Change of job

I think I've finally got my medication right, there's been a fair few changes with it this year to try to get the balance sorted but we're there now it seems. Now that I am starting to feel better I have enough headspace to think about my current job so that's the next step, hopefully I'll be able to work through that in the next few weeks.

Hi BeckyThump, I'm glad that you've found this helpful! I've had a look through your other comments and saw you were off sick at the moment. I hope that you start to feel better very, very soon.I have been signed off sick before for stress and although our experiences won't be exactly the same, I know it can be really stressful and anxiety inducing. On reflection now, being off sick was exactly where I needed to be at that point in my life and it really did help me to get into a better headspace and make positive changes. Please remember to be kind to yourself throughout this process. 

Thanks for the suggestions, I'm not sure they'd suit me but I'll take all ideas!

Thank you for this, this is a very well thought out and helpful response.

You're right, getting out of my current situation is the more vital of the two at the moment. I'm lucky in that I don't have to have a job to go to right away thanks to my husband's job, so I can take some time then to get a bit more balanced and also deal with my current mental health issues.

The suggestion of administrative work for higher education is also a sound idea, I'd like to stay education adjacent so that works. I'll look into the roles available when I have the headspace, thank you.

Maybe try a job where you can be more on your own? I've just started as a bus driver and apart from checking people's tickets for a few seconds I get to sit down all day chilling in my cab and enjoying my own space.

Im sure there are plenty of jobs out there where you can be more on your own. I used to be a cleaner and parcel delivery driver too. Both entailed not having to be around people for too long.

Hi BeckyThump, thank you for posting this. It's so important that you are questioning your career choices as I think it is really important that people find jobs that work for them considering it takes so much time in your day. 

For me, there are two parts to your situation:

• You want to get out of the job you're in now
• You want a job you're interested in where you can help people 

It's very easy to get caught up in trying to do both at once, (which I know from experience) but just getting out of a job that is stressful and into a better working environment, even if it doesn't meet your ultimate goals, is a really good step. 

In my experience, when I was transitioning out of a bad job I was carrying a lot of stress and anxiety and I wasn't in a good headspace. I needed time to settle and balance back out again in a neutral role before moving on in a good headspace to a more ideal job that fit my aspirations better. I know that if I had come straight into the job I have now, I wouldn't have had such a clean start. I needed my 'rebound job' to clear my head before getting here. 

I would strongly recommend working in higher education administration. There are loads of jobs across the country and there are multiple levels within that. You can have more student-facing roles or more behind the scenes roles. There are also large variations in responsibility but I find the management structure can be well set out (at least compared to healthcare which is where I had worked before). 

You can find higher education administrative jobs at jobs.ac.uk (https://www.jobs.ac.uk/) and there are lots of filters for administrative then location, pay etc. 

There are large variations across institutions but I have found that they can have strong focuses on personal development and wellbeing, and alternative working (e.g. hybrid working where you work part at home and part in the office; flexible working where you work non-standard hours) compared to other industries. There is also opportunity to get involved in other areas to help people if that is something you want to pursue. For example, once settled you could look at helping students with tutoring in English skills.

I hope this helps - I'm happy to talk more if you have any questions or thoughts!

My degree is English and Philosophy so unfortunately not a science based one otherwise I'd say yes for scientific research. But tutoring is a possibility, if it were neurotypical I'd need to brush up on current curriculums as it's been a long time since I did mainstream education, and I'm not sure about SEN tutoring. 

I think that public-facing jobs are some of the most challenging for autistics. I worked in scientific research, which I think is near ideal for autistics, it plays to our strengths - obviously not for everyone as you have to have a deep interest in whatever branch of science you wish to work in, and become highly academically qualified. I also worked in a part of the civil service and all I ever interacted with were other people in the same line of work, no contact with Joe public, and it was quite bearable. Have you considered tutoring? I always found one-to-one teaching rewarding, though teaching classes or lecturing was always very fraught and draining.