Anyone scared to have a job?
i was a customer service clerk at a local grocery store for two years and it was HELL ON EARTH! For a hyperactive aspie, bagging groceries and taking crap from customers as well as coworkers would leave me physically and emotionally drained at the end of the day. i was actually glad tolose my job. Unfortunately i need money, and being unemployed and scared of returning to the workplace is not a good way to make money. I was treated like garbage at work, and knowing that i have Aspergers now(i didn't know this fact when i started my first job) i plan to disclose this at my next interview. I also plan to find a job that will keep me busy and out of potentially stressful situations. My old boss didn't understand Aspergers at all, he thought that it was something that you could take a few pills and it would go away, which is probably part of why he kept me in that same miserable position for so long.
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Im dreaming in colors no boundraies are there
dreamin' the dream we all sing to share!
At the machine shop job I had it was important for me to remember what the boss wanted done so I would not wreck a metal part so I carried a small notebook and post its. My boss was actually impressed that I wrote his instructions down like Mosses taking down the word of god.
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There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die -Hunter S. Thompson
I have only had 2 jobs in my life. The first was for 10 years, working in the kennel of an animal hospital. That was alright for me cuz I didn't have to interact with people at all! I had cool co-workers and enough help so that I wasn't alone. Then we came under a new boss and he was a dictator. We became short-staffed and I had to start helping him out in the hospital area AS WELL as continue my position. I got really stressed out from that and started puking every morning and getting sick all the time. So I had to find a way out.
I started looking for other jobs around my area. My main problem in that was that I can't drive. To find any decent jobs you need a car in the States, unless you live in like NY or SF. That made me pretty depressed. I figured my only true option then was to leave America.
Now I have been working in Japan for 5 years and I really enjoy this job a lot. People give me crap for it because it's not a career-type job and because I am still here doing it. But I'm happy, so who cares?
If I went back to the US the no driver's license thing would be like cutting my legs off as far as jobs are concerned. I think that's ridiculous ![]()
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Your Aspie score: 161 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 55 of 200
You are very likely an Aspie
I am. I'm VERY scared. I've been on job-seekers for 3 years now, because I keep on backing away from jobs. I have had some work experiences throughout the 3 years of being on job-seekers (so don't say I've never tried!) but I've found I'm no good at anything. I'm doing voluntary work at a charity shop at the moment, but I'm having a lot of hiccups there lately - I've been told that I'm slow and untidy, and people are starting to take advantage of my stupidity there by blaming me on everything that goes wrong, or taking all their workplace problems out on me and nobody else, and I don't like it. And if it happens there, it's going to happen anywhere.
Every job I see has a snag what's against my needs. I can't do retail because every job description says ''the applicant must be confidence and excellent with customers''. I can't do admin work because the description always (without fail) says ''the applicant must have good telephone communication skills''. I can't do kitchen work because ''too much multi-tasking'', and I've found out I'm apparently ''slow''.
If I'm that useless, I will be sacked. To be able to get a job in this world you've either got to be clever or sociable, and since I'm neither of those, I am as useless as a piece of s**t. Trust ME to have AS!
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Female
I am starting to have a little fear of getting a job now. I am in the process of sending out my CV to companies and such and i have been getting a fair amount of call backs. My biggest fear is not the job...but rather if i can get to enjoy the things i live to do such as going to conventions, video gaming, going online in my spare time and so fourth. I hope what ever i do for a living allows me for me to do what i like.
The only reason why I don't want a paid job is because of anxiety about being made redudant due to the lack of social interaction with customers. I'm so bad with customers that it's actually scary, but because of my surprisingly low IQ I can't get in anywhere where you don't have to deal with customers. People think everyone either has high IQ or good social interaction (or both) but I have neither, and where the f**k can one find employment where you've got neither of those? I'm not even quick at my work either (or so I've been told at my volunteer job), so even doing something like cleaning won't be any good. Just what job CAN I do?! I'm going to be an unemployed rat all my life because there's just no room in his world for the socially ret*d freak (which is me).
Also I've got to check the hours, because I don't want somewhere where I'm finishing anywhere between 3.30 and 5.30, because I don't like walking alone in the dark, whether's it's a busy street or not - due to bad experiences I've had in the past (ie, bullies). I have an extremely high anxiety disorder, and I just want a simple job, which doesn't involve much interaction with the public, between 9.00 and 3.00. Surely that's not too much to ask. Perhaps maybe packing boxes in a factory, or something repetitive like that, where I know exactly what I'm doing, is part time, day hours, is not too difficult, doesn't involve any social interaction with customers, and can wear my own clothes instead of uniforms what I don't want to wear. (I know you can wear your own clothes in a factory because I know a lot of people who work in factories and none of them have to wear a uniform, except aprons sometimes, but that's not so bad). I will be a lot happier and relaxed then, and would reduce my level of anxiety. The only place where I wouldn't mind finishing late in the afternoon or evening is the airport near me, because I've caught a bus at 6.00 from an airport before and I didn't feel one bit vulnerable. But the trouble is - airports are busy places, and most jobs there involve dealing with the public, which is what I don't want. I think if I had full responsibility of the public at an airport.....oh dear. I think the airport would be burnt down by terrorists within 5 minutes of me being in charge!
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Female
I'm one of those who've had a successful career - well from the outside. I've worked for major companies, and some for quite a long time, but that's because I either get promoted or switch positions within the company. I have a hard time reading social cues, and in my current employer, they make no bones about pointing that out.
That makes me self conscious and more nervous and just exacerbates the situation and I get worse. It could be that I lose my job.
I also am very sensitive to sounds, so shut my door to my office a lot - "go underground" as my manager tells me. That's not good either.
Just a mess and I need help! Where can I get help with social skills so I do not make a mess of things again?
I think you're already in the best position to get better - i.e. in a job where you have experience of interacting with others. Anything else is like expecting a wheelchair user to get out and walk!
