Career Change
I have just read a posting on a leading Aspie website by someone contemplating a job change. The issue has been prompted by anxiety in his current position where he has been for five years.
I too am thinking about my future at the moment. I enjoy what I do, am settled and work for a person who I get on really well with.
However, I am not that well paid (I know I could earn more) and the circumstances surrounding the company are uncertain (the main shareholder controls the business and is only interested in himself).
Things could change however.I have a small shareholding which could be worth a useful amount if the company is floated which makes holding on for a while probably necessary. I don't feel I can in perpetuity however.
I have decided to wait until the end of the year when the situation should become clearer. If things are not progressing how I would like, then I have decided to seek a change.
I know however, that I need to be careful. I have secured a kind of mental equilibrium where I am: I am not stressed, have got my confidence levels up and feel that I have identified the type of environment that is right for me - small company, great boss with similar values and outlook (honest, non-political) and a relaxed atmosphere. Would think long and hard against going back into a big organisation though they, in my line of business, are where the opportunities are.
How long should I wait in my current situation......
Career Change .... Continued
Its been a while since this thread was active but I would like to re-instigate it.
Has anyone successfully changed career in the last few years?
In particular I would like to hear from anyone who has moved out of the commercial into the public (or non-commercial) sector.
No, and it would be a
No, and it would be a fearful thought indeed. Well, it looks as if your boss has survived another year or so without going out of business. Do things look any brighter than they did when you first posted?
There are lots of things to consider: for instance, your age, what kind of work you want to do, the likelihood or otherwise of having another supportive boss, security -vs- uncertainty, prospects of the company you work for continuing to survive.
If if were me, I would stay loyal to the boss as long as humanly possible. Then again, you aren't me and your circumstances probably very different. It depends if you have a large mortgage to pay off, a lot of other expenses, money put away for the hard times, etc.
It usually takes things to get very bad before I will do anything differently. This has its good and bad points. I put up with bullying at work that caused much stronger personalities than me to leave. Then again, I stayed in bad relationships far longer than I should have.
But overall, I think personal loyalty is a very good principle to follow.
Remaining Where You Are
I think that on balance you are probably right for a number of reasons.
Firstly, it takes me a while to learn a new industry, role etc. If you change then you risk loisng all of this and then having to start again.
Secondly, like you, I am inherently anti-change. One of the things my wife says to me at the moment is that I won't change unless I am forced to do so. There are very good reasons for this of course from an Asperger perspective.
I am not so sure that remaining loyal to one's boss is entirely inextricably associated with these reasons. If the circumstances are clearly wrong or detrimental, then I don't think they should overide the need to change.
There has been one instance in my career when I clearly should have changed, but my dislike of it and - to a lesser degree loyalty towards my boss - prevented me from doing so. I think I used the latter reason as an excuse more than a justification.
Its in these situations that change should I think be faced, but only the individual concerned can really gauge that.
I went from being a
I went from being a receptionist to a legal secretary. I have been thankful in that my change did not make me do loads of training or go back to school, as I found college stressful. For the most part, I think that I have adjusted well. Being in the industry that I am in now has enabled me to interact with a different type of person, and I have found that this type of work pleases me.
Career change
Malcolm, I was reading your book on the train today and came across a few paragraphs you quoted from A Guide to Successful Employment for Individuals with Autism by Smith, Belcher and Juhrs. If you read the grey bit at the foot of page 25, you'll find you have answered your own question. I think you just need a little confirmation of the direction you personally know you need to move in. Your posting here alsoadds confirmation to that.
Career Change - Timing
Career Change is all about the timing of it. I have had a couple of major change in my career - 7 job changes in 27 years in total. There was, of course, a time when the job you got when you left school was the one you had when you retired. Indeed, my brother-in-law is in exactly that position. He is very unlikely to retire elsewhere.
Ultimately, it is about summing up about what you want from life, and not just what you want from a job or career - in my opinion the two are very different.
A well paid and rewarding career may not be fully rewarding in other areas of your life, particularly when it comes to families, and your own 'down time'.
Career change
Also, you could talk to the manager you get on really well with and let him in on your idea to move on. You might be able to negotiate a pay increase. It annoys me no end to hear my AS husband talking about tasks at work he's asked to do, that he undertakes willingly, that are not part of his job. They have a whole IT department for that yet they ask Simon because he's the best. He was turned down for a position there as a programmer as he lacked experience but, if they need a program writing, they ask Simon, who has created bespoke systems for them. He gets nothing out of it himself. He has also saved his company millions of pounds by spotting errors in the accounts that "the team" should have picked up. He gets on well with his boss, too but it's obvious he's very exploited. His only thanks are lip service and a summer bonus that in no way reflects his worth to the company. It's totally immoral. Be careful that isn't happening to you.
Malcolm, you're worth more than double your salary to your employers so approach them with everything you talked about in your message and ask for a rise in salary.
Superior's Understanding
I have just posted a short note on my Blog about this.
I have spoken to my manager when he asked me if I was looking around and he stated that you have to "look after yourself".
I have to do this because I find it incredibly difficult to be disloyal to someone I like and who has been supportive to me.
Throughout my time with the company he [my boss] has always spoken about who would stand up and be counted when the chips are really down and things get tough.
In a way that's what makes it even harder: its the integrity that is inherent in someone with AS that makes it extremely difficult to be unsupportive to those you like and value - and the general trait of honesty also of course.
That is the feeling that I have now. I suppose that this is also what you are describing with Simon?
Career change
Yes, although I can't say how Simon is feeling, it sounds just about right. A year ago, he applied for a programming job with the same company and they turned him down due his lack, apparently, of experience. It paid around £13k a year more than he gets now yet he's constantly being borrowed by other teams and departments to write programs the IT men should be doing. Now and again, he talks about things at work and every single time, the stink of injustice nauseates me.
Laurie