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Disabled engineers make great contributors—if they can get past the interview
[...] People with disabilities are under represented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) jobs compared with their numbers in the overall population, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau. But those who succeed share qualities of acceptance, tenacity, and resilience. By necessity, these engineers and coders have well-honed problem-solving skills.
There are three examples quoted in the article. I am sure some of you have had similar experiences. What are your views on this?
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Why Hire Engineers With Disabilities? They're Practised Problem Solvers
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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
The last time I saw him he was walking down Lover's Lane holding his own hand.
-- Fred Allen
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bradley13 on Tuesday December 27 2016, @09:51AM
Solitary jobs are long gone, and anyone who doesn't enjoy socializing on conference calls will never find work. Introversion is worse than a disability. Introversion is an inability.
As a pretty serious introvert, I disagree. The trick is a bit of self-discipline, a bit of acting, and choosing your battles.
Our organization has a huge annual "optionally mandatory" social event - a gala with hundreds of people. I have never gone, and probably never will. However, it's a bad idea to skip all social events, so I go to small events like our departmental Christmas party. I am already acquainted with most of the people, and get along pretty well with a few of them because we work together. So I interact with them, and pretty much ignore everyone else. You face has been seen at a social event, mission accomplished. That's picking your battles.
If you find yourself in an unavoidable social situation where you have to interact with strangers, remember rule number one: People love to talk about themselves. Ask about their kids, their pets, their hobbies, what they did on vacation. Not just the surface level - find out the details. "Oh, you have teenaged daughter - what are her hobbies?". "She does martial arts? What kind? What belt does she have? Are there many girls in her dojo?". Asking these questions beyond the surface level makes it appear that you are actually interested in them (even though you probably aren't). You can entertain yourself internally by putting the answers into a data structure: The person is the root, the daughter is a level-one node, her martial arts are a level-two node.
If the person you're talking to isn't totally self-absorbed (though a shocking number of people are), they will eventually reflect questions back to you. Answer them with sentences, not just single words. "How many kids do you have?" Don't say "two", instead offer unasked for details: "I have a son who's thirteen and a daughter who's eleven".
It takes practice, it involves some acting skills, but it works.
To the non-introverts reading this: Yes, we really do find it that difficult. When you see us struggling to hold up our end of a conversation, please feel free to jump in and take over the conversational burden!
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 27 2016, @12:00PM
"Oh, you have teenaged daughter - what are her hobbies?". "She does martial arts? What kind? What belt does she have? Are there many girls in her dojo?". Asking these questions beyond the surface level makes it appear that you are
It makes you appear you are a bit too interested in their teenage daughter.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Tuesday December 27 2016, @11:11PM
It's ok, though -- he's only asking for information regarding how thoroughly he could get his ass kicked.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by art guerrilla on Tuesday December 27 2016, @11:14PM
modded insightful, and would a dozen times more if i could...
many normies might find the idea a little off-putting, but it REALLY is good advice for introverts to deal with the (so-called) normies...
i, too, avoid the quasi-social events known as office parties (an oxymoron to start with) for ALL KINDS of reasons, NOT just for personal asocial reasons...
for example, i think it is an ethical mess to invite people to a supposedly informal gathering (perhaps with alcohol), where the whole purpose is to chat (which i don't do), BUT, you damn well better avoid any/all controversial subjects, WHICH ARE THE ONLY SUBJECTS WORTH TALKING ABOUT, as far as i'm concerned... what is the point otherwise ? ? ? to enforce a strict set of social norms outside of which you dare not stray for fear of affecting your stupid fucking job ? ? ?
another thing, i have worked for a number of small firms where the owners/principals were damn decent people and treated you well; i have worked for more firms where they do not... and this total and unmitigated bullshit that nearly all companies push that they are 'your family', is insulting on too many levels to count... Joe Boss would fire me tomorrow if it suited the company's purposes, REGARDLESS of my performance, so i don't want to hear 'you are family' lies... if one of my family doesn't work out, we don't show them the door, we show them some more sympathy... so, i don't want to hear this 'family' bullshit, just shut up and let it be what it is, don't insult me with lies like that...
and then -like the poster said- they have these stilted optional-but-mandatory company gatherings that annoy (and NOT just stupid asocial assholes such as myself, a LOT of employees dread these functions) rather than make a real increase in morale... heh, i got an idea, company greedtards: why don't you pay your people a decent wage and not treat them like criminals, maybe that will help with morale...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 28 2016, @01:03AM
bradley13 your strategies are almost exactly what I employ.
I also take to heart the saying "some people talk about people, some about things, some about ideas."
So here's something to consider. "How many girls are in her dojo?" is a great segue to sexism and challenges for women and for that generation. Steering conversations towards ideas that *interest* you is the trick, so that you're not wasting your time (you're learning or considering ideas you care about) nor theirs (they're talking about themselves or their opinions, which as an extrovert they love).
Also:
> Answer them with sentences, not just single words.
This! Answering with no extra details attached is, socially, begging to be asked more. I would go one step further: answer with a compound sentence, where the second portion redirects to them. Eg. "How many kids do you have?" / "I have a son who's thirteen and a daughter who's eleven, and they tussle a bit; maybe we should put her into martial arts, so she could hold her own and maybe learn enough self control to not lash out unprovoked. Do you think your daughter has found the training helpful for self-restraint?" It's way harder - that's like, 5 times as many words! - but that short reply can probably get you 4-5 minutes of them talking, requiring only very short "uh huh" and "really?" and "does it work that way in practice?" type stuff from you.