What is your Job?

[Al422]

I am unemployed again and back home with my parents after dropping out of a postgraduate degree which isn't making me feel great. I just wanted to know what kind of jobs people do and how you cope working with social anxiety?

For example, I can't stand the idea of any customer service job e.g. shops, supermarkets, restaurants, just thinking about it makes me dread them, I mean just walking into places like that makes me nervous and I would rather do hard manual labour to be honest. I have a good science degree and have about a couple years lab experience working in industry so hopefully I can go back to that, but I am just curious what people do for a living and how they find it? Cheers.

[BigD]

I've done lab work for over 30 years, in industry and academia. My wife did 26 years in a pharmaceutical company QA lab. We both have SA but our work experiences differ.

My wife was treated horribly or as invisible in her lab. She was eventually made redundant, which we are now glad about, but it did damage her when the reasons for her selection were given as 'not fitting in' despite her work always being first class. The manager that wrote that was sacked a few months later for fiddling results - which my wife would have spotted and would not have tolerated so I do wonder if she was chosen to make his life easier.

My experiences in a different factory were better - because I was effectively working alone, especially on night shifts. A lot of responsibility for an 18 year old though - analysing and adjusting chemical inputs the the continuous manufacturing process. One mistake would cost thousands of pounds per minute.

Currently I work in a research lab with the nicest bunch of people I could wish to work with. Sometimes I socialise with them and sometimes I don't. They know and respect that my ability to cope with people fluctuates.

[Al422]

Thanks for the replys. Yeah lab work is ok because you can get your head down and just do the work most of the time but I guess it varies depending on what type of work it is. Hopefully I can get some more lab work

[BorrowedMum]

I am a foster carer for my local authority.
I would say its a pretty good role for someone with anxiety issues as you work from home and apart from having to attend meetings; medical appointments and doing school stuff you are pretty much left alone to get on with it!
I wouldnt exactly say it was easy work though, as having a (small) person, who doesn't belong to you, in your house 24/7 taking up every minute of your life can be extremely draining and testing. You also need to be able to deal with (sometimes) demanding/awkward social workers and face the childs parents sometimes several times a week, which can be very stressful if they are hostile.
I am proud of what I do though (with my partner) and have found that my personal anxiety issues lesson greatly when I have a child here, mainly because I have no time to dwell on them.
The testing time for me is between placements when my anxiety and procrastination levels rise dramatically.

[Indigo_]

Originally Posted by BorrowedMum

I am a foster carer for my local authority.
I would say its a pretty good role for someone with anxiety issues as you work from home and apart from having to attend meetings; medical appointments and doing school stuff you are pretty much left alone to get on with it!
I wouldnt exactly say it was easy work though, as having a (small) person, who doesn't belong to you, in your house 24/7 taking up every minute of your life can be extremely draining and testing. You also need to be able to deal with (sometimes) demanding/awkward social workers and face the childs parents sometimes several times a week, which can be very stressful if they are hostile.
I am proud of what I do though (with my partner) and have found that my personal anxiety issues lesson greatly when I have a child here, mainly because I have no time to dwell on them.
The testing time for me is between placements when my anxiety and procrastination levels rise dramatically.

My parents were foster carers for around 16 years. Such a rewarding job

[Xithium]

I currently work in retail. Hated the idea of it at first and I was so nervous during my first few months there. But I have to say, it's helped me immeasurably, socially, over the years. Whilst I still suffer in situations outside of work, though to a lesser extent, while I'm there I'm mostly ok. It's something to do with being in a 'role' - I have a concrete purpose for being there, so I find it easier to feel confident.

I'm moving into a graduate scheme for teacher training in primary years next month, which almost sounds ridiculous given how extreme my SA used to be. I think it's going to be extremely challenging, but I'm going for it anyway. It got to the point in my retail job a long time ago, where I hit the ceiling in terms of what I can learn there. There are no opportunities for progression or more personal growth really, so I decided to make a change.

[Indigo_]

^ I'm a primary school teacher It does sound like an usual choice for those who have anxiety but I manage. I'm largely okay because I feel like I'm in a role too, so hopefully you will feel the same.

[flumpsy]

I work in the website mines of NW london, digging out webpages for people and helping to increase the kitten content of the world wide web.

So that would be web developer and programmer, building networks and pooters and stuff.

I am also an employer and most certainly would not recommend that path to people like me. I know for some people with SA it may well be possible to be an employer or boss but the daily struggles I faced over the years is most certainly what has caused things to get so bad for me.

Ignoring the boss side of things there are a few ways to do this kind of work and many work from home sending code to and fro over the internet, this suits me. Often though you are expected to work in a team and talk about complicated stuff using big words to make yourself sound clever. This does not suit me due to extremely low self confidence. I tend to start some thing on my own, build it myself, launch it myself, and then hope it makes money for myself.

[Mr. Nobody]

I've done a few jobs over the year's but my current one is by far the most exposure I've had,
I'm dealing with lots of people every day which is challenging enough,
But it's also demanding in that it's a busy place where people want stuff (you may not have) NOW and that is challenging and demanding too, as you have to be quite switched on and pro-active to keep things running
I was once quite glad of the challenges as it's helped me challenge my SA and felt I'd made some progress,
But I'm at the point now where it's just too much for me at times as I just keep feeling like I need a break from it all,
Dealing with different people all day can leave you a bit drained, as some of them can be quite demanding, some are just plain lazy too and you kind of need to think for them

It's difficult to find something with just the right amount of challenge, to keep you moving forward in the right direction,
And the right amount of down time, away from people, to let you regenerate a bit and catch your breath

[Al422]

Originally Posted by Xithium

I currently work in retail. Hated the idea of it at first and I was so nervous during my first few months there. But I have to say, it's helped me immeasurably, socially, over the years. Whilst I still suffer in situations outside of work, though to a lesser extent, while I'm there I'm mostly ok. It's something to do with being in a 'role' - I have a concrete purpose for being there, so I find it easier to feel confident.

I'm moving into a graduate scheme for teacher training in primary years next month, which almost sounds ridiculous given how extreme my SA used to be. I think it's going to be extremely challenging, but I'm going for it anyway. It got to the point in my retail job a long time ago, where I hit the ceiling in terms of what I can learn there. There are no opportunities for progression or more personal growth really, so I decided to make a change.

Seriously well done for sticking at retail and now taking on teacher training thats impressive . That must have been really tough. I think I have managed to avoid it by being a lab rat haha. I can imagine it does help a lot socially

[Schmosby]

Reply to messages from grown children along the lines of "Mummy said I could have sweets today, but you're saying I can't have them until tomorrow, I want them todayyyy, boo hoo, give me my sweets!! I hate you, I hate you!!" while trying to ignore the sound of the local street vermin threatening and verbally abusing the staff in the shop.

Other than that, picking, packing, processing sales, doing unlocks, testing phones, cry wanking, doing ebay/amazon listings, praying nobody phones for me.

[Pathetic_Earthling]

I'm a binman and it's quite easy for me. It's just me and my driver and I don't have to interact with anyone else during my work. I just turn up, do my job, and go home taking no problems home with me. The pay is crap but the hours are good and I manage to get by and I'm finally paying into a pension scheme. I tried a brief spell in a crappy council admin job but couldn't cope with it so I went back on the bin round and it's okay. I don't feel good that I failed in my admin job and the fact that,with two degrees, I am a colossal underachiever, but there you go. It's my lot in life.

[Al422]

Originally Posted by Pathetic_Earthling

I'm a binman and it's quite easy for me. It's just me and my driver and I don't have to interact with anyone else during my work. I just turn up, do my job, and go home taking no problems home with me. The pay is crap but the hours are good and I manage to get by and I'm finally paying into a pension scheme. I tried a brief spell in a crappy council admin job but couldn't cope with it so I went back on the bin round and it's okay. I don't feel good that I failed in my admin job and the fact that,with two degrees, I am a colossal underachiever, but there you go. It's my lot in life.

I understand underachieving because of anxiety. I think as long as you are content with life thats all that matters, being stuck in a job you don't like/hate is the worst. I have a masters degree but I still feel that craving to just do a simple, easy job just so I don't get stressed out. Like I don't care if I got paid tonnes surely its not worth it if you are completely stressed out and the neurons in your brain are fried

[Jam]

^ Do you still have ambitions of being a barber?