No. My jobs have never been “sparkly”. I hate every move up the ladder more than the last one. If they’re not boring they’re stressful (not in the “oh this is an exciting challenge” way). I go to work for the check and nothing more. The shit I do in my free time is what’s “sparkly”.
So fucking this. Unless you’re a god damned lion tamer or professional skydiver there is no job that is “sparkly” or anything but a forced survival chore.
I mean, reach for your dreams! Buy some lions from the black market, set up a little stage in your backyard, and start offering lion shows to all your neighbors. What could possibly go wrong?
Unlucky :( I don’t know about your financial status, but if you can afford it (the pay is usually much better, but it can be more infrequent if you have dry periods), you might want to try becoming a consultant?
I’ve had many “normal” jobs in the past and felt the same way… but like 10+ years ago I started consulting on the side, and after getting enough stable contacts, I switched to it full-time. It changes the whole messed up “wage slave” dynamic: instead of them thinking they own me, they’re my customers. If they try to set unreasonable deadlines/requirements/etc, I tell them that they’re wrong, and they can either fix their expectations or find someone else. No implicit threats that my CV is going to look bad because of “changing jobs so often”. And if it’s a toxic workplace, I leverage that to either get paid much more, or simply refuse to make any new contracts with them. Etc.
Whatever it is you’re good at? Many people with autism/ADHD/etc have marketable hobbies already from the start (he’s so good with computer!), and for other skills, they’re often good at learning new stuff - as long as it scratches their itch.
Of course a bit of a generalizing, but I’m like that anyways. I didn’t even have experience with the tech stack on my first couple of assignments, but it was interesting, I did some light pre-reading, and thus I managed to plow through it.
You notice that the most competent people in IT are on some kind of spectrum, but especially the consultants. And the typical shyness of autistic people gets more praise as well it feels like… “he’s not taking 30 minute coffee breaks with us, not because he’s a jerk, but because he doesn’t want to overcharge us, so nice”
I don’t know the first thing about getting into consulting, and honestly not sure if I have any skills that would be applicable. At least not for anything that would pay well enough to get through the dry periods.
No. My jobs have never been “sparkly”. I hate every move up the ladder more than the last one. If they’re not boring they’re stressful (not in the “oh this is an exciting challenge” way). I go to work for the check and nothing more. The shit I do in my free time is what’s “sparkly”.
So fucking this. Unless you’re a god damned lion tamer or professional skydiver there is no job that is “sparkly” or anything but a forced survival chore.
I mean, reach for your dreams! Buy some lions from the black market, set up a little stage in your backyard, and start offering lion shows to all your neighbors. What could possibly go wrong?
Unlucky :( I don’t know about your financial status, but if you can afford it (the pay is usually much better, but it can be more infrequent if you have dry periods), you might want to try becoming a consultant?
I’ve had many “normal” jobs in the past and felt the same way… but like 10+ years ago I started consulting on the side, and after getting enough stable contacts, I switched to it full-time. It changes the whole messed up “wage slave” dynamic: instead of them thinking they own me, they’re my customers. If they try to set unreasonable deadlines/requirements/etc, I tell them that they’re wrong, and they can either fix their expectations or find someone else. No implicit threats that my CV is going to look bad because of “changing jobs so often”. And if it’s a toxic workplace, I leverage that to either get paid much more, or simply refuse to make any new contracts with them. Etc.
Consulting on… What?
Whatever it is you’re good at? Many people with autism/ADHD/etc have marketable hobbies already from the start (he’s so good with computer!), and for other skills, they’re often good at learning new stuff - as long as it scratches their itch.
Of course a bit of a generalizing, but I’m like that anyways. I didn’t even have experience with the tech stack on my first couple of assignments, but it was interesting, I did some light pre-reading, and thus I managed to plow through it.
You notice that the most competent people in IT are on some kind of spectrum, but especially the consultants. And the typical shyness of autistic people gets more praise as well it feels like… “he’s not taking 30 minute coffee breaks with us, not because he’s a jerk, but because he doesn’t want to overcharge us, so nice”
I don’t know the first thing about getting into consulting, and honestly not sure if I have any skills that would be applicable. At least not for anything that would pay well enough to get through the dry periods.