Reply With QuoteIt might be worth contacting the university careers dept who can help with interviews and CVs. Additionally, advise on graduate schemes, vacancies, employers and may be able to advise on roles that you have not considered.
Goodluck!
Hi TZ collective
I'm looking for any employment suggestions or known opportunities for my 23yr old Son who lives in South East Essex and can travel to city area , London ( however unwilling/able to drive , so needs to be C2C train/tube accessible ).
He's a very bright lad and has a BA & Masters in English literature ( University of Kent ). He finished last September and has been looking for work since and with hindsight it would probably have been a good idea if he had taken the year in industry option to gain experience in a relevant sector.
He's keen to work in an Archiving / Museum type role ( and is currently volunteering at a local Museum ) and he's applied to the likes of the British Library , Houses of Parliament and a couple of city ( London ) based legal firms who have this type of requirement....plus loads of other positions across a broader spectrum. Personally , I would be more than happy to see him join a corporate city based firm.
Now of course I may be biased , but he really is a very gentle , happy & good natured person and responsible too ( unlike his father ! ).
An English Teacher would probably be very suitable in theory....however read on....
My son does suffer from mild Asperger's which means some social interaction can be a little awkward , along with nervousness around new and different locations....interviews for instance ! On the upside of this he is super punctual & reliable and we strongly suspect , has something along the lines of a photographic memory....it is truly unbelievable the amount of data & fact he readily retains.
Any pointers or suggestions would be most welcome...
Best Neil
Last edited by flame; 20th July 2022 at 11:53.
It might be worth contacting the university careers dept who can help with interviews and CVs. Additionally, advise on graduate schemes, vacancies, employers and may be able to advise on roles that you have not considered.
Goodluck!
IT, average salary is currently £63k pa with something like 2,000,000 vacancies currently.
As someone who copes with mild autism myself (late diagnosed) I would suggest something which allows for low stress and a comfortable routine with controlled social interactions. I work as a composer and also as a company administrator (part-time) looking after the books and payroll etc. I like music and numbers, so this suits me perfectly. I spent a lot of my early work years getting stressed out in the wrong kind of employment. Jobs that involved variable routines and the need to cope with random people. It was tough! We're all different of course, so your son's needs may well be very different. As an English graduate I would guess that he would enjoy working with words and language? Maybe as a writer of some kind and/or working in a clerical role that requires advanced English skills. Wishing him the very best of luck.
Does he have any interest in software engineering or data analysis?
With his memory he could learn quickly and it sounds like he would be an ideal fit.
HiOriginally Posted by prexelor
Thanks for the reply...
Yes , this is an avenue we have recently followed up and he has a further call booked with them to discuss.
His CV has been checked and reviewed as has his personal statement.
I think he needs a bit of luck too !
Best Neil
Sounds a lot like my son, who has a History degree, is extremely bright, but has medium-high levels of dyspraxia and lower levels of autism. He left university just before the pandemic hit and has been through a number of jobs, unsuccessfully.
Firstly, British Library, HoC etc are massively in-demand jobs. Dunno why, they just are. Similarly, working for a legal firm in archiving - they have way more applicants than positions and the pay is rarely good.
My son has tried several things, and is currently working for a posh London members' club in event management. It helps that he's well-spoken, works hard etc, but like your son he has some real social issues (often just can't read the feel of the room, doesn't realise if/when someone says "I'd not do that if I were you" that they actually mean "DO NOT DO THAT" etc) and when he gets anxious things fall apart. Interviews are a nightmare. He's been binned from four jobs in the last two years, which is stressful for us and massively dispiriting for him.
What really worked was sending our lad to jobs fairs; they're way less pressured than more formal interview environments, you can get an idea of a role you'd never thought of and the people you meet are often not the HR people but people from within the business. We also had to get our son to be realistic about what he could or could not do. Essentially, anything involving time pressure doesn't work. Trying to get him to multi-task ... a total disaster. So he's now working in a place that values politeness and deferential service and is prepared to accept the odd quirk. It helps that our son is (usually) good one-to-one and in a face-to-face environment; far more likely to stuff it up when on Teams or in a group environment.
We were a bit shocked; schools had made real allowances for out son, as had university. The world of work has required him and us to be brutally honest about what he is unlikely to be successful in, and why. He's really unhappy that certain career choices are, essentially, closed off to him; all that said, things are (crossed fingers) working out at his current place so far.
Hope you and your son have success!
He could look at taking a Masters degree conversion into IT. That’s what I did after finishing my first degree - taking a Masters at Warwick. I could suggest Burbeck College London if you want to stay in London area. https://www.bbk.ac.uk/
after that I never looked back - before I just couldn’t get a job, now I recently retired from IT having various roles and positions leaving a 6 figure deal in the city. He may want to look at a Data Analyst position that could suit his personality. much in demand and will continue to be so - data is not going away.
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
Just a thought - despite recent announcements of culling civil service by 20% it is such a large employer that vacancies will continue to arise - the civil service will make any suitable adjustments for individuals wherever possible.
First of all, best of luck to your son, I hope he gets what he is looking for.
Unfortunately the sort of jobs he is after are not frequently available and the pay is not that great either
I say that as my late Dad was a curator of ancient manuscripts in the British museum and later the British library and he didn't earn anything like some of these boring IT wallahs.
However, museum work is a vocation and I think if he wants to get on and have a better choice of jobs he should probably get into the dreaded IT.
I really hope he gets his dream museum job though.
Cheers,
Neil.
Just to clarify, was this 6 figures starting with a 1? Just so we know where you rank against the TZ massif. (o;
This.
But with his memory and ability to learn fast, coding would be the direction I'd point him in. Get into major league internet security and he's set for life - and the big players pay big bucks.
He'll never be short of work; the internet is only going one way.
All the coders where I've worked always wear what they want (even vest and flip flops)and spend all day in noise cancelling headphones never really needing to speak to anyone.
Seems a great career from that side! Data science might also be interesting.
I am following this one with interest. Your son is a few years ahead of mine. Mine also has Asperger and a pleasant personality.
Big difference is that mine is a maths & science ‘wizz kid’.
He found job for the school holidays and Saturdays when he was 15. At a certified Apple repair company. He did tons of Apple online courses and he’s a certified Apple mechanic nowadays. But, it’s not what he wants (at the age of 18).
He has learned me something: we, as parents, like to see that our be children do better than we did at that age: better jobs, more income etc. That makes us happy and we often project that on our kids. What I’ve learned is that being happy as a person is most important and it does not always have a correllation with money!
My son managed to stay where he was because he has a (young) employer who empowers him. Encouragement, ‘believe’ and ‘just do it’ are very important. His boss has added a lot to his develpment as a person.
A nice example: my son passed his driving exam and he took one of my cars to the office where he works (3 km). His boss watched him parking the car and came outside. “Oh you have your license on you? Nice! I need to collect a new car. We drive to the dealer, pick up the car and we go back with two cars. You drive on the way to the dealer!”
And he was put behind the wheel of a Lotus Evora!
“It has all other cars have as well. Steering wheel, brakes. You can do it!” And off they went.
On the way back, he drove a brand-new electric Countryman.
His boss never doubted my son. And that gives him strength. I think that your son is on the look-out for an employer who gives him self-confidence. Money is not the most important thing at this point.
Same here. Equally the whole data science, AI/ML is huge and only going one way. It’s a great place to consider looking into with his mind as sharp as it is.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Hi
Thanks for the reply & comments....and I completely agree from my Son's PoV - money isn't important to him....he is very frugal and get's by on what we might spend on a round of drinks for a whole month !
The self confidence point is very true and finding a company to nuture his talents is proving tricky.
I would like to see him get a job that pays and reflects at least some of the effort he put in to achieving his Masters....and puts him on the right career/salary path so that when it does become important to him it's not a massive issue.
There are definitely some suggestions in this thread we will follow up !
Thank you all so far.
Best Neil
Last edited by flame; 20th July 2022 at 16:01.
Try contacting ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk
Truly helpful and there are lots of companies looking for the qualities your son has, punctuality, determination, accuracy commitment and are prepared to work on the social aspect. As I'm sure you know most Aspergers/autistic people are quite sociable once they get to know people in the right environment. They just need the opportunity. Ambitious AA is a great door opener for the determined individual.
Check out the National Archives in Kew.
Hiya Mark
Thanks for the suggestion....bit of a bar steward journey from the wrong side of Southend on sea, Essex....shame though !
Best Neil
> has something along the lines of a photographic memory<
A job at the Met? Super recognisers: the people who never forget a face
Ah yes, London does create a bit of a commuting boundary.
Kew is on the North London Line (Overground) which stretches right round west London, north London into east London, so a connection somewhere might be theoretically feasible. But it's a long journey round the North London Line so probably not useful in practice.
Hi Neil,
IT is a good suggestion. I'm going to make a more left-field suggestion which is whether he might consider a career in tax. I'll break down the reasons for this suggestion:
Tax requires knowing a lot of tax law/guidance from HMRC. This would play to his strengths with his good memory. As he did a history degree, he's probably going to be fine with assimilating a lot of written information and then being able to apply it. There's also an element of research as when it gets more technical, he'll have to research tax cases.
It's a bit mathematical on the calculation - but he's been University so should be able to handle it. A lot of the time, the tax software does the calculation for you anyway.
Autism/Aspergers can be associated with a bit of black and white thinking. Most of the time with tax, there is a "right" answer by applying the rules. This may suit his personality and work style.
There's an element of routine in the job which can be helpful too.
Tax advisors have a reputation for being, well a bit like IT specialists, in terms of personality. People are more likely to make allowances because it's a specialist subject and people always need a tax advisor. You say he's personable - if he's personable, he'll probably get on fine with the clients and do fine.
Certainly, don't take this as gospel, but it may be another direction to think about.
What about local libraries, I’ve found it’s easier to find a job when you have one, my son spent hours getting the school library organised properly.
My lads going down the IT route and is off to uni in September, this time last year we had ruled uni out and then everything changed.
Last month out of the blue he decided he needed a job to fund a new pc, he’s currently working at McDonald’s which goes against his autism and Asperger diagnosis, it takes a lot out of him, but it is also doing him a lot of good.
Lots of great points here. My main guidance would be to focus on the employer and environment rather than the job. Find somewhere that will give him the environment and support he needs, and he'll fairly naturally find himself move into the right job.
I really like the data science and IT security ideas, the challenge is IT security recruitment is often dumb and contradictory, e.g. wanting a 'Junior' security analyst with multiple years experience and qualifications. It's a daft industry. But development, data science and analysis, coding, that sort of thing is easier to get in.
But, as above, get into the right company and find the right culture and the rest can happen over time. Most good employers are happy with internal lateral movement if it means keeping good people and talent.
I grew up in Shoebury!
Great thread. My partner's son has just got a first in maths with physics, and is wondering what to do.
>My partner's son has just got a first in maths with physics, and is wondering what to do<
Futures trader/quantitative analyst?
Thanks. I should have said he has Aspergers, and is very shy.
Posting Permissions
