Employment - working from home

Hi Grumpy,

Sorry to hear about your daughter's problems.  I'm guessing she's probably very good at certain things to do with work - but it either isn't being recognised, or the anxiety she must feel in that situation is making her falter at some tasks. 

What is it that she currently does?  What is she good at?  What does she really enjoy doing?  Do you think, if she could find the right sort of job - with people who were more accepting of her, or on her wavelength - that she might find it easier having a 'go to' job?

I worked from home for a little while and it really suited me.  I could keep my own hours and didn't have to go out.  The only trouble with it was that it was commission-only - working as a recruiter for a London-based IT firm.  It was entirely computer/internet-based work, and involved conducting interviews via Skype.  We used to get companies coming to us with IT staff requirements, then I would generally spend most of my time connecting with likely candidates on LinkedIn and trying to get them interested.  The income was variable - but such is the case with self-employment.  Some months I made a few hundred, other months over a thousand.  But I had a partner at the time, so it was manageable.

It really comes down to what she enjoys doing and what she's good at.  I didn't especially enjoy that work, but at least I didn't have to 'go' to work.  Many companies now employ home-workers, because it saves on property costs.  Things like data mining, or data input.  Check around on the 'net.  There must be dedicated websites which advertise for home-workers.

All the best,

Tom

Tom, you were a high flying 'head hunter' a dream job for some.

Haha!  The salaries some of these people were getting were truly astonishing, too.  We had contracts with a huge global IT company (no names!) offering salaries to people in their 20s, four or five years out of uni, of sometimes £120k per annum, or £700-800 per day on a short-term contract.  Even then, though, some people weren't satisfied!  I'd like to earn even a tenth of those sums!

I quite agree with you.  And, if I'm honest, I've never had a job that's commensurate with my intelligence and my capabilities.  Partly, though, that's been to do with my spare time activities, which have always taken precedence.  Writing, for instance, which has been something I've done since I was 10.  My sanctuary, my haven, my private place, my way of making sense of the world - and of communicating with it.  That's always been more important to me than any job I've held - which isn't to say that I've never had a job that I haven't taken seriously and done to the best of my abilities.  But it's partly why I've never wanted to be a manager, or to progress up the career ladder to more responsibility, hours, stress, etc.  I'm happy ploughing my own furrow.  Work is a means to an end for me, not an end in itself.  Obviously, if I could make a living out of writing - or in some associated creative industry, like film - then I'd be happy.  It wouldn't be work any more. 

Value and worth are subjective.  Unfortunately, we live in a materialist, consumerist society where such things as what you earn and what you own say more about you than what you think, or believe.  The values are all skewed and distorted.  The media constantly feeds into it.  Shows like BGT show people how they can 'make it' in terms of fame and fortune.  Or not. 'Success' is ascribed to things that don't include being an excellent street-cleaner or rubbish-collector, or carer, or bus driver.  People are conditioned to aspire to things that are often unreachable.

Is it any wonder that mental illness is so rife?  And crime? 

I could go on... but I think you see where I'm coming from 

I quite agree with you.  And, if I'm honest, I've never had a job that's commensurate with my intelligence and my capabilities.  Partly, though, that's been to do with my spare time activities, which have always taken precedence.  Writing, for instance, which has been something I've done since I was 10.  My sanctuary, my haven, my private place, my way of making sense of the world - and of communicating with it.  That's always been more important to me than any job I've held - which isn't to say that I've never had a job that I haven't taken seriously and done to the best of my abilities.  But it's partly why I've never wanted to be a manager, or to progress up the career ladder to more responsibility, hours, stress, etc.  I'm happy ploughing my own furrow.  Work is a means to an end for me, not an end in itself.  Obviously, if I could make a living out of writing - or in some associated creative industry, like film - then I'd be happy.  It wouldn't be work any more. 

Value and worth are subjective.  Unfortunately, we live in a materialist, consumerist society where such things as what you earn and what you own say more about you than what you think, or believe.  The values are all skewed and distorted.  The media constantly feeds into it.  Shows like BGT show people how they can 'make it' in terms of fame and fortune.  Or not. 'Success' is ascribed to things that don't include being an excellent street-cleaner or rubbish-collector, or carer, or bus driver.  People are conditioned to aspire to things that are often unreachable.

Is it any wonder that mental illness is so rife?  And crime? 

I could go on... but I think you see where I'm coming from