Wow!! I can't believe I missed this thread, although I've been eyeing it up for the last couple of days. Anyway, I think it might be an idea if I rambled on a few-too-many-words.
Firstly, superdrive1, its funny how our interests are simliar to a degree, I recently completed a 3 year BSc degree, I guess I should be Wessexen(BSc). If you are interested in the details, I completed a course at the University of Portsmouth, in
Computer Games Technologies (mainly on the programming pathway, so I know bits of C++ and the DirectX API... to the rest of you, it may not make sense.). The link is provided so you know what the course entails.
Interestingly, I also managed a few teams as well, while studying on the course as some elements required team work.
Thank you for linking to the thread I started, I am really happy that it is a useful resource and others can learn from it as well.
As you say, AS really isn't a barrier if you think about it, its a hinder sight in one area, an incredible skill in another. Now presenting your incredible skill is the hard part, because they probably know its there, but to satisfy their criteria (explained later), they may have difficulties fitting it into a category.
Adam,I am wondering what is attracting you to these roles, and I would urge you to consider if they would really suit you on a day to day basis.
Customer facing roles can be very high pressure, and can place you in challenging situations involving interaction with strangers, who can often be very agitated and distressed themselves. This is particularly true where the "routine" or "norm" has broken down, eg in times of disruption. You would have to be able to keep calm in the face of pressure from others, abuse, etc.
Any customer facing roles can be stressful, so can facing the public on a daily basis when you aren't working. I just have the misfortune of being easily spotted since I have "the most interesting hair colour known to man and its natural", even though I joked about it to my assessor about "unnatural hair colours" which mine may fit in.
Well, only 1% of people are naturally red and I might dye it if needed be to be less conspicuous.
The best way to deal with it, is to volunteer for a shop, I did and it was a learning process, so was the management who often joked "You'd be the death of me", referring to my rule following nature, I guess that's an AS thing. That is, following the rules to the exact letter. The managers have now changed, I have to a degree as well and I thought I'll be gone before the managers, how wrong I was.
Anyway, the experience you gain in voluntary work is valuable and will help you a lot with your competency questions in the interview, assuming that's how GA (is it still NXEA?) work.
That may be the problem - as always the railways are very dynamic and it can go from being fine to complete chaos in the matter of minutes. At times like that you'd no doubt be forced to work alone and think on your feet, and as every situation is likely to be different, you might find there are times when training only goes so far and you have to deal with the situation there and then.
Yep, and the chaos times are the fun ones. Even working in a shop can go from calm to chaos in a matter of minutes, where you are frantically tidying, dealing with customers and the like. What matters is how you handle it, crack under the pressure and it maybe a bad move, keep calm and do what you can, is the best you can do. The thing I don't have is radios and explaining to someone why a train is late. I guess thats where you have to say to the customer "I am very sorry for what has happened, but I will do my very best to find out whats happening." I really wanted to try that out at Chichester, just to see how good I was in handling the situation.
Careful! "Enthusiast knowledge" counts for nothing, and can even be counterproductive, especially if it comes over the wrong way in an interview.
None of the roles you have expressed an interest in actually get you anywhere near trains. They are customer facing, customer service positions. Seriously, they are not the place for someone with Asperger's.
Sorry, I highlighted it all in red that particular sentence because it is the complete opposite in my view. I am open and honest that I am a train enthusiast, my email signature shows it, my applications mentions it and what I do in my spare time and the interviewers are well aware of it.
In one of my recent ones, I was praised for my interest (which probably was "off the scale") and research of facts for the company, facts that even the other interviewer didn't know. The fact that I've made timetables in my spare time just for one line as a challenge, in Trainz, along with designing my own 3D models, probably has something to do with it. Why?
Because I think they are looking for someone involved in their interest that is willing to learn new areas like timetabling, diagramming, design, logistical operations, you get the idea. One thing I can't do is roster, because there isn't any staff to roster in the virtual world.
If I said "I'm a train spotter and I sit at the end of platforms taking numbers down, photographing trains as well", then what does that say about me? I'll spend my shift doing exactly that and ignoring every customer? Think about it. For me, I'm interested what 313201 for example, is, what it will be doing and what it can do, like, what is the performance like on fast services?
Big tips on applications:
"Give me 4000 characters and I'll write an essay", well OK, more like:
"Ask me to write a page and I'll write a book!". That is literally what it is like with me, the good news, is that I haven't had ANY rejections, because I wrote a book, that I am aware of.
Why? What can you say in 4000 characters? It is a lot you will be surprised to hear. My applications for South West Trains, went from 9 pages, to 11 or so on my third application and I still got a pretty much instantaneous pass in the screening process. At the moment, while everyone is waiting for a decision on their application for the "Graduate Management" position that SWT recently advertised, I know I will be offered an assessment already. I also got a response in 2 days for a Gateline Assistant, which I really was impressed about.
But, waffling like I am doing now is one thing. What you really need to do, is add a lot of quality, this includes perfect punctuation and I really need to find "Mr Grammar" for this. To cut a long story short, someone in a community introduced a fictitious character called "Mr Grammar" to help the forum members finding literature harder to grasp. I'm not perfect and I am sure no one is, because the English language is very complex with its rules on how you use words. Another tip is to print out or even copy and paste your blurb into a word processor (Like "Microsoft Word", "OpenOffice Write", "LibreOffice whatever-it-is", "WordPerfect" and the like) and do a read from top to bottom and ask yourself "Does it make sense?"
Don't be afraid to ask someone to proof read what you wrote as well, I did.
Also, keep it relevant to what you do and what your experiences are. Here is my example from an application (to which, I copied the first few lines.).
My main tasks and responsibilities for the (company name removed) is cleaning and working to a specification and additional duties set out by the duty manager. This includes team work
between the duty manager, the gym staff, the other cleaners and the supervisor to ensure that the cleaners effectively communicate, delegate, follow the rules, regulations and procedures set out by
management and solve problems with some areas of the club when required to clean those particular areas. The duties are often split between two sides, wet and dry, of which we either voluntarily assign
ourselves or decide upon ourselves what duties are to be done and by whom. This usually starts by going through a sheet that explains what has been missed.
If you wondering what I was talking about, I was referring to my duties I performed in my recent employment and you may well be asked for that.
Assessments:
Once you completed your application and it disappears into the sky, probably to be scored on keywords and the like. (That might be why my score maybe high.), filtered, screened and the like. Well, how do you get 300 candidates down to 10? Answers in a PM please.
Just make sure its ethical and fair.
Then you are invited for an assessment and you'll notice a familiar theme, scoring. You will get scored on everything which is good.
I've done 3 assessments so far, one for a depot based role and 2 for a station based one. There also isn't a lot to say about them, except, practice, the sooner and more often, the better. Before the assessment, have a good night, it really does help and I noticed that as well. For some people, taking an assessment on 7 and a half hours is easy, not for me for some bizarre reason. When I was assessed with Southern for a PA, I found the first one easy but I wanted to sleep through the second one, I was fine when I got some coffee though.
Some assessments will take a long time, I was stuck in Knollys House for 4 hours or more, 1 1/2 was waiting with my massively oversized laptop which I won't carry again, because even the recruiter and everyone else couldn't believe how heavy my bag was.
Others are over in minutes, one at Overline House was just 2 8 minute tests. Of which, a further 30 minutes talking to a few candidates and done. Oh yes, break the ice when you first meet the candidates, when I had my South West Trains assessment, no one spoke a word before going into the assessment, it was soo quiet, you could hear a pin drop or my smaller laptop's fan whirring, whichever you found annoying.
Interviews:
They are surprisingly easy, if you know what is involved in an interview. From what I have seen, the interview sheet is just 2 printed sides of A4. The important part is that they ask you 3 to 5 questions and I believe you are scored on these questions, I am not sure if you are scored on anything else though, I'll ask on the next interview. However, basic interview tips applies here and I recommend reading this book:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Perfect-Interview-right-Random/dp/1905211740/ref=tmm_pap_title_0
It worked for me. To be honest, there isn't a lot said about the interview process, apart from the fact, you might find it gets real tight to decide which candidates to select on their scores. I appeared second best for one however.
The medical is from what I remember, very easy, I've only done it once with Southern though, its a series of questions about your health and a check of a few areas, as long as you are reasonably fit and healthy, don't abuse alcohol or drugs, you are fine. For my first and only time, it took them 3 weeks to get back to me to see if I passed the medical, they had to write to my doctors to ask how my Asperger's Syndrome affects me. Interestingly, despite having a history of depression, I passed easily. I guess that's because AS and depression often go together, its how its managed that matters.
I think I've covered everything, PM me if I have not. Also, feel free to share the knowledge, it may not be accurate, but it maybe helpful and vaguely in the right direction.
You know I said I'll write a book? I did just that. It took me an hour to write this, not good when I have to take my car in early the next morning when I write this, for a cambelt change, the little blue Clio is 15 years old and needs its third cambelt... or is it 4th? Either way, I know the last one was changed in 2002, when the life expectancy is only 5 years. Although, it hasn't done the mileage of 72,000 since the last change (which was at 62k), its only done 112 since.
Talking of cars, beaware when you are applying, some roles need cars if you live a fair distance away. Its easy to blag, I did for my first role as I didn't have a car then, but I did have a licence and I got out of it by saying "I would get a car". I ended up with one 4-5 months later anyway which I still have. I've had it for about 2 1/2 years now.