Skip to main content
Close Button
Donate
  • Replies 16 replies
  • Subscribers 103 subscribers
  • Views 674 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

Yet Another Suitable Job Question!

GPK26
1 month ago

I know that the same old question about suitable jobs for autistic people comes up time and time again, so I apologise up front Smile

I'm in my early 50's and have always worked in IT, most often on the technical side (dev). I was pushed out of my previous job earlier this year due to my conditions (chronic fatigue, ASD, FND + more). That job was a mix of development and business analysis, working on a very niche technology. I loved that job, but I became unreliable, having to take a lot of time off and my boss didn't know whether I would be fit to work from one day to the next.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I started a new job for a local authority working as a business analyst (no technical "getting your hands dirty").
I'm now starting to question whether being a pure BA is really my thing. Also, having always worked in the private sector, moving into local authority is a completely different beast (still not sure whether it is something that I will completely embrace or completely hate).

So now, after only a couple of weeks, I am starting to ponder whether I am in the right job, and if the answer is a resounding "No", then there are a number of barriers to me being a success doing something else, including...

  • My health. I'm really struggling with mental fatigue
  • My skillset. Always been very niche and I am finding that there are is little to no demand for my skills & experience. Those technologies are used here and there, but they are maintained by cheap labour (read Asia, eastern Europe)
  • My difficulty picking up new skills (old dog & new tricks springs to mind!)

What I do excel at (or some may say, disabled by) is my attention to detail.
I'm your typical grammar police guy, but I do manage to exercise self restraint rather than pulling people up on social media regarding their inability to distinguish between "there, their and they're" or "lose & loose". Nonetheless, it does really trigger me in my mind and it distracts me from the bigger picture (I struggle to understand a piece of text because I am too caught up on what to me is a glaring error).

If you've got this far, thank you for hearing me out - hopefully you cam give me some pointers?

Parents
  • 1 month ago

    I am probably the least able to advise but it does bring to mind two friends and one who has recently found a job in a sector he knows well but doesn't love. After a few weeks he's had a chance to evaluate that it's not a keeper, but he's very grateful for the average salary, plus it's not grinding him down like the homeless charity he got dismissed from that was all kinda of shifts messing with his mental health. He's early 60s and no chance getting back into Music journalism. So I think maybe as long as the job remains reliable he's hi holding out.

    The other 50 yrs friend started out to be private consultant this year. Years in IT always employed, plus teaching in UK. His last role a couple of years was logically management -  I suppose that means not getting hands dirty.. it suddenly ended short notice. He's in Vienna. But he's been greeted with bad health (physical) soon after embarking on self employed and he's having a tough time.

    He also did some training to coach recently and he's run a couple of successful online classes.. he was a bit cheeky that he didn't think the current crop of students were particularly bright.

    It's good to have regular income, can you manage the stress or boredom if it's a trade for security?

Reply
  • 1 month ago

    I am probably the least able to advise but it does bring to mind two friends and one who has recently found a job in a sector he knows well but doesn't love. After a few weeks he's had a chance to evaluate that it's not a keeper, but he's very grateful for the average salary, plus it's not grinding him down like the homeless charity he got dismissed from that was all kinda of shifts messing with his mental health. He's early 60s and no chance getting back into Music journalism. So I think maybe as long as the job remains reliable he's hi holding out.

    The other 50 yrs friend started out to be private consultant this year. Years in IT always employed, plus teaching in UK. His last role a couple of years was logically management -  I suppose that means not getting hands dirty.. it suddenly ended short notice. He's in Vienna. But he's been greeted with bad health (physical) soon after embarking on self employed and he's having a tough time.

    He also did some training to coach recently and he's run a couple of successful online classes.. he was a bit cheeky that he didn't think the current crop of students were particularly bright.

    It's good to have regular income, can you manage the stress or boredom if it's a trade for security?

Children
No Data