Good jobs for aspies?

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If you read my other thread, you'll know I'm really not happy with my current employers. I've decided to start looking into getting a new job, one where the schedule doesn't change every week, I can spend the holidays with my family, and hopefully not have to interact with the angry public all day every day. Does anybody know some jobs that aspies tend to do well at?

Here's a list of things I'm good at, if it helps: 60 words per minute typing speed, enjoys writing, proficient at using computers and Microsoft Office software. I'm not an athlete or anything, but I do pretty well at physical work and I have good stamina. I'm creative. Decent at communication, though I prefer to be able to work by myself.

Things I don't want to do: interacting with the public, especially in a setting where they'll already be mad at me. Anything that involves driving. Anything with a strict time limit or quota. Something where I'll be doing something different every day. Something that will have major consequences if I mess up. Anything where I'll be in charge of other people.

Also, right now I'm getting paid $13.50 an hour, so I need the new job to at least match that.

zookeeper? veterinarian? horticulturist?

Preferably something that doesn't require me to go to college for ten years and then move out of state.

Software development really works for me. 9-5, holidays. I often go all day without having to talk to anyone. All my work is planned ahead for me.

You won't need to go to college for 10 years, but some education will be advantageous!

What all does software development entail? Would I be programming stuff? Because I don't know the first thing about computer coding.

Hmmm... you could be a copywriter. There's a high demand for them, and I'm looking into going into the field myself. Fast typing and computer proficiency are important, and some positions in that field allow you to work from home. Depending on where you work you might have to interact with others, especially if it's for a bigger company that has multiple people on its creative team, but interacting with coworkers is not the same as interacting with customers. There's especially high demand for technical copywriters. You could gain experience by volunteering to write descriptions of adoptable animals for animal shelters. I've noticed that a lot of animal shelters really need help with their advertisements. Copywriters also write status updates for businesses, descriptions of products to be sold online, scripts for TV and radio ads, basically anything that is trying to sell something or is online and has words needs a copywriter.

Now THAT sounds interesting. I have a hard time believing they'll give that kind of job to someone without a degree, though. Or at the very least, there'd be so many people applying for it that they'd only hire the ones with college degrees anyway. I'll have to look into it.

One way to get in is to take any job you can--then prove you are a good worker.

Once you do that, all you have to do is show that you have a gift for writing.

Software development is quite a broad field with lots of different types of roles. Off the top of my head here are some of the things you can get into.

Business analysis/design - you talk to the customers, find out what kind of thing they want the software to do. Then design a system that fills these requirements. Hand the design over to the programmers.

Generally need to spend a lot of time in meetings talking to clients. Not my cup of tea - but some people enjoy it..

Programmers - these take the design and actually write the computer code to implement the design.

You need to learn how to code. There are loads of resources to learn available. It does take a little time - but for me it is great fun. Once you have the basics it may be possible to land a junior role in a company and take it from there. You (should) never stop learning when you are a programmer.

System testers - takes the software that the programmers created and the design and requirements from the analysts and runs the programs to see if there are any bugs and things the programmers got wrong.

Probably the least skills required to be a tester. Plenty of completely unskilled people become testers. The more motivated take this further and start learning to code on the job. There is plenty of opportunity whilst testing to program various scripts and stuff to make your life easier.

Good clear communication really helps. When you find a bug being able to very clearly lay out the steps as to how you can reproduce the problem will make the programmers life a lot easier.

Designers - this lot focuses more on the visual aspects of the software. They design the layout of the web pages, colours, graphics etc..

I think this relies more on talent. I have really tried to become good at design, but still totally suck at it. You will need to learn to use photoshop. Learning html and css for website design would be very beneficial.

Data scientists - a role that is becoming more popular recently. There is a ton of data out there. Data scientists generally use statistics to visualise and discover patterns in that data. An example is an online store. The data scientist will take all the sales information to work out stuff like most men buy aftershave on Thursdays. So on Thursdays, you want aftershave to feature prominently in your store..

A good knowledge of statistics is important. Programming will really help, but you don't have to be good programmer - as long as you can get the job done..

It sounds like some sort of office job could be good for you. But you need college degrees to get office jobs these days. Not necessarily a college degree that fits the job perfectly - but certainly a degree that is relevant to the job.

There is no "perfect job for aspies", but I would say jobs that require attention to detail, analytical skills and academic depth are usually good for aspies. For people with severe autism, it's more narrow and difficult for them to work - it can be manual labor or various assistant jobs in a kitchen or a factory.

how 'bout, for once, jobs that don't require multitasking, don't require above-average intelligence, don't require college degree, that actually train employees on the job? do those still exist? because if they don't, then i'm basically out of the job market then.

No, you're certainly not out of the job market. In this discussion, we talk about all sorts of job that may or may not be good for aspies - I would say that is a lot.

By and large, there are a lot of jobs that don't require above-average intelligence. However, there are only a few jobs that doesn't require multitasking. And this is probably why a lot aspies are having a hard time keeping up the pace at work. I think you can find blue collar factory jobs, that doesn't require a big educational background. But it all depends. One thing is for sure: If you don't have any education at all, and expect the job market to train you on the job, you won't find much.

amuuurica exported 99% of all their blue collar factory jobs. only minimum-wage no-benefit mcjobs at mcdonalds and such, or on the opposite end, jobs requiring advanced degrees and high IQ, almost nothing in the middle.

Well, there should be jobs in the middle. Remember, most people are at average intelligence, and only a few jobs require a genius intellect. But I suppose it's a matter of where you live, and your point of view.
What kind of jobs have you had so far?

I've been approaching this field, but feel like I have a few obstacles to clear up. On my own I have studied Linux and some Python programming. I've also taken courses in C#, SQL, HTML/CSS, and Javascript. I don't think of myself as quite proficient because I don't program enough and I haven't been given what I consider Real World programming work, but I do think I'm trainable.

My other obstacle is location as I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in a bad job market. I keep hearing I should relocate to a place like Virginia, Georgia, or maybe even Texas. I guess I feel stuck in a tiny town with very little opportunity for tech jobs.

For now, I'm going to do truck driving again which I'm not enthused about, but I need to catch up on bills.

I think even the smallest towns are going digital--if services are available to do so. I've heard of guys getting paid to go to remote little islands to connect them up with the rest of the world.