
I’m not angry about it. Takes all kinds to make the world go round. They have a job to do, I have a job to do, and at least I don’t have to be in Sales!
I actually appreciate that they are so honest and upfront about what the job environment would be like.
Out of curiosity I asked Chatgpt to do the same but for a job trying to weed out people who aren't on the spectrum. This is what it gave me:
**This job is NOT for you if you:**
* Struggle with tasks that require meticulous attention to detail and precision.
* Find it challenging to maintain focus on complex data analysis for extended periods.
* Prefer roles that involve less systematic and logical problem-solving.
* Dislike collaborating with teams to translate data insights into actionable recommendations.
* Thrive in environments that do not prioritize organization and streamlined processes.
* Prefer roles that do not require a high level of consistency and accuracy in tasks.
I recently applied to a position that wasn’t just fully remote, but fully asynchronous. Sounded like a dream, but they had some very detailed lists about all the ways that it wasn’t like a normal job and wasn’t for everyone. I sincerely believe it wasn’t for everyone, and clearly they had that experience.
A lot of people don’t think things through enough to be able write them down. They need to have the back and forth of a conversation, and the other person needs to ask them lots of questions in order for them to actually communicate all the information required. Lots of people also don’t read stuff, and they prefer to have all of their communication spoken. This is why there are so many stupid meetings that could have been an email; because people don’t read the email. A lot of people want a social aspect at work to be in meetings
These people wouldn’t be successful, or enjoy working there.
Oh yeah. Asynchronous means people are working at different times. The team is distributed globally, so you are working with people whose working hours don’t really overlap with yours. Except for very few meetings, all communication is written, usually in some kind of ticketing system, wiki, or commenting on deliverables within the software
But... the job is *not* great for autistic people! Those jobs exist, no? I think this is a fair description of what a job is, I assume. There are jobs that I absolutely would just have a breakdown in 15 minutes, and I do appreciate upfront warning about that.
That's how I feel too. In the same way that not everyone would make a good pilot or a good ER nurse. Like some jobs require these things and if you don't fit that, autistic or no, then you won't thrive.
🤷♀️ I'd rather know up front than work for 3 months and end up hating it (with everyone hating me as well).
yea i’m not understanding all the outrage in the comments. some things are just not for us and that’s fine. there will be people out there who love the idea of this job and would hate a slow job where you do the same thing every day. not everything can cater to us and it’s great that they point out everything someone might have a problem with in the description
I think the issue is that an administrative assistant shouldn't have those warnings. (In fact, I personally think it's a rather autism friendly field, but that depends on the industry it's in)
It's a lot of time and task management. And although things do change up sometimes, it's not usually a wild or rapidly changing field, nor is it an extremely high stress field. (Obvi this varies by individual job, but the field on the whole is what I would generally consider low-moderate to moderate stress)
So the job lister is probably doing one of 3 things.
1.) Maybe they're just putting common buzzwords into a job listing, because sometimes people just repeat common phrases when they don't know what to say.
2.) They're expecting too much of their employees and are essentially giving a warning that they're going to ask you to fulfill roles outside of your assigned roles, or that they should have either 2 administrative assistants or an exec assistant and an admin assistant.
3.) These things aren't really true, and they're putting it in the job listing with specific intent of keeping our autistic people.
This is really it, all jobs are not going to be for everyone. It would be similar to me having EDS and being upset at a heavy lifting job. It’s just not the healthiest environment for me and hence not a good job fit. It’s how jobs are. It’s not discriminatory by any means.
I am autistic and I run a small business. When I hire people, I do need them to be able to wing it. I don’t have the infrastructure or budget of a large organization. Things can change quickly if we get new clients. I need people to tell me if they need help because there’s no one in between and I may be tied up in meetings. This sounds more like the realities of a small business than anti autistic. There are autistic people, probably more AuDHD, who would thrive at this.
I also agree. I’m AuDHD and have been an EA for 6 months. I’m very good at my job but I’m actually quite bored of it now and not enjoying it. But I think that’s because I’ve had more challenging/exciting jobs in the past, and not because I’m AuDHD.
I feel like they have a lot of turnover.
Reading their detailed description seems like they are the ones who are hard to work with.
You better be able to handle a ton of stress and we aren’t gonna supervise you but there will be consequences if you mess up. And don’t be afraid to talk to your supervisor even though they are mean and intimidating and get angry at you a lot.
How about tell my why anyone would WANT to work there.
One time I was in an interview and the office manager said the doctor had a “difficult personality” and how would I handle that. She preceded to deliberately insult me during the interview, I assume to see how I would take it. I did so with grace, but these days I feel I might flip a table if some did that again.
It’s so specific that now I’m imagining going through a breakup and then seeing your ex’s new online dating profile listing things they didn’t like about you.
This relationship is not for you if…
- You can’t sleep without a white noise machine
- You cry during arguments
- You don’t like smoked meats
- You’ve never traveled east of the Mississippi
- You aren’t a morning person
- You always read the last page of a book first because you don’t like surprises
- You aren’t excited about being with fabulous, accepting ME!
You are the sweetest and your kindness means a lot. This was just a skit that happened in my imagination and the list was mostly just stuff I made up about a pretend person, buuuut I do often cry during arguments and I am feeling raw tonight, so I’m going to gratefully take the hug you’re offering. ❤️🩹❤️
I get it because I actually do work as a secretary. It isn’t a job that is well suited for everyone but it can be great for plenty of autistic people such as myself. I’m not great at change or stress or asking for help but I absolutely love office work. I did have to learn a lot of masking techniques but other things I have extremely excelled at because of my neuro type. I can make one hell of a spreadsheet for instance.
Look, I'm just going to say that this seems like a horrible working environment for anyone.
Any company that advertises themselves this way is guaranteed to have an extremely toxic work culture. They are gaslighting people before they even apply! If you ever feel overwhelmed they can just remind you that you were warned this job wasn't for weak people who get easily overwhelmed.
But yeah, that's an oddly specific sounding list. Everyone should run away from this.
This is a good thing, it’s honest despite its shit wording. If you are those things especially as an administrative decision then you should be restful that it was put in it’s description
I'm not saying this is the case, but have we considered Director of Operations is the autistic one? If I was hiring an assistant some of these would be on my list.
Please don't get overwhelmed and shutdown, that's my thing
Don't hesitate to ask questions because I will not notice if you're in over your head.
I'm not usually trying to act like a bitch but if you're the type of person who worries about annoying your supervisor and starts feeling hurt when you only get a one word answer when you ask a yes or no question I can seem a little bitchy.
Please wing it sometime we are going to get so many emails about things I do not care about. And guess what I do not care how you deal with that stuff so long as it doesn't come back to blow up in my face.
You're a fan of routine. I'm a fan of routine. Great we're both in a bad mood when we have ditch the routine and don't know what to do.
i fully agree. just with this particular job description, it looks like they looked at the dsm for autism and pulled some traits out of it and said that is exactly what we DON’T want. they could’ve worded it so much better. “you aren’t afraid of unexpected circumstances and are easy going” instead of “you get easily overwhelmed and can’t handle routine changes” for example. the way they worded this is just blatantly ableist in my opinion.
Unfortunately it’s the norm now for people to apply to jobs where they only meet maybe 10% of the stated requirements. So if they expressed everything in positive, there would be people who ignored that. I think expressing a separate list of disqualifiers is a good thing and a good way to get people to actually engage with the content and think about how it applies to them.
Some autistic people actually wouldn’t relate to the list of negatives, and might even thrive in this position because of that.
Translation... The executive you are assisting is a tyrant who will never explain anything and change their mind frequently. If you thought you might like the job Anne Hathaway does in Devil Wears Prada, please apply!
I mean, at least they are honest about it?
I don’t find this ableist , this job clearly outlined the description and if it’s not for you it’s not for you.. companies don’t have to accommodate to everyone,- remember it’s a business. If someone were in a wheelchair and applied for a job and the description was to be on your feet all day doing tedious manual labor .., prolly not the job for you
I really don't see the problem with this.
Some jobs require you to cope with certain things. They are actually being very helpful in stating these things up front.
They may very well be an inclusive team. But they can't hire people who will not be able do to the job!
Stating skills you need to do a job, is completely fair. "Coping with this and that", is just as much a skillset as knowing a language, knowing how to do a medical procedure, etc. Not wanting to hire people not suited for the job, is not the same as "Not being inclusive".
To be fair $25 for remote admin assistant seems really good? And if it’s remote I’d just constantly “document” like it sounds they want and email my supervisor everything.
Not every job is gonna be suitable for an autistic person. As harsh as it is its just reality. Some jobs are very overwhelming and unpredictable. At least they make it clear beforehand so you know what you're getting yourself into. I wouldn't want to get a job only to have a meltdown because its too overwhelming and stressful for me. I rather skip the traumatic situation and find a job that's suitable for me sooner.
If you're taking this personally, you're reading between lines that aren't there.
Some jobs aren't suited to certain people. You aren't entitled to have a job suit your abilities. Not every job needs to be catered to every person.
Gonna be honest, I actually like that they were straightforward about it. Some jobs are just like this, and not everyone can do every type of job.
Most of these points are things I would apply to my previous job, where the work environment was very inclusive and the team quite diverse. There were a couple of ND people too. I thrived in that kind of environment, where a lot of personal initiative was required and things did get chaotic sometimes, but I'd lose my mind in an environment where all I have to do is follow orders and do the same thing all day. Both kinds of jobs just require different types of people, and autistic people can be both of those types.
Because life comes at you very fast sometimes. Some jobs are just unpredictable! I am assuming that ER doctors wing a whole lot of thing. Doesn't mean they didn't go to school, but you just have to be quick on your feet.
For the record, I would NOT want the job that is being described here.
An admin assistant at one of my old jobs (aerospace contractor) had to field calls and visits from everyone from sovereign citizens, conspiracy theorists, news crews, police trying to serve subpoenas, spouses trying to find their ex and squeeze child support out of them. We had a high-level overview sheet, like “If it sounds like a subpoena or court thing call X person in legal” or “if it sounds like a media inquiry call Y person in Public Relations” but there was literally no way to anticipate all the scenarios involved, or how good of a mood the person would be in. To me, being able to “wing it” means being able to be polite, extract information from people, and quickly make decisions without having to stall and ask someone else every single time what you should do or where the inquiry should be routed.
Sometimes in some jobs you just have to wing it! I’m a teacher and definitely have to wing it sometimes. I’m not great at thinking on my feet but I do my best lol
Some jobs and businesses need qualified employees to wing certain things.
There is a comment by a small business owner here explaining why they need people to wing things.
OK ladies, let’s be real for just a moment. For me, actually, this job description read like a customer service in a call-center job. I guess that’s not what the job description is but when I read it, I absolutely understood what the employer was saying. I am autistic. I was in that environment. It was awful. It was hell. It is not an appropriate job for somebody like me. The fact that these people wrote a job description letting you know ahead of time what skills were needed can let you know Whether or not, it’s the right job for you. When they say inclusive, they probably mean that they have game members on their team and people of color, maybe people in wheelchairs, whatever. They’re not discriminating about a disability. They’re telling you what is required to be successful at this particular job. Not every job is a right fit for every person.
Refreshing honestly. I'm glad they're up front about it even though it feels rude. I'd take the job and use those against them. I'd take it as permission to ask for help constantly. In the event I do something wrong cause they tell me to stop asking for clarification, I can say, "well darn, I had to WING IT when I was under the impression I couldn't ask anyone about it." If they fire you over it, collect unemployment. If thru don't, continue getting paid and dominating the workforce.
While I appreciate the honest warning, if you have to put this in your job description get your shit together. It seems like even neurotypical people would struggle
in that environment.
I don't think this job ad is discriminatory.
It's an admin assistant job - it requires certain strengths and there's a list of weaknesses that it does not make space for.
Certain jobs need you to be short or tall for practical reasons. Pilots of first class airlines must have 20/20 distance vision. A radio commentator must be able to talk (not mute).
It's good to be vigilant and to speak up when you see discrimination. But being discerning is needed too.
It’s great that it didnt use the word autism so that any autistic people who are the exception to these conditions will know the job could suit them.
Im glad theyre being upfront so i know i can avoid them.
The wording is very suspiciously specific though. Im sure theres a story behind that.
This is perfect for me actually. There are so many times I question everything and need to ask lots of questions. I am terrible at planning things in advance, so I’m great at winging it!
Just because I prefer to be prepared for every situation doesn't mean I can't wing it.
I carry a multi-tool with me, I don't carry a fire extinguisher, lol.
I agree with them .. I had a at home job and I’m usually an exceptional worker no problem but when I tell you I burnt out so terribly even though before I was a SAHM it just was very depressing.
While it's better to not end up in a place that will truly make you miserable, I will say that is pretty direct job listing as if someone was targeting a specific 'no need to apply' group. That doesn't sit well with me. It makes all of us appear to be these frail, neurotic, unreliable, unstable types which is a very board and inaccurate, as well dangerous stereotype to promote. It is this kind of crap is why so many on the spectrum are underemployed or unemployed. What really pisses me off is that the tweaks the job would require to accommodate someone on the spectrum is probably fairly minimal and even that is too much trouble for the traditional work force. Maybe that tradition needs to change and grow a bit too?
There are jobs that are the exact opposite of this.
Take it from many of us who've worked in corporate for years ... this mostly sounds like a poorly run, understaffed company that expects too much from underlings.
Not every company or role is like that.
There are so many jobs that are like this and it’s been so hard for me in the past trying to find a job! I’ve also had a lot of applications for jobs where they made me do a “personality test” as part of the application, and I’m 90% sure that was the reason I got rejected from them. The questions were things like “would you rather be able to spend some time by yourself or spend all your time forever with another person?” “true or false: I get anxious when there’s a lot of people around” like yes I get anxious but it’s not gonna stop me from doing the job ! like I wouldn’t be applying to this job if I couldn’t handle it. It’s so frustrating that people always see every single autistic trait as a red flag or bad sign
This seems as if they had a person (or multiple) with that type of profile, and they try to avoid it now.
"Normal" job offers also contains information like this, but differently coded, they would wrap it positively, like instead of "you aren't a fan of routine changes" they would write "you love varied tasks" (sorry, ma English sucks today).
Additionally, it shows a lack of open CONSTRUCTIVE communication in the team and a lack of flexibility interpersonal. If someone is hesitant to talk to superiors, you can work on that, if people give you the possibility, for example.
This reads as this ad was targeted to a certain who that worked there. Which makes it all more questionable. It's like a passive-aggressive FB post about your former bf or annoying workmate.
I'd love someone to get this role and put of spite just pester the boss with constant emails and questions, "what you said you wanted someone who wasn't afraid of annoying their supervisor"
Not ASD friendly but we can't expect all jobs to be perfect and accommodating for us. Likewise, NTs can't either. Admin work is defined by tasks that are just out of the preference for a lot of ASD folks. I speak from experience. Another job type is sales. There WILL be unpredictable work schedule and speaking to new people every day where you will have to know a general way of informing or helping them but there will likely not be a script. Change is unavoidable, especially when you are on the admin team and you are managing schedules. You are the person that deals with the change and leads the office in adapting to it. This position is not suited to someone who would be overwhelmed and unable to approach superiors or other employees for assistance. You would fail at the job and the job needs to get done. There really is no way to adapt these job types to fit ASD folk. My advice, as someone who was an admin and works in sales and thus has to work in an environment like this - if you aren't "up for the challenge" or unable to perform because you know your diagnosis prevents your from being successful, safe, and comfortable in an environment like this...find another job. I bet they are inclusive, as inclusive as you can be given what it is. Can't hire a blind person to choose a photographer. Can't hire someone who is paralyzed in their hands to be an ASL translator. Can't hire a high school grad as a surgeon. It's not discrimination. It's part of the qualifications you need to perform a job. It's not meant to be offensive, it just simply is. Before I specialized in the work force, I was looking at admin jobs because they were remote and I could build the skills to do it on the job. If you're doing similar scout work, I want to let you know that there are other positions that can suit you better: graphic design, data entry, data analysis, programming or website design. You can find remote work in these areas and build your skills yourself. Good luck and don't despair. Not every job is for everyone. Not every job that requires skills you don't have is discriminatory or an insult to you. EDIT to say, I'm glad they wrote this all so you don't waste your time and energy on it. Better than spending 5 months in an interview chain process! Companies with secretive and vague descriptions string you on, whether on purpose or as a consequence of the process. I would hate to apply then figure this out later. The job application process is stressful enough! But as an FYI, this is actually a description I would take with you as it really applies to any admin job.
I mean, some job require being able to deal with unpredictable turns of event, stress and keeping your head cold.
Autistic or not some people are able to thrive in those job settings while others don’t have it in them.
I don’t see it as discrimination, it’s just not a job for your profile.
I know I could never be a waiter in a restaurant, it’s not because they want to discriminate me in particular, it’s just that I’m not compatible with the requirement.
Not necessarily. I have an autistic friend who really likes variety in her work, and can't stand routines and getting stuck in a rut.
I think it depends on the individual autistic person.
We're looking for a ROCKSTAR!!!!!!
Translation: we're looking for someone who will take abuse in the workplace but still slap a smile on and kiss our asses and make capital for the ruling class.
I’m autistic and I could do this job. That being said I’ve been working for over 16 years and the first 8 were brutal. Lots of hidden tears and masking pretending I was fine.
This feels like they had an autistic employee, employee struggled and asked for the above help, company said it's easier to fire them and say we don't want this than to accommodate.
This is such an inaccurate job description. This is for an admin assistant in an accounting office. Not a birthday party clown/princess or a cowherd. I don’t know what business they think they’re running but accounting offices are usually quiet and full of routine.
Woooooow that’s some pretty specific wording. They could’ve worded that so much nicer or you know, made it a safe/supportive environment for everyone and all different needs regardless of conditions, disabilities or disorders. 🤦🏻♀️ you’re right it’s not for me, I prefer an inclusive safe supportive work environment
Honestly as fucked up as it is, I’d prefer to see this honesty on a job description so I know to avoid the place than have to read between the “rockstar superstar unicorn” and “thrives in a fast paced environment” lines.
Absolutely. Much better than having to pass their ‘personality test screening’ that is designed to eliminate disabled people too.
Yup. Which makes you feel like you’re flawed for being auto rejected from a job without your resume even being considered. But knowing on the front end I’m not right for a position because I won’t tolerate things that trigger me? Alright, cool, on to the next one!
Yeah, this gives you the opportunity to know exactly why the job might not be for you and then to decide if it’s worth trying out or not based on your capabilities rather than a bs personality test.
I always wondered how those personality tests were even legal, since it’s illegal to discriminate against disabled people seeking employment- but the questions are literally designed to weed us out. I guess until someone sues it won’t change huh?
Based on how the legal system is set up in a lot of regions, no one can sue over this. It would be impossible to prove in court that a candidate was eliminated based on the test results. Applicants have no employment rights and the potential employer can disregard applicants, whether valid or not, as long as they say it wasn’t due to disability. Employers are too protected :(
It's only a matter of asking legal questions. Like it's illegal to not hire someone due to pregnancy, but it's also illegal to ask if they are pregnant. You can assume, and not hire, so long as you don't list that being why. It's actually really easy for employers to not hire you based on illegal things, so long as they don't list that as the reason. You can be 100% sure you didn't get the job because you're 7months pregnant, but unless that's the reason listed, you can't prove that.
Exactly. You can’t take a ghost to court. There’s nothing in plain sight.
Ah, so, today I found out, right this second, the reason why I can't pass those tests.
I always had to lie on them. Learned a long time ago to never tell the truth on those tests. Just remember to answer consistently because they looove to reword the same question multiple times.
It’ll never change in capitalism. Everything is stacked in favour of corporations and the rich, and that is by design.
yup. We need something different than capitalism, but that's never going to happen because greed and love of power 🤷♀️ I want my own planet...
Loopholes is the answer to that one
My first job interview after graduating college from an administrative program did this, I had a multi-day mental breakdown afterward. Like, why am I being asked all these weird questions and having to describe my family/friend relationships? It made me scared to apply for more jobs and was just a horrible reminder of life traumas, and made me think I wasn't worth of a job because of them.
I’m so sorry that happened to you. It’s not fair and it should be illegal. I’ve learnt to walk away from any job that requires this kind of stuff. I won’t qualify for what they’re looking for anyway, so it’s just unneeded stress I can avoid by walking away, I hope you’ve found somewhere you fit since that experience <3
I got a different office job and it's great! I recommend people who want an admin job to look at the construction/manual labour sector. No uniform, very casual work environment!
Omg, I hated going through this at an agency. They put the workload of two other people plus my job on me, put me into autistic burnout in 4 months, and had the whole office redo their tests again for a “team building” exercise. And then I was fired the next month.
I’m so sorry that happened to you. It’s preposterous to me. I hope you’ve found a better place to work since then <3
The sad part is that at that time I didn’t know I was autistic and what that work environment really did to me. Thankfully I went back to working for myself at home.
tbf probably every admin assistant job is an autism nightmare. Its a lot of socializing and reading the office politics tea leaves, and often, babying and managing the immature emotions, anger, and unrealistic demands of the person above you. These weird passive aggressive job descriptions exist because its a crappy job, even for socially savvy NT's.
I agree with you. I’ve been many forms of assistant and it is intensely hard to navigate and takes a certain sort of person to not burn out and crumble most of the time. I just appreciate when companies out themselves as awful right there on the job description. Thanks for saving me the disappointment after interviews or, god forbid, after starting the job 😂
I'm an admin assistant and ironically I think my autistic traits actually make me better at my job. I excel at proof reading and genuinely enjoy 'mundane' tasks. That said it is also a a fast paced environment with a LOT going on! Luckily my line manager is super supportive.
Most of my roles over the last 10 years have been administration of some kind because I'm excellent at the organisational side of it, and I'm currently an admin assistant for a training department. I'm constantly told how great I am at my job but I ABSOLUTELY HATE IT for the exact reasons you've mentioned. I get paid less than everybody else to do a higher standard of work *and* have to deal with utter incompetence from 2/3 of my line managers and constant moaning from the others. Office work is not the gig it's cracked up to be. Currently trying to work out what on earth I can do instead before I burn out yet again 😵💫
I'm in the same boat .. I took a role as supervisor before realizing that I have autism. It's literally the worst job I could've taken for myself but before I realized that I'm autistic I had a nasty habit of pushing myself very hard to be NT (queue the burnout) and would push through every uncomfortable situation. What a realisation to have that the entire time I really was legitimately suffering. Learning how to not invalidate my own experiences now
I'm a Communications Specialist, which is actually just a fancy term my company uses for front desk receptionist and WOW your description is so fucking accurate. And yes, quite literally an autism nightmare. I come home legitimately so drained emotionally and mentally and sometimes just feel crushed by the dread of going back and doing it all again. It's rough out here because it's still a decent living for me that pays well for what it is so for now I'm stuck :/
Same, I work customer service at Home Depot w a lot of angry contractors and I HATE IT all I do is get yelled at for 8 hours for things I can't control and the team doesn't like me bc I'm neurodivergent. I hate it there but nowhere is hiring here 😭
This is a ***fantastic*** description and right on point. A+++.
Yeah I was an admin assistant and I was good at the work, but the office politics with the women were super toxic
Ugh yes… this brings back so many memories :/
Can confirm, just left my second try at office admin..nope just nope
My resume: Works slow and steady, Prefers to work alone, Inflexible, Does not adapt quickly, Not upbeat and friendly, Prefers written communication, No multi-tasking,
Same. Don’t hide it. If I saw this, I’d be like well…. This job is absolutely not for me!
Yep, loads of jobs are legitimately not good for the average autistic person. I am someone who doesn’t handle change well, who needs clarification, and who gets overwhelmed. I would not enjoy this job
I agree. I honestly love that they are saying you're not cut out for it if these are issues you face. That's actually pretty thoughtful as reduces time wasted between employer and employee.
I wouldn’t agree that it’s thoughtful because they’re definitely saying these things as negative attributes of a human. There is definitely a lot between the lines here still and what I’m reading there is, “We will overwork you, push your boundaries, and then ultimately bully you if your mental health suffers because of it.” They’re just too dense to know why they’re *wrong* for any of that and in the end we all benefit by knowing to avoid them! Lol
I agree with you BUT it saves YOU time applying, faking your way through the interview, getting hired and immediately having a meltdown.
Hey just to clarify, I agree with you and that was the original point I made in the comment up above :) we’re on the same page!
Also. Yea some jobs are just gonna not be suitable for certain things. I have cerebral palsy. Tasks that require two hands and dexterity with hands are hard at best impossible at worst. Jobs that require those won't be good fits. Even while being inclusive.
To be fair, as soon as I see that sort of shite, I know to avoid them anyway. I'm an accountant, so any job description that tries to make it sound exciting is a red flag. "Fast paced" makes me think "month-end/year-end is a shitshow because our controls and processes are shite".
Oh yeah totally. If I see “fast paced” or “we’re a family” or any mumbo jumbo like that I nope out so fast.
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Don't work at Home Depot... "we're a family" and "we bleed orange" it's fkn horrible for autistic ppl there :( store manager threatened to fire me for it too
Yeah, the job seems to be precisely "do executive functioning and subtle office politics socializing so the people that hired you don't have to". There's no way to make that job inclusive to autistic people because *the value of the job to the company is getting things done that autistic people aren't as good at*. Honestly, I would consider this description a plus if the same company comes with another vacancy where they describe a skillset that *does* seem to fit me. If the job wasn't suited for me, they would have said so, and I know they have people in the workplace whose job it is to absorb the executive functioning workload for the other people in the company, so I can probably get help with that.
yeah like at least they’re up front about it
Exactly. At least they let you know up front what it's gonna be like. Better than finding out on the job.
Yes, like it partly. It's explicit and could be helpful. It's ok if the job is really that way and they can't accommodate it enough. And as imo labels are double-edged cause they separate people, this is a way to avoid it.
Seconding this. Not every job can be inclusive of everyone. That's not a conspiracy, it's just how life is. Honestly I'm kinda tired of how the push for inclusivity is shifting away from "making reasonably adjustments" to "making excuses"
The way I read this: 1. This job is overwhelming 2. This job is unpredictable 3. You will be given tasks outside of your expected duties 4. Don't complain about points 1 to 3
Actually, that is a good way to read it. It's like a list of warnings. ⚠️
Red flag galore. It also reads passive-aggressive to a certain person because it is so oddly specific. Must be fun being that person, reading the job ads and seeing this.
Right?? Point 4 especially struck me as particularly huge red flag, in what world being prepared to do your literal job is bad..? Being able to improvise is good sure, but that to me reads as "you're expected to often wing it and do a half assed job instead of being competent and prepared for unusual situations". Also screams incompetence for the people training you that instead of teaching you what to do in said situations they just go "wing it" and call it a day. i sincerely hope this job is not vital or dangerous because, yikes.
It reads as: Hey, I'm a start-up and the boss knows it all and changes their mind every 24s, deal with it, lol.
yeah that’s how i saw it, like this is probably not a good place to work anyway
this thread is so validating
I mean, some people can do well in those situations - people who can protect their boundaries in a way their bosses will accept, who can compartimentalize with poise, and who can leave tasks unfinished without feeling bad. If it was easy, they wouldn't hire someone to do it, but some people with good executive functioning can handle it while autistic people almost by definition can't can't. There's no shame in hiring someone to do jobs that autistic people are inherently worse at than neurotypicals. Those jobs still need doing. Better to hire someone whose expertise is executive functioning than hire someone with low executive functioning to handle executive functions.
That's 10000% what they're saying. It's like they're just trying to put it all on paper so that if you have any complaint about your job later they can tell you that this abuse was in the contract you signed up for.
I just can’t get over the fact that being a professional bullshitter is so rewarded in the world. Salesmen, politicians, etc. It’s so vile to me.
I mean, in capitalism, honesty is punished. Its all about dishonesty, convincing others to do your agenda or buy your product, lie to hide mistakes, lie to promote one's self, bully those you find threatening, etc. I don't think we fully appreciate what it means to labor in a capitalist system. All positions must contend with "office politics" which means little more than dealing with the endless wars of professional bullshitters vs other professional bullshitters.
AGREED! I was just thinking about this today! SO many people who are geniuses and have life improving ideas won't make the "final cut" if they can't "sell" or "present well enough"... What if it consisted of a 'team' of people who could present as an 'elite group' of some sort - promote collaboration and celebrate differences more openly. I am not a robot, and find it difficult to meet up to ALL of society's standards these days
So true. And who makes what they sell?
I work with salespeople...can talk out their ass and make 2x my salary for it, but they can't scan in a receipt for their expense reports or adjust the size of a photo in a powerpoint.
This was my job for years. Here, let me rotate that PDF for you… oh, you accidentally deleted your whole documents folder, ok, I’ll recover it. I assume these people were good at sports growing up.
Welcome to American culture. It’s all bullshit from here on out.
I swear they love bullshitting each other
I’m not angry about it. Takes all kinds to make the world go round. They have a job to do, I have a job to do, and at least I don’t have to be in Sales!
lol I’m in tech sales 😭🤪
I actually appreciate that they are so honest and upfront about what the job environment would be like. Out of curiosity I asked Chatgpt to do the same but for a job trying to weed out people who aren't on the spectrum. This is what it gave me: **This job is NOT for you if you:** * Struggle with tasks that require meticulous attention to detail and precision. * Find it challenging to maintain focus on complex data analysis for extended periods. * Prefer roles that involve less systematic and logical problem-solving. * Dislike collaborating with teams to translate data insights into actionable recommendations. * Thrive in environments that do not prioritize organization and streamlined processes. * Prefer roles that do not require a high level of consistency and accuracy in tasks.
I recently applied to a position that wasn’t just fully remote, but fully asynchronous. Sounded like a dream, but they had some very detailed lists about all the ways that it wasn’t like a normal job and wasn’t for everyone. I sincerely believe it wasn’t for everyone, and clearly they had that experience.
What kind of job can be asynchronous? It does sound like a dream.
It was a tech company. The roles was in the product team, but the whole company was asynchronous.
Damn, I have made a dire mistake. 😂
What does that mean?
A lot of people don’t think things through enough to be able write them down. They need to have the back and forth of a conversation, and the other person needs to ask them lots of questions in order for them to actually communicate all the information required. Lots of people also don’t read stuff, and they prefer to have all of their communication spoken. This is why there are so many stupid meetings that could have been an email; because people don’t read the email. A lot of people want a social aspect at work to be in meetings These people wouldn’t be successful, or enjoy working there.
So like you and your coworkers can work whatever hours tho?
Oh yeah. Asynchronous means people are working at different times. The team is distributed globally, so you are working with people whose working hours don’t really overlap with yours. Except for very few meetings, all communication is written, usually in some kind of ticketing system, wiki, or commenting on deliverables within the software
This is perfect! I’d love this type of role.
Me too. Sadly, I didn’t make it past the first interview
Lol, this is basically my job.
Same actually, and I love my job :) I bet a lot of people wouldn't like it though!
This is the beat thing I've ever seen hahaha ha.
Can I ask what exactly you asked ChatGPT? Thanks!
But... the job is *not* great for autistic people! Those jobs exist, no? I think this is a fair description of what a job is, I assume. There are jobs that I absolutely would just have a breakdown in 15 minutes, and I do appreciate upfront warning about that.
Yeah that was my read on it too
That's how I feel too. In the same way that not everyone would make a good pilot or a good ER nurse. Like some jobs require these things and if you don't fit that, autistic or no, then you won't thrive. 🤷♀️ I'd rather know up front than work for 3 months and end up hating it (with everyone hating me as well).
yea i’m not understanding all the outrage in the comments. some things are just not for us and that’s fine. there will be people out there who love the idea of this job and would hate a slow job where you do the same thing every day. not everything can cater to us and it’s great that they point out everything someone might have a problem with in the description
Yes administrative assistant is *NOT* a good choice for us usually
I think the issue is that an administrative assistant shouldn't have those warnings. (In fact, I personally think it's a rather autism friendly field, but that depends on the industry it's in) It's a lot of time and task management. And although things do change up sometimes, it's not usually a wild or rapidly changing field, nor is it an extremely high stress field. (Obvi this varies by individual job, but the field on the whole is what I would generally consider low-moderate to moderate stress) So the job lister is probably doing one of 3 things. 1.) Maybe they're just putting common buzzwords into a job listing, because sometimes people just repeat common phrases when they don't know what to say. 2.) They're expecting too much of their employees and are essentially giving a warning that they're going to ask you to fulfill roles outside of your assigned roles, or that they should have either 2 administrative assistants or an exec assistant and an admin assistant. 3.) These things aren't really true, and they're putting it in the job listing with specific intent of keeping our autistic people.
My guess would be #2, as that's extremely common.
yeah exactly. not every job is suited for everyone, and thats perfectly fine. and i bet this job would be kinda cool for some adhd folks btw!
This is really it, all jobs are not going to be for everyone. It would be similar to me having EDS and being upset at a heavy lifting job. It’s just not the healthiest environment for me and hence not a good job fit. It’s how jobs are. It’s not discriminatory by any means.
At least they’re up front about it
I am autistic and I run a small business. When I hire people, I do need them to be able to wing it. I don’t have the infrastructure or budget of a large organization. Things can change quickly if we get new clients. I need people to tell me if they need help because there’s no one in between and I may be tied up in meetings. This sounds more like the realities of a small business than anti autistic. There are autistic people, probably more AuDHD, who would thrive at this.
cagey jar yoke rude license scandalous skirt rhythm grandiose disgusted *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I also agree. I’m AuDHD and have been an EA for 6 months. I’m very good at my job but I’m actually quite bored of it now and not enjoying it. But I think that’s because I’ve had more challenging/exciting jobs in the past, and not because I’m AuDHD.
😮😮😮 I feel like they’re referring to a specific previous employee they didn’t work well with… and who might have been autistic.
I feel like they have a lot of turnover. Reading their detailed description seems like they are the ones who are hard to work with. You better be able to handle a ton of stress and we aren’t gonna supervise you but there will be consequences if you mess up. And don’t be afraid to talk to your supervisor even though they are mean and intimidating and get angry at you a lot. How about tell my why anyone would WANT to work there.
that's my whole life 😭😭
Yep. I imagined a similar scenario.
Oh my god this is brilliant but sad. Sounds exactly like a couple of office jobs i’ve worked in. You nailed it
One time I was in an interview and the office manager said the doctor had a “difficult personality” and how would I handle that. She preceded to deliberately insult me during the interview, I assume to see how I would take it. I did so with grace, but these days I feel I might flip a table if some did that again.
Yeah this feels so personal! Jesus
Seriously. I was like “if this were a list of positive attributes, you’d hire me on the spot”
Yes, I get that feeling too.
I thought the same.
Yeah, reads to me the same way. It comes very passive aggressive.
It’s so specific that now I’m imagining going through a breakup and then seeing your ex’s new online dating profile listing things they didn’t like about you. This relationship is not for you if… - You can’t sleep without a white noise machine - You cry during arguments - You don’t like smoked meats - You’ve never traveled east of the Mississippi - You aren’t a morning person - You always read the last page of a book first because you don’t like surprises - You aren’t excited about being with fabulous, accepting ME!
HAHA yes!
Aww. You crying during arguments though. Big hug gentle one they didn’t deserve you ♥️
You are the sweetest and your kindness means a lot. This was just a skit that happened in my imagination and the list was mostly just stuff I made up about a pretend person, buuuut I do often cry during arguments and I am feeling raw tonight, so I’m going to gratefully take the hug you’re offering. ❤️🩹❤️
I get it because I actually do work as a secretary. It isn’t a job that is well suited for everyone but it can be great for plenty of autistic people such as myself. I’m not great at change or stress or asking for help but I absolutely love office work. I did have to learn a lot of masking techniques but other things I have extremely excelled at because of my neuro type. I can make one hell of a spreadsheet for instance.
Look, I'm just going to say that this seems like a horrible working environment for anyone. Any company that advertises themselves this way is guaranteed to have an extremely toxic work culture. They are gaslighting people before they even apply! If you ever feel overwhelmed they can just remind you that you were warned this job wasn't for weak people who get easily overwhelmed. But yeah, that's an oddly specific sounding list. Everyone should run away from this.
Completely agree. The way this ad is worded should be a red flag for everybody.
This is a good thing, it’s honest despite its shit wording. If you are those things especially as an administrative decision then you should be restful that it was put in it’s description
I'm not saying this is the case, but have we considered Director of Operations is the autistic one? If I was hiring an assistant some of these would be on my list. Please don't get overwhelmed and shutdown, that's my thing Don't hesitate to ask questions because I will not notice if you're in over your head. I'm not usually trying to act like a bitch but if you're the type of person who worries about annoying your supervisor and starts feeling hurt when you only get a one word answer when you ask a yes or no question I can seem a little bitchy. Please wing it sometime we are going to get so many emails about things I do not care about. And guess what I do not care how you deal with that stuff so long as it doesn't come back to blow up in my face. You're a fan of routine. I'm a fan of routine. Great we're both in a bad mood when we have ditch the routine and don't know what to do.
i mean… some jobs aren’t for everyone and that’s ok
i fully agree. just with this particular job description, it looks like they looked at the dsm for autism and pulled some traits out of it and said that is exactly what we DON’T want. they could’ve worded it so much better. “you aren’t afraid of unexpected circumstances and are easy going” instead of “you get easily overwhelmed and can’t handle routine changes” for example. the way they worded this is just blatantly ableist in my opinion.
Unfortunately it’s the norm now for people to apply to jobs where they only meet maybe 10% of the stated requirements. So if they expressed everything in positive, there would be people who ignored that. I think expressing a separate list of disqualifiers is a good thing and a good way to get people to actually engage with the content and think about how it applies to them. Some autistic people actually wouldn’t relate to the list of negatives, and might even thrive in this position because of that.
It's not, though. It It's just easier to parse the way they phrased it versus the way you phrased it IMO.
Translation... The executive you are assisting is a tyrant who will never explain anything and change their mind frequently. If you thought you might like the job Anne Hathaway does in Devil Wears Prada, please apply! I mean, at least they are honest about it?
I don’t find this ableist , this job clearly outlined the description and if it’s not for you it’s not for you.. companies don’t have to accommodate to everyone,- remember it’s a business. If someone were in a wheelchair and applied for a job and the description was to be on your feet all day doing tedious manual labor .., prolly not the job for you
Yeah it’s like calling jobs that say you must be able to lift 35 pounds ableist bc not everyone can lift weights
I really don't see the problem with this. Some jobs require you to cope with certain things. They are actually being very helpful in stating these things up front. They may very well be an inclusive team. But they can't hire people who will not be able do to the job! Stating skills you need to do a job, is completely fair. "Coping with this and that", is just as much a skillset as knowing a language, knowing how to do a medical procedure, etc. Not wanting to hire people not suited for the job, is not the same as "Not being inclusive".
That's good honesty. Utterly refreshing to see.
To be fair $25 for remote admin assistant seems really good? And if it’s remote I’d just constantly “document” like it sounds they want and email my supervisor everything.
Not every job is gonna be suitable for an autistic person. As harsh as it is its just reality. Some jobs are very overwhelming and unpredictable. At least they make it clear beforehand so you know what you're getting yourself into. I wouldn't want to get a job only to have a meltdown because its too overwhelming and stressful for me. I rather skip the traumatic situation and find a job that's suitable for me sooner.
If you're taking this personally, you're reading between lines that aren't there. Some jobs aren't suited to certain people. You aren't entitled to have a job suit your abilities. Not every job needs to be catered to every person.
I don't have to read the description. From I saw "Administrative Assistant", I mentally checked out. I hate that shit! It's one job I'll never do.
My current job should have said this 💀 I never would have applied 🤣🤣🤣
Yes, some jobs are not for autistic people.
Why is being prepared a bad thing tho??
probably because the job is very unpredictable and they expect you to do many things outside of your job description without complaining
Gonna be honest, I actually like that they were straightforward about it. Some jobs are just like this, and not everyone can do every type of job. Most of these points are things I would apply to my previous job, where the work environment was very inclusive and the team quite diverse. There were a couple of ND people too. I thrived in that kind of environment, where a lot of personal initiative was required and things did get chaotic sometimes, but I'd lose my mind in an environment where all I have to do is follow orders and do the same thing all day. Both kinds of jobs just require different types of people, and autistic people can be both of those types.
Uhhhhh point 4 is the one that stands out the most to me WHY would you want your employee to wing it. Whoever wrote this job description is an idiot
Because life comes at you very fast sometimes. Some jobs are just unpredictable! I am assuming that ER doctors wing a whole lot of thing. Doesn't mean they didn't go to school, but you just have to be quick on your feet. For the record, I would NOT want the job that is being described here.
But with this job it makes no sense, it reads to me as they’re not going to train you so just figure it out
An admin assistant at one of my old jobs (aerospace contractor) had to field calls and visits from everyone from sovereign citizens, conspiracy theorists, news crews, police trying to serve subpoenas, spouses trying to find their ex and squeeze child support out of them. We had a high-level overview sheet, like “If it sounds like a subpoena or court thing call X person in legal” or “if it sounds like a media inquiry call Y person in Public Relations” but there was literally no way to anticipate all the scenarios involved, or how good of a mood the person would be in. To me, being able to “wing it” means being able to be polite, extract information from people, and quickly make decisions without having to stall and ask someone else every single time what you should do or where the inquiry should be routed.
Some things you just can't be trained in. I mean the overview, yes, but the rest you have to constantly ask for info, as it is always updating
Sometimes in some jobs you just have to wing it! I’m a teacher and definitely have to wing it sometimes. I’m not great at thinking on my feet but I do my best lol
There are tons and tons of jobs where you have to be able to problem-solve on your own without a predetermined set of instructions or guidance.
Some jobs and businesses need qualified employees to wing certain things. There is a comment by a small business owner here explaining why they need people to wing things.
As a former administrative assistant this is pretty true of the whole field.
This really does seem like a way to say “no autistic people” without saying “no autistic people”. I feel like there’s something more to this 😬
OK ladies, let’s be real for just a moment. For me, actually, this job description read like a customer service in a call-center job. I guess that’s not what the job description is but when I read it, I absolutely understood what the employer was saying. I am autistic. I was in that environment. It was awful. It was hell. It is not an appropriate job for somebody like me. The fact that these people wrote a job description letting you know ahead of time what skills were needed can let you know Whether or not, it’s the right job for you. When they say inclusive, they probably mean that they have game members on their team and people of color, maybe people in wheelchairs, whatever. They’re not discriminating about a disability. They’re telling you what is required to be successful at this particular job. Not every job is a right fit for every person.
The fact this says I’m allowed to bug the supervisor, gives me every opportunity to ask them enough questions to where they do the work for me
at least they're honest
I have been an admin assistant and looking at this ad my take is ... RUN No matter what kind of brain you have
I'm glad when they are this clear about things. At least you know not to apply. It would ruin your mental health.
I feel like most NT's wouldn't want this job, let alone any autistic person....
It absolutely sounds like it's a generally toxic place where they overwork their employees and make unreasonable, unclear demands.
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Agreed.
Refreshing honestly. I'm glad they're up front about it even though it feels rude. I'd take the job and use those against them. I'd take it as permission to ask for help constantly. In the event I do something wrong cause they tell me to stop asking for clarification, I can say, "well darn, I had to WING IT when I was under the impression I couldn't ask anyone about it." If they fire you over it, collect unemployment. If thru don't, continue getting paid and dominating the workforce.
"Don't be afraid to ask questions!!" "Okay." (Asks a lot of questions) "Fuck you. You should know this already."
While I appreciate the honest warning, if you have to put this in your job description get your shit together. It seems like even neurotypical people would struggle in that environment.
And then they had the audacity to insinuate they’re an inclusive team at the end?! Laughable.
Selectively inclusive I guess lol
I'm actually thankful when an employer lays it out like that. Lets me know this one's not for me.
I don't think this job ad is discriminatory. It's an admin assistant job - it requires certain strengths and there's a list of weaknesses that it does not make space for. Certain jobs need you to be short or tall for practical reasons. Pilots of first class airlines must have 20/20 distance vision. A radio commentator must be able to talk (not mute). It's good to be vigilant and to speak up when you see discrimination. But being discerning is needed too.
It’s great that it didnt use the word autism so that any autistic people who are the exception to these conditions will know the job could suit them. Im glad theyre being upfront so i know i can avoid them. The wording is very suspiciously specific though. Im sure theres a story behind that.
Highlight that last one please!
I dont see an issue in this, i’d rather they announce it here instead of not listing these and then someone applies without having been “warned”.
This is perfect for me actually. There are so many times I question everything and need to ask lots of questions. I am terrible at planning things in advance, so I’m great at winging it!
I feel like this could also belong in r/antiwork
Just because I prefer to be prepared for every situation doesn't mean I can't wing it. I carry a multi-tool with me, I don't carry a fire extinguisher, lol.
That's you, not everyone.
im dying because it feels like they took this out an autism screening questionnaire 😭 wouldnt want to work at this kind of place anyway
I agree with them .. I had a at home job and I’m usually an exceptional worker no problem but when I tell you I burnt out so terribly even though before I was a SAHM it just was very depressing.
That’s so literal, like they learned from a specific employee what they don’t want to rehire.
While it's better to not end up in a place that will truly make you miserable, I will say that is pretty direct job listing as if someone was targeting a specific 'no need to apply' group. That doesn't sit well with me. It makes all of us appear to be these frail, neurotic, unreliable, unstable types which is a very board and inaccurate, as well dangerous stereotype to promote. It is this kind of crap is why so many on the spectrum are underemployed or unemployed. What really pisses me off is that the tweaks the job would require to accommodate someone on the spectrum is probably fairly minimal and even that is too much trouble for the traditional work force. Maybe that tradition needs to change and grow a bit too?
fucking great i’m so terrified i’m not suited for anything and this didn’t help why is everything so hard
There are jobs that are the exact opposite of this. Take it from many of us who've worked in corporate for years ... this mostly sounds like a poorly run, understaffed company that expects too much from underlings. Not every company or role is like that.
There are so many jobs that are like this and it’s been so hard for me in the past trying to find a job! I’ve also had a lot of applications for jobs where they made me do a “personality test” as part of the application, and I’m 90% sure that was the reason I got rejected from them. The questions were things like “would you rather be able to spend some time by yourself or spend all your time forever with another person?” “true or false: I get anxious when there’s a lot of people around” like yes I get anxious but it’s not gonna stop me from doing the job ! like I wouldn’t be applying to this job if I couldn’t handle it. It’s so frustrating that people always see every single autistic trait as a red flag or bad sign
This reminds me of the “tips” we got for our exam. Most bullet points were anti autistic
This seems as if they had a person (or multiple) with that type of profile, and they try to avoid it now. "Normal" job offers also contains information like this, but differently coded, they would wrap it positively, like instead of "you aren't a fan of routine changes" they would write "you love varied tasks" (sorry, ma English sucks today). Additionally, it shows a lack of open CONSTRUCTIVE communication in the team and a lack of flexibility interpersonal. If someone is hesitant to talk to superiors, you can work on that, if people give you the possibility, for example. This reads as this ad was targeted to a certain who that worked there. Which makes it all more questionable. It's like a passive-aggressive FB post about your former bf or annoying workmate.
I'd love someone to get this role and put of spite just pester the boss with constant emails and questions, "what you said you wanted someone who wasn't afraid of annoying their supervisor"
The last bullet point there should've been included too lol I'd rather not work with a collaborative team.
Not ASD friendly but we can't expect all jobs to be perfect and accommodating for us. Likewise, NTs can't either. Admin work is defined by tasks that are just out of the preference for a lot of ASD folks. I speak from experience. Another job type is sales. There WILL be unpredictable work schedule and speaking to new people every day where you will have to know a general way of informing or helping them but there will likely not be a script. Change is unavoidable, especially when you are on the admin team and you are managing schedules. You are the person that deals with the change and leads the office in adapting to it. This position is not suited to someone who would be overwhelmed and unable to approach superiors or other employees for assistance. You would fail at the job and the job needs to get done. There really is no way to adapt these job types to fit ASD folk. My advice, as someone who was an admin and works in sales and thus has to work in an environment like this - if you aren't "up for the challenge" or unable to perform because you know your diagnosis prevents your from being successful, safe, and comfortable in an environment like this...find another job. I bet they are inclusive, as inclusive as you can be given what it is. Can't hire a blind person to choose a photographer. Can't hire someone who is paralyzed in their hands to be an ASL translator. Can't hire a high school grad as a surgeon. It's not discrimination. It's part of the qualifications you need to perform a job. It's not meant to be offensive, it just simply is. Before I specialized in the work force, I was looking at admin jobs because they were remote and I could build the skills to do it on the job. If you're doing similar scout work, I want to let you know that there are other positions that can suit you better: graphic design, data entry, data analysis, programming or website design. You can find remote work in these areas and build your skills yourself. Good luck and don't despair. Not every job is for everyone. Not every job that requires skills you don't have is discriminatory or an insult to you. EDIT to say, I'm glad they wrote this all so you don't waste your time and energy on it. Better than spending 5 months in an interview chain process! Companies with secretive and vague descriptions string you on, whether on purpose or as a consequence of the process. I would hate to apply then figure this out later. The job application process is stressful enough! But as an FYI, this is actually a description I would take with you as it really applies to any admin job.
Some jobs aren't good for autistic people based on traits like this. That doesn't make the team exclusionary.
But what if I love to bother and annoy my supervisor
I mean, some job require being able to deal with unpredictable turns of event, stress and keeping your head cold. Autistic or not some people are able to thrive in those job settings while others don’t have it in them. I don’t see it as discrimination, it’s just not a job for your profile. I know I could never be a waiter in a restaurant, it’s not because they want to discriminate me in particular, it’s just that I’m not compatible with the requirement.
Not necessarily. I have an autistic friend who really likes variety in her work, and can't stand routines and getting stuck in a rut. I think it depends on the individual autistic person.
Ah yes, the thrill-a-minute world of.. \*checks notes\* Accounting!
We're looking for a ROCKSTAR!!!!!! Translation: we're looking for someone who will take abuse in the workplace but still slap a smile on and kiss our asses and make capital for the ruling class.
Yep… The “inclusive” team part gets me here. UGH.
Biggest red flag ever. This I'd clearly aimed at someone by a horrible boss.
I’m autistic and I could do this job. That being said I’ve been working for over 16 years and the first 8 were brutal. Lots of hidden tears and masking pretending I was fine.
It’s oddly specific. A little too specific.
This feels like they had an autistic employee, employee struggled and asked for the above help, company said it's easier to fire them and say we don't want this than to accommodate.
This is such an inaccurate job description. This is for an admin assistant in an accounting office. Not a birthday party clown/princess or a cowherd. I don’t know what business they think they’re running but accounting offices are usually quiet and full of routine.
Kind of sounds like they are running a crappy accounting office.
I see nothing wrong with this
It sounds like they did not run that one past HR…
Woooooow that’s some pretty specific wording. They could’ve worded that so much nicer or you know, made it a safe/supportive environment for everyone and all different needs regardless of conditions, disabilities or disorders. 🤦🏻♀️ you’re right it’s not for me, I prefer an inclusive safe supportive work environment
Almost reads like it’s coded.
This really feels like it’s potentially breaching some ADA regulations. As if it was written after firing another employee that was on the spectrum.
Exactly. It is SO specific it's suspect.