my job history, with some aspie tips thrown in

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There are several reasons why I have been successful, which may help others so I will share. Consciously or not, I sought out jobs where I could do something I was good at, and at the same time was mostly isolated from other people. The Navy was a perfect fit for me, first the boot camp, then school, then the actually duty on board a ship. The Navy has a strict routine and hierarchy, both of which are great for someone with AS. In boot camp, they tear you down, then build you in their image. I was very susceptible to both, and I thrived in the routine-driven world, where everything was black and white, no middle ground. I was even around others enough that I made friends and had a partial social life. After the Navy, I found work in a factory. While I was good at doing the one task required, I was too much of a perfectionist to do it as fast as they wanted, but others may not have that problem. However, the tedium of the job got to me and I had to move on to other jobs that had a more varied routine, but a routine nonetheless.

I worked at Taco Bell for a while, and soon became a shift leader. As long as I did not have to train anyone, and I knew where people worked well, I did fine just letting everybody do their own job and making sure the money wasn't short and everyone got their breaks on time. If anyone wasn't fast enough at the job I gave them, I (and others) picked up the slack and sent them to the back to do food prep. After I was trained for management (top in my class of 22 people) and never actually promoted to management, I sought other work.

I worked retail, caught a store opening (which was great) and ended up trying to sell office furniture. I failed miserably at sales, but as I had management and register experience, I talked my way into the front end and the customer service center. Dealing with customers was a two edged sword: I was great with making the customers who needed help or assistance happy, and a demon to those who wanted to return items or who had complaints. Both earned me kudos from management, but I was urged not to tell customers who were abusing the return policy 'no' by corporate, and I got transferred to the receiving department. Receiving is where i really shined: A truck comes, I unload it and check what we got against the packing list, then entered the data into the computer system. I did so well, they tried to promote me to Receiving Manager, but unfortunately, the store I was to be transferred to wasn't built, and they managed to find reasons to fire me. (The store opened 9 months later.)

Having receiving on my resume now, and liking it, I quickly found another job doing that, this time at a book store. I was only 1 of less than 20 employees, and often had the back room to myself, cheerfully unpacking, sorting, and labeling the incoming product. I was also called upon to put books away, or straighten (re-alphabetize) books shelves, move sections, and also work customer service. Customer service there is mainly telling a customer where a book is located if we had it, sometimes looking it up in the system, or trying to order it for the customer if we didn't have it. Easy as pie, unless we had many customers. I did not do well at any job when ther was a long queue of customers all waiting on me, as I tried to completely satisfy the first before attempting to help the next, although sometimes I could help 3 at a time, but sometimes this in itself confused the people I was trying to help.

From there, I moved on to my current job doing shipping and receiving for a small machine shop. I not only have to receive items in, but also pick, wrap, pack, and ship items to both domestic and internation customers. This job is good for me when everything is clear cut, but I have problems when I have to decide how well to pack something or choose the method of shipping. I always second guess myself because I still can't tell if I am using enough, or too much, packing on the materials. I also have some problems with the other people who choose not to follow the established procedures or give the correct information to ship product out. Also, I find myself constantly correcting mistakes other people have made, and management doesn't seem to think these people need to be disciplined for their errors, and the errors continue unabated. My direct supervisor tried to mollify me by telling me I am 'the last line of defense' in making sure everything is correct before it gets shipped. I have no friends at work now, but most of the people respect me and know they can count on me.

I am halfway through my junior year in Aerospace Engineering (tho it is in hiatus atm) but may change it to architectul engineering, as I dream about buildings more than planes. Actually, I would like to design aircraft and submarine cabins or the interiors of space stations, but it is such a niche market it might be a waste of time. The math and physics (calc 3, diff eq, orbital mechanics, etc.) of the curriculum haven't bothered me, but I really struggled through the speech and foreign language class that required for my general ed credits.

So, in summary, I do well at jobs where I can count, sort, or organize things, and where there is a clear routine and clear rules and hierarchy. The Navy, receiving, shipping, and stocking jobs all seem to be good for my AS, especially when I can work mostly by moyself or in small groups of people who also know what they are doing. I am good at customer service as long as the customer is asking for things I know and can spend adequate time with each one. I am not so good with customers who want things that I can't help them with, or who are trying to scam the store. I am not good at training people, or have to work with peole who are unfamiliar with the work. I am also good at retail cashiering, as long as there is not a long line and customers don't start yelling. I think anyone with AS who can tolerate minimal to moderate (non-physical) contact with people would also do well at the same types of jobs.

That was an interesting post to read.

I'm sill kind of new at the whole job thing, because until recently I was a student.