Special interests & a Career

[DCA]

I think this is my first thread created here so please be gentle...

So in another thread someone mentioned they have a job in their special interest. I was wondering how many of you have been able to translate a special interest into a career?

For myself I tried with two of my interests. I have a degree in history. The career paths there are museums & teachers/professors. I can't see myself standing in front of a classroom or leading a tour! The other is tanks & military equipment. I tried to get a commission in the Army but for various reasons dropped out of the program ( I think a little of that B&W thinking reared its head).

 

[Autistamatic]

I don't work within any of my personal interests, but luckily I fell into a line of work (many years ago) that can be every interesting in it's own right.

 

[OkRad]

I was a classics major and there so many cricket chirping when you try to get a job in that field, it's even worse than history.

What I did was really lucked out in radio, had a nice job where I could talk about my SI if I wanted. I also did a lot of work in other things related to broadcasting which was great, not having to be around a lot of people (behind the scenes stuff), and I also tutored in the ancient languages.

There are many things you can do if you SI is so strong you can't stop it. If you get a career , you might be able to insert it into it.

I am SURE there ae tons of history and classics majors doing the same. On Jeopardy, I cannot believe how many Classics questions they have. Also, gaming.....a new game set in the Peloponnesian War era?!?!?!?!?! WOW. I now have to learn to game, about which I know nothing. Even on shows like Limitless, every now and again you get a line like, "No, I did not read the Iliad.....does honestly count?" or reference to obscure gods and goddesses.

So you can weave it in to many things and not have to stand in front of a class and shiver!

I do wish you well. Please keep us posted because I know what it's like!! PM me anytime, fellow historian.

PS- do tell, what era of history you best like!

 

[DCA]

OKRad, my primary interests are Medieval European History (specifically the 12th C Western & Central Europe, & the Hundred Years War -- though I have interests in other areas like feudalism) & Ancient European history (like Medieval most areas but especially Romans & other Italic peoples like Etruscans & Samnites). Most history interests me but interest wanes around 1500 & doesn't really pick up again till 1900.

 

[Mr Allen]

I'd love a job creating video games, but you need an IT Degree, preferably in a major programming language, before they'll even look sideways at you.

 

[Bolletje]

I studied archaeology because it’s one of my special interests, but when I found out it’s very hard to actually find a job as an archaeologist, I switched to studying medicine, which is another of my special interests. I worked as a junior doctor in a hospital for a few months but had to quit due to understaffing, it was just too stressful for me. My current job is still as a doctor, but not as medically interesting as I’d like it to be.

 

[Progster]

One of my special interests is languages, and I do teach one of those languages, I'm a private language teacher.

 

[Mr Allen]

I'd like to be an IT teacher, what I don't know about IT could be written on the back of a sewing thimble, but I have no patience, the kids would be unruly and I'd end up putting most of the class in detention for the rest of their natural lives.

 

[Misery]

I'd love a job creating video games, but you need an IT Degree, preferably in a major programming language, before they'll even look sideways at you.

And then once you get in, you find out it's not even remotely as fun as it seemed.


I've done game design... contracted to an indie developer I know... and in fact have a released game and two expansions under my belt.

And I tell you, MOST of the process was me trying not to punch the monitor as I dealt with all sorts of stupid problems. The "design" part of it is fun. The "actually make it freaking do that" part is... not so much fun. And that's indie design... it's dramatically harder for "major" developers.


And so that brings up my response to this topic. I dont work these days, havent in a long time (aside from the contracted stuff, and volunteer testing stuff), but way back when, I wanted to be a professional game designer. Like, working in one of the "major" companies. I do in fact know ALOT about game design. And I did go to college and all. But I never ended up getting a "real" job.

And now, after having some actual experience making a game? I'm *really* glad I didnt. I feel like I dodged a bullet here. More like a barrage of bullets.

What I learned is, just because a job lines up with an interest, doesnt mean it's going to be what you think it will.

I have LOTS of respect though for anyone that can handle "major" game development. I dont know how anyone does that without going mad in the process.

 

[clg114]

I have been very, very lucky in my working career. My special interest is machinery (see avatar). I have spent my whole life working on machines and I have spent the majority of that time working alone. To say that I enjoy my job would be a understatement. That is why at 72 I am still doing it.

 

[AO1501]

There were two special interests I had growing up, acoustics and law, and I was able to work in both those fields later in life.

After trying my hand at teaching law, where I think I was good at the classroom skills, but continuously butted heads with the Head and school management, I started up my own acoustics business, which was very successful for a few years, until as a special interest, I began to lose interest, and sold it to the management team that had worked for me.

Later on, as a trade union official, amongst other things I was responsible for arguing cases in tribunals, and for legal research and briefings to branches.

As I have written elsewhere, a teacher at school once advised me that when I was considering what I wanted to do in life, I should remember that I would be good at what I liked to do, and would like what I was good at doing. Having followed that advice, I have always found work in areas of my special interests, even as they have sometimes changed.

 

[NothingToSeeHere]

I studied ecology because it was one of my special interests. It no longer is, but fortunately it's interesting enough in it own right, and my job is challenging enough to keep me interested, eve with it no longer being a special interest.

 

[tducey]

I'm good with data entry here at home, I've made somewhat of a career out of it.

 

[Nervous Rex]

I fell backwards into a career that suits me and pays well enough for me to make a living. The thing is, I didn't prepare or plan a thing. I had no self awareness, no plan for my life, and no real world experience. I didn't know what I liked or what I was good at. It all happened in spite of me.

I got a 4-year scholarship to a small university and spent three years taking just whatever interested me. At the end of the third year, I realized that if I didn't turn it into a degree the next year, I'd have to start paying for it myself. So I compared the classes I'd taken to requirements for various degrees and saw that I was closest to a degree in computer science. I spent my last year taking two computer science classes, and all the basic humanities classes that I was supposed to have as a freshman and sophomore.

I got a job as a programmer and have been doing that for 24 years now.

Six years into it, I was reading a book on Good Programming Practices, and chapter 2 was on Planning. It started out with an example: "You didn't just wake up one day and decide to be a programmer. This took planning and preparation." When I read that, I thought, "Actually, I did just wake up one day and decide to be a programmer. I think I just failed chapter 2."

 

[On the Inside]

My main special interest has neen bicycles and bihe riding. That was easy enough to find work doing in bike shops. I became a master bike mechanic, enjoyed selling bikes and equipment, and after college, went to work for a manufacturer.

Around this time I developed an interest jn woodworking, metal working and design. The skills I gained with that led to a 24 year career in museum exhibit development and production.

Budget issues led to big cutbacks and I was laid off but quickly found work designing retail store fixtures, certainly not a special interest, but the pay is significantly better and the work is easier.

One special interest I wish I had stuck with was music performance. I played string bass, bass guitar, guitar and percussion in various bands and school orchestras through college, but then I needed to pare back my involvement because of work and life. Now I really like music, but my skills have pretty much evaporated.

 

[Crossbreed]

When I was trained in electronics, it touched on my special interests of mathematics, logic & some physics. I was at the top of my class but I struggled to find work in the field. When I finally did get such work, I found that the solder fumes made me sick. (Once I left that field, such sicknesses went away.)

I tried to change over to straight programming (math/logic) which I did alongside of my electronics, but could not break into that field. (I had a background in programming that predated my electronics training.)

I wish that I could have done more with drafting (math/drawing). I have even drawn schematics.

 

[interaural]

There were two special interests I had growing up, acoustics and law, and I was able to work in both those fields later in life.

After trying my hand at teaching law, where I think I was good at the classroom skills, but continuously butted heads with the Head and school management, I started up my own acoustics business, which was very successful for a few years, until as a special interest, I began to lose interest, and sold it to the management team that had worked for me.

Later on, as a trade union official, amongst other things I was responsible for arguing cases in tribunals, and for legal research and briefings to branches.

As I have written elsewhere, a teacher at school once advised me that when I was considering what I wanted to do in life, I should remember that I would be good at what I liked to do, and would like what I was good at doing. Having followed that advice, I have always found work in areas of my special interests, even as they have sometimes changed.

Never thought I'd discover another autistic acoustician here! Sound has always been my special interest. From making my own bass guitar electronics as a teenager to a subsequent research career in acoustics. I tell my first year students that I feel very lucky that, after twenty years of teaching the first year intro course, I enjoy it more every year. Genuine enthusiasm for it seems to still win most of them over after the first couple of awkward weeks.

I nearly went into consultancy after my PhD but thought that a university job would be more interesting. For me, I think that was the right decision. In some ways, universities are less tolerant of eccentricity than they used to be, and there is more management oversight now, but they still shelter quite a few autists.

 

[AO1501]

Never thought I'd discover another autistic acoustician here! Sound has always been my special interest. From making my own bass guitar electronics as a teenager to a subsequent research career in acoustics. I tell my first year students that I feel very lucky that, after twenty years of teaching the first year intro course, I enjoy it more every year. Genuine enthusiasm for it seems to still win most of them over after the first couple of awkward weeks.

I nearly went into consultancy after my PhD but thought that a university job would be more interesting. For me, I think that was the right decision. In some ways, universities are less tolerant of eccentricity than they used to be, and there is more management oversight now, but they still shelter quite a few autists.

I spent several years in IT management in a university.... it was a good place to shelter eccentricity!!

My acoustics interests led to engineering live performance venues, working in recording studios, and then designing and building bespoke loudspeaker systems. It gave me the opportunity to practice engineering drawing skills too, and ultimately led me into computer programming.

I would get lost for days sometimes on some aspect of what we were doing, squeezing the tiniest detail out of an idea or a calculation. It was probably the most intense area I have ever worked - and the most fulfilling in terms of being able to take an idea from concept to final product that audiences responded positively to. Fascinating work!

 

[interaural]

I spent several years in IT management in a university.... it was a good place to shelter eccentricity!!

My acoustics interests led to engineering live performance venues, working in recording studios, and then designing and building bespoke loudspeaker systems. It gave me the opportunity to practice engineering drawing skills too, and ultimately led me into computer programming.

I would get lost for days sometimes on some aspect of what we were doing, squeezing the tiniest detail out of an idea or a calculation. It was probably the most intense area I have ever worked - and the most fulfilling in terms of being able to take an idea from concept to final product that audiences responded positively to. Fascinating work!

We have very close, but not identical interests. I played bass guitar in an indie band and when that ended, the only thing I could envisage doing was acoustics research. My PhD is in concert hall acoustics and I became very interested in psychoacoustics - initially as part of room acoustics (why does one room sound better than another?) and then in other areas. My main project is in spatial audio right now. Since diagnosis I've got interested in autistic auditory perception. There are some fascinating little bits of evidence that we may have greater auditory perceptual capacity than neurotypical people. I find it amusing that for thirty years I (an autistic person) have been running lab experiments on lots of neurotypicals (or mostly NTs, I never screened for autism).

I do strongly identify with getting pleasurably lost in a problem. I think we have a better capacity for experiencing flow than NTs. Our focus on a problem can feel very pure. I'm not a very skilled programmer but I enjoy writing code to analyse data or simulate a system very much. I have sometimes found my mind so embedded in doing this that when interrupted by someone I struggle to speak. I think these are my only experiences of being non-verbal. These days I have few opportunities for doing the analysis myself. I mostly supervise researchers doing it, and I envy them.

 

[stringer]

When I was trained in electronics, it touched on my special interests of mathematics, logic & some physics. I was at the top of my class but I struggled to find work in the field. When I finally did get such work, I found that the solder fumes made me sick. (Once I left that field, such sicknesses went away.)

I love the smell of solder fumes in the morning...

My day job is as a theoretical physicist in a university, which I really like, but one of my special interests for 55 years has been playing with electronics. Nothing is better than a weekend by myself, firing up the soldering iron and building another amplifier or fixing a radio.