How many jobs have you had in your lifetime?

NMSquirrel

NMSquirrel

OCD ADHD THC IMO UR12
Valued Senior Member
I am curios to find the average..
i have googled it and the consensus of those articles is 7-10 jobs for the average person..

but still i want some personal testimonies for comparison..

myself,i just completed a paper that lists all the jobs that i have had in my life that i can remember...

It totals 50...
and SSI says that my ADHD does not qualify me for disability..
(it is in appeals right now,with a lawyer helping me..)

and ppl wonder why i am resistant to looking for work...
 
5 - well, 5 different companies. I may have had several different jobs within a single company.

I'm 54 and have been in the work force since 1979. No gaps in employment.
 
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In what way is your ADHD disabling to the point where you can't work like everybody else has to?

Also, four jobs. Two were part time jobs during college. And since becoming a registered nurse, I've held two other positions in different hospitals.
 
I used to do temp work, so that was about 10-20 employers, but in my actual career, it was more like 3.
 
WillNever said:
In what way is your ADHD disabling to the point where you can't work like everybody else has to?
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Not sure..ask a psychiatrist..just know i have ADHD and i believe it affects how ppl perceive me, so usually i am the first one fired..
makes it almost impossible to hold a job..(there have been exceptions but they are more of a testimony to the patience of the boss and not me..)
 
Only three employers, not counting part-time and summer work as a student.
Nine freelance contracts and businesses - very small scale: just self and one or two partners in each enterprise, lasting from 3 to 11 years, with some overlaps.

While i liked my medical career, i get the impression that most jobs suck. If you can find some way to make a living independently, do it!
 
NMSquirrel said:
Not sure..ask a psychiatrist..just know i have ADHD and i believe it affects how ppl perceive me, so usually i am the first one fired..
makes it almost impossible to hold a job..(there have been exceptions but they are more of a testimony to the patience of the boss and not me..)
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No psychiatrist can divine why an employer decides to fire you. That is between you and your boss. Most people are able to hold down a stable job for years. Even those who have mental illness do so.

Are you sure it isn't just that you don't want to work? Sometimes people who don't want to work try to blame mental illness for their problems, when the problem is more intrinsic to their personality. Often they are just lazy.

What is your highest level of education?
 
Let's see. Newspaper boy, News paper delivery, bag boy, construction worker, factory worker, draftsman, Soldier, Junior engineer, software sales and programing, Partner in engineering firm.

Makes about 11 or so jobs 6 after graduating college.
 
Just for the sake of your research.
My tally is somewhere around 40 or 50.

It seems a lot. I guess it is.

I've had great jobs and shit jobs, good bosses and dickheads, been my own boss a fair bit too.

More than once my job has disappeared as a result of political will (or bungling).

I reckon I've got 10 years left in the workforce and will probably do another few jobs.
 
10 jobs, most of that were teenage summer jobs (I started working summers when I was 12).
 
WillNever said:
No psychiatrist can divine why an employer decides to fire you. That is between you and your boss. Most people are able to hold down a stable job for years. Even those who have mental illness do so.

Are you sure it isn't just that you don't want to work? Sometimes people who don't want to work try to blame mental illness for their problems, when the problem is more intrinsic to their personality. Often they are just lazy.

What is your highest level of education?
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i graduated with an associate in electronics..

as far as the rest of your post..

you are comfortable citing laziness as the end all reason..
"its not mental illness..its laziness"

you do not consider that what you see as laziness or a personality disorder is an indicator of a mental illness condition..

A psychiatrist can tell you that what most ppl see as 'laziness'(or whatever) can be misinterpreted and can explain what it actually is and how it can be misinterpreted. I can only use supposition to explain and as you all know supposition is easy to argue with..

its like you are saying yes you are screwed up, but i'm not gonna lift a finger to help you..you are comfortable using laziness and personality excuses because if you were to accept that it is a bonafide mental condition you would be obligated to help.
IOW Why is it easier for you to dismiss it as laziness and not acknowledge an actual valid disfunction/condition/disorder?

i have heard this all my life and at certain points i have believed it..now i am convinced it is not laziness,i have had bosses tell me that i am a hard worker.
that i am not afraid to work...
(plus the H in ADHD means Hyperactive,an inability to sit still and be lazy)

and yes I do not want to work..i do not want to set myself up again to fail. after 50 jobs , it gets old..

if the reasons for my dismissal were consistent, i would consider laziness or personality problems as a valid reason,
but there has been no consistency in the excuses used to let me go, overall(and in hindsight) it seems like they could see something wrong with me, but could not identify it, so they would use whatever excuse was handy, or what excuse resulted in the least amount of flack,

how many jobs does one have to go through to be considered unemployable?
If you were hiring employees and seen that they go through alot of jobs would you hire them?

if you were in that position you would not consider any excuse, you would just see instability and not hire that person. (i would argue the employer is looking for perfection,and any indicator to imperfection would result in a no hire)

sorry, but i have heard all this before, and its like an excuse to devalue me and make me feel worthless, I have worth..but i also have problems that most ppl do not know how to deal with, it is easier for them to classify me such that they can disassociate themselves with me so the do not have to deal with me..

IOW they would rather see me homeless than to lift a finger to help..
(or at least allow me to find the help i need..IE..disability..)
 
NMSquirrel said:
Not sure..ask a psychiatrist..just know i have ADHD and i believe it affects how ppl perceive me, so usually i am the first one fired..
makes it almost impossible to hold a job..(there have been exceptions but they are more of a testimony to the patience of the boss and not me..)
Click to expand...

Usually the first to go at a job are the lazy, incompetent, and least socially effective. 50 jobs tells me that you're not lazy. Unless your particular adhd is so bad that it leads to gross incompetence, I would bet the issue is social.
 
Crunchy Cat said:
Usually the first to go at a job are the lazy, incompetent, and least socially effective. 50 jobs tells me that you're not lazy. Unless your particular adhd is so bad that it leads to gross incompetence, I would bet the issue is social.
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I think it is a combination of things..i think the attention part screws with me..IOW i get my attention set on certain things that i forget about other things..painting is a good example..i get so focused on doing a great paint job that i forget to watch the mess..(i am a messy painter,but the paint job is excellent)

so its not necessarily an incompetence..although it can appear as such, its an attention thing..

there is always something i tend to forget..and its not like i do not know..i know, i just get distracted easily (see above, distracted by doing a good job,forget about mess)

and its more accurate to say the first that go are the imperfect, the ones that their imperfections are obvious,
i say it like this because truth be known, most all employers are not psychiatrists so they do not actually know what the problems of the employee are, they just see that they are not perfect for the job and they do not have to deal with the problem employee, so they find an excuse to let them go..and with todays PC world it would be considered wrong to fire a person because of various reasons, but they do not have to use the actual reason..IE i have heard 'we are going in a different direction', 'budget cuts' etc..
IOW getting the actual truth as to why one was fired is almost impossible.

(the excuse budget cuts was used on me, i found out later that they hired a boss's relative to the position i had..)
 
I disagree. In corporate america there are great swathes of emplyed people who stay employed due to their social abilities. These people are utterly incpompetent and unknowledgable; however, they stay employed through social traits and being friends with the right people.
 
Crunchy Cat said:
I disagree. In corporate america there are great swathes of emplyed people who stay employed due to their social abilities. These people are utterly incpompetent and unknowledgable; however, they stay employed through social traits and being friends with the right people.
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and because the boss's are afraid to fire them else they get a lawsuit put on them..
 
NMSquirrel said:
i graduated with an associate in electronics..

as far as the rest of your post..

you are comfortable citing laziness as the end all reason..
"its not mental illness..its laziness"

you do not consider that what you see as laziness or a personality disorder is an indicator of a mental illness condition..

A psychiatrist can tell you that what most ppl see as 'laziness'(or whatever) can be misinterpreted and can explain what it actually is and how it can be misinterpreted. I can only use supposition to explain and as you all know supposition is easy to argue with..
Click to expand...

Squirrel, I did a lot of my training as a nurse in a large state mental hospital. Psychiatric nursing and the mentally ill are interests very close to my heart. My cousin when he was a teenager, diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, died by setting himself on fire and burning to death.

If you are hyper, find a job that is activity oriented. That is part of the reason I chose to be a nurse. Why don't you explain some of the reasons you have been let go in the past? Has absenteeism or lateness been an issue for you?
 
Sixteen. This is probably my last one since I'm already past 65. The longest was 28 years; the shortest was three months. The monthly pay ranged from $120 to $9,600. And no, unfortunately that last one is not my current job. :(
 
WillNever said:
Squirrel, I did a lot of my training as a nurse in a large state mental hospital. Psychiatric nursing and the mentally ill are interests very close to my heart. My cousin when he was a teenager, diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, died by setting himself on fire and burning to death.
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just because there are worse cases, does not make my case invalid..
(there is a falicy in that..IE there are ppl worse than you,therefore you aren't disabled)

If you are hyper, find a job that is activity oriented. That is part of the reason I chose to be a nurse. Why don't you explain some of the reasons you have been let go in the past? Has absenteeism or lateness been an issue for you?
Click to expand...
you name the reason..it has been used..

and absenteeism or lateness has not been a factor..i have always shown up on time..(had to if i wanted to pay the bills..)
 
Eight jobs, including casuals.
Now back at university studying medicine.
Diagnosed with ADHD 3 years ago. Not sure how I feel about that.
Turning 40 next week. Not sure how I feel about that either.
 
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