Anxious about finding a job and income

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LimboMan
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

Joined: 24 Feb 2016
Gender: Male
Posts: 138
Location: England

13 May 2016, 10:48 am

I am very anxious about my life after studying my course at University and finding a job and earning a sustainable income to live from. And especially how my ASD comes into play with this. Its something for years I have been very concerned about and I'm 20 and never been employed by a company, or worked part or full time and see my peers doing all these things.

My special interest is music and I'm doing a Music Production course and making music is what I'm best at, just being creative. But jobs in this field can be few and far between, your either doing something unpaid or earning a teensie salary and I mean microscopic - less than minimum wage, or earning more than six figures being an A List. If any industry is saturated its this one. When I say I'm interested in music I don't necessarily mean I want the dream to be a recording artist and performing musician, I just want to be involved someway in music that will make me a sustainable income to live from doing something which is my interest. I hope to have a quiet and relaxing life in a nice home.

So this is where my concern about money, jobs and ASD comes in. The only income I have is my Student Loan, and I'm going to have to pay that back one day. When I move out from my university house next year back to my parents I will have to start earning money. I always hear stigma and horror stories about the property ladder, graduates doing jobs complete different to their studies for rest of their life, and living with parents well into adulthood. Home life with my parents is very stressful I always experience sensory overload and I certainly wouldn't want to live there well into my adult life so I will need to have a job. My parents don't have a large salary to able to bail me out on most things. But conventional jobs such as working in a store or office sound like dreadful environments for people with ASD, employers look for people that can do many things at once, deal with public and work under pressure in fast paced environments. In some ways music jobs require this but I will perform better if its something I'm interested in.

I would really like some honest advice from anyone about this anxiety about income and jobs. I don't drive so would have to walk to one, or work from home.


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Diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome (mildly)


kraftiekortie
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 4 Feb 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 87,510
Location: Queens, NYC

13 May 2016, 5:19 pm

You forgot about taking the bus or train. Or are you in a rural area?

I would say your best bet would be to work a job like data entry.

Usually, there's little interaction with people within data entry jobs. And you don't usually have to do sales-related things.

Or, if you're good with computers, you could work in a help-desk sort of environment. This is especially true if you're REALLY good at fixing computers/resolving problems. Usually, the more skilled a person is at a job, the less this person has to make use of social interaction to get ahead/maintain the job.



LimboMan
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

Joined: 24 Feb 2016
Gender: Male
Posts: 138
Location: England

13 May 2016, 5:59 pm

Oh yes I forgot to mention those things, I'm from a small town. Data entry sounds great and using computers, I like to think I'm good with them. thank you :)


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Diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome (mildly)


GamingMaestro
Hummingbird
Hummingbird

User avatar

Joined: 13 May 2016
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 22

13 May 2016, 6:47 pm

I'm a musician too! :) Don't forget that a lot of things are moving online these days, and that includes making money. If you look on freelancer sites like fiverr or elance, you will find that a lot of people are making money doing music and non music related gigs on these sites. While you obviously won't have the guaranteed paycheck a "normal" 9 to 5 job has, being able to control your environment in terms of sensory issues and workload may be worth the trade off. I know those problems are why I like the idea of working for myself!

And as far as worrying about not being on the same pace with everyone else our age as far as jobs go, don't worry too much about it. I used to feel bad about it myself, but then realized that it probably doesn't matter in the big scheme of life if 2 or 3% more of my years don't involve having a job even though my peers do. :lol: