what whould I like vs. what would I be good at?

Post Reply New Topic

ever have this dilemma?

let me preface this a little:

I'm on disability. I don't work. I'm a stay-at-home daddy. Looking at my 18 month-old daughter a minute ago, I saw her smile at me and it occurred to me that I/we might not have the funding when she'd 14 to get her braces or when she's 17 get her wisdom teeth yanked. I want to make it my personal mission to become not only employed but gainfully employed and a keeper. Not just some guy who comes to work, punches the clock and does his job adequately. I want to make sure that I get a job that's suited to me and that I'm suited to the job so that I can shine where I can bring my talents and interests to the company and have them take notice.

How do I decide what would be a good match for me in terms of what I would be good at versus what I'd like to do?

I mean, I'd like to be a forest/park ranger or something. I don't know if I'd be any good at it.

I'd be good at graphics and modeling (scale modeling) or small home repair and I'd like it but I'm not sure if I'd be any good at the math department, know what I mean? Measurements, fractions, decimals, conversions and that sort of thing.

I have plenty of hobbies. Modeling for sure. Horticulture, small home repair, yard work, landscaping, computers, graphics and whatnot. I just don't know what to look for in terms of fields of study at the school I'm interested in going to: http://www.uma.edu/ knowing that I have major difficulties in math.

frustrating.

Just think of jobs that are easy to get and pay decent money. Then pick one that you have some interest in. Other than this I can't think of how to get a good job. Just do jobs that have no prestige and most people won't do. There's guys who haul garbage around and are making $75 grand a year.

Mutually exclusive concepts.

Them's called "patronage jobs" and if you aren't "IN" with the PTB then you don't get those jobs.

way to be positive.

Pragmatic & "positive" generally don't coincide either.

Maybe in other places such jobs are not offered primarily to families & friends of Government types, but 'round here in Chicagoland that the only way to get them.

i'm a volunteer member of homosassa springs wildlife state park, so i know a bit. some parks need horticulturists to keep the local plants healthy, while getting rid of invasive species. zoos and other places like hswsp need landscapers to keep it attractive for people to visit. botany is a class you might want to take to get either position, heck you might actually enjoy it too!

I made a list, it helped me a lot to focus. On it, I wrote what I'm good at, what I like, and what other people say I'm good at. I actually asked other people, friends, relatives, what they see I like to do, what they see I enjoy, in what areas I'm good at. That helped me know some hidden talents I had, and well, now I'm happy in my new life (:

do something that you like doing, even if you aren't any good at it, and you will become better at it with experience, and enjoy your copious time spent at work.

Do something that you don't like, even if you are amazing at it, and half your waking hours will be spent in displeasure. Moreover, as time passes, you will stop doing it very well because you are so sick of it.

Sadly true.

Unless a job is in and of itself undesirable, no good-paying job will come easy as lots of people compete for them. That's excluding jobs that are hiring based more on politics than ability (who you know over what you know).

Still, it's a matter of finding something you enjoy doing that you do well that can translate into a paycheck. Some good career counselors who know about your AS might help steer you into some good ideas. There may be places that can help hook you in with employers willing to hire people with disabilities.

oh yeah tell me about it, Im in the middle of it myself. I have no job whatsoever and I need to get myself one and whats actually preventing me from it is just this exact dilemma.
I have before my diagnosis got jobs based on my hyperintensive interests and that idea worked in two years at one place before I had lost both the interst itself and the ability to stay and work there properly.
Today I refuse to take on a job that is based on things I need to keep only on hobby level. My problem is also that I have no motivation either to do something only because I have to work. Extremely frustrating indeed!