What do you think is the biggest roadblock for your potential career?

[King_Oni]

So, I was thinking about my current situation and then the question below came about. I guess it applies to drop outs and the unemployed mostly, but I guess anyone can chip in. But if you have a job... I mean, it's not really a "problem" as such to get employed I guess. Clearly you've shown that you can work somewhere/somehow and people are willing to hire you based on what you offer.

What do you think is your biggest roadblock to get employed/get a degree? The single and biggest reason why you think you have the problems you have. So no lists here

Yes, I'm well aware that this is a gross oversimplification of our issues, but hey... we gotta start somewhere to map out what our problems are. And even though I said "no lists" I guess, a lot of stuff is connected so if needed elaborate about it's connection to that other roadblock.

I'm quite sure that this is one of these questions either a therapist asks you or wants you to work on either way. Might be interesting to see what others experience as a big issue.

For myself... I have to think about it a bit more. Can't really pinpoint something... yet. Especially when I want to find the number 1 cause as opposed to a handful of thinks that each have their equal share.

 

[jimited]

My biggest problem is when people talk to me at length and start asking questions I have a hard time processing and coming up with answers, its almost as if my brain turns into mush. This is usually a problem for interviews as I have never had a successful interview. If I could show what I could do in an interview I would be more successful.

 

[Neat Hedgehog]

As far as getting a (better) job, I'd say multiperson interviews. I completely bombed an interview for a much better position because I couldn't remember what a function in SQL was. Now, at the time, I'd used SQL for about 3-5 years, almost every day, at work, at home, in random projects, etc. Couldn't think of the most basic component of the whole thing. The people asking me questions sat on either side of me, which was annoying, because I couldn't look at both of them at once, and I couldn't understand them well because I have to watch someone talk the first time I meet them or I can't understand what they're saying.

One on one interviews I'm fine enough, but I don't enjoy being with more than one person at a time anyway so I can't do "tag-team" style questions. Asking me to properly analyze two or more completely new behavior patterns (how they interact with me, how they interact with each other, etc) and speech meters is too much input all at once.

The only way I got the job I have now was through an internship from school about three years ago. I didn't have to really interview for it, and they would have taken anyone.

 

[Ste11aeres]

It depends on which career we're talking about. If we're talking about my chosen field of work I have no idea because I'm really good! Beats me why no one has hired me. If we're talking about a career in which I could actually earn real money, then it would be no education for whatever kind of work that would be.

 

[King_Oni]

I'm still a bit in the dark on what exactly is the big culprit, though I'm really leaning towards "I have no interest nor skills that are of any use to warrant a steady job and/or income".

The reason why I don't have those skills is probably a culmination of lacking insight (perhaps due to some AS traits) and lacking resources to learn these skills and perhaps another thing here or there. As for interest; while I don't want to advertise me as "really weird" I guess it's safe to say that most common jobs wouldn't work for me since I wont even get through a screening process based on personality, interest, outlooks, behaviour (and thus pretty much what makes me, me). The times I actually had a sit down with a jobcoach and talked about what I wanted to do they flat out told me "we can't help people with those jobperspectives since it's so far out of our field". The worst of it all is that my story added up to therapists in terms of profiling and my ideas of employment were actually the most viable and in a sense "it shouldn't be my problem there's no demand for it".

 

[Cyanide Lollipop]

I am very fortunate in that I have never been unemployed. However, I doubt there is any room for me to climb higher on the corporate ladder due to the stress of interacting with people. In a managerial role I would have to interact with many different personalities on a daily basis and it would be too much for me. When I get stressed I can sometimes become abrupt without meaning to and that isn't good in a such a position.

 

[anne.bc]

For what I actually got my Bachelor of Arts degree in, it's pretty simple: I live in a metro area where all the bassoon parts are taken for gigs, and I don't want to join the union (or at least this district) for personal reasons involving stuff that happened to the union last year. I really don't want to get into it... it's pretty awkward and terrible. lol

So I'm not pursuing it. But now my problem is that I can't find a job right now, probably because of my lack of experience. They want experience. Sooooo how do I get it? I have 46 hours of community service? Does that count? :help:

 

[King_Oni]

For what I actually got my Bachelor of Arts degree in, it's pretty simple: I live in a metro area where all the bassoon parts are taken for gigs, and I don't want to join the union (or at least this district) for personal reasons involving stuff that happened to the union last year. I really don't want to get into it... it's pretty awkward and terrible. lol

So I'm not pursuing it. But now my problem is that I can't find a job right now, probably because of my lack of experience. They want experience. Sooooo how do I get it? I have 46 hours of community service? Does that count? :help:

The entire "need experience to get a job, need a job to get experience" is the silliest catch 22 there is. The worst of this, everybody knows this and there's no way to fix it, unless the jobmarket gives way a little... and with the economy now... not going to happen.

 

[Mellotron]

The entire "need experience to get a job, need a job to get experience" is the silliest catch 22 there is. The worst of this, everybody knows this and there's no way to fix it, unless the jobmarket gives way a little... and with the economy now... not going to happen.

Yea I never understood that. Its a vicious cycle that makes no sense, you need experience but you can't get any because every job requires it.

For me it is probably fear that blocks me from a potential career. Right now I have a career that I am unemployed in but I think I will find employment in it again soon (I hope!!) but if I wanted to switch careers I am afraid of making the big leap. If I had the perfect job for me it would be history college professor or teacher. But I would have to go back to school and get a doctorate in the field before that happened and that is both a lot of time and a lot of money. So I guess fear, lack of time, and lack of funds would just about be all that stands in my way of my perfect career Otherwise in my current career just someone hiring me is all and that would be nice about now.

 

[Aalo]

I'm not sure if I can handle daily morning wake ups. I've had differing sleeping cycles all my life, most of the time I need more sleep and stay awake longer, but I also take periodical short naps sometimes every few hours, and I can't force it into normal for long. That might not be suitable in most work places. For now I can do this pretty well as I'm a student, which brings me to my other barrier. Me even graduating. I do have certain hopes for professional life, they're somewhat eccentric, yet not impossible in any way. But don't feel like rushing.

 

[shinyedge]

For me there is no question that the biggest hindrance to my career has been difficulty with social skills. I can get along with others, usually, but I don't form lasting friendships, and I often wind up feeling isolated and frustrated. I would make a great employee--I like to work hard, learn new things, help other people, and solve problems. I am very intelligent and well-educated, I write well, and I listen well. I am skillful with math and statistics, good with computers, and creative. I have a very analytical mind and a deeper understanding of how things work than most people have. I am good at assembling, adjusting, and fixing things. But I don't do well in job interviews, and I am not part of the "old boy's network," and that makes it hard for me to get a good job. It also limits my ability to advance in a job. I don't really want to be in management, anyway, but I also don't bother applying for any job involving sales, negotiations, or any other type of interpersonal relations, because that would be very uncomfortable for me.

 

[Geordie]

The biggest challenge: I am not determined enough.

It shows. I do not have that Second Upper degree in accounting. I have a lower honours degree. I report to work every day, increasingly tired and more excited with the after-work cuppa. When material things matter more than work, I know something is not right.

I hate accounting. I love business ideas, and I understand accounting numbers, most of the debit-credit tandem, but I just don't like doing accounting day in, day out. Numbers are dry, ideas are alive. Even a company that doesn't keep good accounting records can think of great ideas for the world. The reason why I chose accounting as a career, for now: I am not determined to overcome the odds of unemployment, struggling for a living etc., and just do

You may laugh at me, or dismiss my complaints. You may even dislike it. You may say, Geordie, you're in a fortunate position of employment. Only 15% of people with autism have a full-time job.

But in any working community, so long as you do not like the work and not focused on it, you are in the vicious cycle of competition. You don't get the pay. You don't get promoted in time, like the others. Most important of all, you don't bring the value (i.e. higher benefits and lower costs) that others can deliver. All, with autism and its limitations.

If you can, don't do accounting - do some other things instead, like writing or blowing balloons for kids. They're more fun.

I'd rather travel around the world and eat exotic creatures, than to fake excitement when I try the diner down the street for lunch, with my colleagues.

The entire "need experience to get a job, need a job to get experience" is the silliest catch 22 there is.

My call for the challenge: The minute I know I am sacked from my audit position, I will immediately turn to full-time writing - for both business and disability advocacy. This is experience. Since I like to think I have business insights from my current jobs, I will apply it in words. Who cares about 'industry-relevant experience', I knew it from the first day I enrolled in college, you have to create your own unique way if you're not fantastic enough to follow the norms - though I am not sure for other people with different personalities.

 

[shinyedge]

The biggest challenge: I am not determined enough.

Doesn't sound to me like you aren't determined. Sounds like you hate accounting. That doesn't mean you wouldn't apply yourself if you found something more interesting to do. I have had the same trouble in engineering and, yes, writing.

 

[Perry Holia Kerrith]

I am constantly blockaded by people's apparent insistence that you need a degree to be competent in your field.

It's not really their fault, it's just that they don't have anything else to go on. They don't know you. They have to rely on a meaningless educational system that both wastes your time, and is relatively ineffective at teaching people anything. If you're dedicated enough to pursue a degree, you've probably learned everything they've got on your own.

So there's that.

 

[Geordie]

Doesn't sound to me like you aren't determined. Sounds like you hate accounting. That doesn't mean you wouldn't apply yourself if you found something more interesting to do. I have had the same trouble in engineering and, yes, writing.

I try to apply myself as hard as I can in something I dislike - and it already shows. My recent job appraisals had not been good. If only I applied harder with determination and discipline...

 

[Craig]

My co-workers.


The only way to advance up the career ladder is if the spot above you is vacant. The Company is not fond of creating new positions, and avoids hiring out if it can help it.

To put that into perspective, when I first joined the company there were 68 jobs and 56 members of staff. Now there are 72 jobs and only 35 members of staff.

Every single member of staff (including myself) has been demoted at least once due to suffering a work related "accident" that incapacitated them to the point that they were unable to continue their duties, and needed a few days to recover.

All 72 jobs are effectively (albeit not actually) numbered. For example: There are five jobs, job 1 is the bottom job and job 5 is the top job. All these jobs have the same job description and title. There are however three key differences between them. Job 2 (despite doing the same job as job 1) pays more, has superiority over job 1 and unlike job 1 can be promoted to job 3, providing job 3 is vacant.

If there is ever a spare job (only possible when someone has died, was fired, has quit or retired) it is first offered to someone within the same division at that division Directors discretion, if rejected (and it almost never is) one of other Directors offers it to someone in their division. If (and this is a huge if) it is still rejected, then they consider deleting job, which then sparks the "can we function without this job" survey to see if employees in that particular sub-division can manage without it. If they can, then the job is removed and everyone in that sub-division receives a wage increase based on an even split of the previous jobs wage.

If the job is deemed so critical that it must be filled and cannot simply be deleted, then the lengthy process of hunting down a replacement begins. Someone who at least has qualifications in Biology, Botany, Chemistry, Engineering, Farming, Hydroponics, Gardening, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering and Robotic Engineering. Considering that it is a critical job they are filling, they'll likely have to have even more qualifications in the particular specialized field. As you can imagine, the list of qualified candidates is nominal at best.

 

[melame]

My biggest problem is my social skills. I have an accounting degree, but, like Geordie, I don't really like it. I am not mentally stimulated doing accounting tasks. I have a job now at a really great company, but I'm technically a temporary employee. The only reason that I got this job is that they didn't require an interview. I have never done good on an interview. When an interviewer asks a questions, I don't always know what answer I'm expected to give. I often go blank because i don't know what exactly they are asking. I don't get hints, either. The last interview I had, I didn't realize that they were asking if I was planning to stay in this area permanently until I had been home for about 3 hours. This happens a lot, I get home to realize that the interviewers had been looking for me to say something in particular, but they never came out and asked.

I was working on a degree in Clinical Lab Science, but I had to get letters of recommendation to start clinicals and I was too scared to ask for them. I also had to move out of state, so i used that as my excuse. I've thought about going to grad school to get a masters in Immunology and Microbiology, but i would, again, need letters of recommendation. I'm not a student who stands out, so I don't think that any of my professors would even remember me. I get amazingly high grades, but I never talk to anyone or really participate in class discussion because of my social fears.

 

[Butterfly_Lady]

I think my biggest problem is because I am woman interested in working on cars and so that right there is enough for them to discriminate against me and not give me a chance to prove I can do the work. I have been around cars my whole life and never really cared much at all for female things. I have always been more interested in a guys "toys" but have had a super hard time with the rest of the world obviously thinking it's not right. it's not supposed to be that way. quite frankly I don't give a s&!% because I love cars and video games and all kinds of other "guy" things......

 

[Nolan1971]

I have the skills to do most anything I set my sights on it is my cognitive speed that is the problem. Having a 165 IQ is wonderful but when
these damn NT's expect you to work at a insane pace it is very discouraging. I thrived at smaller moderate paced jobs in the past but they seem to be
all going the way of the Dodo. One good example of how well I can work in the right situation was NHD Hardware were I did everything in the store
except manage :Keys, Paint, Shades, Glass, Stock & Cashier full time. I was even asked to be a supervisor. Every other job pushed me to the snapping point
causing a near daily meltdown. An example of what I mean by speed is the min rings per minute of most places as a cashier now is 25 which is my near maximum
speed but only the avg moderate of my peers any attempt to move faster results in my brain crashing like a computer I get dizzy, hands and mind get out of sync
start to sweat and I start to have a panic attack. I only survived for most of my 27yrs of work by drinking heavily to numb the pain but thank God I have been sober for
5yrs now. My only real hope is to find a job that can use my talents while not expecting to work like I'm in Nascar!

 

[Nolan1971]

My only real regret is never knowing what my full potential is since I never had the chance to go to college.:unhappy:
I honestly have never been challenged in any job I ever had in terms of skill they all bored the hell out of me.:banghead:
I pray I do get a chance to go to college there are courses I would love to do. Early childhood education, Nursing (RN), Special Education
and since I have always been skilled with cars an Automotive course.:biggrin: