What is your job? Likes and dislikes?

[SamC44]

I work in a small independent chain of Opticians (3 stores within a 5 mile radius) as an Optical Assistant 4 days per week. I am basically a receptionist who also carrys out basic visual tests and teaches patients about contact lenses.

It never gets so busy that I find it particularly stressful which is good, but there are a lot of quiet periods and the rules and procedures are constantly changing which is really bugging me now. The fundamentals of the job (admin, tests etc) I really like, and if i'm ever the only receptionist and have plenty of work to do I enjoy my job.

Being at a reception desk though I am permanently "on show" to the public and colleagues so I basically just have to sit there (can't read a book or magazine for example). There are usually 2 people on a rather small reception desk and a dispenser nearby too. I'm starting to really struggle keeping up with conversations and find it very wearing. I am quite happy to sit quietly but everyone seems to want to be talking all the time.

That being said I do enjoy the customer interaction that comes with my job – I think because any interaction is always short and 99% of the time it is a query relating to their appointment so I know how to respond.

I’m currently looking for a new job and just wondering what jobs other people have and what they like and dislike about them.

 

[Kari Suttle]

I work as a babysitter full time through the work week and a cashier part time on the weekends. I love everything about my babysitting job, the only thing about it i don't like is the fact that most days with it i have to wake up at 5am...

I can talk a lot more about my cashier job though. Its in a busy grocery store. At first the chaos and noise used to overload me, both mentally and sensory-wise, but eventually i learned to cope with it better. I use my aspie ability to hyperfocus to focus on nothing but the customer right in front of me, and only through that can i 'tune out' the noise, the line behind the current customer, etc. Stress and getting hungry for my lunch break and before i leave for the day hinder my ability to hyperfocus though, eventually throughout the day i find myself getting overwhelmed and sometimes this leads to shutdowns.

What i like, though, and what keeps me there despite how stressful it can be, is the supervisors and coworkers. I might be a social outcast and they certainly aren't my friends, but they're friendly and although some of the supervisors are average some of them are really good supervisors and cope with my undiagnosed, unspoken case of AS/HFA very well. I think its cause i'm fairly certain a coworker of mine is a diagnosed aspie that told them when he was hired; a combination of learning how to work with him and them being good supervisors to begin with. One of them is particularly good at noticing when i need help with something but haven't put in a code saying i need help with something.

 

[Stik]

To start things off I am currently a self diagnosed Aspie but am searching for a professional diagnosis. I have been diagnosed with anxiety and depression professionally. I'm a special education teacher's assistant for 18-21 year olds. I work with students that only need a little assistance to students who need assistance with everything including toileting and feeding. I work for the public school district and this is a special program to transition students with needs into their life after high school. Some students get jobs and others are transitioning to a leisure program available in my city. I've heard we have the most amazing programs for students with special needs and I would have to agree. It's very rewarding to see them transition in the short time that we have them. Every graduation makes me cry with joy.

I really enjoy working with the students one on one. Everyone of them is unique and I get to learn so much. Our teachers really make their personalities shine too. I enjoy driving students around the city, which is something I never could've done before I attended an intense anxiety exposure group a few years ago. I feel I have a connection with students that others don't have due to some of our similarities and that can be both good and bad. It's good because I can often calm them if they're verbal. I do have a hard time figuring out nonverbal students but we all do. I offer suggestions that coworkers don't think of though. I'm not bashing my coworkers, they're excellent, I'm just different. Another great thing is all the time off I get to recharge and I only work 6.5 hours a day. I absolutely love my job! Unfortunately there's a bad side to everything.

I don't like getting up early, but I'm adjusting. With all the time off we have, I don't get paid much each month. The hourly rate could use an improvement, I hear it's better in countries other than the u.s. I often get depressed on my days off because of the lack of consistency with my schedule, plus I switch it around so I can be with my boyfriend who works second shift rather than first like me. I do much better with a schedule that's given to me rather than one I make myself. I have a strong feeling that's been drilled into me that says it's okay to disappoint myself but not others. Sometimes the teachers are very demanding and it can get overwhelming but I'm usually able to stumble through those things without people noticing too much. I think the students help me through those times rather than me helping them.

Anyway, in my opinion I think the positives greatly out weigh the negatives with my job. I don't struggle getting to work every day like I used to. I'm happy to be there most days, I've never been able to say that with any other job ... except for pet sitting. That was good too.

Before switching my career to care for others I was a graphic designer for a newspaper for seven years. Before that I could barely hold onto a job.

 

[AsheSkyler]

I presently work two jobs.

My seasonal job is an income tax preparer at my grandparents' office. I am in training to run it when they retire.
Likes:
- OCD heaven! So many papers and files, so little time! You go here, and you go there, and you go here, and you go there...
- Set my own dress code! Jeans and tshirt. Yes, I am professional, I'm good at what I do, and even better, I am comfortable while doing it.
- Decent income for those months.
Dislikes:
- The government. Need I say more? They're idiots.
- One of the other preparers and her vile purifier machine. That thing makes my lungs burn and gives me such a busting headache.

My off-season job, and kinda year-round job, I'm self employed as an artist.
Likes:
- Email! I communicate primarily through email and sell primarily online. Send me a photo and directions, I send sketches and previews back, eventually we're both happy and off it goes to your house.
Dislikes:
- Doesn't pay well since I switched from Chinese labor to American wages. I got a lot more work when I was charging $2/hour for my time.

With both, I have an opportunity to provide a service and make people happy. I can't really help everybody as an income tax preparer, some people are just going to get screwed by the system no matter how hard I try. (And I'm not doing anything illegal, because that'd get us both in even worse trouble.) And while most of my people art-wise are happy, I do get a few sad cases of drawing memorials. They still end up pleased because I doggedly go at it until they are pleased, but it's very bittersweet since I'm drawing a lost loved one.

 

[Jason]

I'm a qualified Fitness Specialist however I'm not working as one due to being a university student and the fitness industry is a grey area. Most people in it are more interested in making money than helping people. I also work in a podiatry practice which I find to be a good learning tool.

 

[Greg]

I am a database administrator and the things that I like about it is the new challenges. However the dislikes are the many after hours that I have to work with the job. The nights and weekends.

 

[apt-get]

I'm a junior specialist in an astronomy lab. I'm basically paid to do research full-time. It's pretty sweet.

 

[Aurore]

I work as a Civil Servant for the French Department of Justice. I used to be a contract worker for 11 years, I've had my granting of tenure last year. I work in a jail, but it's less impressive that it seems. It's a very little jail and I don't see the prisoners very often. I'm in charge of the accountancy. I handle the inmate's money, their incomes (if they work, or if their family send them some money), their expenses (when they indemnify their victims, when they send money to their families, when they buy food and other things in order to ameliorate the everyday life...)... I like my job, even if I can't stand some of my colleagues! Sometimesmy work is a little predictable! But I'm happy to have the job security because in our time it's really priceless!

 

[Daniel]

Really enjoying reading about people's lines of work! Nice to step back, appreciate the diversity and contrast out there, and think about what I like about my job.

I'm analyst in charge of search engine optimization for a big communications company. It's really fun. It's by far the most independent, creative job I've ever had. I get to be a subject matter expert. I get to work with data, strategize, solve problems, and figure out how to read and tell a story out of numbers. It's up to me to create a program out of my imagination and make it happen, and it's coming along nicely.

Most importantly, the responsibility drives me to continuously improve myself. I had to learn how to manage relationships with people and become comfortable with myself in various social settings, and I'm very glad to have embraced this challenge. I've released a lot of fears and realized I'm capable of a lot more than I used to give myself credit for.

 

[4gottenLoreKali]

I haven't worked a day of paid work in my life, but that's going to change come summertime. I feel excited that I'm going to be taking on some of the responsibilities of adult, "normal" life. Money is nice too.

I've applied to Hot Topic, a comic book shop, and a hotel resort.

Addendum: all the responses to this thread are heartwarming and empowering.

 

[musclecarman]

I don't have a job yet (still at high school) but I'm studying to be an automotive engineer.
likes: the automobile as a whole animals like dolphins (the super species which probably could be the reason autism exists)
dislikes: being told off , most vegetables
I might have more likes and dislikes.

 

[TroyG]

I struggle too much with math and foreign language to get a degree so I'm going to be stuck doing retail or food service.
What I'll like. In store discounts? Free meals? What I won't like long hours, low pay, working weekends, double shifts, working hollydays, not being able to afford rent and food (hopefully I can get EBT). Being dependent on family to make ends meet. Despite working my ass off.

 

[Naturalist]

I'm a junior specialist in an astronomy lab. I'm basically paid to do research full-time. It's pretty sweet.

I wish there was a rating "envious"...

I am the collections manager for a natural history collection at a small liberal arts college. I teach college interns how to identify, catalog, digitize, and conserve scientific collections. During the summer when I am unemployed there, I volunteer as a field archaeologist at various sites.

I like that my job gives me a lot of flexibility, and that I don't have to work with more than a few people at a time and I get to do things I am really good at, in my fields of special interest. Downside is I only get paid 8 months of the year, 25 hours a week at $18 an hour. I was 34 years old before I reached the milestone pay of (drum roll) $10,000 a year. Somebody told me a college degree would increase my pay scale...I guess they lied. $80,000 of student debt later...

 

[Micho]

The last five year i worked as a cook in a rotisserie. During these years, i did a art major at university: graphic design. Since the end of my studies (two years) i tory to get hired in a compagny but it's hard.

Sometimes i think to be a freelance worker.
I get some contracts last months. I loved these experiences. I hate working in with customers in big places but one person a time it's ok.
So, If i want a good carreer, i must go on my own

 

[Progster]

I'm a personal language tutor, but I also have a seasonal proofreading job and do the occasional translation.

Plus points: I enjoy working with children and generally get on well with them, and find it a lot easier to work one to one than with groups. I used to teach in a school but that didn't work out. I enjoy seeing a child's language skills flourish and develop, and helping them to achieve better grades at school or in exams. That's very rewarding. I'm self-employed, so I can set my own schedule. I do a lot of online teaching, which eliminates many of the difficulties associated with meeting people face to face, such as eye contact.

Negative points: I'm exhausted at the end of the day by the constant interaction. I'm not an outgoing, talkative person by nature, and the constant talking and listening, having to be always switched on, there and tuned in is very tiring. I can't work more that 5 or 6 hours - after the end of that period it gets to the point where I can barely function and I have to stop. I schedule breaks into my schedule to try to alleviate this problem. In order to teach I have to adopt a new persona; I wear a mask, I become something else that I'm not. It's exhausting.

Sometimes the kids can act up, and dealing with the parents is often very difficult. Being put on the spot and being asked questions about their behaviour is difficult, I get nervous and can clam up. Luckily I rarely have to do this as I generally communicate with them by email. Sometimes the students frustrate me, and I find it hard to control this and not let it show.

Sometimes I am overloaded by Skype noise, noise or other things going on in the background. I keep the sound right down, but this still affects me.

 

[clg114]

I have been a field service tech for 45+ years. I work on electric vehicles, batteries and battery chargers. I really like this job because it falls in the realm of my special interests. The best part of being a field tech is that for the most part, I work alone. For the last eight years I have been running my own repair service. Overall, my working carrier has been a pleasure.

 

[AngelWings17]

I work at Cracker Barrel in two different positions: Retail and Hostess.

Retail:
Likes:
~ What am I supposed to put here besides my co-workers?

Dislikes:
~ I'm expected to interact with every single guest
~ Unless I'm working with the one who trained me, I have to ask for tasks
~ When it's busy, there's nothing to do
~ When it's slow, there's nothing to do
~ I get distracted or stressed easily
I could go on and on with this.

Host:
Likes:
~ It's a busy job - There's always something to do
~ My co-workers

Dislikes:
~ I almost always mess up on something
~ My tics, which I don't usually notice when busy, gives off a bad image to guests

 

[flynn_gabriel]

I'm self employed. It allows me to control my exposure to people. I'm kinda a trash man if you will, a junk peddler.... other peoples trash is how I make money. I do property clean ups, trash outs, haul trash to the dump for people. Move people, haul all kinds of weird stuff(I'm the one people call when no one else wants to attempt something.... I'm pretty, lets see how to put this, daring, brave, outlandish at accomplishing the task at hand by what ever means nessasary. Albeit some times not legally.) Buy, sell and trade anything I can get my hands on. Every Monday and Tuesday I hit every thrift store in my town and buy things I know I can sell for more money. Be it on Craigslist, eBay, Facebook groups, or private buyers.(i have a buyer for damn near everything).over 400 contacts on my phone). I recycle(scrap)stuff, I fix broken things to resale. Fix broken things for people. Buy vehicles and either part them out or fix and sell them. Me thinks you get the idea......
What I love about my "job" is that no 2 days are the same. What I hate is money isn't always constant.

 

[Bookmaker]

Branch chief at a government data center. Management is a challenge due to the number of meetings and the necessity to multi-task. I miss being a hyper-focusing analyst. I am exhausted when I get home from work. They seem pleased with me though. A few people know I am on the spectrum.

 

[AspiePie]

I have a training Job! No I don't!