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E7ernal
Deinonychus
Joined: Feb 24, 2007
Posts: 327
Location: London, UK.
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 Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 1:20 pm Post subject: Career Oppertunities - Crushed by Aspergers? |
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I have been strongly considering different career options recently and every time I get exited about a job which I could put my education toward I look further into it and reveal something which I wouldn't be able to fulfill because of, you guessed it, Aspergers Syndrome.
I have wanted to become a journalist for about 4 or 5 months now until I thought deeply into it and realised that you need 'Good Communication Skills' as an essential. I also thought about some kind of computer maintenance job but I wouldn't have the expertise or confidence to work for myself in that field so I thought it may be worth joining a company. I look at 'Geek Squad UK' and see the exiting prospect of a starting wage of £20,000 per year. I search through the site and find out that you have to explain the problem fully to the consumer. I am not very good at talking to people I don't know in these situations and I am terrible at explaining/summarising things.
Is there anything which I can do which I'd enjoy without the AS conditions getting in the way?
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foxman
Phoenix
Joined: Apr 18, 2007
Posts: 554
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| Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 1:30 pm Post subject: |
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| hm...as far as journalism...you might be able to learn the communication skills you need....I know that my most succesful job was working as a canvasser for a non-profit group...so standing the the middle of a crowded street, talking to strangers and trying to get them to donate lots of money. Which is totally contrary to my personality. But just because certain jobs are harder because of AS doesn't mean that you can't do them quite successfully^.^ |
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likedcalico
Phoenix
Joined: Aug 27, 2006
Posts: 2520
Location: The Benny & Joon town (I wish)
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| Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 1:51 pm Post subject: |
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You shouldn't let aspergers get in the way. If you want to be a journalist go for it, you can work on you communication skills. I work on my skills all the time and I certianlly don't want my PDD or aspergers stop me from doing things I want to do. In fact some aspies are able to talk to anybody when it comes to business. If they are store managers or restaurant managers, they have to talk to people such as their employees so they will talk when they have to but it will only be about business like hiring or helping out a customer because he or she has a complaint about their order. My boyfriend feels very uncomfortable talking to people but it didn't stop him from being a manager of Pizza Hut or delivery packages to people when he worked as a delivery guy. Those involve communication skills.
I’ve read about Steven Spielberg and Dan Aykroyd being aspies and that didn’t stop them from acting and directing and those definitely involve communicating with other people and working with other people. Look at Bill Gates, he’s an aspie and that didn’t stop him from running his own business. People need to stop using their Aspergers as a crutch to not do things. There are lot of aspies out there who are real successful and have jobs they went to school for and they didn’t let their disability get in their way of trying and they succeeded. Yet there are also lot of apsies out there who aren’t successful because they can’t hold down a job or they live on social security and don’t have a real good job. I decided to go back to school and not let my learning disability get in my way of trying to succeed or my cognitive problems. |
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Kilroy
Establishment knows whats best
Joined: Apr 25, 2007
Posts: 10463
Location: Driving the Last Spike
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| Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 2:02 pm Post subject: |
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people always say that AS makes things so hard at work-with my last job I had no troubles (though I was shy to talk to the other workers-not the coustomers though)...
I never found it hard at alll you know.
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E7ernal
Deinonychus
Joined: Feb 24, 2007
Posts: 327
Location: London, UK.
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| Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 2:37 pm Post subject: |
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Thank you for the helpful replies so far.
I do understand what you mean by being able to talk to people on a more informational level rather then on a personal level and This has made me more optimistic about my career options.
The reason I was thinking about computer maintenance was because that would be a job which I would enjoy more than a journalist (although I would enjoy that also). I was thinking about how it doesn't pay as much but then I though about the money:happiness ratio and and I thought something I would enjoy would be better. On the other hand though I may get bored of the computer job and then I wouldn't be trained to do anything else.
The main concern I had was about explaining things to people. It is one of the social situations which I find most awkward. I'm also thinking of what other jobs I could go into concerning IT. I know that theres a lot but I'm not sure about things like programming jobs as If I take a course in Uni concerning something like C++ and I find I'm no good at it then it's a waste of a potential degree. That's what happened to my mum when she took computer sciences.
It's nearing the end of secondary school which is the main reason all of these things have come into focus.
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sinsboldly
Free Range Aspie
Joined: Nov 22, 2006
Age: 58
Posts: 8228
Location: Oregon, USA
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| Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 2:51 pm Post subject: |
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| likedcalico wrote: | | You shouldn't let aspergers get in the way. If you want to be a journalist go for it, you can work on you communication skills. I work on my skills all the time and I certianlly don't want my PDD or aspergers stop me from doing things I want to do. |
-chuckle- well, I never knew I had AS or PDD or what ever and so I didn't even consider it when I was trying to carve out a career. I knew I liked to eat, so I learned how to cook and was soon cooking for Rock Festival companies throughout the Pacific NorthWest, I went on to restaurants and hotels, becoming a chef and baker and after 22 years I finally just could not stand up all the time, so I went to college.
After 6 years in school for Anthropology, they just flat out told me "you are not nosy enough" to be a good anthro, and "you get far too interested. . even obsessed with archeological digs and make the other grad students nervous." So I changed majors and degreed in Sociology. Never used the degree in the field, and I have no idea how to do so.
so, on I went, it was the DOTCOM boom and I was in like Flynn with the computer tech thing. Worked good money and good hours until the bubble burst, (about 6 years for me) but people still had computers and I could NOT keep up and the sexism, as the pool of people needed shrunk tighter and tighter, was unendurable.
so, now I explain Medicare to the elderly. Not what I wanted to do but in between all the 'careers' I mentioned above, I lived on the streets, in abandoned houses and, most recently ( 1 year ago, now) in my friend's garden shed while I cold turkeyed off of Celexa.
My knowledge of AS never entered into any of those career changes, likedcalico. I just 'went for it'.
your milage may vary.
Merle
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E7ernal
Deinonychus
Joined: Feb 24, 2007
Posts: 327
Location: London, UK.
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krex
Phoenix
Joined: Jun 21, 2006
Age: 45
Posts: 5002
Location: Village of the Damned
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| Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 3:28 pm Post subject: |
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This is not a black and white issue.I can run in circles and never catch my tail with this issue...and I am 43.
I would have never gone into Psych if I had known about AS.I was fascinated by people and their "motives" but will never understand how their brains work.Unless I cut into one....eeewww.I could never do experiments on animals and am dyslexic with a poor recall for names,so the science end is out(I still cant spell english words).If I had known about AS and had an advocate to help me sort out....whay does that person actually DO in their job...hour by hour breakdown,it would have saved me a lot of ditch digging and min. wage jobs(maybe).
On the other hand....I forced myself to do things that I would have probably talked myself out of doing,that I ended up being pretty good at.Like working with CD/MI teens for 8 years.I liked them,,they liked me and working over-night allowed me to do this with less interaction(and chaos)then a day shift...which I avoided like the plague.It turned out being a good fit,until the management changed....couldnt handle all the changes.
So there should be a balance....yes,use your knowledge about AS and your personal strengths and weaknesses to make the most "logical choice".You can do "informational interviews",by making an appointment with a manager or someone who has a job you might be interested in and ask them the daily routine...what they find the best and wrst about the job and what are the most important assets for doing the job.(Dont get scared when they say teamwork....I swear this buzzword should be removed from the managemnet handbook)It SHOULD mean an ability to email co-workers with updates on projects and questions...what it has come to mean in most jobs I have had.....is an ability to socialize,smooze and get people to like you so you can gossip and share clicky groups with at least ons scape goat to blame...always the person who want to work hard and not sit around "socializing".......(worst aspect of many jobs).If you have an oofficial DX for AS(I wouldnt mention it at interviews)you are allowed some accomidations IF you decide you need them later on.........One of my accomidations would be the manager needs to learn to communicate clearly and not just say....."get er done" and then complain about "not doing it her way"...OK,I dont recall "Psycic" being on my job discription....sheeze.
Work prety much always has something that suck about it...mostly it envolves "people" so for me the less contact the better(I work overnights for this very reason)but I have learned some people skills after 43 years and I only did so by being forced into contact with them.If I had known about AS,I probably would have spent more time reading about it....)then again,I find most of those self-help books...soooooo boring and frustratingly illogical,I would probably have to take a major tranquilizer not to emplode while reading all the 'social rules"."Swimming with the sharks "indeed,sounds quit illogical and I would prefer to swim with the dolphins.
I wish you luck,information is power and dont limit yourself.....after all...."if it's not one thing it's another"
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Space
Phoenix
Joined: Apr 03, 2006
Age: 25
Posts: 1716
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| Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 4:16 am Post subject: |
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| Everyone says if you are sincerely interested a field, just go for it. Might as well, if you mess up, you'll find a way to work it out, or a way that you can get in. Nothing is for sure, so what's the harm in trying? |
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Scramjet
Sea Gull
Joined: May 13, 2007
Posts: 220
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| Posted: Sun May 13, 2007 1:47 pm Post subject: |
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If you "only" look through the big book of occupation, there'll always be something that "doesnt fit" or "isn't really your cup of tea". Instead of a "curse", one can see AS as as "different setup" -- what we may lack in social skills, we make up for in plenty in our ability to "go in depth" and be precise and accurate with whatever we're doing, or with unusual skills in visualisation or other things.
Today, flexibility towards rapid changes and the ability to just slide into and function well along with whatever workgroup you wind up being part of, are essential in the workplace -- fifty years ago, a dilligent, quiet, no-nonense-type Aspie was exactly the kind of stuff bosses were looking for. I reckon that most of today's bosses assume that those "aspie-friendly" jobs have been taken over by technology, but there's still a so-called "hidden workplace" of jobs that doesn't have a short, catchy name and thus are hard to find in aforementioned book.
The catch is that the bosses don't know that they need someone with the right stuff, a.k.a. an Aspie like you, for that important task that cannot be entirely automated using computers, yet NTs cannot stay concentrated on for more than a half-hour (before they need another 1-hour break for unnecessary, noisy, social chi-chat!  ). To alert them to this fact, you'll have to boldly go where few aspies has gone before you: Turn up at their offices about the beginning of their workday, and apply for a job even though they haven't advertised for new employess.
If you manage to get your foot inside their door (in a workplace that does not exchange most of their staff at the same rate the rest of us changes underwear) and prove your worth work-wise, they have a substantial interest in acommodating whatever little special needs you may have (like not having to deal with a kazillion people during the day, or freedom from buzzing or flickering light-sources). There are some places where a lot of (somewhat "senior") staff members, NTs and aspies alike, are acommodated in various ways because their effort is valuable, if not essential, to the entire business operation.
So when you get to that dreaded job interview, be sure to sell yourself as being the smart, no-nonsense, prefer-useful-work-over-useless-chichat, precise and hard-working aspie you can be, given a bit of leeway and acceptance towards those itty-bitty oddities and quirks you might possess...! |
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devunea
Toucan
Joined: May 06, 2007
Posts: 286
Location: USA
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2007 6:06 pm Post subject: |
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i had always felt that aspies that worked in their passion really excelled?
i guess it's more of getting the job in your passion.
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E7ernal
Deinonychus
Joined: Feb 24, 2007
Posts: 327
Location: London, UK.
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| Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 3:03 pm Post subject: |
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I'm thinking of going into Uni and then going into an internship with a games company (e.g. EA).
I know it's hard to get into companies as prestigious as EA but it's worth a try. |
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kornik
Tufted Titmouse
Joined: May 26, 2007
Posts: 47
Location: UK
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| Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 2:22 am Post subject: Specialist Advice |
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I think that you should seek specialist advice from a Careers Counsellor who knows what Asperger is and what in entails.
I always wanted to be a foreign news correspondent with Reuters: I would have been able to work on my own to a degree, it involved researching facts and also world travel (the world is something that I am interested in).
Unfortunately, it was not possible: very competitive and the qualifications needed were exceptional. It also required foreign langauges, particularly diverse ones.
At the time (just after leaving school and oging to University) I didn't know about my AS. If I did - and what the character traits associated with it are - it would have changed my job outlook.
I am highly analytical and (like with travel) am interested in the world around me and, specifically, people. I have a tremeendous head for retaining details about people I meet. Since then I have done a psychology degree and would have tried to have done something in this sphere.
When I left University I did the usual personality tests. At the time I thought they were useless. Looking back they weren't; the problem was advice from something looking in from outside telling what it meant and where I could go as a result.
Kornik |
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girl7000
Majestic Eagle Owl
Joined: Mar 11, 2007
Posts: 1263
Location: Somewhere in the Atlantic
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| Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 8:02 am Post subject: |
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In the UK, employers have to make 'reasonable adjustments' if they know you have a disability. So you should go for whatever job you think you would enjoy and it is up to your employer to make adjustments to make sure that your communication and social issues are allowed for.
It might be worth signing up to NAS prospects service as you are in London - they are very good at helping people with ASDs find employment. |
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Fiz
The Outspoken
Joined: Jan 30, 2006
Posts: 1373
Location: Manchester, United Kingdom
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| Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 3:44 pm Post subject: |
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The whole communication thing stumps me sometimes too. But I have worked on my communication skills and they are ok now. I pride myself on the fact that sometimes, mine are better than so called 'normal' people.
There is something you have to bear in mind though. You cannot be rejected/discriminated against with regards to your Asperger's as AS is covered by the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). Anyone who does is in breach of this and can get into quite a bit of trouble.
What I would suggest, however, is getting a job based on your obsession or passion. You may find that you will succeed this way. I recently applied for a job in Science. They said I was nervous, but as soon as they started asking me questions about science, apparently the knowledge came flowing out and they all understood me. To top it off, I ended up getting the job. You don't always need the best communication skills you know, seek other avenues. You never know, you may be pleasantly surprised....
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Average=mediocre
Mediocre=boring
Aspergers is a gift, use it wisely and creatively. |
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