Job suggestions

[Cinco]

So I kinda want to get a job now but I don't know how to or which job to get.
I've been unemployed and on benefits for almost 3 years now if I'm not mistaken and I'm ready to try working again despite no further help (employment office is really not helping much)
I can handle being alone all day and being at home but I'm tired of being seen on as lazy and a "leech" on society. And I'm also tired of having to tell people I'm unemployed whenever I have to introduce myself to someone.

I don't care too much about money, right now I get enough money to survive each month and more, I manage to get through the months while still having money left over that I put into my savings account. I live really minimalistic and only use money on rent, food, electricity and internet. I don't have a car or any expensive hobbies, maybe I'll use my left over money to buy myself something nice now and then but not often. With any job I would make even more money so I wont have to worry about overspending which it's a plus I guess

I've never found a job that's suitable for me as someone with aspergers. On top of that I'm already a very "frail" person, I'm calm, and enjoy the company of myself more than anything, I enjoy silence, low activity and "slow" work. So instead of trying to find an interesting job I'm thinking about a job that fits me as a character rather than my interests, because there is a lot of things that interest me but nothing I can see myself "working" with for various reasons.
Therefore I need some help making a list of jobs that would suit me and then go to the employment office and see if they can help me.
I've already found some jobs that would maybe fit but any input would be greatly appreciated

-Library assistant
-Church work
-Janitor

 

[Mr Allen]

Data entry (you need to ideally be able to type up to 60 words a minute)
Computer programmer (if you know your way round a PC and are good at coding)
PC technical support operative (again, you need to know your way round a PC, maybe fielding phone calls)
Driving instructor (1 to 1 with a student in your car)

 

[Otenba]

Here in the UK it's been tricky finding new work because employers have become more and more likely to combine roles. Working in a printing environment as a technician would be excellent fun from the description of that role, but the employer tack on phone work and receptionist duties on their adverts, which means another closed door since you can guarantee they won't make reasonable adjustments so they can still hire you. Seriously, it has got to a point where you've got to laugh at what customer service roles are called these days.

I think what you've come up with so far are great ones to start with. I've had to suggested to me to try out freelance quality control where you check a product before it goes out on sale but expect customers to expect you to do copy editing work as well. You lose a lot of benefits taking the self employed route so you'd have to do plenty of research into how to break into that work. That option hasn't gone anywhere for me yet, but that's okay because I'm still employed currently.

I dunno if you can access it from Norway but if you look on the UK Government provided job profiles listing here you can go through the list and see if any jobs appeal to you. You may have an equivalent site in Norway. Take a note of each job that might work for you and take them to the job centre people with your other ideas and see if they can help you. Any that require training, hopefully they can help you get that training.

Looking through lists like this job profiles site one for ideas is exactly what I've been doing since I learnt I might be autistic and wanted to sort out my working life so I didn't struggle any more.

I wish you the best in your efforts and hope you find a job you enjoy for many years.

 

[Mr Allen]

Here in the UK it's been tricky finding new work because employers have become more and more likely to combine roles. Working in a printing environment as a technician would be excellent fun from the description of that role, but the employer tack on phone work and receptionist duties on their adverts, which means another closed door since you can guarantee they won't make reasonable adjustments so they can still hire you. Seriously, it has got to a point where you've got to laugh at what customer service roles are called these days.

I think what you've come up with so far are great ones to start with. I've had to suggested to me to try out freelance quality control where you check a product before it goes out on sale but expect customers to expect you to do copy editing work as well. You lose a lot of benefits taking the self employed route so you'd have to do plenty of research into how to break into that work. That option hasn't gone anywhere for me yet, but that's okay because I'm still employed currently.

I dunno if you can access it from Norway but if you look on the UK Government provided job profiles listing here you can go through the list and see if any jobs appeal to you. You may have an equivalent site in Norway. Take a note of each job that might work for you and take them to the job centre people with your other ideas and see if they can help you. Any that require training, hopefully they can help you get that training.

Looking through lists like this job profiles site one for ideas is exactly what I've been doing since I learnt I might be autistic and wanted to sort out my working life so I didn't struggle any more.

I wish you the best in your efforts and hope you find a job you enjoy for many years.

I've been for customer service role interviews, most of them are call centres but they don't actually state that in the advert, like last year I went for a sales job for some "Home Fundraising" company, I didn't get it, because it was too many hours and they wouldn't make "reasonable adjustments" with me being deaf and needing specialist equipment to use the phones.

 

[Otenba]

I've been for customer service role interviews, most of them are call centres but they don't actually state that in the advert, like last year I went for a sales job for some "Home Fundraising" company, I didn't get it, because it was too many hours and they wouldn't make "reasonable adjustments" with me being deaf and needing specialist equipment to use the phones.

Yeah, I tend to assume that all strictly customer service roles are call centre based now. I've mostly worked in admin my entire working life, and that sort of work is all going way of customer service which is super frustrating since customer service and receptionist work is not suitable for me. Even stuff like data entry roles are combining with customer service. So many closed doors.

 

[Crossbreed]

@Cinco , just a suggestion (based on my experience in the USA),

1. Go back to school in a field that you are interested in. That way if anyone asks what you do, you can say "student." (It would fit with your age.)
2. That way, when an employer asks what you have been doing, you can tell them that you were a student, instead of saying that you were on benefits. (They would either assume your disability or ask you, directly. That is a conversation that you do not want to have. At least, not right away.)
3. Stay in school until you get a degree. If work continues to elude you, keep taking additional elective courses, so that you could retain the status of student as long as you need to.

 

[Bolletje]

Data entry might be a good one, as @Rich Allen suggested. Are there any fields you’re experienced in, or skills that make you stand out? It’s easier to help you that way.

For instance, due to experience working in the medical field I got a data entry job in a hospital where I was allowed to work outside of office hours. I mostly worked evenings and nights so I could go about relatively uninterrupted. It was perfect for me at the time.

 

[Juliettaa]

I've been for customer service role interviews, most of them are call centres but they don't actually state that in the advert, like last year I went for a sales job for some "Home Fundraising" company, I didn't get it, because it was too many hours and they wouldn't make "reasonable adjustments" with me being deaf and needing specialist equipment to use the phones.

Did they put that in writing as the reason you didn't get the job?

If so, they're wide open for you to bring a case of disability discrimination under the Equalities Act 2010.

I wouldn't let that lie.

See link for more info:

Disability Discrimination and the workplace | guidance and resources | Acas

 

[Full Steam]

I've been thinking a lot about ways to help autistic people find and do well in the right job as I think it's often hard for us, as the normal models don't fit well.

I think there are ways to navigate the career paths by what you know now, and then make steering corrections to get to the optimal position.

I've kind of done that over the years in a very hit an miss fashion.

Bear in mind this is theoretical right now.

First answer these questions score 1 to 10 to assess basic suitability. 1 being strongly disagree, 10 being strongly agree.

Business owner
Are you goal motivated if you care about the goal?
Are you able to work by yourself without anyone telling you what to do?
Are you comfortable with a certain amount of risk or unpredictability?

Freelancer
Are you able to work by yourself without anyone telling you what to do?
Are you comfortable with a certain amount of risk or unpredictability?
Are you able to communicate well either written or verbal or both?

Employee
Are you happy being given your goals and tasks?
Do you feel the need for predictability and low risk (not job security as that doesn't really exist)?
Do you feel the need for financial safety nets?

High scores in any area will give you a basic idea of one work model that may suit you best. Low scores do not rule out that model, but probably make it less suitable.

Once you choose your work model you can get on with finding the right industry or role.

The following is based on the idea that if you find a way to monetise your passion, then you'll never need to call it work, and you can really excel.

The trouble is that "follow your bliss" is bad advice, as it's starts with "what I like" and tries to find a fit in the business world. Hence we have masses of people writing books, singing songs and whatever else. All with minimal chance of success as they are not looking to build value in themselves.

I have an untested theory that we can use special interests as a way to find a monetisable passion.

The idea is;

Write down all your passions/special interests.
Assess (with help) how they could be monetised directly.
Look for patterns in SIs that could indicate a monetisable role.
Take the SIs back to the wood and try to find the fundamental core, and then extrapolate into monetisable roles.

Example from my life; I have a long-term SI of military strategy, and ancient battle's. At first glance, this is useless, as I don't have a deep interest in history, and no desire to join the military.

Take it back to the core; I like strategy.

Extrapolate; Strategy is very useful in business, marketing, and technology.

The job I now do; Digital marketing strategist who has a deep understanding of business and tech strategy.

The next stages will be to look for an opening in the business world and to create a strategy to increase our value to the business world.

Example;
computer programmer -
the obvious choice, learn HTML, and CSS.
Better path; assess trending technology, and look for the highest need that businesses have. In the past SAP would have been better as the value is much higher, and the competition much, much lower possibly not anymore, this is just an example.

So, if you're game (or anyone else for that matter), reply with your scores, and then list your SIs, and the reasons you like your SIs.


One final thing; success is 100% reliant on one thing - you MUST take responsibility for your own path. If you don't do this none of the above will be of any use to you and you'll be wasting your time. Instead just use the employment centres and take what you can or what you are given.

 

[Mr Allen]

Did they put that in writing as the reason you didn't get the job?

If so, they're wide open for you to bring a case of disability discrimination under the Equalities Act 2010.

I wouldn't let that lie.

See link for more info:

Disability Discrimination and the workplace | guidance and resources | Acas

Meh, I've been saying for years that the Equality Act has no teeth, because the useless disabled person hating government don't enforce it.

 

[AO1501]

Meh, I've been saying for years that the Equality Act has no teeth, because the useless disabled person hating government don't enforce it.

It's not the government that enforce it, it's the courts. The problem is that far too few people who have suffered discrimination take action. Government is to blame for not ensuring that those who have suffered discrimination have easier access to the courts, but there have been many successful cases that have used the Equalities Act.

 

[Mr Allen]

It's not the government that enforce it, it's the courts. The problem is that far too few people who have suffered discrimination take action. Government is to blame for not ensuring that those who have suffered discrimination have easier access to the courts, but there have been many successful cases that have used the Equalities Act.

Big problem IMO is the majority of disabled people in the UK are on benefits because we can't get a job, therefore we can't afford the fees to have our "Day in Court" even if we could mount a case for discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.

 

[AO1501]

Big problem IMO is the majority of disabled people in the UK are on benefits because we can't get a job, therefore we can't afford the fees to have our "Day in Court" even if we could mount a case for discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.

Yes, I agree with that absolutely. It makes it easy for employers to discriminate against you when you are trying to get a job, and the fees required is a callous choice made by government. But it is also really sad when a case is clearly possible, and a third-party such as a union will file it and fight it, and the disabled person suffering discrimination doesn't want to go through with it. I understand, but it is still sad.

 

[Otenba]

It's not the government that enforce it, it's the courts. The problem is that far too few people who have suffered discrimination take action. Government is to blame for not ensuring that those who have suffered discrimination have easier access to the courts, but there have been many successful cases that have used the Equalities Act.

Agreed. When I asked Citizen Advice Bureau about this exact thing, the volunteer I saw said it was one of the hardest legal cases to fight for the employee because, unlike most other situations where the employer needed to prove they did everything correctly, this was the one that required the employee to provide all the evidence that they had been wronged. This is why employers try to convince the employee that they're the unreasonable ones when there are problems; plants doubt in the employee that they have a case.

 

[tducey]

You should meet with a career counselor (They usually have them specifically for people with disabilities); They do here in Newfoundland and have helped me a lot.

As to possible careers, I'd suggest data entry. That's more or less what I've done at work and seems to fit well with the Autism psyche. Whatever you do, good luck.

 

[Judge]

You should meet with a career counselor (They usually have them specifically for people with disabilities); They do here in Newfoundland and have helped me a lot.

As to possible careers, I'd suggest data entry. That's more or less what I've done at work and seems to fit well with the Autism psyche. Whatever you do, good luck.

Job counseling allowed me to connect to a job for which I was tested to have an aptitude for, apart from work that was in demand at the time relative to the job market. Perhaps most of all the program exposed me to all sorts of jobs I wasn't even aware of at the time.

 

[Pondering]

I don't know if these are what you are looking for, but here are a few suggestions:

Kennel Technician
Veterinary Technician
Animal Caretaker Volunteer (at animal shelter)
Journalist
Author
Blogger/Vlogger
Backstage Theatre Crew
Editor

 

[Otenba]

Any roles involving being a quality assessor or doing quality control work might be good options.
I saw on a BBC3 YT video today that an autistic guy got a Game Tester job which is one type of quality control role:

 

[been.forgotten55]

New here. Quality control sounds excellent such Health Inspector, Health and Safety Inspector. I was a Building Inspector for many years. Never had any problems since fairness and honesty are key attributes.

 

[SteveH]

Full steam has a great reply. I'm gonna think about his reply myself. Making sure the job not only fits your strengths/likes-but maybe more importantly for AS people, that the difficulties are not deal breakers. For example I would take a job that is a 5/10 that is easier and stress-free rather than a 10/10 that is super-stressful things about it.
There are the hidden things that NT people don't have to worry about. For example, I had a job in a hospital that was an old building that had a ventilation system that made me feel like I was going to die when it was on. Another issue is the commute. I need a stress-free commute or I get to work half-way to paralysis.

good luck on the job!