Job for 16 y/o with no qualifications?

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To start off, hey my name's George, I'm in the UK, I'm 16 years old (soon to be 17 in a month), and I'm an aspie.
I've got literally no qualifications, as I 'dropped out' of high school before I could take any meaningful exams.

What I want to know, is are there any jobs out there that would accept me the way I am?
I'm looking for pretty much anything(preferably something where I wouldn't have to interact with people too much)

Sorry if this thread is a bit vague... I'm kind of new to this

You could start to build a CV by volunteering at something you're interested in. You won't be paid but it will be like work experience and is a good thing to have on a CV as it shows willingness to "work" and put in hours.

For example, charity shops often need volunteer staff. Or, if you like animals, you could volunteer at a local vet clinic, animal rescue centre, farm, etc. It's hard to get a foot in the door of even unpaid work like this, not because of qualifications but because there is sometimes a long waiting list of people who want to volunteer, but it would be a start.

Why did you drop out? Can you go back and finish high school? If you can, that should be your priority.

Otherwise, look for work as a waiter, bus boy, day laborer, stuff like that.

Do you have any skills?

In this day and age, if you don't finish high school, you will only be able to find some minimum wage part-time jobs at best. Sorry but that's the truth. If for some reason you can't go back to high school get your G.E.D or (or whatever it's called in the UK) ASAP. A job you maybe able to land would be something like being a dishwasher, a bag boy, or stocking shelves. You could do fast food or be a bus boy but I would not recommend those jobs for people with aspergers at all. Good luck.

Without some formal maths or English qualification it's unlikely you could get a job which isn't much more than basic labour...
If going back to school isn't an option then while you're working try doing something voluntary for whichever thing you want to end up doing to make it a bit easier in the future. It seems experience speaks louder than qualifications when you stay below degree level.

To start off, hey my name's George, I'm in the UK, I'm 16 years old (soon to be 17 in a month), and I'm an aspie.
I've got literally no qualifications, as I 'dropped out' of high school before I could take any meaningful exams.

What I want to know, is are there any jobs out there that would accept me the way I am?
I'm looking for pretty much anything(preferably something where I wouldn't have to interact with people too much)

Sorry if this thread is a bit vague... I'm kind of new to this Smile

Hi George,

First off, congratulations on deciding that school wasn't right for you: there are plenty of people who wasted their time by continuing with high school and on to university, only to end up with a degree in something that companies aren't hiring for, along with tens of thousands of pounds in student loan debt. So in those terms, you are 30-40,000 pounds ahead of a private university liberal arts graduate living at home with no job prospects.

Eventually, you will need to get some sort of training in order to make a wage that you can afford to raise a family. The training could be at a trade school to learn a trade (bricklaying, plumbing, carpentry, welding) or at a technical school to learn computer programming, CAD systems design, drafting. Or it could be at what in the US is called a "two year college" to learn to become a dental assistant, veterinarian assistant, teacher's aide.

But for now, I'm assuming that your family is still providing housing and food, so you don't need a job right now that pays enough to cover rent and groceries. So really, what you want is a job that provides (1) work experience and (2) a future work reference from your employer, both of which will help you land a better job in the future; and (3) something productive to do with your time until you figure out what you want to do long-term for a trade.

To obtain employment, I would recommend having an adult friend of the family call some of the local businesses in your area (restaurants, dept stores, dry cleaners, pet stores, etc.) and have them ask if they are hiring; if they are, the friend should explain your difficulties with social interactions and that you are an incredibly hard worker and that your friend would highly recommend you. If you can have a friend of the family who owns a business do this for you, his recommendation will mean a lot to store managers and business owners and will help you to get an interview.

I realize social interactions are difficult for you, which is why I suggest having an adult friend call for you since (1) they will be more comfortable speaking with employers and (2) they can explain your social difficulties so that the hiring manager will expect this during the interview and won't hold it against you if the job doesn't require contact with customers.

You will need to be willing to be extremely flexible with when you can work: part-time, evenings, weekends, midnight to eight cleaning/re-stocking shifts are all possibilities of what you will be offered.

If you end up hating the job, which may happen, do everything possible to give your best effort for at least six months. Then after six months to a year, give your notice and ask for a letter of reference from your boss to help get your next job: some of the jobs available to you have such high turnover--over 100% in less than a year--that if you do your job well and stick around for six months you will be viewed as a great employee by your boss and will receive a very positive reference, assuming he/she doesn't try to convince you to stay.

Eventually you will decide that the jobs you are working at aren't enough, and at that point you will be extremely motivated to go back to school to get your high school equivalency diploma, trade school certification, associates or even university degree. But that may require at least a couple years time before you're ready for that, which is fine--you're only 16 and have your whole life ahead of you!

Hope this helps,
Glenn Laniewski

Both my boys quit and I can give you some ideas from what they did and are doing. However, I'm in Alabama in the USA so it's probably different here.

1. Cut peoples grass and do yard work for them. This isn't a regular thing but it's good for some quick money in the summer
2. Fast food places or grocery stores.
3. Talk to your dad or a friends dad who does a type of construction and get him to take you to work with him and teach you the trade.
4. Cleaning up at job sites

_________________
I'm giving it another shot. We will see.
My forum is still there and everyone is welcome to come join as well. There is a private women only subforum there if anyone is interested. Also, there is no CAPTCHA.

The link to the forum is http://www.rightplanet.proboards.com

Hey George, have you considered joining a paid focus group in your area? It wouldn't be a real job or regular employment, but at least you could get some money to round out your first paycheck.

I live in America, so things might be different.

Here you can get a job at a fast food restaurant as a teenager without previous work experience or a high school diploma. I got my first jobs at fast food restaurants, starting when I was 16.

Factories also hire people without a lot of credentials. They usually pay more than restaurants but it is hard work.