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Jobs

1

142857

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
A question or two for those Aspies with jobs.

What sort of work do you do? Do you think that AS affected what sort of work you fell into? And how do you think that AS affects your ability to do your job? Does it make you better at some things and worse at others?
 
I won't answer since I'm not diagnosed, but I have a question to add to the topic - Have any aspie's been refused a job, or had their prospects in terms of careers hindered by it?
 
As far as I know you can't enter the army with an AS diagnosis, but I think otherwise it's illegal to discriminate against people for disabilities- I think.
I'm doing work experience in Curry's Electrical Store next Monday for two weeks :D. I'll post in here how it goes once it's over ^_^.
EMZ=]
 
Oh you'll love work experience! :p [/sarcasm]

I worked in a sizeable guitar/amp/drum/keyboard shop in Doncaster for a week... which was good since I love playing guitar etc and it's literally all I did was.. just that. But even that got boring.

I've been working at Morrisons for just over a year now and I hate it. It really depresses me. You get bossed around by people that thing you have the mental capacity of an oven chip, when in reality it's their intelligence that's flawed.
 
God, I hope I don't have condescending management >_>...
TBH, I'm thinking I'll be patronised but meh xD.
EMZ=]
 
Emor said:
As far as I know you can't enter the army with an AS diagnosis, but I think otherwise it's illegal to discriminate against people for disabilities- I think.
EMZ=]
Click to expand...

I think you'll find that all work places discriminate against people whether disabled or not. Some people I know (non Aspie) wanted to work in a call local centre but didn't get the job. The reason was that "The English will not understand your Northern Ireland accent." lol Their accent must have sounded really bad during the test/interview they did. Another guy who they know, got the job but he was English and living over here. The call centre deals with a lot of English customers apparently.

I did work experience a few years back in an IT shop, but never dealt with any customers. I was mainly working in the background fixing things. I got along really well with my colleagues and they said I was a good person but should speak more. Which was encouraging.
 
Oh, just so you know Emor, health & safety nowadays is so tight you wouldn't believe, so don't be expecting any remotely interesting jobs - thats one of the reasons I found work exp boring.. and that was 3 or so years ago. All i literally did was play with gear and sort through old boxes of crap they had in the back, retaining anything of value for resale. :(

They did give me some freebies at the end of the week though. :)
 
Yeah, apparently I'm supposed to be lectured on it on the first day :p.
I don't really mind if it's boring... it's when it starts getting interesting where I'd be worried(how can being a cashier be interesting D:)?
EMZ=P
 
Hmm. I try to focus my efforts more on thinking up mind games to play to pass the time lol. Basically I stack shelves at Morrisons - s**t job, but you don't get to pick and choose in this day and age... and economy. When entertaining myself with my own thoughts fails, i usually just attempt to get away with doing the bear minimum. Sometimes less. :D :lol:
 
My first part time job - when I was just turned 15, so it sort of counts as work experience - was at a really big, brand new supermarket in Sydney. We had to do an aptitude test and because it was mostly numbers and stuff like that I aced it. They put me in the deli, which was one of the better paid jobs, and I totally sucked. The carpark was huge, it used to be an old drive-in theatre on a hill. They had put a few guys on trolley collection and they all quit So they figured that since I was so inept at wrapping and weighing ham and cheese and sausage that they'd give me a shot at it. I was so happy. The other guy who was supposed to be on trolleys all the time used to constantly goof off because he knew that I was happy to push trolleys up the hill all day.
 
Lol, 142857. Sometimes my bosses put me on different departments. Anything is better than what I do (I'm on grocery, stacking shelves). It sucks. I've been on almost every other department, gotta say my favourite was fresh prep - making pizza's all day. :D
 
I don't think I'd mind stacking shelves(like, not as a career but like, in the process of pursuing my career ;D), but I can see it getting a bit boring after a couple of hours.
EMZ=P
 
Thats what I though. Was sick of it after my first half day, but here I am a year later. :( I *need* the money.

@Calvert - Yeah the hunger was an issue, but... It's way better than stacking shelves. :D
 
I was a public school employee in Texas for 30 years in the maintenance department.

I'm retired now so everything worked out for me but it was a bizarre experience.

This is a long story so I'll try to keep it brief.

I graduated in 1975 and tried several things that did not work out,In 1978 I got a job with

the local school district doing maintenance, the same one i graduated from.

What I didn't know is that the people in charge had looked at my school record

and decided that I was off in the head and just left me there for 25 years

I was making decent money so i didn't give it much thought and I worked alone

most of the time so my lack of social skills wasn't a problem.

Nobody had much to do with me but otherwise things went ok

When I got involved in martial arts things went downhill,after I had trained for several years

a group of school kids decided that I was something special and I became sort of a local hero.

Personally I knew nothing about it but my employers resented it, they didn't fire me they

just made up all kinds of crazy lies about me and spread them around.

Apparently I wasn't supposed to accomplish anything or stand out in any way.

I recieved numerous threats,was told to get out of town and there was one attempt on my life.

I got the police involved and that settled things down for a while but several years after that they finally

found a way to get me fired.

I got a job with another district worked there for a while and when I had enough time in

I retired.

My house is paid for and I share it with family members. I didn't leave town and I have an agreement

with my former employers,don't set foot on my land and I won't point guns at you.
 
142857 said:
A question or two for those Aspies with jobs.

What sort of work do you do? Do you think that AS affected what sort of work you fell into? And how do you think that AS affects your ability to do your job? Does it make you better at some things and worse at others?
Click to expand...

Great question!

I work for a photography company, doing data entry. I think due to my diagnosis, I have the ability to sit for long hours uninterrupted doing the same thing over and over and over! Also, my Asperger's gives me a strong eye for detail, which is very helpful in my job. Even though data entry has nothing to do with my post-secondary education (I studied Biotechnology), it's a perfect job for me! As there is very little interaction with managers, other than my own supervisors, it makes that part of my job much less stressful. Quite a few people at work are aware of my condition. I am no longer embarrassed/ashamed by having Asperger's, as it is a neurological condition that we have no control over.
 
I have a job interview at my local grocery store on Friday. I'm actually hoping to get a job stacking shelves. XD I need to get out of the house and do something more often (I don't even care much about money), and stacking shelves won't require social interaction aside from occasionally helping someone find something, which I don't mind at all.
I'm just a little nervous because I don't know what to expect from either the interview or the job itself - if I get this job it will be my very first one ever. I'm totally unfamiliar with everything.
 
Stacking shelves - I did a little of that when I had my first job at a supermarket. But mainly I was outside collecting shopping trolleys.

I agree, it will be good for you and you should enjoy it. Good luck with the interview. Emphasise you reliability and your eye for detail, and your good memory.
 
Thanks, 142857!

Well, I got the job and then worked my first shift yesterday. I loved it. Instead of stacking shelves I bag groceries, but I guess that's just as good. It doesn't require too much interaction; I just have to pay attention to what kind of bags the customer prefers, and also see if they bring their own bags. I messed up a couple times because I didn't see their bags, but it wasn't too big a deal. When I'm done bagging for each customer I smile and say, "Have a nice day," which isn't hard at all.
One of the traits of Asperger's is really good organization skills, right? If so, that definitely helps, since items are supposed to be bagged with like items.
 
It delayed my progress into the navy and when I failed my weapon engineering technician course and I opted for transfer to the submarine service I was refused completely and to add insult to injury they counted it againest me!
 
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