Can I Hire Someone to Get Me a Job?
October 29, 2018 3:08 AM Subscribe
Doing the steps required to get a job (filling out many similar but not identical applications, tailoring resume/cover letter, passing the personality test screenings) are beyond me. I'm great at interviews and have been offered every position I've ever interviewed for. I just can't get to that step on my own. Compounding factor: I absolutely must work from home. Is there a temp agency for work from home?
I've been out of work for a few years due to multiple surgeries and I'm ready to go back to work. Data entry, editing, document review, web development, admin and indexing are all jobs I've been successful at in the past, and would be happy to do again. I know I'm a great employee, but I can't figure out the modern job market at all. I've worked remotely for years in the past, so I've got that down. But it seems like all the information I find about working remotely is for the gig economy, and I am just not capable of that. I'm autistic, and I can't keep as many balls in the air as that requires. I can reliably sit down, clock in and do my work. But having half the work being evaluating jobs and clicking through a million websites to find gigs - I just can't hack it.
If I could work in an office building, I would just go to a temp agency. But between physical difficulties and autism, I absolutely can not work in large buildings surrounded by people and HVAC and allergens and inaccessible bathrooms and florescent lights. I can work from home or in an office converted from a home (pretty common in my city).
I can't sort out the legitimate work from home job advertisements from the scams. When I succeed, I can't pass the personality screenings because I take the questions too literally. (It's pretty well know that they screen out autistic people, whether purposefully or inadvertently.) All of the remote jobs I've had before transitioned from office based to home based, so I was able to meet and apply in person. I have never successfully applied for a job online, and I don't expect that to change now. [Please do not respond with your helpful tips for how to do these things. Please take my word that I am genuinely disabled in this arena and am looking for a new solution besides "be better at this thing you neurologically can not do."]
Are there recruiters for individuals with strong problem solving and work from home chops who aren't programmers? Is there anyone I could hire to solve this problem for me? I want to and am capable of work, but I can't get through the hoops to get employment. I just need someone to get me to an interview. Are there any employment agencies helping autistic people get the kind of work we're particularly well suited for?
[Potentially helpful data: in the US; mid-30s; multiple degrees; woman; part time work preferred, full time work acceptable; very computer literate. I held a student employment position for part of this year, so have recent work history. I can be reached at notgivingupthedream@gmail.com if that's not sufficient information.]
I've been out of work for a few years due to multiple surgeries and I'm ready to go back to work. Data entry, editing, document review, web development, admin and indexing are all jobs I've been successful at in the past, and would be happy to do again. I know I'm a great employee, but I can't figure out the modern job market at all. I've worked remotely for years in the past, so I've got that down. But it seems like all the information I find about working remotely is for the gig economy, and I am just not capable of that. I'm autistic, and I can't keep as many balls in the air as that requires. I can reliably sit down, clock in and do my work. But having half the work being evaluating jobs and clicking through a million websites to find gigs - I just can't hack it.
If I could work in an office building, I would just go to a temp agency. But between physical difficulties and autism, I absolutely can not work in large buildings surrounded by people and HVAC and allergens and inaccessible bathrooms and florescent lights. I can work from home or in an office converted from a home (pretty common in my city).
I can't sort out the legitimate work from home job advertisements from the scams. When I succeed, I can't pass the personality screenings because I take the questions too literally. (It's pretty well know that they screen out autistic people, whether purposefully or inadvertently.) All of the remote jobs I've had before transitioned from office based to home based, so I was able to meet and apply in person. I have never successfully applied for a job online, and I don't expect that to change now. [Please do not respond with your helpful tips for how to do these things. Please take my word that I am genuinely disabled in this arena and am looking for a new solution besides "be better at this thing you neurologically can not do."]
Are there recruiters for individuals with strong problem solving and work from home chops who aren't programmers? Is there anyone I could hire to solve this problem for me? I want to and am capable of work, but I can't get through the hoops to get employment. I just need someone to get me to an interview. Are there any employment agencies helping autistic people get the kind of work we're particularly well suited for?
[Potentially helpful data: in the US; mid-30s; multiple degrees; woman; part time work preferred, full time work acceptable; very computer literate. I held a student employment position for part of this year, so have recent work history. I can be reached at notgivingupthedream@gmail.com if that's not sufficient information.]
I'm sorry, I meant to say Metafilter Jobs, not Projects. Eejit that I am.
posted by humph at 4:27 AM on October 29, 2018
posted by humph at 4:27 AM on October 29, 2018
I think what you are looking for is an agency: you spend your job hunting time convincing them - not the final end client- that you would be an asset for them. They find you the work and they charge you a commission. If things don’t go well then either of you can break off the deal easily. If they do go well then you get time to concentrate on your work - and they handle all the stuff you hate.
That is the theory. Finding an actual agent who has the domain contacts, sales skills and integrity that you would want could be trickier. If the search proves impossible then do consider collaborating to start such an agency: your core observation that there are many people with extremely commercially valuable skills that are preventing from getting a conventional job by HR hurdles - seems pretty valid
posted by rongorongo at 5:52 AM on October 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
That is the theory. Finding an actual agent who has the domain contacts, sales skills and integrity that you would want could be trickier. If the search proves impossible then do consider collaborating to start such an agency: your core observation that there are many people with extremely commercially valuable skills that are preventing from getting a conventional job by HR hurdles - seems pretty valid
posted by rongorongo at 5:52 AM on October 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Are there any employment agencies helping autistic people get the kind of work we're particularly well suited for?
If your state has a Vocational Rehabilitation agency, that could be an option. There may also be private organizations that assist with job placement in your area, but the Voc Rehab folks should be able to provide more information about that. My sense is that Voc Rehab offers the kind of assistance and advocacy you are looking for - it's basically the reason for their existence, and you may be a great candidate for their services.
Also, I recently found Virtual Vocations, which claims to exclusively offer telecommuting job postings. However, for the details of actually obtaining the job, an agency like Voc Rehab seems like a good option, at least as a starting point to find out more about local resources.
posted by Little Dawn at 6:10 AM on October 29, 2018 [4 favorites]
If your state has a Vocational Rehabilitation agency, that could be an option. There may also be private organizations that assist with job placement in your area, but the Voc Rehab folks should be able to provide more information about that. My sense is that Voc Rehab offers the kind of assistance and advocacy you are looking for - it's basically the reason for their existence, and you may be a great candidate for their services.
Also, I recently found Virtual Vocations, which claims to exclusively offer telecommuting job postings. However, for the details of actually obtaining the job, an agency like Voc Rehab seems like a good option, at least as a starting point to find out more about local resources.
posted by Little Dawn at 6:10 AM on October 29, 2018 [4 favorites]
Memail me. I have a part-time lead for you.
Also, you can search indeed.com with "Remote" in the location field to find legit remote work.
posted by smich at 8:17 AM on October 29, 2018 [4 favorites]
Also, you can search indeed.com with "Remote" in the location field to find legit remote work.
posted by smich at 8:17 AM on October 29, 2018 [4 favorites]
One of my friends signed up for transcription work via an agency website, where they sent him assignments, he had deadlines and he got paid when they were done. It's low-paid, since you're subcontracted to a website service, but if the get sent assignment -> finish it -> get paid workflow is your thing that kind of service might be something to look into.
posted by storytam at 8:53 AM on October 29, 2018
posted by storytam at 8:53 AM on October 29, 2018
I have a couple small, second-hand leads I can pass on; MeMail me?
posted by tapir-whorf at 9:00 AM on October 29, 2018
posted by tapir-whorf at 9:00 AM on October 29, 2018
I do something like this for a living. I recommend Virtual Vocations as well. Rev.com is legit for transcription work. Weworkremotely.com has a gem sometimes for non-programmers.
posted by orsonet at 3:20 PM on October 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by orsonet at 3:20 PM on October 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
Rev.com is legit for transcription work.
Legit might be stretching it. Is Rev a real company that pays what (and when) they say they're going to pay? Yes, indeed. Do they pay abysmal rates? Yes, indeed. Way back when, they were OK (not amazing, but OK). In the last few years, though, they've been on a trend of reducing pay as much as possible without completely losing all of their contractors.
If you're any good at audio transcription, 3Play Media pays much more fairly. I wasn't going to suggest it since it seems like it might be more "gig"-based than you're looking for -- with both Rev and 3Play, there's a marketplace of work (files), and you choose what you work on by previewing them and accepting them. The other benefit to 3Play here is that while Rev is truly first-come first-get, if you are previewing a file on 3Play, there is a two-minute lockout where no other contractor can claim or even preview the file.
That said, if that's something up your alley, please avoid Rev (and TranscribeMe, and CrowdSurf, and CastingWords...the list goes on) like the plague. Rev may be the best of the worst (paying, at most, about $0.50 an audio minute, versus TranscribeMe's average of about $0.25/AM and CrowdSurf paying even less than that) but that doesn't mean they should be used. They are a collection of race-to-the-bottom companies that continually depress wages in the transcription industry.
3Play is not the only decent company out there, just the one that I am personally familiar with as I have worked as a contractor for them (as well as the other companies listed in my comment).
posted by tubedogg at 7:58 PM on October 29, 2018 [4 favorites]
Legit might be stretching it. Is Rev a real company that pays what (and when) they say they're going to pay? Yes, indeed. Do they pay abysmal rates? Yes, indeed. Way back when, they were OK (not amazing, but OK). In the last few years, though, they've been on a trend of reducing pay as much as possible without completely losing all of their contractors.
If you're any good at audio transcription, 3Play Media pays much more fairly. I wasn't going to suggest it since it seems like it might be more "gig"-based than you're looking for -- with both Rev and 3Play, there's a marketplace of work (files), and you choose what you work on by previewing them and accepting them. The other benefit to 3Play here is that while Rev is truly first-come first-get, if you are previewing a file on 3Play, there is a two-minute lockout where no other contractor can claim or even preview the file.
That said, if that's something up your alley, please avoid Rev (and TranscribeMe, and CrowdSurf, and CastingWords...the list goes on) like the plague. Rev may be the best of the worst (paying, at most, about $0.50 an audio minute, versus TranscribeMe's average of about $0.25/AM and CrowdSurf paying even less than that) but that doesn't mean they should be used. They are a collection of race-to-the-bottom companies that continually depress wages in the transcription industry.
3Play is not the only decent company out there, just the one that I am personally familiar with as I have worked as a contractor for them (as well as the other companies listed in my comment).
posted by tubedogg at 7:58 PM on October 29, 2018 [4 favorites]
« Older Getting best quality iPhone photos to print | How do I find a local non-legal researcher for a... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by humph at 3:26 AM on October 29, 2018