Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello,
I am a uni student in life sciences at a top UK university, top student in my class, straight As, won a few awards. I have extensive customer service experience, and some limited experience in life sciences research but I don't think any of my references would speak particularly highly of me. Due to my Asperger's syndrome, I find social interaction and practical tasks hard and struggle in the workplace despite my qualifications on paper making me look like an excellent candidate. I get extremely anxious and low when things go wrong, even when it's not my fault, to the point of planning my own suicide whilst in some jobs. Other jobs I have coped slightly better, but I still do not enjoy them and do not excel at them, and they do not give me the 'space' to improve my mental health.
I want input from others with autism/or with experience with autistic people on what I should do in terms of a job for the future after graduation? The natural career progression for me now is to do a PhD, but I'm not sure if I'll get in due to a lack of networking skills. Even if I do, I might struggle and become very stressed if I can't pick up the technique, or things don't go to plan. A research job would follow this. I'm also very motivated by money, and although I would accept the minimum wage for the good of my health, I'd at least like the possibility of making more. I will give a list of my characteristics below and see if anyone has any suggestions for jobs that might be suitable for me after graduation.
Hi there. You've pointed out a lot of key factors of how you would like your ideal job to be like and what possible difficulties that you may encounter if you do a PhD. I think these are all excellent points. Perhaps you can discuss your concerns with some professors at uni? I'm not sure if you have considered, or if you would like the idea, of doing a Masters degree or a couple years of Research Assistant before doing PhD? I think a Masters / RA jobs would be a lot less stressful compared to a PhD, and there is often a lot more support / structure. You can perhaps get a better idea of what doing graduate level research would be like, have more time to acquire technical skills, and decide whether or not this kind of environment is what you enjoy. And if you like it, you can apply for a PhD next year. There's really no rush, and the extra time you've taken to consider and learn other things may help in the long run. No one really cares about your age during the PhD.
For your question about jobs after graduation. I think there are lots of research-related jobs if not staying in academia. Bio-tech companies, pharmaceutical companies, science parks, NHS research. I wonder if you might be interested in autism-related research? Your uni probably has a career service that you could consult with someone about your interests and see if they have any suggestions?
You are very talented. You are currently in a top uni and having good grades. Good luck!
Unfortunately I can't afford to do a Masters, as there is no financial support for those. I've consulted with my uni service before, but all their suggestions required me to do a second undergrad degree, which again I couldn't afford. Don't you need some post-graduate experience to do a research assistant post?
My degree won't qualify me to work within an NHS post as it's not accredited, and the other options still require a PhD in my field although they are outside academia. Autism research interests me a lot, but I think I would be turned away because my diagnosis might introduce a bias working in that field, and as DragonCat16 has usefully stated, I think I would need to be honest about my condition if I wanted to find the right post for me. Plus, I think my issue is that any of these options would be too stressful or difficult jobs for me to do. My issue is that my good grades don't translate into me being a good employee because of my autism. I'm trying to think of a job that wouldn't be stressful. I was thinking about being a cleaner, but I'm scared of being turned away for being overqualified. I can't really think of any other options. Suggestions along those kind of lines, where there's no pressure or expectations, would be useful.
Hi Aralez, I agree that funding for Masters is often harder to find, but it's not true that there is no financial support. It is possible to do a fully-funded Masters. For example, the Santander Cambridge Scholarship is specifically for Master students, and offers £10,000 to UK students. Actually, if you search on the Cambridge Trust website, and use the key words United Kingdom (I assume you're a UK student) and Masters, there are a few scholarships: https://www.cambridgetrust.org/scholarships/?country=United+Kingdom°ree=Masters&subject=&college=&submit=Search I'm sure other universities will have similar scholarships as well, you just need to search. It is also possible to consider going abroad to other countries where Master degrees are more affordable or if they have better scholarships.I think Research Assistant is a good alternative for a Masters. It often involves related research, but you don't have the pressure of having to write a thesis and you also get paid for doing the job. It is common for people in the United States to spend a couple of years doing an RA before the PhD, to get the experience, learn skills, earn money, and decide whether or not they like research. It could add an advantage when applying for PhDs as you will have more experience. I don't think you need post-graduate experience to do a research assistant post. In my field, "research fellows", "research associates" are often post-PhD, while "research assistant" can be either post-BA degree or post-MA degree, but other fields could use other terms. I think more searching would be required if you would like to find something like this. I've just did a search on some job websites and found a few that only needs an undergraduate degree.
If you're really interested in autism research, I think having Asperger's syndrome could be an advantage. Most jobs and graduate programmes are not allowed to discriminate you because of having a disability, so you would be eligible to apply. You may also provide new insight into the field that other people may not have noticed before. There's a large-scale research on late autism diagnosis in adult females lead by a PhD student that has Asperger's Syndrome. You can read about the news here https://www.anglia.ac.uk/science-and-technology/news/aspergers-student-leads-female-autism-study and here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/women_late_diagnosis_autism (scroll down to the second interview). I can definitely relate to all your concerns. I have the same troubles too. Just wanted to let you know that there is a big world out there with many possibilities, and whatever job you choose, whether it is going into research or being a cleaner, try to find something that makes you happy.
Yes, I agree with the possible stress associated with a Masters. I just thought it could be another possibility, to serve as a transition between now and a PhD (and maybe a backup plan). But it's good that you know what you want. The PhD does have higher chances of funding and more time to settle down. I wish you the best of luck with your PhD as well as future job applications