Good jobs for a guy with Aspeger's who is just starting out

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I'm 21 years old and after going to University for 4 years without working I am basically just starting out right now. I majored in psychology and have pretty much given up finding a related job to my major, since everything requires experience and I don't have anyway of getting experience. I am also ineligible to go to grad school, so that basically rules out having a career in psychology. I'm not sure if psychology would really be the right field for me to have a career in anyway.

My only work experience is working at a grocery store for a few months when I was in high school. It wasn't the best experience, but at least I felt like I could tolerate it. I am really anxious about starting to work full time to the point that if I have an interview the next day I may only sleep for 1-2 hours. Interacting with co-workers and customers all the time gives me anxiety, however, if I have to deal with customers and basically say the same thing each time it might not be as bad.

I've been searching for jobs for a long time and have pretty much narrowed down the only jobs I think I'd be able to get at this point:

1. Working in retail or a hotel (such as at a grocery store or a front desk)

2. Entry level sales (such as selling cell phones)

3. Courier driver (such as at FedEx)

4. Warehouse (although I'm not sure if I can consistently lift high amounts of weight)

5. Customer service (providing assistance to people on a phone, or helping customers get orders, etc.)

6. Laboratory assistant (such as cleaning up, preparing samples, etc.)

The problem is none of these jobs really seem like they would be a good fit for me and I am really anxious about entering any of them. However, I can't seem to find jobs I'm qualified for in any other field so I am trying to determine which of these would be the best fit for me. Obviously you don't know me, which is why I'm just asking your opinion on which entry level jobs are best for an individual with Asperger's just entering the workforce. If you can think of any other potential jobs please feel free to post them.

I don't think you should go for any of those jobs. I would try to find work in an office setting somewhere because that is quieter and more predictable than those other jobs that you have mentioned.

I believe that you should start working as an admin assistant or assistant of some kind in a company. Once you prove yourself, you will most likely be moved up into other levels of the organizations.

All kinds of places need administration and your degree will let them know that you are comfortable dealing with all levels within the organization.

Hope this helps!

Well, yeah, those sound like distasteful jobs, but most entry level jobs aren't a lot of fun.

With psychology, you could work a helpline, but I don't think those are paid. It could work up your tolerance to people with problems. See if you're good at it. But sometimes it's too much. For example, I really like cheese, but I would never want to work in a cheese factory because it would be overwhelming and ruin my love of cheese. I'd be around gross kinds of cheese and I'd think about that whenever I went to bite into a slice.

I wouldn't worry to much about what you're going to do for the rest of your life. Find a part time job that you can stand NOW, and at the same time, study something in school that's interesting to you. It'll all come together later.

Thanks. I actually did consider working in an office and thought that it might be a good fit for me. However, I never seem to get called for an interview for these jobs, even when I meet every possible qualification. I looked online and saw other males complaining of similar issues. I also looked on job statistics and saw that something like 98% of the people in these jobs are women. I really think that most companies prefer to have females for these positions and even though they won't downright admit it (to avoid lawsuits) they will only consider hiring females.

Lab assistant sounds not so bad.

I know the majority are women- which I never understood
But, the last person that was in my position was a male, so I think if you just keep trying that you will get something. It really depends on the company culture, too.
Other than that, I agree with the above poster, lab assistant sounds good. I guess it would be in a quiet environment where the work would also be somewhat predicable and low-key.

I've had some success with sales. If your selling over the phone you need to adjust your tonality so you don't sound like a machine reading a script. Apart from that just keep trying and stay positive.

If I had the choice between business to business selling or residential selling I would go with business to business. It's more professional and the hours are better, 9 to 5 instead of bugging people when they are cooking tea.

Last edited by enz on 29 Sep 2015, 6:35 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Data Entry isn't bad if you can find it. Drives me nuts but I don't have to interact with anyone at all and my job is very predictable and easy going. Often these roles do not have any discernible dress code and rules tend to be very laxed.

I would steer clear of a customer service call center. That is a very, very high stress job. Every minute of your day is scheduled and scrutinized. Your breaks are scheduled. Your lunchtime. And they often change every day. Call after call after call with no time in-between allowed other than maybe 15-30 seconds to log the call in the computer. And ever if you do that too much you'll be bitched at. Better not be too helpful either because that average handle time better be under 4minutes. Its a nightmare.