Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi,
Just out of curiosity, which job sectors do people currently work in, or have worked in, in the past?
I work in adult social care, specifically learning disabilities /ASC, after exploring numerous other sectors that turned out to be ill suited to my motivation, social and preferred working styles (theatre / film /tv, admin. temping, call centres (yuck !), harvest work).
I wasn't diagnosed until last year, but I studied Computer Science at University in the early 1980s, then spent the next 30 years working in programming & data analysis as I seemed to have a natural aptitude for it.
As I got older, the recommended career path was to move into management, but that never really appealed to me & companies I worked for thought I was too useful doing the data work, as I have a very good eye for fine detail & could handle problems in client data very quickly.
That strategy is fine as long as you stay working for the same company, but at least in my experience, the IT industry is horribly ageist & if you haven't made the move to management before you turn 40, it becomes increasingly harder to find another job if you get made redundant. Employers assume older programmers are 'past it' & usually prefer younger ones, even when they have far less experience.
I am now in my mid 50s & have been suffering from severe depression for several years. Until earlier this year, I had been working from home doing part-time programming & analysis work for a previous employer, but that has now finished & I am unemployed.
I am currently living off my savings until I feel well enough to go back to work, but have pretty much given up the thought of being able to get back into programming professionally. Not sure what I will end up doing next, probably working in a supermarket I guess.
Working in a supermarket sounds like it could be fun. I love looking at what people buy and did apply for a job in a supermarket once so I could indulge in my interest in what people buy but I didn’t get the job so hopefully you’ll have more luck than me.
Working in a supermarket sounds like it could be fun. I
*cough* Er... educational, in a euphemistic sense.
I was unable to bring myself to eat any frozen food, especially ice-cream, after a part-time job at the local supermarket whilst I was still at school. It took a couple of years to get over it.
Haha, don’t forget, I live in a different world and seriously, it would have been my dream job at that time. I wouldn’t have stayed too long, I never do and I move around a lot so I wouldn’t be looking at it long term. But yeah, I would have enjoyed it but I would have probably got the sack anyways as I would probably have been educating people about their shopping choices! Lol!
Your story reminds me of the one my brother in law told. He’s a fireman and was called to a food factory that makes scotch eggs and some other things and to this day, he’s never eaten any of those products again! I eat raw fresh fruit and veg so I don’t have to worry about frozen food and scotch eggs although I’ll be happier when I grow my own food :)