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F-16
Butterfly
Joined: Apr 09, 2008
Posts: 14
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 Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 3:46 pm Post subject: Why does every job require PEOPLE SKILLS? |
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Been doing a bit of job searching today, and I've been trying to find some data entry job in my area. Problem is, it seems that all the jobs I get to are out of reach (i.e. my city's bus system) or require some kind of personal skills, i.e. customer service, answering phones, that kind of thing. Problem is, I'm not that good at such things, and it seems I'm the only one who doesn't want a "fast-paced" environment and interacting with customers.  Are there any tips I can use to find a data entry job that doesn't place me at the front desk (so to speak), and if not, what am I to do? |
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roygerdodger
Phoenix
Joined: Jul 16, 2006
Age: 17
Posts: 1146
Location: High Point, NC
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Zsazsa
Phoenix
Joined: Apr 20, 2007
Posts: 608
Location: Upstate New York, USA
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| Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 4:14 pm Post subject: |
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| It is a WORLD of people...without "people skills," such individuals live quiet lives of isolation and unhappiness. |
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penny07960
Snowy Owl
Joined: Jun 10, 2008
Age: 44
Posts: 154
Location: US - right coast
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| Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 4:25 pm Post subject: |
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| Zsazsa wrote: | | It is a WORLD of people...without "people skills," such individuals live quiet lives of isolation and unhappiness. |
I am not sure if zsazsa intended that to be a joke or not. In any case, I have minimal 'people skills' and do not live in "isolation and unhappiness".
If you are limited to public transportation system (PTS), and live in an area where that isn't much of a system, that is a huge draw-back. One possibility is to move to an area where the PTS can get you pretty much anywhere. NYC is an expample of such a place.
Another drawback is your desire for a "data entry" job. Data entry is being automated out of existance. In fact, your mention of this field is the first I have heard in 5 years. Have you considered jobs such as construction, landscaping, etc? These often require minimal interpersonal skills, but pay as well as DE. Alternatively, you could upgrade your skills to include something like medical billing.
For pure DE jobs, I don't know who would be hiring. Can you give me an example of the sort of work you have done?
In any case, good luck! It's a tough economy out there!
Penny |
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penny07960
Snowy Owl
Joined: Jun 10, 2008
Age: 44
Posts: 154
Location: US - right coast
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| Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 4:36 pm Post subject: Re: Why does every job require PEOPLE SKILLS? |
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| F-16 wrote: | | Been doing a bit of job searching today ... are there any tips I can use to find a data entry job that doesn't place me at the front desk (so to speak), and if not, what am I to do? |
How about working as a receptionist for just about any State office (such as the Department of Motor Vehicles)?
It seems like interpersonal skills are not a prerequisite for those jobs.
In fact I honestly believe the State tries to make seeking any services as unpleasant as possible in order to minimize the number of people seeking services, and thus minimize costs. One way to do this is to hire unpleasant folks to “man the desks”. Your weak people-skills might not only get you hired – but rapidly promoted into management! 
_________________
Why atom bombs should be legal:
(1) Atom bombs don't kill people, people kill people.
(2) They are the ultimate in self-defense. No one will mug you when it means "mutually assured destruction". |
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Vexcalibur
Phoenix
Joined: Jan 18, 2008
Posts: 610
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| Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 5:00 pm Post subject: |
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It's the so called normal people making sure nobody outside their clan gets a job.
My advice: It is not like they will ask you for your 'people skills' certificate, you just got to survive the interview and most likely no people skills are required you'd just need to be able to mildly get along with your coworkers. Worst case scenario the so called people skills really are a requirement, but the only way to learn them is to actually get the job.
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Mankind is not evil; it´s just misinformed ~ Charles Xavier |
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liloleme
Deinonychus
Joined: Jun 09, 2008
Age: 41
Posts: 388
Location: California
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| Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 5:12 pm Post subject: |
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| I hate it when Im in a job interview and they ask me "are you a team player?"......"UHHHHHHHH" |
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F-16
Butterfly
Joined: Apr 09, 2008
Posts: 14
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| Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 5:52 pm Post subject: |
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| penny07960 wrote: | | Another drawback is your desire for a "data entry" job. Data entry is being automated out of existance. In fact, your mention of this field is the first I have heard in 5 years. Have you considered jobs such as construction, landscaping, etc? These often require minimal interpersonal skills, but pay as well as DE. Alternatively, you could upgrade your skills to include something like medical billing. |
Well, the PTS place is sorta good here, but has its limitations. Also, construction and landscaping are no-nos, as certain medical conditions of mine prevent me from spending too much time outside. |
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toggle
Butterfly
Joined: Jun 30, 2008
Posts: 14
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| Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 6:08 pm Post subject: |
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My job doesn't require people skills.
I run high-speed scanners and copiers for a litigation support agency. I scan and copy paper legal exhibits into digital file formats, do minor image manipulation, and burn those images to disks. My co-workers are machines, and I never have to talk to the clients. As long as deadlines are met, no one bothers me. The people up front sometimes tease me (in a good-natured way) about living in my office: the Man Cave, the Troll Hole, etc. That's fine with me. I have a boss, but we have a once-a-week check-in meeting that is completely painless.
Entry-level pays about what you'd expect, but get some experience, and you can make a decent living. I've been doing this work for more than a decade; I'm making good money.
And the job is pretty easy if your attention span allows you to look at a series of bad images and spot the "bad" ones in order to rescan them. You'll also have to be able to do some number sorting/counting. At an advanced level, you could even get into database creation/coding, but it's not a path you necessarily have to take.
My point is you don't have to have special skills to get non-interactive jobs. Try to be more creative in your job search. If you are good at typing or English, try transcription or proofreading. When I was younger, I worked in a bicycle factory. Very non-interactive. There are a lot of options if you look hard. |
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curiouslittleboy
Deinonychus
Joined: Jun 07, 2007
Age: 20
Posts: 328
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| Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 6:32 pm Post subject: |
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| liloleme wrote: | | I hate it when Im in a job interview and they ask me "are you a team player?"......"UHHHHHHHH" |
Seriously though, what do they even MEAN by that anyways? |
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toggle
Butterfly
Joined: Jun 30, 2008
Posts: 14
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| Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:06 pm Post subject: |
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| I've learned there's a world of difference between the phrases "works well with others in a team environment" and "is a team player." The first one is to be taken literally. The second one is a way of asking you if you intend to do what you're told with your mouth shut and a smile on your face. |
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tonyd
Emu Egg
Joined: Aug 02, 2006
Posts: 8
Location: Sydney, Australia
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| Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 11:14 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, true.
Job searching is a byzantine and farcical process.
There are set phrases that they all want. 'Excellent communication skills' or even 'interpersonal skills' seems to be a must.
Also, I'm amazed at the extent to which the people in recruitment agencies lie. The actual company reps aren't too bad, but the agencies are really unethical and dishonest.
They also tend to be very unnaturally 'nice' when you go to a recruitment company for an interview. It seems the 'nicer' they are, the less likely it is that anything will eventuate, including any further communication whatsoever.
Networking is said to be the way to go - but the hardest for an Aspie, of course.
If a team of psychologists tried to create a way to make anyone depressed, they could hardly do better than job searching these days. Rejection and lies - again and again. Like Martin Seligman's Learned Helplessness. The worthless-helpless-hopeless triad of depression.
But one has to be positive... |
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Dantac
Phoenix
Joined: Jan 22, 2008
Age: 30
Posts: 504
Location: Florida
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| Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 12:39 pm Post subject: |
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All jobs require some level of people skills.
I did not know about AS until last year right before I turned 30.
My job history is pc tech support.. which I never had a problem with as the people calling in didn't need to be convinced of anything other than the fact that they paid a lot of money for a machine they didn't know how to use, that they screwed up and that I was the one that knew how to fix it.
Did mortage work.. which stressed the heck out of me because of the people skills needed and the fact that any mistake could cost someone their home or cost the company more money than i'd ever see in my life. Left that job rather quickly but learned a lot about how credit worked.
then by chance ended in the travel industry... which to my surprise I really enjoyed it. The people skill needed to be a travel agent is rather high but I found it easy because I LOVE to travel and I guess my AS helps a lot to get all the possible information on destinations and on how to combine hotel/air/what-to-do-and-see for the clients. My coworkers, the majority of them, were lying SOB's that had no idea where they were sending their clients to (literally..one of them I remember couldn't even find Ireland on the map).. on the other hand I would saturate my clients with information about the place and choices they had ...from cheap hotels to luxury hotels. I did much better than them and got much more repeat customers and many of my clients would say I was the only person that truly explained things to them and let them make their choice and helped them save money.
So I guess all I can tell you look for something you really like and the people skills you lack may not be needed for that job. Just the fact that you like the field plus the few nice benefits of AS helping you may just be all you need.
I left the travel agency last year and as I needed a job temporarily (was getting ready to move out of state) and I knew of AS by then I wanted to see how I'd do in cust. service.. a true cust. service job not one where i had control (pc tech).
Its horrible. no-brains work but still horrible. Yet it is helping me a lot to build up a 'database' on dealing with stupid, demanding people on a verbal basis without having to be face-to-face with them. |
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Fidget
Supporting Member
Joined: Jun 30, 2008
Age: 18
Posts: 276
Location: IL, USA
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| Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 2:33 pm Post subject: |
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That's why I want to be a Veterinary Technician. Working with animals seems much funner and more comfortable to me than working with people. I also think it would be awesome to be a voice actor, which wouldn't take much people skills either, because you almost never see the other actors, you work by yourself in a small booth almost all the time. I'd imagine that'd get kind of creepy and/or lonely though...
Hmm....... there are plenty of artsy jobs that don't require many people skills as well, if that's your kind of thing. Like a graphic artist, or a special effects technician. Meh, just some thoughts. |
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Chibi_Neko
Phoenix
Joined: Oct 24, 2007
Age: 26
Posts: 969
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
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| Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 5:32 pm Post subject: |
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What I am doing now dosen't require people skills, yet you are asked about it during the interview... there's no way out of it.
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Humans are intelligent, but that doesn't make them smart. |
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