Should I be trying to get into part time paid employment at 40?

[Mr Allen]

Topic.

This week I applied online for a temporary Seasonal "Personal Shopper" position at the big Tesco in Town, they said "guaranteed interview for disabled if you meet the minimum criteria", so anyway I answered all the questions honestly, and at the end I got the result "We are sorry but you do not meet the criteria", eh?!

So anyway, I am very interested in working in the Retail trade, after several years of working in Charity shops I've got some customer service skills under my belt, but at 40 am I too old now to kind of start my career in "proper" retail?

Also 2 months ago I did an NVQ Customer Service course through my previous second Charity shop job which they said I passed but 2 months later I still don't have the certificate yet, which leads me to believe I might not have passed, either that or the certificate is "Lost in the Post".

The kind of Stores I'd like to work in would be either Supermarkets as a Checkout Operator, or Mobile phone Stores, or Video game/DVD Stores or even somewhere like the Lego Store in Meadowhall, the advantage of working there in particular would be Staff discounts on Lego products for my nephew and niece's Birthdays and Christmas.

So anyway, as a 40 year old Aspie, could I get a paid position part time doing what I want to do? Or should I stick to the Charity shops?

I have a meeting with a "Personal Advisor" at the Job Centre in Town next Tuesday, we'll see what they say about the possibility of me working for loot.

 

[Kari Suttle]

If you think you can do it, then go for it. When you say retail are you looking for a specific type of job - like that seasonal personal shopper job - or just any job in retail? Are you open to other types of businesses in minimum wage employment? Working minimum wage in a job that will involve contact with people can be quite demanding. I've found that lots of people can be quite selfish and entitled these days. I work as a cashier and many times customers do not even reply when I greet them, and pretend i'm not there refuse to even look at me. And I've worked hard on getting a 'happy, friendly, patient cashier' façade going.

 

[toothless]

getting a seasional job at asda,tesco etc shoudnt be to hard at this time of year if you dont mind doing shelves and tills or the warehouse stuff-my sister gets asked by asda to do all the holidays shes a part time worker and shes also aspie,shes 37 with two young kids.

i couldnt get a paid job but ive been interviewed by a head master at a special school and we got on so much he offered me a job on the spot doing the PE lessons with the teacher,ive also been offered voluntary jobs in a petting zoo and a animal sanctuary.
i did ask recently at a PC parts shop if i could have a voluntary job but they said you need to be able to put a PC together in 25 minutes or less to properly work there so they dont know about itd work with voluntary jobs.

just get yourself out there,you dont have to do charity shops for the rest of your life if you have other interests,ask other places.

 

[Mr Allen]

If you think you can do it, then go for it. When you say retail are you looking for a specific type of job - like that seasonal personal shopper job - or just any job in retail? Are you open to other types of businesses in minimum wage employment? Working minimum wage in a job that will involve contact with people can be quite demanding. I've found that lots of people can be quite selfish and entitled these days. I work as a cashier and many times customers do not even reply when I greet them, and pretend i'm not there refuse to even look at me. And I've worked hard on getting a 'happy, friendly, patient cashier' façade going.

I'm up for almost anything, except clothes shops to be honest, in the retail trade but my specific interests as mentioned in the OP would be Video games, toy shops, DVDs or music.

 

[Judge]

If you think you can do it, then go for it. When you say retail are you looking for a specific type of job - like that seasonal personal shopper job - or just any job in retail? Are you open to other types of businesses in minimum wage employment? Working minimum wage in a job that will involve contact with people can be quite demanding. I've found that lots of people can be quite selfish and entitled these days. I work as a cashier and many times customers do not even reply when I greet them, and pretend i'm not there refuse to even look at me. And I've worked hard on getting a 'happy, friendly, patient cashier' façade going.

Good points. These days while retail environments can vary greatly for many reasons, it seems paramount that one must have a nominal set of "people skills" to even consider such employment.

Involving at times some serious masking. For many Aspies this won't be their "strong suit". I did it for a time in a specialty store, but I'd probably never consider such work again. Especially in a fast-paced environment.

 

[midlife aspie]

I did retail work with Blain's Farm & Fleet as an automotive technician for over 10 years. If you have problems looking cheery doing a cashier or stocking job, try being on the other end of a conversation about how you screwed someone's car up or don't know what you are doing. One develops attitude issues real fast! I was overjoyed when they brought in a 'service coordinator' to act as an intermediary between techs and customers, but that did not relieve us from having to phone customers with news they did not want to hear from time to time! The best thing about Farm & Fleet is the profit share benefit. I left there with $50K in my retirement account. After 7 years with the company employees are fully vested (the point at which your profit share money is yours). I can recommend F&F over Walmart anyday, but you have to live in Illinois, Iowa, or Wisconsin to work at one.

 

[Katherine Rawstron]

Yes, as some of the others have hinted, I think the phrase about you not meeting the criteria might mean you'd struggle with people issues. Being a personal shopper means running around after people, some of who would be extremely picky and irritating. I know my smile would fade pretty quickly in such a situation, and so would yours.
Well done for applying, keep at it; but do bear in mind what particular jobs entail and think about how well, or otherwise, you'd honestly be likely to fit in. There's nothing more demoralising than being called into the HR office to be told you're not pulling your weight/need to work on your attitude etc., when you know you're doing your best; then being called in again after making a huge effort to improve, only to be told the improvement hasn't happened. Trust me, I know. Although I managed to avoid it happening to me, let's not get started on actually getting fired!
You might be better off working behind the scenes, where you don't have the pressure of endless queues, screaming infants and other noises, customers being difficult and holding up said queues etc to contend with. I know it's not always like that, but when it is, it's a nightmare. And, remember, if you're expected to "keep smiling" (finger in mouth time), that's an added pressure, which you won't have behind the scenes.

 

[Mr Allen]

Yes, as some of the others have hinted, I think the phrase about you not meeting the criteria might mean you'd struggle with people issues. Being a personal shopper means running around after people, some of who would be extremely picky and irritating. I know my smile would fade pretty quickly in such a situation, and so would yours.
Well done for applying, keep at it; but do bear in mind what particular jobs entail and think about how well, or otherwise, you'd honestly be likely to fit in. There's nothing more demoralising than being called into the HR office to be told you're not pulling your weight/need to work on your attitude etc., when you know you're doing your best; then being called in again after making a huge effort to improve, only to be told the improvement hasn't happened. Trust me, I know. Although I managed to avoid it happening to me, let's not get started on actually getting fired!
You might be better off working behind the scenes, where you don't have the pressure of endless queues, screaming infants and other noises, customers being difficult and holding up said queues etc to contend with. I know it's not always like that, but when it is, it's a nightmare. And, remember, if you're expected to "keep smiling" (finger in mouth time), that's an added pressure, which you won't have behind the scenes.

On the contrary I'd hate Warehouse work or other "Non customer facing" positions, I'm more of a "people person" to be honest, plus to be brutally honest I find the idea that they'd want to "hide me away" in the back a bit offensive really, just because I have a disability does not mean I should be "hidden away" IMO.

 

[Kari Suttle]

All I know is grocery store work so I can talk about that. If you don't want to do 'warehouse work' other options are: cashier, door greeter, shelf stocker, cart pusher, and bagger. The door greeters are nearly always elderly and/or physically disabled employees though, at least at my store. And many stores have phased out baggers entirely. Most cart pushers are kids but you would still get customer interaction if you're called in to help a customer load their cart into their car. Its not idea but its low hours and would get you the 'leg in' so to say to move up to something else more customer involved, like cashiering which is what most of our cart pusher kids go into if they stay. You don't have to start as a cart pusher to be a cashier, I only suggested this if you have trouble landing the more customer-involved jobs. Get a leg in, work hard, prove yourself, and move up the ladder. Shelf stocking is another idea simply because its more balanced than a cashier is - you get time doing your own assigned task but plenty of opportunity to greet customers, ask how they're doing, if they need help finding something, and actually helping them find something.

 

[nowwhat]

I believe each one of us has an ethical and moral responsibility to support ourself to the maximum extent possible. It is not your fault that you have a disability, but neither can the blame be directed at any of the members of the society who now, I presume, support you. It is not as though working is struggle, pain and hardship-free for anyone, "disabled" or not. Get to work, I say.

 

[2/3RDS]

getting a seasional job at asda,tesco etc shoudnt be to hard at this time of year if you dont mind doing shelves and tills or the warehouse stuff-my sister gets asked by asda to do all the holidays shes a part time worker and shes also aspie,shes 37 with two young kids.

i couldnt get a paid job but ive been interviewed by a head master at a special school and we got on so much he offered me a job on the spot doing the PE lessons with the teacher,ive also been offered voluntary jobs in a petting zoo and a animal sanctuary.
i did ask recently at a PC parts shop if i could have a voluntary job but they said you need to be able to put a PC together in 25 minutes or less to properly work there so they dont know about itd work with voluntary jobs.

just get yourself out there,you dont have to do charity shops for the rest of your life if you have other interests,ask other places.

Putting a computer together in 25 minutes is EASY. Find some people with old ones and practise mate. Most if not all of it is one type of screw and some flippy bits. Used to work doing up computers and most of it is plug and play. NEVER stripped a wire or physically rebuilt anything after doing 40+ computers... have a go!

 

[Mr Allen]

I believe each one of us has an ethical and moral responsibility to support ourself to the maximum extent possible. It is not your fault that you have a disability, but neither can the blame be directed at any of the members of the society who now, I presume, support you. It is not as though working is struggle, pain and hardship-free for anyone, "disabled" or not. Get to work, I say.

With respect mate it's not that simple.

You've got to apply for a job as a disabled adult without your application getting binned as soon as you declare your disability, which is the VERY hard part IMHO.

 

[Judge]

With respect mate it's not that simple.

You've got to apply for a job as a disabled adult without your application getting binned as soon as you declare your disability, which is the VERY hard part IMHO.

So job discrimination is as rampant there as it is here. Damn.

All I have to do these days is show up for an interview without declaring much of anything. Old age doesn't mesh well with healthcare costs.

All patently against the law, but prospective employers do it anyways.

 

[Mr Allen]

So anyway I had a meeting with a "Personal Advisor" at the Job Centre on Tuesday, she said going to Remploy, which was my original plan "wasn't suitable" because of their insistence on working 16 hours per week, which for a lot of reasons I can't do, and also they wanted me to sign up to a "Job Preparation" group, there's 2 things I don't like about that idea, firstly, why do I need to "prepare" for work when I've spent most of the last 24 years working for nearly every Charity in Sheffield?

Plus I've done that sort of thing before and hated it because more often than not I've been the eldest in the group, even when I was in my 20s! Also, I hate working in large groups anyway, would much rather work 1 to 1 with a single person.

Apparently it appears to be the only way to get a job through official channels though so I might suck up my reservations and go ahead with it, under sufferance, like I said I've done these kind of courses before and they never lead to anything work wise.

I have a meeting with my Social worker next week to discuss options.

 

[Katherine Rawstron]

I've not heard of a job preparation course either, but maybe it's to update you on things that have changed recently, and/or serve as a refresher course. Doing paid work is not the same as voluntary work, and working in a supermarket or department store is very different to a charity shop.
I know what you mean though, it looks like one of those government schemes designed to look as though they're doing something; and while you're on a course - any course - you're not officially unemployed, so it brings the figures down. It may be best to go along with it though, as it at least shows willing, otherwise, they may cut your benefits.
You're evidently anxious to get into some sort of paid employment, and I hope you find something soon, even if it isn't quite what you want.

 

[the_tortoise]

I don't think you're ever too old to start a new career or work towards what you want to do.

Don't let people pigeon-hole you based on having ASD either. Its maybe not common but people with ASDs can have social/people-focused jobs and be really good at them, especially with some natural/built-in supports in the workplace -- you just have to find the right fit in terms of job and work environment/work culture to mesh with your personality, communication abilities, and other skills.

 

[Judge]

Rich I must say, living in Britain you make it sound as if the state and/or medical authorities have assigned you a "Scarlet Letter". That being formally diagnosed and dependent on some kind of government entitlements have branded/blacklisted you in some way that enables prospective employers to pass you by in consideration for employment.

Are there other Brits here who can acknowledge this dynamic?

If you were in the states it would be somewhat easier to simply tell you not to divulge having Aspergers altogether. But I'm not clear or educated of all the legal considerations of your country in comparison.

Though one thing for sure, prospective employers quietly discriminate over job applicants no matter what country one lives in. That never ends, IMO. It's just a matter of how they go about it to skirt any legal considerations.

So have you given any thought to simply not acknowledging your Neurodiversity or would that constitute some kind of civil violation of your laws?

 

[Mr Allen]

Rich I must say, living in Britain you make it sound as if the state and/or medical authorities have assigned you a "Scarlet Letter". That being formally diagnosed and dependent on some kind of government entitlements have branded/blacklisted you in some way that enables prospective employers to pass you by in consideration for employment.

Are there other Brits here who can acknowledge this dynamic?

If you were in the states it would be somewhat easier to simply tell you not to divulge having Aspergers altogether. But I'm not clear or educated of all the legal considerations of your country in comparison.

Though one thing for sure, prospective employers quietly discriminate over job applicants no matter what country one lives in. That never ends, IMO. It's just a matter of how they go about it to skirt any legal considerations.

So have you given any thought to simply not acknowledging your Neurodiversity or would that constitute some kind of civil violation of your laws?

It's a bit of a Minefield, if I apply without declaring my disabilities including AS, and get the job, and then they somehow found out about all of that, technically I "lied" in my application so they'd have a right to terminate me, although legally if I was fired just for having a disability, I could in theory sue the pants off them for blatant discrimination.

 

[Judge]

It's a bit of a Minefield, if I apply without declaring my disabilities including AS, and get the job, and then they somehow found out about all of that, technically I "lied" in my application so they'd have a right to terminate me, although legally if I was fired just for having a disability, I could in theory sue the pants off them for blatant discrimination.

Interesting. Point taken. On our side of the pond if an employer tried to investigate one's health issues in particular they'd likely be at odds with privacy laws which would further put them in a vulnerable position in the event of a potential lawsuit.

Of course as is the case just about anywhere, most employers have legal resources beyond that of those seeking or holding employment. So yeah, you're right. It can be a bit of a minefield for sure depending on the employer and how aggressive their legal counsel may be. And how stupid and aggressive they might be as well. That happens too on occasion.

Though is it likely for an employer in Britain to be so brazen to investigate one's mental or physical health just so they can terminate their employment? I'd think it would be more expeditious of them to fire you "for cause" than attempt to establish there's something about you that is pathologically objectionable relative to your job. Of course just being fired can be a matter or record many people want to avoid for the obvious of reasons as well.

However knowing your country's tort system is very different than ours I can only speculate accordingly.

 

[Gareth]

Looking at the posts, could I recommend something along the lines of Caroline warehouse, they often offer Christmas temp jobs that can become permanent, and they aren't prone to overstimulation as the environment tends to not make massive demands from multiple people. Supermarket cashiering is hard and relentless in main chain stores, especially around Christmas, and personally I found it to drain me excessively.

Good luck!