Published on 12, July, 2020
The first place I was in (full time contract) held a meeting between management and HR and said I could leave the job there and then and be paid for the three months notice I would have worked. I hated the environment in that place so I was glad to go. I was told in the past while in this job that I wasn't productive enough. I worked here just under a year,
The second place did not renew my 3 month temporary contract citing performance and quality issues. This does not make sense as I focus a lot on detail so the quality should at least have been good. Four other temporary staff were kept on after their contracts ended. Out of the 5 temporary people, I was the only one not kept on.
Is this a pattern that's going to keep repeating itself? Saddening if so. Do they see the aspergers and make excuses to get rid of me? I thought my work quality was far better than others who were more pally with management (in other words the *** lickers).
I have always found I need to keep starting again in life. I'm in my 30s and it's back to the drawing board.
With aspergers and a pattern of being told to leave jobs ( for various reasons) or not getting accepted for them in the first place, what is the best line of work to get into and how can I make it more likely to get a job? I prepare for interviews but it's a case of always the bridesmaid never the bride.
What has worked for the people using this forum who are in regular paid employment that they enjoy? Thanks in advance.
I realised that no matter how much I loved my work and no matter how good I was at it, I didn't fit in to the workplace.
I didn't see that as a 'bad' thing or as a fault (neither mine nor anybody else's). I just took it literally, in that I didnt fit into the workplace. I didn't know I was autistic at the time, but it's what lead to the diagnosis, or one of the things.
So I asked myself, what could I do instead? And I had no idea. The only thing I could come up with at the time, was that I needed an income and I didn't want to go out to work, at a workplace, so I would work from home.
I achieved that, then realised, that, that wasn't enough. I realised I couldn't ignore my need for meaning. So I set off on the journey to discover what the meaning of what work was to me.
I've discovered that now, so now, my task is to bring myself gently out of burnout, to be in the most optimum state of health and well being while allowing my new plans to emerge and come to fruition ~ and that's what I'm working on now.
This journey started at the beginning of 2013 and in that time I think I've only had four jobs ~ one social work, one mental health nurse, one as a waitress in a hotel restaurant and one in a coffee shop. Oh, and one on line. But they weren't my ultimate goal and I realised, after the last job (coffee shop) that I had to let them go in order to find what I wanted.
The amount of energy that went into those jobs left me with no time or rather energy, to consider what I do want. So I had to forfeit money and the prestige of having a job and work for pursuing the goal of what I wanted. So that's what I did. I gave all the other jobs up. I decided I would rather die trying to find my purpose than doing a job that brought little to no joy to me because of how difficult it was for me to do those jobs. I thought I would rather die of starvation than do a job that didn't enhance my life. Although I was only able to make this decision in light of burnout, which is why I am so grateful to this burnout.
I started by starting on the journey of discovering what it was I actually loved to do and I had no idea to begin with. None whatsoever. And I understand why that was, since I got the autism diagnosis. It's because prior to diagnosis, I was always just trying to fit in with what I saw as 'everybody else', and never took the time to really understand what I loved doing or what I wanted to do. I'm still discovering that and I realise now that the more I do, only what I love, I find more things to love doing! For example, I went rifle shooting last year and really enjoyed it. So that might be something I take up as a hobby. The guy who runs the shooting range said there are a lot of autistic people in this sport. It's something we can focus on, get better at, be part of a team but do our thing by ourselves. I certainly felt at home in that place. It was just older men and from what the guy said, they were probably autistic too and that's maybe why I got on with them so well and why they were so helpful to me.
What do you love to do?
For example, I went rifle shooting last year and really enjoyed it. So that might be something I take up as a hobby. The guy who runs the shooting range said there are a lot of autistic people in this sport. It's something we can focus on, get better at, be part of a team but do our thing by ourselves.
Yes, that's one of the reasons why I thought I'd try out archery this year. I'm hoping finding the focus/clearness of mind I need to do that well might be the sort of meditation I need to help keep my head quiet.
Yes, that’s why I’m doing it. Also, I tend to be a workaholic so before I get back working this time, I want hobbies etc in place so I can maintain some kind of balance.
I haven’t been back to the rifle shooting due to not having the money but I’ve decided I’ll give it a good go (I can start when my pip comes through) and if I find it’s not for me, I’m going to try archery. I think it will be like a form of meditation for me as well and I’ll be mixing with people, and I really like the old guys at the shooting range, they were so good with me, and I’d like to get good at it so I can be part of a team as well. The guy who runs the place used to represent the UK in championships and he’s been the world champion at it and I was very good at my first attempt, which is probably why I liked it as well. So yeah, I’m just exploring but shooting and archery are the two things I decided I’d explore first.