Jobs without social interaction

[Bahri]

I've got Asperger's. In my first job I couldn't handle my coworkers. After six months I ended up in a mental hospital. So now I need to find a job where I don't have to deal with colleagues. I'd rather not work with customers either. Do you know any jobs like that?

 

[Ereth]

There're really few jobs that let a person cut out social contact completely, but a quick search of the Internet brought me to this article, which has several suggestions:

Careers for People Who Hate People - Yahoo Education

I hope this helps you in some way. Welcome to AspiesCentral!

 

[King_Oni]

I can relate to this Bahri.

However, what might be an issue when it comes to work and being able to "choose" a job, is qualifications. The link Ereth provided does give you a few ideas though, but looking through them, they're all jobs you need some kind of education for. And if anything I've found college and university hard to finish due to this issue with "interacting with others". So that creates a bigger gap to any form of employment that works for me (and perhaps others on this forum)

 

[paloftoon]

There are online schools that you might be able to consider. We have to deal with people a least a little bit as much as we may not like it. The key is being able to stand up for yourself and not let people walk all over you if at all possible.

 

[rollerskate]

Be careful with online schools and choose a school that is a real academic focused university and not profit focused.

As far as work is concerned there is a lot of work that can be done online that doesn't require face to face contact with people and also plays well to a lot of Aspie strengths. I've mostly worked at home for the past six years. Learning face to face networking and sales/marketing helps, but isn't entirely necessary, and oddly our tendency to be literal, concrete, and formal in communication tends to play out very well with business professional relationships.

 

[Sev]

Programming could be a potential avenue for a career, while I do believe that you have to have "some" involvement with people my understanding is that most of the time on the job is spent coding. There's also lots of employment opportunities available in that area. However, as indicated by Ereth's link, there are a number of possible jobs that you could get involved with.

 

[nowwhat]

I work in a skilled trade with plastic resins and fiberglass building surfboards. To say that my work environment is informal is a gross understatement. Much is tolerated, if someone can show up dependably and do the work well, which requires concentration and an ethical concern for the finished product. I am gruff and strange, but quite damn good, but excel at technical and difficult materials and processes that most avoid. Most in the field would be happy to employ me, but unfortunately my options are limited by whom I can tolerate. But after 20 years, I'm still making it work, though not as well as I would like.

My point is that I am a Hired Gun. I am the wacko who sticks his finger in the fan. The assassin, the bomb technician. I do difficult, unpleasant work that most refuse to, or can't do. In addition to all that has been posted in this thread, I'd say that you want to make yourself into a Hired Gun, whatever field you enter. If you are doing the essential job that no one want's to do, you can often name your terms, and employers will look past any eccentricities or minor inconveniences you present. Look for such niches, learn the work they entail, and thrive.

 

[Grumpy Cat]

I'm thinking about jobs with no degree - here at the hospital custodial work and housekeeping, my brother works for the postal service, my neighbor works for UPS. All do work on their own and have no college degree.

 

[Bahri]

I've mostly worked at home for the past six years.

May I ask what do/did you do?

Programming could be a potential avenue for a career, while I do believe that you have to have "some" involvement with people my understanding is that most of the time on the job is spent coding. There's also lots of employment opportunities available in that area. However, as indicated by Ereth's link, there are a number of possible jobs that you could get involved with.

A lot of people say programming could be good. I don't really know how to research. I just search the internet. Programmers may or may not work in open offices. They have to communicate quiet a bit with colleagues. They're organized in teams. They attend meetings. There's a lot of pressure on them to finish their work on time. I don't know...

I work in a skilled trade with plastic resins and fiberglass building surfboards. To say that my work environment is informal is a gross understatement. Much is tolerated, if someone can show up dependably and do the work well, which requires concentration and an ethical concern for the finished product. I am gruff and strange, but quite damn good, but excel at technical and difficult materials and processes that most avoid. Most in the field would be happy to employ me, but unfortunately my options are limited by whom I can tolerate. But after 20 years, I'm still making it work, though not as well as I would like.

My point is that I am a Hired Gun. I am the wacko who sticks his finger in the fan. The assassin, the bomb technician. I do difficult, unpleasant work that most refuse to, or can't do. In addition to all that has been posted in this thread, I'd say that you want to make yourself into a Hired Gun, whatever field you enter. If you are doing the essential job that no one want's to do, you can often name your terms, and employers will look past any eccentricities or minor inconveniences you present. Look for such niches, learn the work they entail, and thrive.

That's very insightful.

 

[rollerskate]

May I ask what do/did you do?



A lot of people say programming could be good. I don't really know how to research. I just search the internet. Programmers may or may not work in open offices. They have to communicate quiet a bit with colleagues. They're organized in teams. They attend meetings. There's a lot of pressure on them to finish their work on time. I don't know...



That's very insightful.

I started out freelance writing search engine optimized web content and step by step guides. Ended with a rather new and niche career managing the online reputation and reach of businesses, which combined SEO, content writing, marketing, and public relations into one package. I also managed a local online news and events website for a while but that did require more live interaction than the rest. I did fine with gathering content (interviews, video, photos, etc) but was pretty horrible with face to face/phone sales. Which I hate... I wish I was the sales type. Anyhow if I ever go that route again I'm going to make sure I have someone else to handle the in person sales for me.

Pretty much anything in IT short of technical support is good for those that aren't into a lot of social interaction. You may be around people but no one really expects you to have great social skills. I don't really recommend programming at this point in the U.S. since so much if it is being outsourced now days.

 

[freewaydog]

I'm not wild about dealing w/ ppl either, but what makes it very hard for me is that I don't have the head for any of these careers mentioned.

There're really few jobs that let a person cut out social contact completely, but a quick search of the Internet brought me to this article, which has several suggestions:

Careers for People Who Hate People - Yahoo Education

I hope this helps you in some way. Welcome to AspiesCentral!

 

[King_Oni]

I'm thinking about jobs with no degree - here at the hospital custodial work and housekeeping, my brother works for the postal service, my neighbor works for UPS. All do work on their own and have no college degree.

That might totally depend on where you live.

Housekeeping here requires courses and documentation, any form of custodial work does as well, and the last time I saw a job for something as mundane as mailman, the requirements were quite extensive. Perhaps not necessarily in that you need to have a PhD. in mail delivery, but enough to keep out a fair share of people who didn't perform that well in school. Heck, even working at as a cashier has gotten sillier over the years looking at the requirements they ask to do said job.

 

[Ereth]

I'm not wild about dealing w/ ppl either, but what makes it very hard for me is that I don't have the head for any of these careers mentioned.

Oh, this was only meant as a starting point for everyone. I'm sure this isn't a complete, set-in-stone list of possibilities.

 

[Grumpy Cat]

My brother flunked out if college. You do have to take a postal exam that he did have to study for to learn certain numbered schemes. My neighbor that works for UPS has had no college but you prob would have to start out as part time and work your way up.

 

[wyverary]

My brother flunked out if college. You do have to take a postal exam that he did have to study for to learn certain numbered schemes. My neighbor that works for UPS has had no college but you prob would have to start out as part time and work your way up.

Interesting; UPS is a company that has been suggested to me. Yes, you do have to work your way up...but if you make it through that process, it's apparently a good company to work for. I'm not sure being a delivery person would be the best position for someone with few social skills, as all the UPS/FedEx folks I work with tend to be pretty outgoing and conversational; but I don't doubt there are other positions that would be well suited for someone with a penchant for order and categorization.

 

[gonzerd]

A lot of people say programming could be good. I don't really know how to research. I just search the internet. Programmers may or may not work in open offices. They have to communicate quiet a bit with colleagues. They're organized in teams. They attend meetings. There's a lot of pressure on them to finish their work on time. I don't know...

If you are interested in programming, maybe you should have look at software testing. I was referred to a company here that specializes in recruiting people with ASD as software testers. Here's their site in english. Maybe there's something like that around your way.
From what I was told, you'd basically go onsite, get a workspace and then run tests, going through pre set steps and just reporting somehow what happens, just running checklists really. It was specifically mentioned testers weren't supposed to try to find bugs or suggest solutions and go into discussions. (They found some had trouble with that after a while. You'd get to know the code better and maybe see the bug in advance, but you'd still just have to run the test and not say you saw, which can get frustrating after a while.)

A short list of other jobs I can think of right now:

Librarian
Shepherd
Forest guard
Lighthouse keeper

Nothing really usefull probably.

If you know of a specific thing you'd like to try, but don't have qualifications yet, it can be good to have a look at possible volunteer work. It can be a nice way to try out new things in a more relaxed atmosphere and get some experience in a field you otherwise might not get in.

 

[Grumpy Cat]

Interesting; UPS is a company that has been suggested to me. Yes, you do have to work your way up...but if you make it through that process, it's apparently a good company to work for. I'm not sure being a delivery person would be the best position for someone with few social skills, as all the UPS/FedEx folks I work with tend to be pretty outgoing and conversational; but I don't doubt there are other positions that would be well suited for someone with a penchant for order and categorization.

My neighbor that works for UPS stocks trucks and sorts packages. His wife used to work for the JCPenney Distribution Center and was an order picker in the warehouse where she also didn't have to talk with anyone. My brother is a mail sorter and he doesn't have to converse with any co-workers either and he actually gets to wear ear buds to listen to music as he works. All three jobs pay extremely well and have good health insurance and benefits. My brother did say the post office has lowered its salary though because its lost a lot of money. And the problem with UPS is that you may have to start out as just seasonal around Christmas and if you are a good worker they may keep you. My neighbor said that has been getting some overtime at UPS so that company must be doing quite well.

Any warehouse job would probably not require much college, if any. And it's work where you don't have to socialize with co-workers much, if at all. With a good well-known company you'll have great health insurance and a competitive wage, but with the economy we're in now, everyone and their sister is going to be after them.

 

[paloftoon]

Be careful with online schools and choose a school that is a real academic focused university and not profit focused.

As far as work is concerned there is a lot of work that can be done online that doesn't require face to face contact with people and also plays well to a lot of Aspie strengths. I've mostly worked at home for the past six years. Learning face to face networking and sales/marketing helps, but isn't entirely necessary, and oddly our tendency to be literal, concrete, and formal in communication tends to play out very well with business professional relationships.

By schools, I was thinking of K-12 online schools. There are private, for-profit ones, but most are not for-profit. They have their own logistics and drama like any job really, but something to consider.

 

[tlc]

I work in a skilled trade with plastic resins and fiberglass building surfboards. To say that my work environment is informal is a gross understatement. Much is tolerated, if someone can show up dependably and do the work well, which requires concentration and an ethical concern for the finished product. I am gruff and strange, but quite damn good, but excel at technical and difficult materials and processes that most avoid. Most in the field would be happy to employ me, but unfortunately my options are limited by whom I can tolerate. But after 20 years, I'm still making it work, though not as well as I would like.

My point is that I am a Hired Gun. I am the wacko who sticks his finger in the fan. The assassin, the bomb technician. I do difficult, unpleasant work that most refuse to, or can't do. In addition to all that has been posted in this thread, I'd say that you want to make yourself into a Hired Gun, whatever field you enter. If you are doing the essential job that no one want's to do, you can often name your terms, and employers will look past any eccentricities or minor inconveniences you present. Look for such niches, learn the work they entail, and thrive.

That's pretty awesome that you found a field that fits you. Don't mean to stereotype, but a plus here is the surfboard industry would usually be much more accepting of eccentric folks than, say, a hospital.

But a job that I've been hearing a lot of around here is medical billing and coding. I sat in on a presentation once. Take a training course, then it's basically work at home data entry. I used to know someone who was a nurse aide then did the billing and coding, but later on I see she works at a fast food joint in this same town so it must not have worked out for whatever reason.

 

[nowwhat]

That's pretty awesome that you found a field that fits you. Don't mean to stereotype, but a plus here is the surfboard industry would usually be much more accepting of eccentric folks than, say, a hospital.

But a job that I've been hearing a lot of around here is medical billing and coding. I sat in on a presentation once. Take a training course, then it's basically work at home data entry. I used to know someone who was a nurse aide then did the billing and coding, but later on I see she works at a fast food joint in this same town so it must not have worked out for whatever reason.

Sounds like it would be impossibly boring, and immediately. Also, I think I've seen ads for such positions, and I recall it doesn't pay very well. I sometimes need reasons to get out of the house, anyway, lest I turn into Aspie Hermit Man. I've already got cats, so I'm halfway there!