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GGPViper
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27 May 2021, 3:08 am

I'll be 40 years old this year, and I have about 12-13 years of work experience after graduation.

I have now reached the point where there is little challenge left in most of my job functions, since I have basically seen it all before.

Consequently, I am considering pursuing a management career to further my personal development. It is a fairly natural career progression in my field (government and public administration), but I am concerned about being able to handle the social aspects of having responsibility for a team.

It's not really my preferred choice, as I most of all prefer to be a successful writer. The problem is, though, that the terms "successful" and "writer" don't combine as often as I would like them to. So I need to be realistic about my career prospects, and I don't want to get burnt out by staying in a unfulfilling position. I've also considered working abroad as an expatriate, but those positions are quite rare, mostly temporary and not necessarily well-paid.

Does anyone here have some valuable personal insights/experience as to whether a career in management might be a good idea for someone on the spectrum?



BeaArthur
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27 May 2021, 8:53 pm

There used to be a bald accountant (seriously, that was his screen name) that posted here. He found the move into management uncomfortable, I think he actually tried to get demoted back down. In management you have a lot of complex social transactions, as well as you may be supervising others.

I would suggest that more technical management roles, where you still perform expert duties as part of your job, may be more palatable than jobs that are almost all interpersonal.

Do you like meetings? How have you felt about working on group projects or committees? Do you have any desire to be a leader? These might be some good questions to ask yourself.


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uncommondenominator
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27 May 2021, 9:07 pm

Depending on the job, sometimes the manager can keep doing the thing they want to do, AND manage the team, but other times, the manager is expected to manage and delegate, and leave the work to the team. In either case, you're expected to handle all manner of social interactions, be able to deal with pressure, resolve conflicts, and make decisions expediently. I enjoy that kind of work. Others do not. If you do not, management is probably not the right direction to take.