Well, as you may recall from my last installment about career options, I am
bipolar, have autism spectrum disorder, and I have attention deficit
disorder. Another disability is that I'm 50. After working with my "job
coach" it turns out that if you are both ASD and ADD the intersection of
viable, suggested career options comes down to "computers". If you are
ASD, something terrible uncreative and repetitive like QA. If you are ADD
something terribly creative like greenfield development or web development.
I like to try development/programming, and I like data, and have had
success working with SQL, but that was between 2000 and 2002.
So after researching, my options I have reached the following conclusions:
To get an entry level job with programming or data you need.
1) Recent, diverse experience bringing you close to a plug-n-play employee.
2) Failing 1, a portfolio. If you are a self-studier who starts their own
projects you have a good chance at an entry-level start that you can build
on.
3) Failing 1 or 2, If you have a BS in Computer Science or Software
Engineering, you need to have graduated with honors from a prestigious
school or done at least a year of internships, because odds are you won't
get work in your field.
4) Given 1, 2, 3 I qualify for telephone IT help desk. Help desk jobs with
no requirements like A+ or Net+ or knowing Active Directory.
I currently work in customer service, no sales. They like high quality and
low handle times, but it's pretty low pressure. I get $13 & change an hour;
plus, a $4 & change allowance for benefits. Not bad. The downside is
people, phones, and dead-end McJob, oh and it's seasonal. Thirty-two hours
a week for about eight months out of the year. I also can't sell at all,
and my average, normalized, handle time is on the order of 1.8 standard
deviations above the mean, and rising. (My speed is measured as being in
the lower quartile for almost everything for which they measure
speed--math, reading, manual dexterity, typing, everything.)
The big advantage I see working help desk is that there is room for
promotion to tier II and beyond. On rare occasions, help desk people may
even get promoted to something more interesting, better paying, more
prestigious, and less dehumanizing than help desk.
On the other hand I expect that most help desk jobs will emphasize sales,
short phone calls, high levels of quality, and have very stressful, high
pressure work environments, where the workers are treated like eminently
replaceable manure, that pay $10 to $13 an hour to start. I expect that if
I change jobs, there is a very, very good chance I will be a failure at
telephone IT help desk. Unfortunately, telephone help desk, tier I or my
current job are the only options I see myself as having.
Anyway I'd be happy to hear any feedback the list might have.
I'd love to conduct a couple of interviews with people who have worked, or
are working unskilled tier I IT help desk. However, be forewarned, the last
such interviews I did lasted an hour. My vocational rehab working says most
such interviews last WELL under 20 minutes, but did the last ones after
work hours, and have an advanced degree in anthropology, so I kinda draw
out interviews.
Also, If you can send any prospects my way, I'd appreciate it.
Regards,
Trent.
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