Employment Poll

[Yeshuasdaughter]

Just curious where we are all at as a community.

 

[Rodafina]

Entry level + part time.

 

[Outdated]

For 25 years I was hard working and a good earner. Then something broke. I haven't worked in any official capacity since 2008 and I got pensioned off in 2022.

 

[Luca]

My last job was a management/specialist position at a retail store. Not requiring college degree.

I am now self-employed (entrepreneur.)

 

[Shevek]

Retired, and for the first time in my life, my savings are increasing, in case I need teeth or major repairs. I had a few years in regular full-time jobs, but mostly did extra-odd jobs that others didn't want to tackle. I wasn't as fast as any of the specialized tradesmen, but strange requests barely slowed me down, when they might have needed two tries to do a bad job.
I was an entrepreneur only by default, when better business partners didn't work out. I worked for myself a lot instead of hiring others. There were more part-time than full-time jobs, because I was usually supporting my vocation, which had an overall negative cash flow. I only tried to support an old-fashioned student lifestyle, sometimes living in a shop space. My last paid employment was helping to select the winner of a big prize for technical innovation. I took on filtering out the perpetual-motion machines as my specialty on the committee.

 

[AutistAcolyte]

i've had several jobs, most of them i didn't know i was autistic, and some i was much more suited to, i think in part because of my autism:

i was able to get my bachelor's and my master's with money set aside by my grandparents. my grandfather was an incredible investor and was able to build his wealth that way, and wanted to support his grandchildren's scholastic endeavors.

1. production coffee roaster - i had this job right out of college, and it was hood for the most part because most of my work was solitary and i was just operating the roaster and moving/packaging beans in a warehouse.

2. assistant at a home-staging company - i had this job after i finished my master's in theology, and i generally liked the physical aspect of moving things, but really disliked interacting with the homeowners. most of them were hard to deal with, especially while i was trying to work.

3. administrator - this is my current job, and the one i've enjoyed the most. i've volunteered in churches since middle school, and now i get paid to do what i would be doing anyways! most of my work is solitary and detail-oriented. i'm also working on hopefully becoming a deacon and possibly a priest. right now i'm working with my priest on figuring out if the priesthood is right for me.

 

[Gerontius]

most of my work is solitary and detail-oriented. i'm also working on hopefully becoming a deacon and possibly a priest. right now i'm working with my priest on figuring out if the priesthood is right for me.

Catholic too?
I went to seminary right out of high school. It was a lot of work but rather interesting. Learned I was autistic there and here we are.

I've had temporary jobs, entry-level crap, and am currently unemployed and that's what happens when you have nothing left in the tank mentally. WOULD be on for a B.A., but I highly doubt it. Almost finished but this semester I've got nothing left to give--am not learning anything, just somewhat miserable in a school I have many less than pleasant associations with.

Damn it, I'm tired of making $8 an hour retailing in Lower Redneckia, USA, at the end of the tube where they pipe the sun-light in, 30 miles from something approaching actual civilization. I want a living wage so I can go start a family and actually begin saving up--College feels like a trap at the moment.

 

[Au Naturel]

I assume you mean the highest level of employment I've obtained. It is funny - but being a substitute teacher is the only job I have ever worked that required a 4-year degree. At least it was worth something. I had a 2-year business degree but never could do anything with it. No people skills.

Most of my twenties was low-grade entry-level work until I got incredibly lucky. Photo lab tech. Security guard. That sort of thing.

Working in aerospace in the 80s didn't require a degree, just technical school or even just work experience. That came from the military. Having the right kind of degree improved your chance of being hired and made you promotable. I was a rare "nondegreed engineer," but I was also stuck on the bottom rungs of employment. I completed a 4-year degree while I worked there, but it was not a useful degree for engineering. Those were not available on evenings and weekends.

Since there was no "retired" option, I picked "Unemployed long term- able bodied- not seeking work." "Long term" being never again!

Retired isn't the same as "Independently Wealthy or Trust Fund." That sounds like a lot of money to me.

 

[AutistAcolyte]

Catholic too?

Anglican, though i deeply respect Catholics. I grew up Presbyterian, but i became interested in Orthodoxy when i went to college and started studying scripture, as well as started reading the writings of the saints and met an Orthodox Greek while travelling for an aid trip in 2015.

interestingly, while in seminary i found out that i'm not the first Anglican to be interested in Orthodox theology; there was a group at Oxford in the 1800s that was of a similar mind!

 

[Progster]

I guess intrepreneur, because I'm a self-employed language teacher, but I also do temporary work in the form of proofreading and translations to supplement my income.

 

[Misery]

I come from a wealthy family, so from a practical standpoint, there's no purpose in a job.

Which is lucky, because I'm disabled. The autism diagnosis is the thing that causes me to have the official "disabled" tag, but there's two other things that would be a huge, huge problem if I needed a job. One of those is my chronic pain, which gets in the way of EVERYTHING (including right this second... I'll have to go upstairs and get Advil the moment I finish this post). And the other is my extremely screwy sleep schedule. "Non 24 sleep wake disorder". How the heck would anyone hold a "traditional" job with THAT happening?

Right now though I'm working on stuff. Not for any job. But because I want to MAKE stuff. Learning art (slowly and badly), as I've shown, and I'm also learning game development (to make indie games on my own). It's not any sort of job and there wont be any money from it, even with the games I will just give those for free. Just want to make something that others will enjoy. It's gonna be awhile before I have a completed thing though. I'm currently at the starting gate. But I have previous experience from the game I helped make as part of a team years ago.

So that's my current plans/projects/something.

 

[Mr. Stevens]

Right now, employment requiring a college degree. For a short time I also had a supervisory position, requiring a college degree. But, that was a nightmare

 

[autism-and-autotune]

I'm employed in two part-time jobs; one I love, the other is retail (on which I had burnt myself out over five years; full-time work is impossible for me, and since my diagnosis I've become sterner in my boundaries). Currently I've applied for SSDI due to my triggers and sensory issues making most work impossible. My church job is something I don't want to give up...

 

[SusanLR]

I clicked disabled, although I am now retired.
There have been different employments in my life.
A pharmacist and model/modeling instructor with Barbizon.
Supervisor for several years with Auto and Boat trader when they were still magazines.

I liked the pharmaceuticals work best.

 

[Outdated]

(on which I had burnt myself out over five years; full-time work is impossible for me, and since my diagnosis I've become sterner in my boundaries)

I just remembered one of the phrases I used when talking to our social security people:

"I really enjoy working but in all work places people have social expectations of me that I am unable to meet."

Hope it helps.

 

[Raggamuffin]

Only ever entry level. Passed over many times in jobs to less capable people, but those with the "gift of the gab". Tried especially hard to progress in 3 different jobs, and every time it led nowhere.

As much as the jobs fatigue and frustrate me on various levels - I do care about doing a good job, and put a fair amount of my self-worth into them.

They are passionless pursuits though. I do enjoy the conversation and bonding I've had with numerous colleagues over the years. Unfortunately when I unmask too much in social situations, I get in trouble for being too loud, too distracting etc.

Ed

 

[tazz]

I co-founded a software company 20 years ago, with a product I developed. It was fairly successful. I don't have a big role there now.

I founded a social enterprise in 2016 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is my current work - building/managing websites and platforms. All profits to charity. I don't take an income from this. I could if there was enough work coming in, but there isn't and I haven't been able to focus on building the business since 2020 when I moved back to the UK to begin 2 years of chemotherapy.

I'm also on the Board of a small children's charity, voluntary role.

The money from the first software company will stop later this year, which is why I need to sort out some new income. I could focus on growing the social enterprise and hope it's enough to start taking a salary. Or try something new. But I'm very anxious about it because for a long time now I've been able to work remotely and not have much interaction with people and I've had time to realise how exhausting it used to be - I don't want to go back there.

I don't need much income. I have a very simple lifestyle.

 

[Angular Chap]

Within about 5 minutes of starting my very first job, I decided I wanted to be self-employed and work from home as much as possible.

I wasn't sure how I would go about it at first, then I got fixed on the idea of making and selling products, something related to my special interests perhaps. I spent ages thinking about it.

Then one day a neighbour asked me for computer help, so I fixed it. Then I helped fix her internet issues. Then relatives asked for help, then more neighbours. So I became the neighbourhood IT guy. Then I became the neighbourhood handyman. Then the neighbourhood cybersecurity guy. Now I'm the neighbourhood fraud advisor!

 

[Outdated]

Then one day a neighbour asked me for computer help.....

That's pretty much how it went for me. Tried running my own business and hated it though, working for free was more fun.

 

[Luca]

I co-founded a software company 20 years ago, with a product I developed. It was fairly successful. I don't have a big role there now.

I founded a social enterprise in 2016 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is my current work - building/managing websites and platforms. All profits to charity. I don't take an income from this. I could if there was enough work coming in, but there isn't and I haven't been able to focus on building the business since 2020 when I moved back to the UK to begin 2 years of chemotherapy.

I'm also on the Board of a small children's charity, voluntary role.

The money from the first software company will stop later this year, which is why I need to sort out some new income. I could focus on growing the social enterprise and hope it's enough to start taking a salary. Or try something new. But I'm very anxious about it because for a long time now I've been able to work remotely and not have much interaction with people and I've had time to realise how exhausting it used to be - I don't want to go back there.

I don't need much income. I have a very simple lifestyle.

This is so inspiring, thank you so much for doing what you do
And I agree about having a simple lifestyle and not needing much income. I'm very satisfied with the lifestyle I currently have, and even if I won the lottery or something, I wouldn't really change much (except I would probably start an animal sanctuary!)