What sort of jobs do you guys have/had?

[Ldyalb]

As I am currently applying for graduate jobs (preferably HR as I'm a very sympathetic person and if I get diagnosed I can use personal experience to my advantage) I was wondering what sort of jobs people do, or have done in the past?

I've worked the following;
- bar maid in a restaurant (was 15 so I pretend I just washed the glasses and made soft drinks. was awkward when I looked up from pulling a pint to find my former form tutor standing over me)
- shop assistant at a clothes store (was mainly on tills which was so repetitive that I was fine, did struggle to hang knickers on hangers and to open plastic bags but generally I committed everything I had to do to long term memory. was my best job)
- waitress (the boss eventually went to prison so that gives you an idea of what a mad house it was there. all I'll say is that once, when drunk, he stood up in front of customers and declared 'I'll show you I'm Jewish' before exposing himself...). I was abysmal at this job, a) no training and b) waitressing isn't dyspraxic friendly. My father and mother also worked there (was over xmas holidays, he's a chef so was in the kitchen and she helped waitress for extra money) when I first told Dad about the dyspraxia he said he'd noticed at the time that something seemed 'wrong' about how I struggled to carry more than one plate at a time etc.
- sales assistant at Lush, was fine in terms of my ability to do the job but I did tend to drop and spill things and some of the people there were very unpleasant
- sales assistant at Butchers - I'm stared at for needing to walk on wet surfaces with my arms streched out to balance, the floors are always slippy even when dry so I do 'walk funny' as without my arms stretched out I will fall. I also struggle with the spiral staircase there. The actual selling of meat etc part is fine but I struggle to wrap things and to put them into bags, I also have to carry very heavy things which is hard as a) I'm 5"1 and not very strong and b) I'm clumsy!

I think an office type job would suit me much better. But thought I'd see what sort of things others do. Thought it could be an interesting thread

[Evasura]

- My first job was while I was still in Secondary school: I taught in a support school in the evenings and also did private tuition.
- While at uni, I kept on doing this (I taught Latin and English and it helped me revise my subjects).
- Finished uni and kept on doing private tuition, plus I started working as a PA in a car selling company. I hated it, as though I always wrote (and I still do) to do list, there were always last minute things from y boss, that kept on distracting me from what I had planned to do and I am slow when planning, so I found it veeery frustrating. The guy that I worked for was a crook and I ended up in a police station talking against him, as he had taken deposit for Mercedes cars, which he speant and nevr gave the cars to customers or deposits back. Never want to be a PA in my life again (or work in a cars company).
- Then I worked in my dad's woodworks workshop. Despite being clumsy and doing some messes, my dad is a very pacient man (and he knows me), so he taught me a lot of things and I became quite good at spray painting.
- Also worked in a fast food restaurant. I was surprisingly good at it. Well, not really good, but not as bad as I had expected. Hated when it got busy and I had to go on the til (as my arythmetic skills are soooo poor, so was slow with the change). Didnt do bad with carrying trays (loads of concntration), but I had a few accidents with the motorbike when I did deliveries.
- A canteen in a trade union, while I was waiting for the validation of my Spanish teaching qualification into NWT. Not too bad either. Also, lovly customers and very pcient. Good at making sadwithces, but when not too crowded. Same stuff about money change when it was crowded.
- Learning Support Assistant in a secondary school to gain experience in English education system. Loved it. Was really good at it, espceially with autistic students.
- and my current job, a teacher. Hard work, but really rewarding. It takes me three times longer than other teachers to plan my lessons, as I have to have them planned to the detail as I can lose the point or forget the next activity very easily. I have to have everything wrtten on my daily check list or I will forget what I have to do, which would make the job more stressful than it is already. Disorganization is a weakness that can be turned into a strength through hard work (as you ahve to preare everything so well, every one points out how organised I am and how good my IT skills are- lol), but as I say, you have to be prepared to work long hours on preparation (or at least longer than people who are naturally organised) and ready not to be jelous of how easily other people improvise and to spell check everything three times!!!
HR sounds good if you are good at people and it sounds much better than a butcher's. Again, I guess that anything that is working in an office, wuld rquire you loads of checklists and post its round you of important things you shouldn't forget to do. Yoga and Pilates help cope with stress, plus makes inmune system strong and gives more energy to cope with extra work. 1,5-3 h of yoga a week do wonders.
What is your degree? Anything where you can help people like LSA, charities, students' referral units, libraries...
Hope this helps.
Sorry for typos, as I haven't reacheckd this cos it was long.

[Ldyalb]

wow, you've done quite a variety of jobs there!

My degree is in Politics, so that leaves me with quite a few options. One handy thing with the butcher's is that I'm learning some cool life skills which are impressing the boyfriend, on my first day I made sausage rolls, I've learned more about how to cook different meats etc and also I learned how to truss a chicken today. Although in the process of discovering why you cut their legs off in a specific place to avoid hacking bone I cut myself deeply on the finger, as there were no plasters in the first aid box I had to wear a glove for the rest of the day. By the time I went home my whole hand was red

I think my self-esteem suffers from manual work as it isn't practical for someone like myself, it's useful money wise and in terms of building strength (I have to carry some heavy stuff and am gaining upper body strength which is nice as generally I'm a very weak person, especially in the arms) but I'd much prefer an office job where I could work more to my own style and strength i.e. get a cuppa when needed, prioritise my own tasks, organise myself etc. Plus I'm actually quite a good typer as I quickly found it much easier than writing by hand as I write very slowly so I already have the necessary IT skills.

*crosses fingers office jobs will get back to me soon*

[Lady Fluff]

First job when I was 16 - shop girl in BHS. Terrible wage, didn't like my colleagues, worked there for 6 weeks (2 of which were my holiday in Malta so wasn't there!) and then along came job no. 2
Boots, the Saturday job that never went away! I worked on the pharmacy counter, graduating from sales assistant to healthcare assistant. I really enjoyed this, as I was not a sciencey person at all, and was studying for my A Levels at the time, but this was a pleasant change and provided me with a good basic grounding in medicines. It took me 18 months to pass the two exams, but, gievn that I worked for 6 hours once a week and had to have dedicated study time within the working day to do it, it took a while to work through ti all!
Anyway, that job lasted for 2 years. I then transferred to a store where my university was. I worked there in various combinatiosn fo full and part time in the four years I lived there. When I graduated and moved down to where I lived now to be with my partner, I got a transfer to a local store as well, though I left shortly after. So I worked for the company for 6 years in total!
Once I left Boots, I worked for a call centre attached to a major bank, and flogged loans to people for a living. I hated every day. Selling loans to people, some with an interest rate of 41.9%APR, made me feel like an evil soulless loan shark. I lasted 9 months, and in that time was one of the most senior members of the sales team there who wasn't management, which says somethign about the turnover there!
Since I left there almost 5 years ago, I have workedfor a local Council, doing adminny stuff. It is only during this stretch of my employment that my dyspraxia was diagnosed. It is not taxing work. It is mind numbingly dull. Although I am not a leader in any sense of the word, I like to be pushed and be challenged. I do the same thing, day in, day out for the last 5 years with only minimal variation. I knwo this suits some people, but I'm banging my head against a rock here. I need to get out. I am lookign but appear to not interview well for higher positions. I am getting the interviews, just can't get through them any more...

[Remus]

Wow, I'm amazing by how many jobs you have all had. You guys should be proud of doing all those things.

I personally have not a job yet and I am not sure I would want one yet. I want to enjoy life for a bit and learn loads first. I did however do my work placement at Birmingham Nature Centre which was a great experience and I made a lot of friends and gain some really valuable experience with many species. I had a range of jobs from window cleaning, answer public questions, clean enclosures, feed and watering animals, preparing food etc. I had many good times down there as well as bad. But I love the place. I'm actually going down to the centre tomorrow for lunch with my friend, Sarah who I used to work with. Also I need to take some photos for Animal Collections as some of the work focuses on certain animal establishments.

[el frosty]

My first job was bar work, didnt want the job really but took it (needed the cash). lasted about a week before getting told i wasnt right for the job.. no good with customers, always breaking glasses and aparently "useless".

next job i had i loved, working for a company that id rather not name as part of their IT department, basically just email responses & phonecall logging euipment maintinece, but they kinda just left me to it and didnt really care how i got my job done as long as it got done. left that though after a row over wags.. it wasnt the most above-the-law job, and one day just didnt pay me (for 3 weeks on the trot)

now im in a temp post on customer services... i hate it. it like encapsulates everything i have dificulty doing and makes it my damn job.. talking to people over the pone.. deadlines, obnoxious staff members, boss that doesnt tolerate mistakes... its like the job from hell.. i guess im coping, knowing its only short - term, but still...

ah well, positive outlook, always the best way

[Philip]

I am 26

First job I had when I was 16 (this was when I finished secondary school, before going to college in September 2000) I was helping my Dad do some data entry which he brought home.

In the last ten years I have had a number of short term contract via employment agencies, but never got by the company after the assignment. All the jobs I have been data entry/admin

I have done a few placements in this time as well.

The longest job lasted a year this was when I was doing my NVQ back in October 2002 to October 2003 (even though I started at the training provider in August 2002 in took eight weeks, I ended up doing my placement at a funeral directors, but did not have to do with any customers face to face or via the telephone.)

I certainly want a job, I know the type of work I would like

[babooshka2002]

I am 26 too. :-)

When I was 16 and in foster care, I was made to get a job by my foster mother. I had no interest in working at all, but she said I had to get a summer job - it was just something one did as a teenager. Worked at New Look for two evenings a week, and 6 hours on Saturday. It was alright, but I was very slow at everything. I don't think a manager who was strict would have liked me, but my manager was very chilled out and kind. The other shop assistants didn't like me - I am not a girly girl, I don't know anything about fashion or grooming, nor do I care. I like computers and Star Trek and felt like I was a different species to them. I didn't know how to speak to them, or to respond to what they said, and I didn't get jokes, so mostly I didn't talk to them. I was never trained in till work, which I was very thankful for as I'd be a complete disaster at dealing with small change. Sometimes, I'd have to be alone in a back stock room and sort discarded hangers into boxes. That was a problem for me, as I was always putting hangers into the wrong boxes, and it was so quiet and isolated (and boring as anything) that I just couldn't stay focused and could accidentally end up playing with the detagger for half an hour. Luckily, nobody noticed.

[conor]

i worked in nite club for 2 years,4 hr nights,bad pay,no going up the ranks,got blamed for problems,got told many nights by people that they will kill me,drunk threats,still not nice,only good thing from the job was i got quite a few kisses from a few women,next job was in a internet cafe for a year,good pay,stressful for me like the other job,though it could have been the coffee i got to make.........

[peterkeegan]

Jobs

I worked in a fish shop cleaning out fridges, always stank of fish....!

I was in the Army as a combat Medic for many years and my only regret of getting out the army when I should of stayed in.

i worked in a couple of bars.

I did some factory work on a production line making car seats but got boredn and always ggot the jobs were they required mannual dexeity no good if you are dyspraxic.

I did some work as a security guard and hated it.

I did some private work for providing medical staff at public events (Biker rallies, Cage fighting, horse shows etc) though the jobs didn't pay that well and the good ones were too few.

Staff nurse on A&E department some people were ok others were twats

Staff nurse on a surgical ward ok at present but can't see me making a career of it. Also in the TA as secondary to my main job in the NHS.

[spoon]

Before and during uni I had sales assistant jobs. Whilst in uni I also worked as a telephone fundraiser and doing admin and a little training for a small organisation. When I finished uni I worked as a teaching assistant.

Anxiety was a bit of a problem in getting to all of those jobs on time but my health has gotten in the way of my working the most. I'm currently unable to work at all. Dyspraxia only really got in the way of little parts of jobs like re stacking and photocopying - paper. goes. everywhere!

[yvonnel]

Ok first job was saturday job in BHS intinally on the jumpers but was soon moved when they realised couldnt fold the jumpers back in the packet,
Strted to train as a nursery nurse but had difficulties couldnt cut striaght put the displays up etc. Worked in play scheme for children with learning disabilties when at uni worked in res care for people wiith ld then done advocacy currently managing a team providing empowering and development opportunties for dsabled people

[Magic_Lemur]

I did a degree in Economics (just before the credit crunch!) & chose a job at RBS-Natwest (just before the whole bail-out business).

As you can see - I make wise career choices!

Currently I'm at a 'Tale of Two Cities' crossroads & am wondering what to do in life. Are dyspraxics meant to use their clumsy, chaotic disability to create things, or are we meant to attempt to cure our shortcomings & become normal?

With Natwest, I chose the latter, but think the former is increasingly the true path - be yourself and all that...

[sanabitur_anima]

The only paid job I've ever had was part-time shelf-stacking when I was in 6th form. I've done various voluntary things (in a nursery, in a retirement home, helping at a summer playscheme for primary school children, working in a charity shop.)

[Grackle]

In more or less chronological order - I'm 44 so I've had a lot of jobs.
1. My last year in high school, I worked at a corner store (convenience store, don't know what you all call them) because my Mum went and talked to the manager about giving me a job (knowing that I didn't want a job). The first night I worked alone, it 3 and 1/2 hours to close plus I left the safe open
In University (it took 9 years to graduate with my 4 year degree so I had quite a few jobs)
2. worked for a professor entering information about fish into a database
3. worked for a hotel doing catering. I dropped a plate of food onto a famous race car drivers lap
4. toy store - stacking things and helping customers
5. department store - sales
After I dropped out
6. a factory for three days (I was terrible, in one day, I broke 20% of the pieces I was working with)
7. an elf at Christmas time taking pictures of children on Santa's lap
8. creating database at a software company that later turned out to be a stock market scam (they just stopped paying us one month although they did promise that if we worked for 3 more months without pay, they would pay at the end of that time - quite a few trusting people took the deal and were never paid)
9. creating a database of records and cd's at a non profit radio station
Back at school
10. created a database of music at a campus radio station
11.creating a database of books at a Women's Centre
12. the archives at the University
Since grad school
13. worked at a friend's store dyeing fabric and selling stuff - 1.5 years, felt like my degree was a great big expensive waste of my time
14. filing
15. two jobs doing library type stuff for companies 1.5 years each
16. my current job at a University library almost 9 years

Probably some other stuff in there. I always said that I would rather scrape gum off the sidewalk with my teeth than work retail again - yet I did it over and over. Most of my jobs were fairly short until my current job.
Grackle