Five fields an Aspie should NEVER work in

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I have personal experience with 1,3, and 4 on your list and all prior to diagnosis. I absolutely agree and am currently in a middle management position (within an emergency services industry) which makes dealing with the social politics of manipulative and narcissistic personalities a minor daily nightmare. I absolutely hate it and know I will never want to manage people personally.

The only stipulation I might add is that an Aspie can be successful in one of these fields IF it is a special interest for them. I grew up hanging around the fire department and spent some time as a volunteer firefighter but the politics (and feeling sensory overwhelmed once I started using my Firefighter I certification on an actual scene) did me in and I left. My father and uncle however have each spent 30+ years in the field with a high rate of success and achievement and both have Asperger's.

In my observational experience if your interest in a subject provides you with above average skill and dedication in the field, and you are capable of managing the basics of social skills to function within a group as well as the ability to follow the organization rules, then you can be a success. Maybe just not a classically popular one...

I'm a qualified Music teacher but have struggled getting permanent jobs because of poor interview skills, although I am a damn good teacher.

I love kids and get along far better with children than with adults - I struggle interacting with the other teachers and would be quite happy to never see any of them.

I have done supply teaching which is a nightmare as you never know whether there is work that day, or where you will be going or what you will be doing.

At the moment I am writing a book - a perfect job - I get to sit at home all day on the computer and never have to talk to anyone - bliss!

That's funny - you think I haven't tried?

I have applied for every job going recently. There is a reason I'm still at home out of work.

Partly it's crap interview skills and partly I'm too old and too expensive now - I'm in direct competition with younger, cheaper teachers. I used to get interviews and not get the job - now I don't even get the interviews.

The last job I had was 2005-2008 teaching Music part time in a nice primary school - I got pregnant and went on maternity, intending to go back afterwards, but I decided I wanted to stay at home with my baby instead. Since then I have not been able to get back into proper teaching.

i am sorry i have read no posts in this thread, but none the less i will reply.

i can say that 2 areas of employment that spectacularly failed for me were "customer service", and "sales representative".


when i was about 18, i got a job in a library, and one of the things i had to do was interact with people from the general public.
i could not placate my woman boss (i forget her name and also what she looks like), and she watched me like a hawk (but with less intelligence) from the upstairs level.

every day she had a problem with me and i simply did not care.

one example was near christmas time, and she ordered me to say to people "merry christmas and a happy new year", and she also directed me to smile at the customers as i stamped their return dates on the cards in the back of the books they were borrowing.

i refused to say "happy new year", but i agreed to say "merry christmas" (under sufferance), so an agreement was established that i would say (as i stamped their books) "thankyou. merry christmas". (i also refused to smile because i only smile when i feel like it).


so she agreed to my terms, but i became entrenched in a robotic assembly line style utterance of "thump (the stamp sound), thankyou very much merry christmas" as i processed them.

if they had 4 books that i had to stamp, i thumped each book and said "thankyou very much merry christmas" without regard that i was saying it repeatedly to the same person.

various children became interested in watching me, and the woman upstairs realized that i was not appropriate for the job.


a short time later i started a job which i realized was simply selling pots and pans after i went to the place on my first day of work.

i thought "i will go with the others in the car and i will take my pots and pans i am supposed to sell, but when i get there i am just going to leave the pots and pans in their car and go home".

and that is what i did.

i am doing quite well now because i realized that i am my best boss, and i figure out what i should do and do it, and i do not have much cause for worry.

As an undiagnosed aspie, I too know how it feels, when it comes to landing and keeping a job. But, I want to come and share some tips that have really been helping me and hopefully, maybe it could help others too?

I have to admit, I'm quite stubborn at times and have always tried to exceed goals & expectations.

YES! I struggle, I fall and I get knocked back more times, than i'd like to admit, but I guess part of the reason why I do it, is because, I've figured out how to apply much of the information, I take in. This allows me to master skills in such a short space of time - even the ones where, I would often struggle with. Within, the past 5 years, I've had a broad range of successful occupations, all of which, may be considered as NO-GO job areas for aspies. I've worked as a: Professional Dancer/Dance Teacher, Administrator/Press Officer, Waiter and now currently working in Sales. With these, jobs, although in the beginning, i'd struggle a great deal - I'd always try and learn any theory behind these roles. As soon as I've mastered the theory, I'd now have a foundation to begin working on top of - so that I settle into the role ASAP and then applying the theory to the job itself. By doing this, I'd become very good - very quickly, much to the annoyance of many co-workers (particularly in Sales lol), but the employers will absolutely love you. One of the main things, that allow for success in the world of work, is to try and be 10 steps ahead. That doesn't mean to try and see into the future or to predict events, but rather it means to have a series of back-up plans or goals. I can't speak for everyone, but for me personally, I get very bored, if I have nothing to work towards (this can be bad if there's no room for job progression) - I love the challenge of overcoming great odds to achieve something, regardless, of how much money I make - I love doing a job well and always take great pride in my work.

So, I ALWAYS learn as much as I can about the company I work for and the different roles there are and see if there are any levels of progression within the company and then set myself short/mid/long term goals. I always actively go and seek out information by having one on one talks with the bosses (I don't do so well talking in groups) to gain a much broader understanding. This also shows the bosses, that your really keen on progression and have a strong willingness to learn. BUT THIS DOESN'T MEAN THAT I SUCK UP TO THEM!

I've not been able to do this on my own - I'm never afraid of asking for help - of course I still get many many things completely wrong, but at least now, when it comes to work, I won't have to worry about lasting till the end of the month, or not having the financial stability anymore, because these are skills you can always take with you, wherever you go.

So just to recap the main tips are:

Be humble
Be persistent
Be motivated
Find out as much as you can about the company/job roles/levels of progression,
Create a theory or a system/order that you can apply directly to your role
Always be 10 Steps ahead - Always have a plan/goal or multiple plans/goals

I hope this piece of advice helps and I'd love to know what you all think!

Take it easy!

BraveFace

It's great that you're so positive and successful BraveFace, but you must be extremely high-functioning, those jobs would be impossible for me, I just do not relate to your post at all. I'm not knocking you, just do not relate.

Apologies for the length of this post...it was snatched wholesale from my blog.

Just over a year ago I was forced to find alternative employment when the contract I was working on finished. For me this was a daunting prospect, as previously I had not been the best at holding down a job. Even holding down that job had been a struggle and I had nearly been sacked two years before. The only thing that had saved me was getting diagnosed as dyslexic, which offered me some protection. My dyslexia combined with the fact that, although quite affable, because of my aspie traits I am not terribly good with people, meant that the possibility of finding and keeping alternative employment looked remote. However as luck would have it, the company for which I was working advertised for people to fill the role of software tester; and since my options appeared limited I applied. The application process involved a practical test and interview. I did well on the practical and managed to bluff my way through into getting the job. Amazingly since starting the job, in spite of my initial pessimism, I have taken to my new occupation like a duck to water; I even got promoted. My dyslexia (now I know it exists) is for the most part under control. I have gained a qualification in software testing and have contributed positively to the work in which I have been engaged. The only downside being that because of my newly discovered expertise, I have difficulty taking holidays so much am I in demand. This apparent success, which seemingly came from nowhere, made me wonder. Why did I pick up these skills so easily? What is it about me that made this possible? The answer I have found would appear not only to explain the ease at which I took to my new profession; but also to confirm a conception of myself that has been bouncing around inside my head for a number of years; namely that I am somewhere on the milder end of the autistic spectrum. I have difficulty in social situations, esoteric interests and issues with certain sensory stimuli. This would seem to suggest an autistic predisposition of some sort; and strangely enough might perhaps explain the success I have experienced in my new job. This is because, according to an article I have read, (http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5869.html) apparently some individuals on the autistic spectrum can have a particular aptitude for software testing; so much so the one company in Denmark has started intentionally recruiting people from the autistic community after recognising the particular talents of some autistic people are well suited to this kind of work. To me this was a revelation, proof that I had stumbled upon my niche; or at least a niche I could occupy without fear of being given my marching orders.

It took me a long time to find anything I could do successfully as work; and I have been very surprised that I can do this job at all. Especially since, although now working as a software tester I wouldn't say that I know very much about computers (I am learning though). I have always thought of myself as a more creative type--with drawing, painting and writing poetry being more my sort of thing.
I think it is possible to surprise yourself...you can be good at things you never thought you would be.

My work experience is as follows...
Did work experience at school in a supermarket stacking shelves. After leaving school I tried to start my own business which failed. After that I had a long string of temp jobs. I was sacked from my first permenant job. Left another job in a factory of my own accord because I couldn't cope. Nearly got sacked from my last job (as described above).

I know it can be hard...