14 Apr 2016, 2:42 pm
Hello everyone 
, I wanted to ask what jobs have you felt comfortable and happy doing?
For me I didn't mind being a cashier but it was tiresome because of the customers. Most of them expected me to strike up conversation with them... if only they knew I had to serve ~300 people per day 
.
14 Apr 2016, 3:08 pm
I also quite liked being a supermarket cashier/checkout worker.
At the time I didn't think I did, but honestly it was more that I didn't get on with the other members of staff and they all thought I was odd (this was long before autism was even on my radar). I left and moved to somewhere worse. I have recently been thinking that now that I understand more about myself, if I ever needed to go and be employed then this would probably be the kind of work that I'd go for again (despite being highly qualified in another area). It made sense - it was simple, repetitive, conversations sort of scripted themselves in that every transaction basically worked the same and very few customers said anything unique - even the ones that thought they were being new and clever - and there was a routine to it, with nobody suddenly changing the 'project brief'. You go into work knowing what your job is, how long you're going to be doing it for and that nobody's going to suddenly change anything on you. I liked that, a lot. If I'd have stopped trying to hard to connect with other members of staff, I'd probably have enjoyed it even more!
At the moment I run my own business. That works well because things are on my terms, but before starting my own business I was doing the same for someone else and in that case there were difficulties like: unclear project briefs, the work constantly changing, too many social distractions (interestingly, when I needed to focus more, I preferred not to connect too much with others - conversations took me away from what I was doing and it was hard to get back into it, whereas if I was left alone I could power through). I'm good at it, no doubt - I know I was very valued as an employee and that the speed and quality of my work were constantly commented on positively, but it was hard going and I couldn't return to it now. Doing the same work for myself makes all the difference - no being pressured into phone calls or talking to people in person, nobody changing my work brief or deadline suddenly, nobody telling me how to do things or what order to do things in. Oh, and being able to take regular breaks of a minute or two just to 'get my focus back' - checking Facebook every half hour doesn't go down well with managers.
Briefly, other jobs on my CV:
McDonalds cashier: Again, smooth and scripted which I liked. I was also told I was good at customer service (something I really care about and did better than anyone else), but far too many other projects involved - as well as taking orders I had to deal with getting stock from the freezer/cupboards, setting up and cleaning up. None of that worked well for me. And you really do need to get on with the other employees in a place like that, which I didn't.
Youth mentor: I tried and failed at this, multiple times. And it wasn't for lack of caring. I really wanted to help young people and I gave it my all. But I now understand that it was just my lack of ability to communicate properly that let me down. I was never going to be good in that kind of role because what I'm scripting in my head and what I actually manage to say are two very different things.
TV extra: Fun. Lots of waiting around, but can be quite 'isolated' and self-contained which I liked.
Cleaner: I was no good at this. Executive function let me down majorly. It felt 'good' as a job in that I could get up at 2am and I'd have finished work by 9am and could have a nap and then enjoy the day, but I just couldn't get it. The tasks overwhelmed me and even when I was given instruction in list form, which helped me, my manager then couldn't understand why I stuck to the list and then considered my job done because I'd finished the list (there were things I was supposed to include that weren't mentioned). Also, I never worked out how to clean a mirror without it smearing.
Working for a bank: Really enjoyed this. It was temporary but just my kind of thing. I literally had to open new bank accounts for people by typing in their details and clicking 'create', then copy their bank account number into a letter and send it to the printer. Again, that simple and repetitive things that I liked - a nice clear job, with no surprises.
aspieinaz
Sea Gull
Joined: 5 Apr 2016
Age: 71
Gender: Female
Posts: 248
Location: Sitting on the beach, staring at the waves
14 Apr 2016, 8:26 pm
14 Apr 2016, 8:48 pm
nick007
Veteran
Joined: 4 May 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 27,726
Location: was Louisiana but now Vermont in capitalistic military dictatorship called USA
17 Apr 2016, 3:07 pm
17 Apr 2016, 6:06 pm
18 Apr 2016, 9:15 am
This isn't a job I have actually had.....and the lack of financial security might be a downside. But my dream job would be Etsy seller. or Ebay seller. I would would be home-based and never have to go into work, deal with co-workers or boss....someone else's schedule, it would be great! I would browse around antique/vintage stores or for discounts at other regular stores, and then sell for a higher price online. I think I would love "collecting" stuff that way, hunting around for it - but then turning a profit rather than losing all of my money, when I sold it. So I can kind of be obsessive with collecting but not suffer the financial consequences 
I also think it would be fun to find that "great find", and then offer it up to the world, someone somewhere would find it special, and they couldn't have found that perfect little item if I hadn't dug it out of a vintage store somewhere and advertised it. I would sell cute candles, soaps, whatever I liked - I could buy all of those cute little things that unfortuantely add up and take up too much space at home, but would then regain my money and redistribute it. OR if I were skilled at making jewelry, I would make that and sell it.
BUT.....yeah, I need to get a more financially stable and lucrative job than that. Partly because I have quit so many jobs that now it is later in the game and I need to really work harder to save up for the future.
My dream "real" job would involve MINIMAL contact with co-workers and supervisors, while also involving tasks/topics that I can truly master on my own with confidence. Basically, I want to feel independent and self-sufficient, and I don't want socializing and teamwork and networking to be a huge part of my value as an employee, since I stink at all of those things and find them stressful. Working one-on-one with clients would be okay.
18 Apr 2016, 9:17 am
18 Apr 2016, 10:10 am
19 Apr 2016, 2:10 am
At the time I didn't think I did, but honestly it was more that I didn't get on with the other members of staff and they all thought I was odd (this was long before autism was even on my radar). I left and moved to somewhere worse. I have recently been thinking that now that I understand more about myself, if I ever needed to go and be employed then this would probably be the kind of work that I'd go for again (despite being highly qualified in another area). It made sense - it was simple, repetitive, conversations sort of scripted themselves in that every transaction basically worked the same and very few customers said anything unique - even the ones that thought they were being new and clever - and there was a routine to it, with nobody suddenly changing the 'project brief'. You go into work knowing what your job is, how long you're going to be doing it for and that nobody's going to suddenly change anything on you. I liked that, a lot. If I'd have stopped trying to hard to connect with other members of staff, I'd probably have enjoyed it even more!
At the moment I run my own business. That works well because things are on my terms, but before starting my own business I was doing the same for someone else and in that case there were difficulties like: unclear project briefs, the work constantly changing, too many social distractions (interestingly, when I needed to focus more, I preferred not to connect too much with others - conversations took me away from what I was doing and it was hard to get back into it, whereas if I was left alone I could power through). I'm good at it, no doubt - I know I was very valued as an employee and that the speed and quality of my work were constantly commented on positively, but it was hard going and I couldn't return to it now. Doing the same work for myself makes all the difference - no being pressured into phone calls or talking to people in person, nobody changing my work brief or deadline suddenly, nobody telling me how to do things or what order to do things in. Oh, and being able to take regular breaks of a minute or two just to 'get my focus back' - checking Facebook every half hour doesn't go down well with managers.
Briefly, other jobs on my CV:
McDonalds cashier: Again, smooth and scripted which I liked. I was also told I was good at customer service (something I really care about and did better than anyone else), but far too many other projects involved - as well as taking orders I had to deal with getting stock from the freezer/cupboards, setting up and cleaning up. None of that worked well for me. And you really do need to get on with the other employees in a place like that, which I didn't.
Youth mentor: I tried and failed at this, multiple times. And it wasn't for lack of caring. I really wanted to help young people and I gave it my all. But I now understand that it was just my lack of ability to communicate properly that let me down. I was never going to be good in that kind of role because what I'm scripting in my head and what I actually manage to say are two very different things.
TV extra: Fun. Lots of waiting around, but can be quite 'isolated' and self-contained which I liked.
Cleaner: I was no good at this. Executive function let me down majorly. It felt 'good' as a job in that I could get up at 2am and I'd have finished work by 9am and could have a nap and then enjoy the day, but I just couldn't get it. The tasks overwhelmed me and even when I was given instruction in list form, which helped me, my manager then couldn't understand why I stuck to the list and then considered my job done because I'd finished the list (there were things I was supposed to include that weren't mentioned). Also, I never worked out how to clean a mirror without it smearing.
Working for a bank: Really enjoyed this. It was temporary but just my kind of thing. I literally had to open new bank accounts for people by typing in their details and clicking 'create', then copy their bank account number into a letter and send it to the printer. Again, that simple and repetitive things that I liked - a nice clear job, with no surprises.
Wow, your CV looks a lot like mine! Can I ask what your business is?
19 Apr 2016, 5:17 am
At the time I didn't think I did, but honestly it was more that I didn't get on with the other members of staff and they all thought I was odd (this was long before autism was even on my radar). I left and moved to somewhere worse. I have recently been thinking that now that I understand more about myself, if I ever needed to go and be employed then this would probably be the kind of work that I'd go for again (despite being highly qualified in another area). It made sense - it was simple, repetitive, conversations sort of scripted themselves in that every transaction basically worked the same and very few customers said anything unique - even the ones that thought they were being new and clever - and there was a routine to it, with nobody suddenly changing the 'project brief'. You go into work knowing what your job is, how long you're going to be doing it for and that nobody's going to suddenly change anything on you. I liked that, a lot. If I'd have stopped trying to hard to connect with other members of staff, I'd probably have enjoyed it even more!
At the moment I run my own business. That works well because things are on my terms, but before starting my own business I was doing the same for someone else and in that case there were difficulties like: unclear project briefs, the work constantly changing, too many social distractions (interestingly, when I needed to focus more, I preferred not to connect too much with others - conversations took me away from what I was doing and it was hard to get back into it, whereas if I was left alone I could power through). I'm good at it, no doubt - I know I was very valued as an employee and that the speed and quality of my work were constantly commented on positively, but it was hard going and I couldn't return to it now. Doing the same work for myself makes all the difference - no being pressured into phone calls or talking to people in person, nobody changing my work brief or deadline suddenly, nobody telling me how to do things or what order to do things in. Oh, and being able to take regular breaks of a minute or two just to 'get my focus back' - checking Facebook every half hour doesn't go down well with managers.
Briefly, other jobs on my CV:
McDonalds cashier: Again, smooth and scripted which I liked. I was also told I was good at customer service (something I really care about and did better than anyone else), but far too many other projects involved - as well as taking orders I had to deal with getting stock from the freezer/cupboards, setting up and cleaning up. None of that worked well for me. And you really do need to get on with the other employees in a place like that, which I didn't.
Youth mentor: I tried and failed at this, multiple times. And it wasn't for lack of caring. I really wanted to help young people and I gave it my all. But I now understand that it was just my lack of ability to communicate properly that let me down. I was never going to be good in that kind of role because what I'm scripting in my head and what I actually manage to say are two very different things.
TV extra: Fun. Lots of waiting around, but can be quite 'isolated' and self-contained which I liked.
Cleaner: I was no good at this. Executive function let me down majorly. It felt 'good' as a job in that I could get up at 2am and I'd have finished work by 9am and could have a nap and then enjoy the day, but I just couldn't get it. The tasks overwhelmed me and even when I was given instruction in list form, which helped me, my manager then couldn't understand why I stuck to the list and then considered my job done because I'd finished the list (there were things I was supposed to include that weren't mentioned). Also, I never worked out how to clean a mirror without it smearing.
Working for a bank: Really enjoyed this. It was temporary but just my kind of thing. I literally had to open new bank accounts for people by typing in their details and clicking 'create', then copy their bank account number into a letter and send it to the printer. Again, that simple and repetitive things that I liked - a nice clear job, with no surprises.
Wow, your CV looks a lot like mine! Can I ask what your business is?
Of course, sorry! I work in marketing - I run a small company and we communicate only online with clients, by email or instant messaging.
We used to offer phone support and in-person meetings but I had to change things when I had my daughter and needed to work around her needs, and honestly it was such a big relief that I wouldn't go back to the old way now.
28 Apr 2016, 11:17 am
At the time I didn't think I did, but honestly it was more that I didn't get on with the other members of staff and they all thought I was odd (this was long before autism was even on my radar). I left and moved to somewhere worse. I have recently been thinking that now that I understand more about myself, if I ever needed to go and be employed then this would probably be the kind of work that I'd go for again (despite being highly qualified in another area). It made sense - it was simple, repetitive, conversations sort of scripted themselves in that every transaction basically worked the same and very few customers said anything unique - even the ones that thought they were being new and clever - and there was a routine to it, with nobody suddenly changing the 'project brief'. You go into work knowing what your job is, how long you're going to be doing it for and that nobody's going to suddenly change anything on you. I liked that, a lot. If I'd have stopped trying to hard to connect with other members of staff, I'd probably have enjoyed it even more!
At the moment I run my own business. That works well because things are on my terms, but before starting my own business I was doing the same for someone else and in that case there were difficulties like: unclear project briefs, the work constantly changing, too many social distractions (interestingly, when I needed to focus more, I preferred not to connect too much with others - conversations took me away from what I was doing and it was hard to get back into it, whereas if I was left alone I could power through). I'm good at it, no doubt - I know I was very valued as an employee and that the speed and quality of my work were constantly commented on positively, but it was hard going and I couldn't return to it now. Doing the same work for myself makes all the difference - no being pressured into phone calls or talking to people in person, nobody changing my work brief or deadline suddenly, nobody telling me how to do things or what order to do things in. Oh, and being able to take regular breaks of a minute or two just to 'get my focus back' - checking Facebook every half hour doesn't go down well with managers.
Briefly, other jobs on my CV:
McDonalds cashier: Again, smooth and scripted which I liked. I was also told I was good at customer service (something I really care about and did better than anyone else), but far too many other projects involved - as well as taking orders I had to deal with getting stock from the freezer/cupboards, setting up and cleaning up. None of that worked well for me. And you really do need to get on with the other employees in a place like that, which I didn't.
Youth mentor: I tried and failed at this, multiple times. And it wasn't for lack of caring. I really wanted to help young people and I gave it my all. But I now understand that it was just my lack of ability to communicate properly that let me down. I was never going to be good in that kind of role because what I'm scripting in my head and what I actually manage to say are two very different things.
TV extra: Fun. Lots of waiting around, but can be quite 'isolated' and self-contained which I liked.
Cleaner: I was no good at this. Executive function let me down majorly. It felt 'good' as a job in that I could get up at 2am and I'd have finished work by 9am and could have a nap and then enjoy the day, but I just couldn't get it. The tasks overwhelmed me and even when I was given instruction in list form, which helped me, my manager then couldn't understand why I stuck to the list and then considered my job done because I'd finished the list (there were things I was supposed to include that weren't mentioned). Also, I never worked out how to clean a mirror without it smearing.
Working for a bank: Really enjoyed this. It was temporary but just my kind of thing. I literally had to open new bank accounts for people by typing in their details and clicking 'create', then copy their bank account number into a letter and send it to the printer. Again, that simple and repetitive things that I liked - a nice clear job, with no surprises.
Wow, your CV looks a lot like mine! Can I ask what your business is?
Of course, sorry! I work in marketing - I run a small company and we communicate only online with clients, by email or instant messaging.
We used to offer phone support and in-person meetings but I had to change things when I had my daughter and needed to work around her needs, and honestly it was such a big relief that I wouldn't go back to the old way now.
That's fantastic.
28 Apr 2016, 11:20 am
My favourite job ever was vacuuming a school. Man I was happy in that job. I used to walk in and think, 'I can't believe I'm getting paid to just show up and start vacuuming, and nothing more will be asked of me.'
Only did it for one day. Still remember that day with fondness. 
28 Apr 2016, 2:37 pm
I am in my forties and I've been a stay at home mom for 16 years. I've held various jobs during my life before that. My favorite job was at an insurance company where I worked in the file room most of the time. I also worked at that same company in a data entry position for about a year. I got along with most of my coworkers, but didn't socialize. (I took lunches and breaks by myself most of the time. Only socialized ONCE outside of work with anyone...at one of those home sales parties.) A nice perk of this job was that we could put on headphones and listen to the radio. I quit this job when I had my first baby. I don't regret it, but now that I am looking for a job...I'd love to find another one just like it that doesn't require customer service skills.
Speaking of customer service.....I once worked a clerical/data entry job at a local university. I had to do occasional customer service (mostly answering questions after-hours, forwarding calls, etc) but most of what I had to do was governed by university policy or various laws, in case someone gave me trouble. ("Federal law prohibits me from releasing student records without the student's written signature." "It is university policy to not release academic records unless I get a clearance from the financial office. Would you like to contact them to get a release or should I call them for you in the morning?" etc) I'd say this was my second favorite job.
The worst job I ever had was three months as a factory production supervisor. I was hired right out of college because I had a degree. I hated it so much that it made me physically ILL. (Though I did meet my husband there and we are still married!) 
28 Apr 2016, 9:55 pm
29 Apr 2016, 6:42 am
What a coincidence. I met my back injury in a factory and we are still married too.
