Been unemployed for over 3 years, what should I do?

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I'm now trying to find work after being unemployed for a few years, but I need some sound advice on what I could do to find work, as well as find something that is more suitable for someone who is a bit slow moving and has Asperger's. I've worked in almost nothing but food service since '05, with my last job as a Courtesy Clerk at Kroger. It was very stressful and I wasn't able to properly adapt to their fast-paced requirements. I've pretty much done nothing but bag groceries, clean up messes, and push carts around in awful weather conditions. I never got to tryout other positions and find something i could've been good at. Honestly I feel like I'll never find anything outside of food service or pushing carts at a grocery store because i just don't have the experience these places expect.

I want to be able to shoot for something higher but I'm not sure where to start. What would you guys suggest?

Depends on your qualification and expertise

In all honesty, I don't think you would be a good fit for most jobs in the under 30k crowd, they are all stressful. A courtesy clerk is no walk in the park I understand, since I was one, and then I quit after I realize they weren't moving me up. I went to work at another grocery store as produce clerk.

I would like to say waiter, but you don't sound like you could cut it (lie on your resume) That's the best career for no college or experience qualification. Just lie your way into jobs, and take your experience, and if they find out (which they won't, likely, once you're proven to be worth their while) then they can't take away your experience can they?

I think you should go into a program to get more skills/qualifications

The employer wants to make money off of you, just remember that, you must show them that you are an asset.

Hi, I worked at Kroger in 1992 and it was not a very happy tenure. And I, too, have been criticized at a number of different work places for being too slow.

And yet, I was successful as a manager of a photocopy store, was successful as a tax preparer for H&R Block, and I think have been successful as a political activist and perhaps as a writer (anything in art is bit of a long shot).

In fact, I almost think there is an inverse relationship, especially for those of us on the spectrum between "easy" jobs and "hard" jobs. The crummy jobs may preach quality, but the managers tend to be petty dictators, workplace bullying by bored people, and no one really cares about finding any kind of happy medium between quality and speed. Likely, the odds will be significantly more in your favor in better jobs.

One thing, think about commission sales, in large part just because there's a lot of them. Maybe skim through Ben Cheever's book Selling Ben Cheever. One successful sales person followed the method of "talk slow, sell fast," meaning keeping it simple and straightforward, and not trying too hard, and more honest than a person might think (my experience in selling furniture).

H&R Block, as well Jackson Hewitt and Liberty Tax really do hire a bunch of people for about five or six weeks starting late December through early February. Their tax classes typically start early September or you can pass a test early November, late December. The advantage is that you get direct face-to-face experience with clients. Convinced me I could go to medical school if I were a younger man. That I am good at distilling down information and people don't want a bunch of complications. Very few people get the bonus the company talks about, but it's not your nor my role to rain on someone else's parade and discourage new employees other than a nondescript "let's see how it goes." I underlined what I think was the one or two key negatives in the bank product application, which I suppose is a personal moral choice (was fired 1 year out of 4, but I'll take those odds)

Search the internet and try to find something you are good at that you can do yourself. Honestly, I was never stressed when doing such work although the pay was not great at first.