Jobs for Asperger's adults in Canberra?

Hello, Meggsy, I have a cybersecurity business in ACT. I am in fact looking for people with Aspergers. I want to leverage their extraordinary intelligence. There’s some obstructions though: (1) I am looking for some one with skills in R or Python, their statistical and AI/ML libraries. (2) I have not interacted with people with Aspergers before, but I am open to doing that and see how I go. I promise to learn and make it convenient for the aspirant. I will start with one person without any interaction requirements with anyone else other than me. Please do let me know where I need to accommodate so I can make it as smooth as I can. (3) I would like to engage a person who has a laptop of their own and is used to zoom calls. I can have occasional in-person meetings in a cafe that is mutually convenient. (4) I would like to have an initial 3 month assignment with exactly identified deliverable before engaging long term. (5) I am a small startup and hence the remuneration will not be great at least initially. We can discuss this further when we get into a call to discuss the role and expectations.

If all this works, please do let me know through a message here and by providing your email and mobile number and of course a CV. As I said, I am prepared to be flexible to make this work, so please do not hesitate to set my expectations.

Thanks for your post and your support, Katetonia. …Asperger’s can be quite difficult to understand unless you are close to someone who has it… I can relate to both aspects of Asperger’s that you described.

My son struggles in several areas of communication..he has difficulty with asking questions/knowing what to say as well trying to put his thoughts into words… after one of his phone calls to a DES agency we had a talk about it being okay to say ‘I don’t understand the question/what you’re asking’ ..we also discuss what he is going to say before he makes phone calls and questions he should ask …and dealing with other people’s emotions is absolutely a minefield for him..

He is okay with simple tasks that he has done before but he struggles with unfamiliar situations/tasks particularly where he is required to think on his feet/problem solve/think logically through the steps of a process especially when under pressure..EG stuck on the side of road with a flat tyre/car accident…. so the whole job finding process is very difficult for him in terms of working out what to do, how and when to do it, coping with the pressure of interviews and just keeping the whole process moving…

But he has contacted Centrelink and 2 DES agencies and is handing out resumes/filling in web job apps/keeping an eye on (and applied for) job ads in the paper so we’re on the way and he’s doing well although it’s really hard for him ..Hopefully this (and Katetonia’s post) might help people understand Asperger’s a little better and the issues faced by Asperger’s job seekers…

mikal said :

I reckon most of the engineers I work with are on the spectrum, so I don’t think that’s a limiting factor for a career in IT. /

Heh Heh Heh…you’re absolutely correct.

I’m an engineer, and have worked in engineering for over 20 years now. And my discovery of the existence of Aspergers Syndrome a few years ago made the frequently baffling behaviour of most of my colleagues crystal clear.

Ummm…eerrrmm…ahhhh…that doesn’t apply to me of course.

🙂

Diggle said :

There is also quite a lot of non-government software development in Canberra and someone like Tower (as far as I know a company founded in Canberra) might be worth a look.

TOWER (yes, they shout it) is now a wholly owned subsidiary of HP. I’m not aware of many interesting startups in Canberra at the moment, although I’m happy to be re-educated.

While the ACT has a very strong IT industry (mainly government) there is very little in Game Development. Provided his degree is more about logic and programming than design and graphics, he should have little trouble getting work in a Support or Development role (as many have said before me, IT has historically been a field where many people have poor people skills (or any social skill at all), and the public service seems particularly indifferent to people’s abilities in this area).

As well as the APS Jobs website, many departments may have their own recruitment sites if there is a particular area he would be more interested in, and many will have opportunities from Entry Level positions to fairly senior technical roles. The public service does sometimes struggle to match Private Enterprise wages in technical roles, and unless he would be comfortable working as a contractor, he might like to consider trying one of the outsourcing companies that deal with the government. The ones that immediately spring to mind (though I’m sure there’s others):
EDS/HP, Accenture, IBM, KAZ/Fujitsu.

There is also quite a lot of non-government software development in Canberra and someone like Tower (as far as I know a company founded in Canberra) might be worth a look. Any Development experience should hold him in good stead for a role in Game Development, and he might find that the work in another role is just as (if not more) enjoyable. I think many aspiring Programmers want to get into game development, but many senior programmers are glad that that’s not the path they ended up focusing on….

If Game Development is something he still wants to pursue in the longer term, there are some significant Game companies in Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide (if they’re still there….)

As for the long term, there is only one place to work in Canberra as a games developer which is 2K Marin (formerly part of Irraitonal Games). Their works include the recent Bioshock titles and are currently working on XCOM.

I reckon most of the engineers I work with are on the spectrum, so I don’t think that’s a limiting factor for a career in IT. However, if he’s interested in games, get him a modern smartphone (android or iphone), and encourage him to start writing games for it. There are plenty of people making an independent living from apps for these platforms. IIRC the Angry Birds folk turn over $1 million a month on Android alone. http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/03/angry-birds-android-1-million-advertising/

To find a APS job you need to have a look at the gazette which is now a website:
http://apsjobs.gov.au/

Search under ACT and IT!

Good Luck!

I don’t know your son, but there are many people in IT who would be diagnosed or have what they call aspergers syndrome. I find that the parents are much better at making a big deal out of it than it really is.

I wouldn’t shy away from the sort term work. As his mother just be there to provide support when he needs it. Unfortunately life is stressful and the APS is a frustrating and stressful environment, especially to those with a bit of intelligence or in IT. It frustrates the hell out of me and I work for a private IT company doing work for the government.

I also find todays society is great at labelling things and I think it makes it worse. Growing up, I didn’t speak (not a word til I was 6 apparently), wasn’t social at all and very shy. In todays society i’m sure i’d have been labelled something. I think now at 35 I’ve turned out alright. I’m not the most social person, but far more social than I was.

So I reckon just let him apply for some IT jobs, don’t mention aspergers to any employer and see how it goes. Many of the entry level jobs don’t need quals, besides he has done the AIE course which shows he is intelligent.

Thanks guys..this has all been really helpful and my son is making phone calls today to follow up on the information above…

Just a couple of questions in relation to the IT Sector in the APS..

Does he need qual’s/experince for that?
Are there any ways to go about this apart from checking the APS Gazette regualrly? Unfortunately due to the Asperger’s he would not cope well with temporary contracts/short term work which I realise is one of the best ways to get a start in the APS.

Thanks again
Meggsy