OK, then. What exactly do you know how to do that you could earn money by doing? Seeing, hearing and deduction of the obvious don’t count.
Then you better be self-employed.
To rephrase what Aangelica said. . .what are your job skills? Being able to find your way out of the woods might be a “skill”, but I don’t think anyone’s hiring.
You’ve got a problem. . .you’re unskilled and you’re incompatible with normal jobs. Sure, you can be UNSKILLED in some jobs, but you have to be willing to answer phones, push buttons, and show up on time.
If you’re really worried about finding a job, then your question should be “how can I reign in my spontaneity and sloth?” NOT “how can I find a job where I get to be laidback and spontaneous?”
LOL, I have no problem doing jobs that involve answering phones and pushing buttons. As for showing up on time, I usually show up a little early. I’m not some slug.
I would love to “reign in my spontaneity and sloth” more than anything, but it doesn’t seem realistic, without becoming a bum.
My other alternative is to gain more skills, but then again, my past employers wouldn’t give me any chance. They would rather fire me than teach me how to perform better. They were a lot like my current instructors, they would not give me feedback or suggestions on anything.
Why are we even discussing skills, this is a different topic from my OP? My OP deals more with my personality and values. I can gain all of the skills in the world, but if I feel uneasy with most workplace cultures, I doubt I would be happy person.
You know. . .
far be it from me to psychoanalyze over a few posts here, but some of your IMHO threads now include (from memory). . .
“Why are self-help books so vague?”
“How can I get my teacher to change my grade?”
“Why do people believe in the myth hard work pays off?”
and now
“What kind of job is there for a person like me who is unwilling to change?”
Now you write something like this:
Like I said, I won’t even attempt to psychoanalyze, but there’s a common thread running through the things you write. See if you can find it.
Then don’t work in an office. There are jobs that don’t involve office work. I like the previous poster’s suggestion of day care work, as long as you don’t totally hate kids. There’s also teaching small kids (although then the administration gets on your ass, ask my mom), or pet/wild animal care (which would involve science). But no matter what you do there is always going to be a boss, even if your customers are your boss (as in self-employment), and you’re going to have to learn to deal with a little bit of supervision no matter what you do. That’s just life, and unless you’re independently wealthy, you need to suck it up every once in awhile and conform to reality.
Personally, most “spontaneous and laidback” people piss me the hell off cuz they’re always the ones joking around while serious type-A me does the real work. That’s why you should probably look for a job where interpersonal skills matter more than getting a long list of shit done on time.
Holy crap that was funny.
- I have a lot of problems that I need to solve.
- I’m also having trouble finding solutions/answers to those problems.
How about a cab driver or a tour guide? Both of them involve direction – and if it’s the right kind of tour, your spontaneity could be a great asset. For example, if you live near a popular tourist destination, there might be people who’d love to pay for an unusual journey.
We all have to make some sacrifices in the workplace, overcome a few deficiencies (or a lot of them) in order to earn a living.
But OTOH, achieving job satisfaction has a lot more to do with temperament than intellect. I always thought “smart people become doctors or lawyers”, but that’s not at all true.
So I agree with your approach to this problem, but also agree that you need to keep working on growing up (which it sounds like you’re doing). Your punctuality is a terrific asset; you may need to work on making a noticeable effort, so that your employers will keep you around long enough for you to pick up skills.
Can we accept that answer, Bob? Sorry! Not specific enough. Try again.
Like being President of the US 
Someone already mentioned tour guide.
What about working in one the the kid-type museums, where kids explore stuff, do arts and crafts, interact with cool gadgets, etc (like the Tech Museum in San Jose, The Zeum in San Francisco, etc)
The people working there always seem to be happy, easy-going and creative, so if you’re like that, that may be a good fit.
Become a lobbyist. And if that doesn’t work, run for office.
No, really. I’m dead serious.
As you framed your OP as an inquiry about working, I stuck with it.
They are also not abilities. If they are abilities, then they are shared by the vast, vast majority of the working public, and therefore not useful in the finding of an acceptable job. An “ability” in that sense might be something like musical or artistic talent - it would be something that sets you apart, not something you share with the majority of the human population.
I strongly recommend Richard Bolles’ What Color is Your Parachute - it’s a career counseling staple. Lots of insightful questions to ponder, and a fair number of shortcut approaches as well.
If there’s something you’ve done as a hobby and really enjoyed, by all means try to find a way of incorporating that into your career. You’d be amazed at the variety of ways people earn a living. All you really have to do is find someone who’s willing to pay you (consistently) for something you’d like to do (consistently).
Or, if you absolutely cannot become consistent, learn how to live on a shoestring while you bounce from thing to thing. We often think “How can I earn XX dollars in order to buy XX?” when really the question is “How can I live on the money I’m able to earn?”
First start: Understand what people are saying. I suspect that when things seem like they are vague to you, it’s because you’re missing what other people mean. For instance, when people ask what you are good at, 9 out of 10 people are going to say something like “math” or “computers.” They won’t say “Good visualisation skills.” At least not when we are talking about starting a profession.
So, my first recommendation would be that when you talk to people, keep asking questions until you are sure that what you think they mean and what they really mean equal each other.
So now, “What are you good at?” Computers? Art? Math? Chemistry? Writing? Etc.?
What do you do in your free time besides reading self-help books?
Step two: (from a fellow depressive-inattentive) Don’t invoke depression/ADD as defenses, crutches, or excuses to employers, counselors, or Dopers. In fact don’t even do so overly often to yourself.
Yes, they are real and no, they are not your fault, but the fact remains that a lot of otherwise good people who want to help will begin to develop strange attitide problems when confronted with these issues. It’s an unfortunate byproduct of the culture we live in.
I would expect just about anyone with a college degree to have these skills. What specifically can you do that an employer would actually pay for? What did you study? Are you a good researcher? Can you do complex math? Program a computer? Sculpt? Draw? What as an employer makes me want a new hire who can “see things from unusual angles”. You don’t have enough skills, experience or background to see anything from any angle.
You sound like one of these guys who doesn’t really want to work at anything, drifts through school studying bullshit and then thinks they are going to get a job because they are likeable.
The ironic thing is that you will probably end up in the very cubicle farm job you dread because that’s what happens to people who are unfocused drifters. They are forced to take whatever job they can get instead of going after jobs they want.
People like this really make you sick, don’t they?
I find them tedious. I know quite a few people with his attitude. They often live at home for years or decades or maybe live in an appartment subsidized by their parents if they’re lucky. They dabble in various hobbies (writing books, painting, being a movie extra) calling them their “career”. Sometimes they will take various jobs or make attempts at real careers but those tend to be short-lived. Either their flakiness gets them fired or they quit because the work is “beneath them”.
As I said, it becomes tedious to listen to after awhile. “My dad’s making me pay for xyz”, “I don’t think that job’s what I want to do”, “hey check out my new book (that no one paid me to write)”.
That is not my situation, but I don’t see anything wrong with those peole. I hope I can make decent amount of money without having a “real” career. I can’t ever see myself living at home for years, though. My parents have way too many rules, and that’s what I’m trying to get away from as far as I can.