Forced into unsuitable work

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Has anyone else felt compelled to take any work, even if it's totally unsuitable, just in order to keep earning?

I've been there a few times, especially with having to do phone based customer service roles. I was diagnosed with Autism about a year ago, very late in life, but I also suspect that I have ADHD and so I find it difficult to get through a heavy workload and also have constant interruptions from the phone calls. I am self medicating with various things to help get me through, and I have to work weekends (unpaid overtime) to catch up with the workload.

I feel unsupported at work. Where others get offers of support if they might need help, I get criticised.

It's a difficult situation. Part of me wishes I'd taken the small redundancy payment on offer when my nice admin role got made redundant. It was a choice of 4.5 weeks redundancy pay or take a customer service role which was vacant. Due to fears about the economic downturn and potentially becoming long term unemployed and draining down all my hard earned savings, I took the option of the unsuitable job instead. Sometimes I regret it. Sometimes I remind myself to be thankful I have a job as I am also familiar with what the stress and other mental health difficulties of being unemployed feels like too.

I guess that on balance the unsuitable job is the lesser of 2 evils for me in my situation at the moment.

Has anyone else faced similar challenges, or just have any thoughts on this?

Yes. I was unemployed for the first 5 years of my adult life even though I was applying for jobs. Then when I was 22 a job came up cleaning at a care home. It wasn't what I wanted to do because I have a fear of viruses, and care homes are notorious for viruses and worse. But I was more or less forced to take it by the dole office, so I did.
I didn't like it though. You were under a lot of pressure, was often short-staffed, had to remember a lot, and there were a lot of unfair double standards, like allowing smokers to have extra breaks to smoke but strictly forbidding us non-smokers to get a drink or something.

And whenever I got anxious, especially when there were viruses going around, the answer was always "if you don't like it, why are you here?" I had no choice, that's why I was there. I couldn't just walk out without another job, as it would be irresponsible, so I stuck it out until another job finally came up (the one I'm in now). I like the job I'm in now, it's much more anxiety/ADHD-friendly, and it's something I'm more interested in.

strictly forbidding us non-smokers to get a drink or something - because at a care home your priorities are to smoke. I have just seen in the news nowadays that teachers give smoking breaks and smoke together with the students in schools

"if you don't like it, why are you here?" - I'm familiar with that one, the answer is not something you can just say either

What do you do now if you don't mind talking about it?

only once in my life have i been lucky enough to rate a job i was well-suited for. it didn't last as circumstances interrupted it.

But if you are not good at a work or usuitable for it they may not even hire you or you will get fired.
You have to be competent!

So what are you talking about?
What do you maen by the term unsuitable?

being forced to be social when one is not normally social, surrounded by totally dissimilar people who deem those different from themselves [less social] to be freaks. having to work in a high-stress [mental/psychological/physical] environment for extended hours [12+ hours rotating shifts], having to move heavy objects repeatedly when one has orthopedic issues which are aggravated by such movements. 2+ decades of that gave me many injuries, gave me crippling arthritis, PTSD etc. - that was my experience and that is how i define "unsuitable."

I believe myself to be competent.

The work is unsuitable because it's hard for me to be constantly interrupted by phone calls which disrupts my mental 'flow' when I'm concentrating on a task. It would be more suitable if I didn't have to do phone based customer service. I don't think it's so unsuitable that I'd be fired. I passed the trial period I had to go through in the role so I can't be obviously and immediately identified as unsuitable to management. I have to hide my unsuitability as much as possible. I don't like doing phone based customer service, but I can do it, as I understand the job and I know the sort of things you're supposed to say, and how to say them.

I imagine that I'm far from perfect and ideal for the role as far as management are concerned, but at least so far there's been no talk of firing me. Although they were talking about putting me on a performance improvement plan just a few weeks in to the new role. I successfully challenged that as unfair and so they haven't put me on such a thing, which can often be management building a case to establish grounds to fire a person. No one needs to be subjected to that kind of critical and negative judgement so I'm glad I've avoided that so far.

If managers set me clear goals I will do whatever it takes to meet them. That includes working several extra unpaid hours every week. The work may be taking me longer and be more challenging for me as someone with Autism and suspected ADHD.

Because it is stressful and hard work I'm not sure how long I can keep doing this job. Some days it makes me unhappy and I've felt like quitting. Other days I feel like I can manage OK.

Many people work in jobs they don't like often because they are unsuitable but they've just ended up in that job because it was all they could get at that time.

Apparently ADHD meds can make it a lot easier to cope with being constantly interrupted. I hope I end up getting a diagnosis and put on meds that will help me in that way.

I was unhappy during much of my working life. Very unhappy for parts of it.

But it is nice to have the money you need. And don't forget the long game. Even though I was very unhappy I persevered. And now I am really enjoying retirement! Remember the long game.

P.S. Welcome back Joe90!

I never did get paid for my MOST suitable work. Without a business partner, I had to pay to demonstrate my abilities. Some of the jobs were not a good fit, but the disappointment fell on both sides. However, I got quite good at not needing much money.

It is possible to be suitable for the job but can feel like the job is unsuitable for you. Like when I was working at a care home. I got hired because I was able to do the job but my phobia of germs got in the way and made the job feel unsuitable for me.


I clean coaches at a depot. Trust me, germs on coaches are far easier to avoid than germs in care homes.
I haven't had a virus in 4 years! *Touch wood* And I've been working at the coach depot 5 years now.

My last two jobs were suitable, and the best paying I've had so far, but were abusive. I was allowed to be laid off from one when I calmly told a condescending coworker not to call me "sweetie" and given a two-week improvement/reprimand notice for cliquish NT stuff at the last one and left. Performance-wise I would say I was average to proficient at everything, except my first job which was in retail. I've tried to stay in manufacturing and lab positions ever since.

My job is both suitable and unsuitable for me. I get to do the same task and have pretty much the same exact routine everyday at work, which is good and makes my job very predictable and easy for me to do well. Sensory wise it's honestly super bad for me though. It's really, really loud with a lot of different sounds, textures I hate that I have to touch, etc. I'm usually exhausted at the end of my shift because being in an environment like that is draining.