My Hectic Week as an Autistic Freelance Writer
It all started last Friday — May 19, 2023. I had previously sent a job application to my local library the previous day via my work email. So, when I woke up that Friday morning to check my emails, guess what I saw as one of them?
That’s right. An email from one of the supervisors at my local library wanting to interview me that next Friday.
I was ecstatic. Finally, I was one step closer to getting a real job instead of barely making $100 a month doing freelance writing! But that wasn’t the only good part of that day.
Remember how I told you guys that I went to group therapy every Tuesday? Well, my grandmother and I normally do something afterwards (and end things off by eating somewhere). However, that previous Tuesday, I had two articles to work on. So, I couldn’t do anything special that day.
Cut to that Friday, May 19th. My grandmother and I had lots of fun that warm and sunny day. We went to Books a Million, some home goods store, and we ate at a local burger joint within the local outlet mall. Those burgers and fries were to die for, and the people making my food got my order right the first time! Overall, we had a good day together.
Then, when I got home, I noticed that I had two articles due the next week. And these weren’t any short articles, either. The first one was supposed to be over 4000 words long, while the second one was supposed to be 3200 words long. That meant I had to spend my entire weekend working on the first one so I could meet the due date on Monday.
On Tuesday, May 23, I had group therapy (as usual). When it ended, my grandmother asked if I wanted to do something afterwards. Just like last week, I had to decline her offer. Like I said, I had a long article to work on. Like the previous long article, this one also took a decent amount of research to do. So, I spent the rest of that time working on the last article.
By Wednesday, I was glad to have those articles done. So, you would assume I spent the rest of that time relaxing or practicing for my job interview, right?
Wrong. During that time, I had to revise both articles. Luckily, they were quick revisions, and I haven’t had any problems with them since. However, I did have to clean up someone else’s article throughout the rest of the week because someone had assigned me to do so.
So, cut to Thursday, May 25th. I practiced some interview prepping with a job support person I had been seeing since late March, and I feel more confident in my chances of doing well in that interview. After all, my therapist and the people in my group therapy all told me I was going to be the right person for the job, so it had to go well, right? (Yes, I did tell them about my job interview. They all wished me good luck.)
The big day came — May 26, 2023. My interview was from 10:00 to 10:30 in the morning. I wore my best dress and had my hair tied up in a neat ponytail. I even put a little bit of makeup on. Since I still can’t drive yet, my job support person drove me there. We arrived a little early, so we had some small talk. Then, a few minutes before my interview was to start, I walked inside the library. I didn’t see anybody at the front desk, but I did see a couple of people at the reference desk (ironic since I had applied for a reference clerk position there).
When I walked up to the reference desk, I asked if the lady that had emailed me (Let’s call her Melissa.) was there. It turned out one of the people at the reference desk, a lady, was Melissa. She told me where I was going to be interviewed (some conference room near the entrance) and to wait for a moment. So, I waited.
I didn’t have to wait for too long before Melissa walked towards me and into the conference room for my interview. Another lady, the library manager (Let’s call her Madison.) walked into the conference room with me and shut the door. The two ladies sat across from me, and I looked at their eyes (to the best of my abilities since I’m autistic).
They asked the usual job interview questions, and they also asked questions about what I would do in situations for the job I had applied for. I answered those questions with every ounce of confidence I had, but some of those questions were easier to answer. For the harder ones, I had to pause for a little bit. They probably noticed some of my nervousness, and Melissa told me it was normal to be a little nervous during an interview (which is the same thing my job support person had told me).
Still, I have to congratulate myself for not wavering to my anxiety one bit. I think the interview went okay. Melissa told me I might hear back from around Tuesday (most likely via a phone call). If I do get this job, I’m going to have to work out a schedule with my mother and grandmother (since again, I can’t drive yet). If I don’t, well… at least I know what to expect in a job interview. That’s some worthwhile real-world experience.
In conclusion, I’ve had a hectic week this week, so I haven’t really been able to come up with an article idea here until just now. If I do get this job, I’m going to be too busy actually writing them, which means going back to publishing once a month (bad luck for you guys). If I don’t, then there’s always another job or another chance.
Either way, I should still be thankful for the writing job I have right now. It doesn’t earn me a lot of money, but it’s better than nothing at least. That’s something, right?
