No job related to my special interest: Anyone else?

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My special interest is a band. I don't really think there are too many jobs related to that special interest that are realistic. I have other interests too, but they tend to be in things like books or movies. There are also many things I like doing (like movie-making), but wouldn't want to do that in a job setting. Sometimes, I am interested in the simple part of a science, but lose interest when it starts to get more complicated. For example, I am interested in genetics and how relatives are related to each other, I enjoy trying to figure out what your father's mom's brother's son's daughter is called and how people get certain traits like hair colour, but I don't enjoy trying researching complex mutations and all the complicated genetic stuff that involves 2 million years of university.

I also probably wouldn't enjoy a job that requires the person not to remain calm and not get anxious, upset, angry, frustrated or sad. If a job involved too much math or too high-level science I wouldn't want to take it either.

Does anyone else have this same people?

i've been doing digital audio restoration for the better part of 2 decades now. but nobody is interested in my services, even for FREE!

There are books at your local library that list and describe all kinds of jobs. Some involve working for others, and some are self employment jobs. Some are unusual types of jobs, for people who want something different. Go look into it. I've done it, and it's fun to read about all those different jobs, and try to figure out if any of them would be a good fit for me.

Yeah, I understand how you feel. Most if not all of my interests tend to revolve around movies or TV shows. Lately I have been getting back into anime, which has been an interest for the majority of my life. But getting a job in the anime or manga industry (which is something I have always longed to do) is probably as unrealistic as getting a job in any other part of the entertainment industry. When my previous special interests involved live-action movies, I thought about becoming a movie critic, but it wouldn't be worth it because of all the bad movies I'd have to sit through.

I've come to a point where I believe that the advice 'try to get a job relating to your special interest', is often too narrow to be useful. I think it would be more useful to sift through the various aspie (and other) traits to build a trait profile of ourself, then we can match jobs to the profile. The result would me a larger number of job options that work.

Well... I studied my special interest (art) and then completely failed to make a living doing it. As I have been getting older concerns like where I will live and who will look after me when I can no longer work have been huge motivation to forget the dream of an enjoyable job and to instead pursue a tolerable job that pays well. I set some "must have" elements to a job and considered that having some qualifications protects you from some amount of bullying (if you have a needed and therefore valuable qualification). I then looked into jobs that are in demand now and will be in the future and picked one that would work with my strengths and where my weaknesses shouldn't be too crippling. I'm studying now. I feel for the first time in my life that I'm finally getting on track. I think almost without exception the advice to do something you enjoy, or follow a special interest, is just a red herring.

I can't really think of anything that I would want to do for a living, special interest related or not.

Yeah, when I got laid off from (large electronics company) almost ten years ago, I went back to school and got degrees in "Audio Production" and then "Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance." Both fields were things I enjoy doing, but they're not fields where you can get a relatively permanent job and not have to be constantly job-hunting, and job-hunting is pretty much my LEAST favorite thing in the world to do.

This hasn't exactly "worked" for me yet, but a couple years ago I interviewed for a job working with online education - hoping that my computer skills (previous job) and artistic and creative abilities would get me there... that wasn't enough, but I realized that this was a job I would enjoy doing, in a field that I think is going to grow rather than shrink, and a field where I wouldn't be constantly looking for that next gig... so I enrolled in a certificate program (online and now I'm starting the sending of resumes and preparing for interviews process again. My Aspie-ness may still blow it for me when it comes to the interview (I have two this week, both things I think I would really ENJOY doing), but at least it's a field where I can talk about my songwriting / computer / video / creative experience and these are things that I can bring to the field...

So I'm not quite sure whether... when you say your only interest is "a band" does that mean you're a musician yourself, or that you're the biggest Led Zeppelin fan ever or just what? I've heard a lot of stories of people who are in the music business and I think the way most of them got where they were is they just started at the bottom, and one day... one day the band needed somebody to run the lights and they said, "I can do that..." and five or ten years later they wound up as the lighting director at some casino in Atlantic City or something. The music biz is a tough nut to crack and you don't get too many opportunities, so you really have to be ready to jump at whatever door opens, even if you didn't think that was where you wanted to go.

This "following your passion" stuff works for some people, but we tend not to hear from the people who tried following their passion and failed... for me, "online learning" (especially the part about dealing with computers) is a field I've found that can incorporate a lot of my past experience and, at times, to use my special-interest skills. Not exactly a "passion," although maybe once I'm working in the field it will become one. But for me, it was important this time 'round to pick a field that actually did have some job possibilities, go back to school specifically pointed at "getting a job," and then trying to find ways to incorporate my interests in my class projects - recording narration to go with those powerpoint presentations, being good at figuring out to use some of these "build online course" tools, etc.

No, I am not a musician, I just mean that I am a big fan of a particular band.

That's a good idea! Thanks!

Sometimes making your special interest "work" just doesn't work. I'm finding that out the hard way. I'm going back to a job where I will have less stress and more time focus on my special interest as just that: a special interest.

For instance, if you got a job doing PR work for the band that involved shaking hands, making chit-chat and dealing with music industry people who have their own set of social politics and body language, that might not be an ideal job.

But if you got a job as a security guard sitting alone in a booth with video monitors where you could listen to music, then that might be more ideal.

I don't have the right personality of a security guard. It's not really about being alone and working for a band just doesn't do it for me, it's not someone I am interested in. I am interested in the music and member aspect of the band, I actually like the idea of roadie more than security guard.

Being by myself, surprisingly, it isn't a very important aspect to a job. I said I can't handle a job that requires you to be "emotionally strong" and not get anxious, angry, sad etc. remember?

I was just giving examples, not suggesting you be a security guard.

I have noise issues and I prefer to work alone or with headphones.

If you have interest in noticing patterns in genetic relationships, maybe you could take a class in biology or chemistry in a local community college just on an audit basis to see if you like it. A possible career you might enjoy would be to become a medical technologist where you perform lab tests (and look for patterns or abnormalities in human cells) in a hospital or medical research setting. This is a well-paid position (lab managers make $100K+), only requires an undergraduate degree, and if you apply in certain states where there is a shortage (such as in California), I heard that the state will cover 100% of your college tuition. Medical technologists work in quiet lab environments, and social skills required are limited to being able to relate with the doctors you work with over technical subjects (so social chitchat and schmoozing are not required elements of success). Plus, if you have an entrepreneurial bent, you could later set up your own testing lab and perform services for clinics.

In terms of your special interest in a "band" how about developing a website or fan club around the band's culture, music, or personalities?

ocd girl 123, I'm gonna lean toward job security but first let's hear your history. How old are you? did you go to school? what did you study? what jobs have you had in the past? how did you like it? what have your friends done? how did they like that? What have your parents done? et cetera et cetera. That's a starting point.

Okay, well, if you are not a musician, then being a "member" of the band is probably not going to work for you. And as a female, even as a "roadie" there's going to be the expectation that you're also a "groupie," i.e., willing sexual partner for the guys in the band. Especially if you're coming to them as a big fan already. And as an Aspie, you may not be real good at dealing with unwanted advances or with people who take this stuff casually.

So what you MIGHT want to consider is looking for a local band, just starting out, that maybe is somehow similar to this band you're a big fan of. And figure out if there are things you could help this local band out with, to develop your skills and some experience.

But the music industry is definitely a "start at the bottom, doing stuff for free" one, so... you might want to start out by just making a list of skills you have that a band might find useful. Can you cook? Take photos? Record audio? Do graphics? Deal with the messiness of helping them copyright their songs? Go with them to the Goodwill store to help them find clothes that will look good onstage? Building a website? Write press releases and mail them to all the local papers? There are tons of "support" things that bands don't do well or don't want to spend their time doing. This is the old "make a list of what I'm good at and then figure out how to turn that into a job (or at least a volunteer opportunity)" trip, but it may be where you have to start.

There's a guy in the town where I live who plays a little harmonica, but he has recording gear (and talent) to make good quality recordings of this other local band, and he takes some pretty good photos as well. So for this band (which is a Grateful Dead cover band), some nights he plays with them for a song or two, but mostly he records their concerts and posts the recordings online for the fans. And he kind of leverages these things together - since the guys in the band know who he is, he can walk around the stage a little bit and get some photos that somebody else standing out in the audience won't be able to get. And his recordings sound really good (those of us who download the recordings to listen to know that a "Mitch recording" is gonna be a good one). I don't think he's being paid for any of this, but he's using these skills as his connection to this band and his way to put himself "out there" and at some point, it may turn into something with some money attached to it.

Oh, any by the way, I'd say this guy definitely has some Aspie-type stuff going on. But he's the guy who makes the "Mitch recordings" and he's respected for that. And he dresses a little weird and his hairstyle is unusual, even in a room full of Deadheads and dreadlocks. So people know who Mitch is.

So, to echo what smartalex said... I don't know what your background is, what your financial situation is, what skills you might have that a local band could put to use, what new skills you'd be willing to learn, but if money isn't an overriding concern, I'd suggest finding a (different!) local band that you can start providing some sort of support stuff for, and then see where it leads.