Shotty Job History

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Oh yeah. I've had 5 church organist jobs throughout my life, starting when I was 14. I was fired from two and quit without much notice with 2 of the others. My history of doing this is storied, so ridiculous at times. The first church had a meddling pastor who falsly accused me of being a paint huffer; the 4th church had a farmer's wife who shared her complaints with me every Sunday I was there, either directly or through one of her minions. It ended badly with her apparently telling the pastor that I had threatened her in some manner, when I only told her she had to leave the choir . . .
I've spent most of my adult life working as a cab driver. I was fired 2 months into starting with one company, have gone back and quit without notice there at least 4 times. In between that company I worked for another one for one year, gave them a notice at the end of my time there, I was quite proud of myself and felt very "adult" about doing that.
I've done various other different things throughout my life - Paperboy when I was a kid, light farmwork in my teen years, dishwasher,
tutor, teaching piano to an 59 years old alpha female mild stroke victim, eep . . . . but it doesn't matter what kind of work I attempt, or what kind of people I work with, there's always drama. I love doing things and being compensated for it, LOVE making my own money, but gah, people . . . .

Working on getting on it, or rather waiting to find out if they need more information to determine if I qualify, if I've been approved or if I've been denied and have to appeal the decision.

first p/t job was at a chinese takeaway, lost that in 1 month cause I was too slow and inefficient

second p/t job was at a tutorial centre, lost it cause boss and customers weren't
happy with the way I gave feedback on the kid's classwork

third p/t job was at another tutorial centre. Managed to successfully resign after 2 years,
but it was still difficult working efficiently at times

first f/t paid job was at a VoIp company. Lost it cause I was too dependent on my
supervisor and that I took to long to resolve one of our clients problems.

Second f/t paid job was at a film production company. Was forced to resign cause of the same reason as above

Third f/t job was overseas in China at an ESL school. Had no choice but to resign cause
I couldn't keep up with the work load

Current p/t job I've had for 19 months doing data entry. Still in it, and hopefully managing
to resign by next June so I can do my 3 month stint at a radio station in Idaho

I average to about 1 job every 1.5 years. I just can't mix well with all the dang office politics and knowing who to suck up to and how... yecch!

... the unspoken rules... unsaid expectations... saying one thing then expecting another... *sigh*

I think most people have fragmented job histories, especially when beginning their careers or when they're still finding their niche. If you're still in university or some form of education/training, I doubt it will matter to an employer. It's not wrong to have several short term jobs while you're still figuring out what you want to do. It would be a problem if it was like that throughout your life, but while you're in the stage where you're finding your strengths and passions, I might even go so far as to say it's a good thing. There is value in trying things that you later find out are not where you want to be in the long term. It's good experience and it teaches you more about where you want to be headed.

I am 43. I have had many jobs. I have never been completely out of work for more that a couple of weeks. But I have never had a full time job either. I have never earned enough to fully support myself; I always got boosts from social benefits. The last 6/7 year I have lived with my partner, who does have a job, so now I don't need benefits. I still don't work full time or earn a lot though. The two jobs I had that lasted the longest were both lasted 4 years. One of those was self-employment where I worked at home.

oh im sorry to hear that

I have discussed my sorry work history here in detail. I am 37 which makes it much harder -- I notice many who say they have a poor work history are in their 20's where it is still easy to start over.

I have failed in many accounting & finance jobs, never worked in public accounting or got my CPA which makes it much harder.. Since 2009 (when I got fired from my last full time job after just 8 months), I have bounced around from temp job to temp job -- frequently the job 'ending' for vague reasons mainly I think I ask too many questions, make too many careless mistakes, don't act confident..

I started Adderall last spring which has helped along with Prozac -- I made it thru a temp job to completion but then the agency got me another position as a Project Analyst for a major bank in Rhode Island. First it paid $5.00 less per hour and the commute was close to 70 miles and 90-120 minutes each way by car. Despite trying I was always late and I didn't really 'mesh' well with the project manager who was about 60 something and doing this work for "many many years" as she said. Well that job ended after a month (mid November and I have been unemployed since then). I own my own business as an S corp so I am netting between $1500 - $2000 a week plus Unemployment benefits.
I plan on 'starting over' in the trades and taking classes for Electricians License & Welding starting January -- 2 fields that supposedly is huge demand

Oh yeah. My pattern has been:

`1. Find job
2. Panic at job daily
3. Keep for 5-13 months
4. Get let go or have temp assignment end
5. File for unemployment
6. Stay on until it's over
7. Panic and take any job that will hire me once I have no more money
8. Repeat.

If I add up the total time unemployed vs employed in my adult life, I've been out of work just as much as ive been working.

And usually I can only get a job if someone I know gets me in.

i would really like to start a pro aspie company ........... too much talent wasted for my liking

Ive no idea how to do that but it is a dream of mine.

Hate to see smart people struggle when sociopaths are getting along just fine

what is s corp plz?

I sympathize with the cat (daydreamer84). Granted, every career end (but one) has an explanation: seasonal, temporary contract, relocation, et al. Now that I've begun to learn more about how my brain operates, what I enjoy, and what is a suitable work environment, the possibilities seem to be considerably narrow - unless one has experience, a bachelor's degree, and/or is fluent in a foreign language.

So my question is, what is an Aspie-suitable entry-level job with opportunity for advancement/career potential? I can push myself out of my very small, autistic bubble for a short while, but I'd like to believe there's a permanent solution out there somewhere.....

Ok, everyone is different. But I enjoyed my database contracts. One was just straight data entry updates, and two were contacting companies to update contact information. The ones that involved contacting companies were straightforward. You came up with or got a set list of interview questions, including what is your current mailing address, what are your specialties, and such. You got a list of categories and it was really a fill in the blank type of job, with a focus on being correct and detail focused, perfect for Aspies. These had opportunities for advancement in the companies if you could be there f/t. But, my companies were nonprofit/public service in the middle of a _____ economy.

Yeah, I know I am in my 20s. But it still feels hard. I held down a part time job for five years. The rest were just months in length. One interviewer went so far as to tell me it looked there was something wrong if i had not been made permanent yet. I proved her wrong! And the current job is Awesome, but not for all Aspies (low level management in a very easy going organization that supports quirky individuals all the way).

An subchapter-S Corporation is a (tax election) type of corporation. It really has no impact on the public conduct of the business.

Unfortunatelly, attempts to set up a true "aspie company" have a rather weak track record. Excepting several high-tech startups, which were "Aspie companies" by default, I'm not aware of any successful attempt in the United States to set up a company that was designed to hire aspies and place them with employers. There is that Danish company that moved to Delaware, but I'm not sure if they've gotten operational yet.

An aspie company would probably be a set of companies that are co-located with a location with many aspies (ie, an "Aspie Community"), there are discussions of such a concept on the "activism" forum.

I get fired from 12 jobs a year. People like me are called casual labor.

How do you explain it in interviews and when sending a Resume?? Temp agencies won't work with you in any position doesn't go well or the client lets you go for either a vague or 'no' reason. I feel that I am on an unofficial 'blacklist'

Yeah, heavily fragmented job history here, too. Held a cleaing job for 2 weeks in December '08, then worked at a book repair shop for 2 years (which sounds good, but it was specifically meant for people with disabilities, and I was preparing to enter school which never happened), then a factory job for 6 months, then 8 months of nothing, and this year I've had 4 jobs, 3 of which were cleaning, and 1 I was laid off from because I was considered to be too slow. I'm now holding on to my current job, once more as a cleaner. It's nice for the most part.