Finding a good job.

Post Reply New Topic

Hello, I am new to the board but I figured this was as good a topic as any to start with. I am a semi young male (early 30s) who has been diagnosed with both fairly severe OCD, ADHD, and Depression. I am a fairly introverted person who has few friends and spends most of his time alone though I admit this is not what I really want. I have never had any relationships and so have retreated into hobbies that I can do on my own. I currently work in a local prosecutor's office in the child support enforcement division. I have been there six years so I am fairly stable but I am finding day after day that the job is not going to be sustainable in the long run.

Without boring everybody, the job entails being around a lot of people who are not just poor (which I could completely care less, I am not rich myself and I certainly don't judge based on this) but ignorant and fairly dirty. They turn in papers covered in stains and look like they don't take baths. My coworkers make jokes about it being blood, urine, or crap. Needless to say this is starting to drive my OCD insane even though logically I know that this isn't the truth. My hands are cracking from all the hand sanitizer I use and I spend several minutes washing my hands and this is only half my problem.

I also have been having to field calls on the phones with the most ridiculous questions. Everyone of the parents seems to hate the other. Worse yet the children seem to always end up just like their parents and the cycle continues. There is no enjoyment out of the position and no feeling of any real accomplishment. The system is busted and unfairly treats men who are really trying like dirt when they lose their job and seems to focus more on punishment than trying to help people find work seeing any man as not paying as a deadbeat and lumping them all into one category. I got into this hoping that I could at least make a difference, perhaps being able to do more on the inside, but after six years it is obvious this is not going to happen. Perhaps it is being a man that is the problem in an industry filled with very spiteful and abused women. Perhaps it is just my personality but I put myself in the position of some of these men and can see myself there. I think about how I would want to be treated and I can tell that I don't like what I see in the mirror sometimes based on how I am told to act.

I think that even without my disabilities I would probably be wanting to leave but in the past year it has gotten even harder to manage. I used to have two former supervisors who knew of my issues and made arrangements so that I didn't get put in positions that caused me any real discomfort or anxiety and did a good job of keeping me busy with things that needed to be done and made good use of my abilities. This current supervisor though has done very little in that realm and seems rather put off or just disinterested in any issues I have relating to my neuro problems. I know I am not the easiest to get along with sometimes and that my OCD traits do seem odd but several of my coworkers, one in particular, seems to get a lot of kicks out of picking at these things and once again my current supervisor seems oblivious or disinterested. I feel entirely ignored and unappreciated. I have to basically beg to get people to even acknowledge me when I come through the door.

I think it is time for a career change and here in lies the problem. My "problems" has made it hard in the past to adapt to my environment and my work history is fairly spotty until recently. I don't have a lot of experience outside this area and frankly don't really know what would even be a good job for me anymore. I know that anything that involves dealing with the public, particularly ones where people are already in horrible moods is probably not a good fit and frankly I want to make sure it isn't such a female dominated industry. Being basically the only man in a sea of estrogen is very hard, especially when you have to deal with the issues my current job entails on a regular basis. So after all that rambling, anybody have any suggestions? I would say I am of average to just slightly above average intelligence, no criminal record, and generally would like to help people.