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How many jobs did you have so far?

alien girl

Well-Known Member
Am I the only aspie who'd switched jobs as often as neurotypicals change socks?

How many jobs did you have? what kind? were you bullied? did Asperger get in the way, or did it help?

I wrote a post about it in my blog, the long list of jobs I'd have and what happened, how Asperger sometimes helped and sometimes messed things up, bullying, etc.
 
I'm 21 and have worked since I was 14 and a half, and have had 9 different jobs in that time (currently have three jobs, one is four days a week, and the other two are casual jobs). Of all of the jobs I've had, I've left five of them due to other staff causing problems for me such as bullying etc. With the three jobs I currently have, I'm leaving the part time one in a few weeks due to staff again - not getting on with them, and problems verging on bullying. And with one of my other casual jobs I'll probably end up leaving that soon as it causes so many problems with my anxiety and I find it too stressful.
 
OK. My response is going to be very interesting. Now I have graduated from computer program in 2004. I didn't get any work in my trade until 2007. Between those years I have been doing general labor work for two temp agencies. I have been on unemployment many times. 2007 to 2008 was contract work in my trade. I was not getting enough projects so I had to give up my independence and live with family again. I did more general labour work. 2011 to 2013 I got my first full time job in my trade. After I got laid off and haven't had a job for 8 months. I went back to general labour work and now currently starting to build my own business. I'm still doing general labour work at the same time. If I would tell you how many jobs I had in my life, it would be more than the amount of fingers and toes you have combined.
 
I'm 21 and have worked since I was 14 and a half, and have had 9 different jobs in that time (currently have three jobs, one is four days a week, and the other two are casual jobs). Of all of the jobs I've had, I've left five of them due to other staff causing problems for me such as bullying etc. With the three jobs I currently have, I'm leaving the part time one in a few weeks due to staff again - not getting on with them, and problems verging on bullying. And with one of my other casual jobs I'll probably end up leaving that soon as it causes so many problems with my anxiety and I find it too stressful.

Good for you working since you were fourteen and a half. I consider it an act of courage. I was so afraid of getting a job because I thought I wouldnt understand the supervisor's instructions. I was so proud when I finally got a job.
bullying is a common problem on the spectrum, whether on the job or in school, or just about anywhere. school and work are the two places that force you to share your space with others and be close to strangers, and this can easily create bullying.
 
Right I guess I should tell you what some of the temp jobs was like. Trade shows, food processing, manufacturing, retail, etc. Some jobs lasted a week, others lasted many months. Sometimes I faced discrimination over my color. Someone I once worked for knew about my learning disability. He said he offer support, but never did. I lost my job. Despite I seeked action, I didn't get any money. I hoping my business will work so I don't need to deal with this non sense with someone else.
 
Good for you working since you were fourteen and a half. I consider it an act of courage. I was so afraid of getting a job because I thought I wouldnt understand the supervisor's instructions. I was so proud when I finally got a job.
bullying is a common problem on the spectrum, whether on the job or in school, or just about anywhere. school and work are the two places that force you to share your space with others and be close to strangers, and this can easily create bullying.
Mum has always been a hard worker so I guess "pushed me" to get a job so that I could have a bit of responsibility. My first job was great as my boss was so caring towards me but after that it went downhill. I've had a couple of retail jobs and that's when I started having issues and with every job since.
Would be awesome if I could find a job that I could do where I didn't have to deal with people!
 
Aside from musician jobs which apparently "don't count" for some reason (I guess because they don't get paid as much as they should and people think that they just dick around smoking pot all day and don't actually have to put any work into what they do?), just one. For 6 months.

It was ok, not really many hours but decent pay for the work I was doing, and I might have a job to go back to once my boss has recovered from some major surgery, but the fact he's had to have some major surgery with a long recovery time is the reason I couldn't keep the job for very long. It was a small family owned business that operates from their house so there were no problems aside from the fact it was incredibly stressful for me on the rare occasions that I had to take calls from customers.
 
My jobs since leaving school (some required degrees etc to be obtained first)

Toolmaker
Labourer
Farm Hand
Metallurgist
Paramedic
Truck driver
Programmer
Systems analyst
Singer
Farmer
Pilot instructor
Heavy Goods vehicle trainer/assessor
Acupuncturist
CEO own company
Recovery Patrol

Never been out of work and I would say that being aspie helped in all those jobs.
 
Not counting paper routes before I got out of school, five jobs. Every time I quit a job, I gave two weeks notice and had a better job in place. I've always worked as a field service tech. for a equipment company. I had one job for twenty-six years. I was always very interested in what I was doing. and my AS made me learn all could about my work. The real secret to my working success is simple, I all most always worked alone.
 
I've been continuously employed since I was 15, except for about 6 months total of unpaid leave here and there for long trips.

From the beginning, in order:

Newspaper delivery (1 summer)
Lawn mowing (1 summer)
Laborer at a milk processing company (8 months)
*Ski shop sales (seasonal, 5 years)
*Busboy (1 month)
*Machinist ( 6 months)
*Bike shop sales/mechanic (seasonal, 5 years)
* (these were all in the same 5 years through college)
Advanced composite technician, bike related (5 years)
Freelance fabrication/design ( several years, concurrent with the next two jobs)
Coffee shop barista (6 months)
Museum exhibit fabrication (5 years)
Exhibit development/prototyping (15 years)

While Aspergers has been a help, since many of my jobs have aligned with intense interests, my lack of social skills, slow work habits, disorganization and narrow focus have hindered me in career growth.

And I've always felt I'm a step away from being fired.
 
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Only seven. One job I held for nearly 20 years. Including being a full-time caregiver to my mother.

Holding a job was never an issue to me. Applying for them and actually getting them were another thing entirely.
 
I've had six jobs. Seven if you count the self-employed artist thing. And I'm chatty today, and quite bitter about my past employment, so spoiler tag for page-stretching purposes.

My first job was with my grandparents in 2006. They own an income tax office and for all but three years I've worked with them every tax season since doing filing, phones, and all the receptionist kinda stuff. I've also been "promoted", so last year I was also doing tax returns, and current plans are for me to inherit the business. I guess I'm set, government willing.

My first "real" job was at a grocery store in 2006 and 2007. Worked there for four months, but my boss thought that "homeschool" meant "available anytime" and I could not get it through her thick head that I couldn't work mornings because my dad was home in the evenings and was too noisy for me to study. So I quit that job when she scheduled me for all mornings one week and I was already three months behind in my schoolwork. Luckily I scored high enough on my ACT test a few months later to graduate early, so I also kind of dropped out of school halfway through 11th grade too. About a year later they asked me to come back because they were having problems finding help, so I was a "produce manager". In reality I just helped unload the trucks since I was the only one who wouldn't sit around and complain about my third husband and my boss was too sexist to hire men. My only AS problem was touching. My slutty coworkers kept grabbing at my underwear and one I caught rubbing one stockers' nipples a lot, one of the only men allowed to work there. Poor guy, I don't know why he put himself through that sometimes. And one of the guys that delivered Pepsi was bad about shoving me into my register and into the shelves, which stopped when I took a swing at him. My boss thought what he was doing was funny, and he wouldn't listen when I asked him to stop.

Second job was at a video store with a tanning salon in the back, over a year through 2007 and 2008. Which is weird, I didn't watch movies and I didn't tan, and that was just before the stinky lotions starting screwing with my stomach like hair salons already did. AS issue being I couldn't see dirt. Don't ask me how or why, but I can't see dirt or trash on the carpet unless it REALLY stands out, like a dirt clod. The manager said if she knew I was a bad cleaner she'd never hired me, and I told her she should change the help wanted from "cashier" to "cashier/maid". I forget why I quit.

Third job I worked at H&R block for a few months from 2009-2010. Worse job I've ever had! Horrible and painful dress code, the preparers were not allowed to talk to each other even if they needed help understanding the convoluted tax laws, they were not allowed to answer the phones, and we HAD to go fetch our clients from the waiting room instead of let the front desk escort them back which was highly inconsiderate of the old man with bad knees. I was promised 40 hours a week, and they had me working 8-12. I told my boss that I quit, three times I told her, and then H&R Block sent me a "no call, no show, no job" letter. I tried disputing it because that was a mark against my reputation, and the district manager just hung up on me. I hate H&R Block with a passion.

Fourth job, also 2010, I was a receptionist at a printing company going down the tank. The front was always quiet, so I spent a lot of time with the graphic designer and giving him a hand. They let me go after a few months because they couldn't afford to have hired me in the first place. Loved working there, even if my boss thought my calculator was a cell phone and I was texting during my math homework. (I was attempting college at the time.)

Fifth job, also 2010 just after the printing company, I worked as a waitress. Hard work, boss adored me and said I was the best waitress she ever had, my customers said I was their favorite. And I was pretty fond of them too! Only AS issue was the vinegar and clorox needed to clean stuff, how I hated mornings there! And a few social anxiety issues with the initial meet-and-gret to get people seated, after that, I was fine. The problem? One skanky pervert that had already gotten many other waitresses fired by cornering them and not letting them attend to other customers. Why the owner fired them but didn't ban him is beyond me. But I would not tolerate that skank or his foul mouth, and when I had enough of his little "I want to take you home and spank you" comments and being completely disrespectful to my husband by saying those things, me and the boss tied into it pretty heavy. First time I've ever yelled at somebody, and apparently I was the scariest thing she ever saw because she had my husband tell me I was fired. (We both worked there, and admittedly, I do have a nice glare even though I'm squinting at sunlight in that picture.) And I was denied unemployment because I wouldn't drop out of school to exclusively job hunt and they said not accepting sexual harassment is a perfect legal reason to be fired.

Sixth job was this May and only lasted a month. I was a receptionist and accountant for a local HVAC company. Word of advice: never work with a drug addict, especially if he's the boss's son. Whacko also pt a pistol in my desk the first day I worked there with orders to "shoot anybody I didn't recognize that came through the door". The sexism at this place was on par with the grocery store. One contractor got in a lot of trouble for chatting with me, under the claims he was horribly perverted and rude. I'm pretty well versed in perversion, and anything he said to me was nowhere near as bad as the boss's dopey son trying to give me sex tips of things to do to my husband! That creep also had a hair fetish, and he was constantly trying to pull my hair. When I was little, I had long hair, and every dick would pull it and every tw*t wanted me to cut it off and donate it, presumably because they were jealous they didn't have the patience to grow their hair that long. I was good and patient with that guy for a month, suppressing old hatred, trying to be a good little girl. Then I snapped. I told him I was sick and tired of it, and if he tried it again, I was going to defend myself. He got mad, and took a swing at me. I blocked it and hit him. He tried took another swing at me, I blocked again and hit him again. Then he stormed out of the store with tires squealing, and I was fired on the spot for being an "oversensitive *****". Since this was an "under the table" job, there were no legal records I worked there so I couldn't even attempt to file for unemployment. And I was told by the family lawyer I couldn't press charges for assault because the boss new I'd had these kinds of problems in the past, both with hair and men in general. The case would get thrown out because the judge would think I was "too sensitive", regardless of the fact he should have stopped grabbing at me the first time I asked.

So these days I stick to the tax business, bookkeeping and accounting, and my artwork, where I'm the one in control and calling the shots on what is an appropriate dress code, what is too perverted to be tolerated, and the tax ladies at MY office can talk to each other all they want so long as they get the job done!
 
I honestly can't remember how many jobs I've had in the past 53 years. My longest regular employment was nine years from the age of 25 to 34. My boss really appreciated my silence and attention to detail. Her son was my best friend for a few years, too, and I think he may have been on the spectrum, but very high functioning. We really clicked though. Other than that, I've been self-employed (sometimes underemployed) for 10 years. Everything else lasted only months at best. Once, I got a job cold-calling for a solar electric company. As you can imagine, that went down like a lead balloon within a week. Sadly, I left a perfectly satisfying job as a hotel maid for that position ... for the extra money. :rolleyes: Mostly, I worked in bookkeeping and account clerk positions. Sometimes I had to be a receptionist, which I always hated. Most of my positions were helped by my Aspie traits. My focus on the job and lack of "chattiness" often endeared me to my employers. I did have one job where there seemed to be an unspoken understanding among the employees about how to behave that I didn't understand. I felt I was being bullied in subtle ways, and I left quickly ... I sort of had a meltdown in the office over it ... it wasn't pretty. I spent a lot of time going to university part-time, so I would use school as an excuse for blocks of time I spent unemployed, and I only listed my best jobs on applications. :)
 
I have had 3 jobs (one incredibly for just a month) and another "extraofficial" job. I am looking forward for my 4th job on Mars or April.
 
I've had one job in the past and that was tutoring a young boy with his reading and writing skills.

I might work at a club in my school starting next week. There is a small cafe open on Wednesdays and Thursdays and I might work shifts there where I operate the till. The lady who runs it (she specialises in helping students with ASDs and I've always wanted to support her since she's helped me an immeasurable amount).

It's not quite a job, but I'm hoping to join her other club for young autistic children as a volunteer and to perhaps help raise the awareness of ASDs and to help them cope and understand their problems. And from there, collaborate with her and maybe work on becoming an autism and deaf advocate.
 
dishwasher
mowing parklands
newspaper delivery
pizza delivery
apartment maintenance
firefighter
heating and air repair
vending machine and fountain repair
chimney sweep
carpet cleaner

The last two were my own business. I haven't worked for anybody else since I left Pepsi Cola in 1997 doing vending machine repair. I couldn't go back to a real job now. Self employment is perfect for aspies.
 
dishwasher
mowing parklands
newspaper delivery
pizza delivery
apartment maintenance
firefighter
heating and air repair
vending machine and fountain repair
chimney sweep
carpet cleaner

The last two were my own business. I haven't worked for anybody else since I left Pepsi Cola in 1997 doing vending machine repair. I couldn't go back to a real job now. Self employment is perfect for aspies.

fire fighter! wow. you are one brave aspie.
 
I've had a few different jobs:


Checkout operator
Telemarketer
Voice-over artist
Receptionist
Vet clinic manager
Retail work
Magician's assistant
Call centre operator
Writer - magazine
Freelance writer
Book reviewer
Currently running my own business, being a mother and writing a novella :)
 

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