Prospects of ever getting a job are non existent

Post Reply New Topic

I have been on disability benefit for three years because the jobs I had made me feel so stressed out and tense that I started to suffer from burn out symptoms and severe depression. I hated my jobs and every minute I spend on the workplace became pure hell . In the end it became impossible for me to function properly.

Not working anymore was an enormous relief for the first couple of years but I have gotten to the stage that I don't know what to do with my time anymore. I am beginning to feel like I am in some sort of vegatitive state and that life is passing me by. Experts have said to me that I can only get another job on the condition that employers know in advance that I am diagnosed with aspergers. There is some truth in that because on average it takes collegues and employers about three months to figure out that there is something wrong with me. I have learned to fake it on job intervieuws but I can't keep that up for a prolonged period of time. Since I am not that young anymore and because of the fact that there is an economical recession going on it's highly ulikely that I am ever going to get hired again because employers have an enormous choice these days when it comes to jobseekers. The reality is that they are not going to hire someone with a slight defect at the moment.

Just wanted to get this of my chest.

Yes, I can relate. I am exploring suitable volunteer activities as a way to maintain my sense of being a somewhat productive and contributing member of society.

There is an element of unfairness at work here though. You are obviously not stupid and neither am I.

On the other hand I'm not certain if I am able to handle another horrid job and gossiping, competitive collegues. Dealing with collegues on the workplace can be challenging. Sometimes I think it's best if things stay the way they are right now. I am really flippant when it comes to jobs.

I relate strongly to the gossiping, competitive colleague thing. The petty office politics that takes place in most workplaces is what drove me out of the whole arena too. I didn't go on disability but I did decide to become self employed at whatever I could dream up that gave me solitude, autonomy, working all alone instead of with or for anyone.

Mine is not the most prestigious work in the world and so I've "taken a hit" in the status department, because nobody new whom I happen to meet is particularly impressed when I tell them....I'm a housecleaner...

BUT...it's given me more peace of mind to work at that very solitary and self-starting work than anywhere before when I had to answer to a boss and deal with mean co-workers.

If you can think of something you could do that is on a self-employed basis, you might be much happier to work again, the trick is just coming up with what exactly that would be. Mine isn't glamorous yet it's given me a living I can bear much more readily than what I used to deal with. And my more intellectual and emotional needs are fulfilled by my hobbies and passions. I haven't found a way to turn those into a living but they give me the inner nutrition my actual bill-paying work does not, so, there's a pretty good balance in my life, as I feel I have purpose in my more creative pursuits.

Perhaps you could stay on disability but find fulfillment in volunteer work in a field that interests you? I would like to do volunteer work with animals except that all my local opportunities have a waiting list as tall as a tree!

Or if you have any interests or creative abilities, throw yourself into those. Finding something that sets you alight can go a long way to making up for not having interesting work or having no work at all.



.

What helped me on my last interview was I allowed myself to be myself and to get geeky enthusiastic about the job at hand. I did not lie about my weaknesses or get depressive about them. On day two when I had got the job, I went through my difficulties candidly, and I even told the person I was going through a diagnosis for a disability, but that I knew I could do the job because of my various positive attributes. My supervisor's support at that time meant the world to me.

I went through a really sh"t time the year before that interview with being told I was weird, not promotable, and a whole tonne of other stuff that no person who is new to a career should have to hear, and no mentoring. I went through a diagnosis on my own.I decided I would rather not have the job than be put down, and I was NOT put down. Coming out, especially with a plan that a friend helped me throw together, meant the difference between depression and happiness.

For me, although I have a job title or two, but I am not earning much income wise. So, I am trying to put together ideas of what I can really do. Since I have strengths in different places, I tried to explore avenues where I can use as much of my strengths as possible. Unfortunately, I failed twice because I did not know the market (first time) and I overestimated my earning potential in the very beginning and underestimated the time it takes for the 501c3 application to get done (second time). So, now I am trying to find people who can support the new business that I have started. It is still very hard, but I am not giving up.