The Underemployment and Unemployment Thread

[Geordie]

I recognise the trade-off between skill building and happiness in job a long time ago. I wonder why I can't be like my siblings - they are so talented and capable, while I am floundering in the most menial of tasks.

But then, if we aren't 'happy' enough to be employed, then we have to accept life as it is. Seek meaning in just any job - or, in my case, having no job at all.

 

[Judge]

Something to keep in perspective, Geordie. Don't let work alone define you.

Life may take you in a very different, yet equally meaningful direction.

 

[King_Oni]

Don't let work alone define you.

Well, that's an intersting idea. A while ago I thought about this as well

People tend to identify and be identified through their job (and how much they make with said job). But in times of high unemployment, perhaps people should start redefining themselves in a different way.

You're not your job (and that notion is silly in itself, since we can't even agree that anything that makes you money is in fact, a job. I mean, people sometimes still raise a brow if you're a musician, or in the adult entertaintment business just to take two examples). But this notion that everyone needs a job, and needs to go out of their way to obtain said job, you're giving up part of yourself to become this job. No wonder people think they ARE their jobs. If you also add in the huge difference in income, "being" your job can be seen as detrimental to your self confidence.

In short, we judge people on what they do to oil the machine of capitalism, not on who they are.

 

[Geordie]

If you also add in the huge difference in income, "being" your job can be seen as detrimental to your self confidence.e.

Unlike what jobs bring to most people, a conventional job robs my confidence away. I would prefer to work in the government and large corporations, but they are too rigid for me.

Something to keep in perspective, Geordie. Don't let work alone define you.

Life may take you in a very different, yet equally meaningful direction.

I hope life brings me to a position where I feel I am emotionally, socially and financially sound .

 

[Judge]

Unlike what jobs bring to most people, a conventional job robs my confidence away. I would prefer to work in the government and large corporations, but they are too rigid for me.

Keep in mind corporate culture can vary tremendously. I went from working for a stodgy multinational corporate insurer, to a trendy entertainment software developer in Silicon Valley. It was like night and day. Not to mention that looking back at my stint in Silicon Valley, I was probably surrounded by Aspies.

And even software developers still need talented number-crunchers.

 

[Sparticus]

I spent decades trying to figure out what I wanted to do when I "grew" up. Construction, delivering pizza, being a waiter, working in retail & doing Customer Service didn't cut it for me. I took a tough path; may your path to work be easier.

Unlike what jobs bring to most people, a conventional job robs my confidence away. I would prefer to work in the government and large corporations, but they are too rigid for me.



I hope life brings me to a position where I feel I am emotionally, socially and financially sound .

 

[Sparticus]

I feel your pain and can identify.

Many find it hard to believe, but I have had 72 jobs in my life. I don't know if that means I'm unemployable or persistent. Whatever the case, like Sparticus, I have tried many things over the years. I've done everything from drive a tractor-trailer over-the-road to work in a convenience store. That was one I should have never tried. I've been a mechanic, worked in a couple factories, and was a nurses aide once . . . just once. I've been a Chief Engineer of a 500-room hotel with a staff of four under me and even served as an MP in the Army. My "Aspiness" made me unsuitable to work in the field, but they found I had a knack for building cases. I would do research, collect evidence, and put together a case for the investigators; I was a Military Police Customs Investigator. My all time favorite job was a mail-room supervisor with a major contract carrier. Unfortunately, they went through four restructurings and the fourth eliminated my job. If I were still there, I would retire next year with 25 years . . . sigh.

The job I now hold is a Maintenance Technician I. I have the most experience of anyone in our department (including our supervisor) and the most education. I have several certifications and know the place better than anyone. However, I am the third lowest paid person in our department even though I've been there the second longest. I am underpaid for what I do and I'd venture to say under-employed. Still, in this day and age, I'm thankful to have the job. There are just times when it irks me.

 

[Jordan]

I used to have a job washing up plates in a pub. It never went well and I threw the towel in (literally). I just couldn't converse with the staff there. They were either busy, or telling me I'm not doing my job properly. I'd used to clean all the plates. Positive thing was, I had a ten minute break, and if I worked really hard at it and finished all the plates in that time, I'd get a sausage barm and a free drink. It was never taken out of my wages.

But I couldn't hack it when I just got exhausted and felt chronically tired. I accidentally smashed a plate and the weather was playing with my sensory issues. (This was way before I even found out that I have aspergers). So I couldn't hack it with the ignorance of other people. Perhaps I should of realized they were busy with their job in field, but I never socially recognized it. I literally gave in and said "I quit", because I'd always get ignored, even when trying my hardest. (This was when I was 15)

I never knew that even had anything to do with my AS, up until now. I realize I could have worked harder on that job, but I know that sort of job is not recommended for someone that has autism/aspergers. It's managing the work load that is really tiring.

3 years later, I was going to take a job at another pub, they said that they'd accept my application, but I never went to an interview because I was too scared to go. - This was bar/waiter work, so to take track of orders and drinks would be so energy draining and I'd have auditory problems if they have a really busy night. Also, I'd have problems with what tables to go to. So I just said to them that I couldn't accept the offer.

Now I am not sure which job I want. I need to know which jobs that I can put my intense interest at heart. And I also need to know which jobs are in my area of expertise, otherwise it's not worth going for.

But right now though I'm concentrating on my college course. Then, I need help and assistance to find a job that suits my interests.

 

[Sparticus]

Everything you said is imo true. I was just wondering what you wrote. Maybe a lot of it has to do with having 1 overwhelmed [or uncaring] parent. So we are not guided into a good career? Some are lucky and their parents push them to achieve. Me-as children & teenagers we hung out in the streets...no one took an interest in us. Cie la vie.

Then as you brought up, our body language. We are too honest, too nice! Easy targets. There's always the slicksters, people related to the boss and other abusive types at work. When young we were told to work hard to get ahead. I think by the 1990s you had to be related to the boss to get ahead.

As you mentioned the bloodsuckers at work sometimes don't care if you produce more than them. Some form of work politics [I was aweful at that] can help us. Seems to be getting worse because of the economy and the media shaping people to be more heartless.

It's nice to know that I'm not the only one in this boat.

Seriously, is there something about the Aspie character that says, "Hey, take advantage of me, because you can get away with it," or are we totally clueless? It's like we have some sort of weird body language that only NT's pick up on. Not wishing to brag (bull, I am bragging), but I closed out the most work orders of anyone last year at 2000. I'm not the best, smartest, or most knowledgeable. What makes me stand out is I'm the most productive. Nowadays, though, it seems like that doesn't matter. I was always taught, "Work hard and you'll get ahead." Yeah, right. Oops, sorry about the rant there.

 

[XandirKai]

I am currently unemployed. But I'm selling paintings until I get in gear to work again. I was a delivery driver for Pizza Hut. For 3 years. It finally got the best of me. Inside was fine cause it was repetition. But the driving and worrying about times made me rage out on the road. I had many days of wanting to drive into oncoming traffic. I finally had a mental breakdown under the stress cause everything was put on my shoulders. I was shaking and screaming in my car. Punching anything I could. So finally I left. During that time I picked up a job selling cell phones. Worst decision. Made me feel awkward and stupid all the time. Cause I couldn't sell much. I couldn't help people and sell enough. Left that job too. Did it for 10 months. All I want to do is make a living selling my artwork. Since it's my obsession I can talk to people about it for hours and not be awkward. Just going and promoting is hard for me. Meeting strangers and seeing if they would buy my work. Hopefully my friend will help cause I can do it, just need a buffer in case I start getting anxious.

 

[ShatteredUniverse]

I've been employed before, exactly twice. The first time was no picnic, but at least the boss "ran a tight ship" and gave a damn about his employees. I can trudge through my problems a lot easier if I know someone's got my back. Of course, after only one month I had to move back home, about two-thousand miles away and commuting was out of the question.

The second job I worked? Well, let's just say I was a cart-pusher for the largest private employer in the world. Unfortunately, the particular store where I was stationed at is one of the worst in the region. (I found out after I quit they so neglected the cart-pushers at that store that one of them actually died on the job the summer previous to my employment.) The managers couldn't coordinate their efforts to keep us on one single task long enough to bring it to completion much of the time, and there were an alarming number of customers who made things much, much worse by acting like spoiled royalty.

Now, I'm enrolled at a local college, working (as a start) towards an Associate's degree. I'm hoping to be able to get a decent job that doesn't absolutely rip me apart psychologically and move out on my own after I complete the degree and co-requisite certifications , and that I'll be able to earn through at least a Master's eventually.

In this economy, though? There's a part of me wondering if I'll ever be employed again, because I have such a sketchy job history. I was never fired or formally reprimanded on the job, mind you. I just don't have much on-paper work experience.

 

[dragonwolf]

I've been employed before, exactly twice. The first time was no picnic, but at least the boss "ran a tight ship" and gave a damn about his employees. I can trudge through my problems a lot easier if I know someone's got my back. Of course, after only one month I had to move back home, about two-thousand miles away and commuting was out of the question.

The second job I worked? Well, let's just say I was a cart-pusher for the largest private employer in the world. Unfortunately, the particular store where I was stationed at is one of the worst in the region. (I found out after I quit they so neglected the cart-pushers at that store that one of them actually died on the job the summer previous to my employment.) The managers couldn't coordinate their efforts to keep us on one single task long enough to bring it to completion much of the time, and there were an alarming number of customers who made things much, much worse by acting like spoiled royalty.

Now, I'm enrolled at a local college, working (as a start) towards an Associate's degree. I'm hoping to be able to get a decent job that doesn't absolutely rip me apart psychologically and move out on my own after I complete the degree and co-requisite certifications , and that I'll be able to earn through at least a Master's eventually.

In this economy, though? There's a part of me wondering if I'll ever be employed again, because I have such a sketchy job history. I was never fired or formally reprimanded on the job, mind you. I just don't have much on-paper work experience.

Depending on what your degree is in, I doubt the work history will matter much. If nothing else, you will be starting a new career where experience isn't required yet. Even later on, though, a lot of fields don't really look down on spotty work history that much (I've learned from experience, having only a couple of jobs that lasted longer than a year in the past decade).

 

[ShatteredUniverse]

Depending on what your degree is in, I doubt the work history will matter much. If nothing else, you will be starting a new career where experience isn't required yet. Even later on, though, a lot of fields don't really look down on spotty work history that much (I've learned from experience, having only a couple of jobs that lasted longer than a year in the past decade).

My Associate's is going to be in Computer Technology (Programming). Then, I want to move on to a Computer Science Bachelor's completion degree online (there are a few legit ones out there). I would really like my terminal degree to be a Ph.D.

 

[Cerulean]

I was happily employed at a software company until last Friday. Let me rephrase that. I'm still with the company, but I got a "promotion", in which so far I have done almost no work and have gotten a raise for it. I am bored out of my mind and have been reassured by my superior that "just being available" is helpful enough. It wouldn't be so bad except we have limited internal documentation of our software, and one of the websites is down, so there's only so much professional development I can do in my down time.

 

[dragonwolf]

I was happily employed at a software company until last Friday. Let me rephrase that. I'm still with the company, but I got a "promotion", in which so far I have done almost no work and have gotten a raise for it. I am bored out of my mind and have been reassured by my superior that "just being available" is helpful enough. It wouldn't be so bad except we have limited internal documentation of our software, and one of the websites is down, so there's only so much professional development I can do in my down time.

If you're supposed to work on the software, perhaps start poking around the code and figuring out how it works? You can then start bolstering the documentation, and you have the added bonus of learning the system.

 

[Cerulean]

I'm in tech support, my job used to be helping anyone who called in. Now it's assisting the advanced tech support team, so when they are too busy to deal with their own clients, I help them. Problem is nobody needs help now. And I'm not supposed to wander around and help the general tech support teams

Thank you for the suggestion though, I am going to poke around on some of our shared drives for documentation that might fill some gaps in my knowledge!

 

[dragonwolf]

My Associate's is going to be in Computer Technology (Programming). Then, I want to move on to a Computer Science Bachelor's completion degree online (there are a few legit ones out there). I would really like my terminal degree to be a Ph.D.

Yeah, programming is quite lenient on job history. It's apparently common for people to jump companies every couple years and/or do contract gigs that only last a few months. Even with my track record, I'm beating recruiters off with a stick.

 

[Tarragon]

I'm in tech support, my job used to be helping anyone who called in. Now it's assisting the advanced tech support team, so when they are too busy to deal with their own clients, I help them. Problem is nobody needs help now. And I'm not supposed to wander around and help the general tech support teams

Thank you for the suggestion though, I am going to poke around on some of our shared drives for documentation that might fill some gaps in my knowledge!

They pay you more to do less? An NT's dream! Of course, us aspies with inquisitive brains want to actually do something useful and fun!

Maybe you could keep going up the company and do less and less? That seems to be the goal of people who reach the top isn't it? Maybe the trick is to "appear" busy and important. That's my experience of offices anyway

Don't appear too bored, and you can probably get away with playing minesweeper on the PC and getting paid for it!

 

[ShatteredUniverse]

They pay you more to do less? An NT's dream! Of course, us aspies with inquisitive brains want to actually do something useful and fun!

Maybe you could keep going up the company and do less and less? That seems to be the goal of people who reach the top isn't it? Maybe the trick is to "appear" busy and important. That's my experience of offices anyway

Don't appear too bored, and you can probably get away with playing minesweeper on the PC and getting paid for it!

Sounds fun. . . NOT.

Seriously, I think I'd pull all my hair out in an environment like that. At least when I was a cart-pusher, the expectations never lowered. It's too bad I wasn't cut out for the social interaction and chaos, because I was damned good at my core responsibilities. They even had me training new people (that position has a HIGH turnover rate.)

 

[bentHnau]

At least when I was a cart-pusher, the expectations never lowered. It's too bad I wasn't cut out for the social interaction and chaos, because I was damned good at my core responsibilities. They even had me training new people (that position has a HIGH turnover rate.)

Pushing carts requires training? Training that lasts more than a minute or two?