Does anyone else find it hard to find a job because of their

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limited interests??????

Yes. That among other reasons. If I'm not 100% enraptured with an idea and have the ability to control every aspect of its manifestation til I've created something that matches my vision, I'm not going to want to do it. So I definitely wouldn't work well in a bureaucracy of any kind. I'm a real brat when it comes to that. But the stress of working socially is unbearable, so..

I think that means you're kind of an artist. I'm kind of that way, too.

Now, there are workarounds. For example, sometimes a tell myself, some topics even if they're done sloppily, there'll still positive. Other times I want it done well.

Yup. Its one of the most handicapping aspects of AS as far as I'm concerned, because NT people can't SEE it, so they cannot comprehend how impossible it is to remained focused on something you aren't obsessed with. Its one of those "Oh, EVERYBODY goes through that" things, where they just don't get that NO, EVERYONE does NOT experience this to the extreme level that someone with autism does.

My parents used to think I was the laziest bum on Earth when I would lose a job and wait for six or eight months until another position in that field came open, instead of taking any old job that was available. I could not get through to them that I cannot work in a factory or at a convenience store, not because I'm too good for that, but because I would go INSANE in less than a month (actually, I would just get fired for not paying attention and screwing something up). Anytime I tried to do something like that, even in an emergency, I was suicidally unhappy the whole time and couldn't wait to get kicked out. Even at jobs I enjoyed, the stress of socializing with coworkers every day would wear me to a frazzle after about eight to ten months, and by the middle of the second year, I'd get fired (and dance a happy jig for the vacation).

Just one of many things that had made me feel like a loser all my life, that made so much more sense once I was diagnosed.

Ah EXACTLY! People always say "there are some things you've just gotta do" and "that's why work is called work, it's not supposed top be fun"... the two months I worked for 20 hours a week at repetitive menaingless (to me) jobs was so indescribably stressful. To an NT it's "doing a s**t job" or something but it is nerve-frying torture to someone with autism!

Besides that - work should be fun! Work should be an all-encompassing, soul-involving lifestyle as far as I'm concerned! I can't imagine it any other way!

Temple Grandin co-wrote a book called "Developing Talents: Careers for Individuals with Asperger's Syndrome and High Functioning Autism" that I found particularly helpful. Most of the suggestions require higher education, but if you can do the delayed gratification thing, it is well worth it.
There are fields in which we are particularly suited to succeed where NT's lack the focus and ability to work alone. I have a master's in Molecular Diagnostics and have been in the field for 18 years. college was rough, there was no such thing as online education at the time; however, I now have a well paying job and enjoy the work I do.
(I was diagnosed when I was eight but nobody told me, and was rediagnosed when I was 41.)
By the way, acting classes helped me fit in.

No. My job is not interesting at all but it's not a problem. When you've been unemployed as long as I am you would take any job just so you can pay the rent. I can do interesting things when I get home.

To work in the real world you need only lower your standards, and copy what the other people do when they mess up. Because whatever I'm doing never works.

Work, fun or not, puts food on the table and roof over the head for most people. Too many people collect government checks because they are effing lazy and don't want to work jobs because "the job is not fun" or "the job is below them". I hope you're not one of those people. Most young adults and teens have to take whatever job they can get and gain experience. Most adults don't reach their dream job until they are at least in their late 30's or so.

Its for this reason that I choose not to work in the field of my special interest. I'd rather spend only my spare time on my interest and do it my way, than spend all day having to do it the way someone else wants. Instead, I do work I find moderately interesting but don't have any emotional attachment to.

what sort of work is that?
i'd like a job like that

I admit that I fit in a lot of the time during the day hitting the Random Article link on Wikipedia and reading the articles that come up that I find interesting. Kind of like an Aspie Obsession Slot Machine. It helps make the rest of the time a lot more bearable because I get my fix

My whole problem is that my ideal career interests (astrophysics or aerospace engineering) require very high levels of education and experience to even get your foot in the door as an intern. I'm working on a physics degree at the moment and I plan on someday pursuing a graduate degree in engineering. The problem is that school is expensive so I have to get a job because my college money gonna run out soon. Most people in my situation would get a job in customer service but I am extremely bad at dealing with customers bc of social anxiety. Even if I got over that, I think I would be miserable doing something unrelated to my interests. Whenever I've done interviews for menial jobs in the past, my utter lack of enthusiasm shows through despite my hardest efforts to seem cheerful.