I've found that if I can mask long enough to prove my competence people overlook my being a fucking weirdo when it slips off. I do work in IT though so I'm kind of middle of the pack as far as weirdos go.
It can be done. I am autistic, and I’m usually able to fake it well enough to get hired by somebody. Then I try to optimize in ways that reduce the amount of effort I put in to the image.
I literally got my current job by going to their main office downtown and handing in my resume in person. The receptionist told me to wait for 5 minutes and then they had me do an interview the same day.
I mean this is exactly it, right? If instead of posting a new job, you canvass the people who applied months ago, then anyone who says yes has been out of work for months and will probably accept whatever shitty wages and conditions you offer. You are guaranteed a strong bargaining position.
This a actually worked out for a co-worker. He interviewed for a position and the interview went of like 6 hours. He waited 6 months and never heard anything. He applied for another position at my company. Different team, lower pay and not in his specialized field. He got that job. Another 3 months and the boss for the first job called him and said their initial hire didn't work out and asked if he was still interested.
He laughed and said he was already working but would be interested. The boss asked where he was working. He replied "I'm actually down stairs".
He got the job, more money then the initial offer and he was happy in the new position. Probably an unlikely event and I wouldn't recommend trying to duplicate it.
The odds of somebody who was interested 6 months ago to be interested today are much larger than the ones of any random person. And you already have their contact, and already made some kind of screening.
The amount of malice people go out of their way to put on other people's acts is incredible. Nobody cares about you enough to be out to get you. If you don't want the job, just say it.
Companies absolutely care about their bottom line. I never said this was a personal attack - in fact it's deeply impersonal. And of course they're more likely to be interested if they haven't found work yet, that's exactly my point.
Never had a job I would be so down to do something like this, but instead I have to go through interview after interview just for them to say they found someone better qualified, come on it's just bussing tables it doesn't require a PhD 💀
I left out some vital info. I've got two decades of IT experience. I said there's not a time but likely I would have taken it right when I graduated because I was making $10/hr to be out in the sun and get screamed at by a moron. But they wouldn't have wanted me because I hadn't been in IT for 20 years at that point.
Good luck, friend! I don't know the beginning job market anymore so I have no advice, but I really hope things go well for you.
