How does a lovely geek drop-out find gainful employment?

March 25, 2008 2:30 PM

What would be the ideal type of work for someone with no formal education but who has amazing talents?

A friend dropped out of Junior High and never looked back, basically educating herself via books, experience and internet. She is super smart, has worked in numerous jobs, from food vendor to assistant to a CEO of a global financial corporation, to simulatneous translations online to cleaning people's houses and on and on. Basically she never felt she was fulfilling her life's purpose. Now - she's at a cross-roads and must find some type of employment - self-generated or other to make a living. Her skills are almost genius in differential association, having the ability to gauge space and matter, she has exceptionally good writing skills, and a very rich language, spoken in a beautiful voice. This is a bit random, but I'm trying to fill you in on some background talents. She's computer savvy, has an eye for design and color and has a flair for incorporating nature and its elements in all she undertakes. From flowers on the wall, to driftwood sculptures, to creating fragances from trees and fauna.

The things she can't do anymore is hard physical labor like lifting heavy objects, standing or sitting for long periods of time and would probably be at her best working for herself or in a small group.

She also has a bit of struggle with long-term projects, so any job would have to be relatively short-term projects, or immediate sales.

Another quirk she has is a really ~really~ uncanny way of drawing people into stores. I've seen it myself more times than I can remember at this point. She will enter a virtually empty store and within a minute after people start crowding in. So maybe that's something to capitalize on as well as the above mentioned.

Maybe a job where she could work from home, online with occassional projects where she could venture out.

Any ideas what a person like this could do and do really, really well? The last time she took an aptitude test - it showed good marketing skills but also it was said that she could do practically anything she would set her mind to.

That's it. Hopefully, the hive mind will help generate some awesome, intelligent and insightful ideas to help her get back on her feet and feel like *she's doing her life's work*.

Cheers

posted by watercarrier to work & money (27 comments total)

Freelance work in sounds ideal for her. If she has a portfolio or can put one together that shows her talents in a particular field that doesn't depend on credentials, that will definitely help her.
posted by katillathehun at 2:37 PM on March 25

Go back to school.
posted by humannaire at 2:44 PM on March 25

Seconding freelance work.

Your friend sounds really interesting and energetic. I get a huge kick out of people like her; they're always full of creative ideas.

She does sound just a little bit scattered, though. If she wants to make a good go of freelancing, she needs to be organized, have discipline and look at least a little ways ahead. There's more to freelancing than just doing the work you're hired to do. She'll have to be her own assistant, marketing department and billing department. She needs to think about things like socking away a portion of each check for tax payments, that sort of thing. If she's a total free spirit who hates being bothered with things like liability insurance, accounting, invoicing, etc., then she may do better working for a small business that produces something unique or artistic, but at which she wouldn't need to handle the books, etc.
posted by Flipping_Hades_Terwilliger at 2:50 PM on March 25

It's hard to suggest work that could help someone fulfill their life purpose when we don't know what their life purpose is.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 2:50 PM on March 25 [1 favorite]

katillathehun - that would be hard as she lives in the boonies and no car. Though maybe down the line....

humannaire - Maybe I should have written there - lovely - middle aged geek....lol - anyway at 48 or any other age doesn't look like she would ever, ever sit in another classroom. Guess that education thing will have to be worked around.....:)
posted by watercarrier at 2:55 PM on March 25

Freelance sounds great. If she isn't disciplined, she could look at hiring people to help her with those things (accountants, lawyers, project managers, assistants, etc.). You can hire people on a freelance basis and thus cut your costs.
posted by acoutu at 3:02 PM on March 25

A couple things jump out here for me, and maybe they are things that you could put back to your friend to help get a bit more focus on where she wants to go.

watercarrier said: "What would be the ideal type of work for someone with no formal education but who has amazing talents? ...dropped out of Junior High and never looked back, basically educating herself via books, experience and internet. She is super smart...

Something that really bears remembering here is that education is rarely used in employment as a measure of how smart someone is, but of whether he or she has the ability to complete tasks and succeed at long-term goals and projects. If I were someone who had money to give for a service to be rendered, the first thing I would think is, "In thirthy plus years, this person hasn't even been able to finish a secondary education, something that is compulsory in most developed countries. Why would I expect her to have the stick-tuitive-ness to complete any work for me?"

I truly don't mean to be harsh, and I do not ever judge someone based on their level of schooling. But this is how it looks from the outside.

"She has worked in numerous jobs, from food vendor to assistant to a CEO of a global financial corporation, to simulatneous translations online to cleaning people's houses and on and on."

Is the fact that your friend doesn't seem able or willing to see things through, the reason that she has worked mostly at entry-level jobs? If so, then why is she looking for something outside of the same kind of low-skill entry-level work now? Has something changed for the better?

"Another quirk she has is a really ~really~ uncanny way of drawing people into stores. I've seen it myself more times than I can remember at this point. She will enter a virtually empty store and within a minute after people start crowding in. So maybe that's something to capitalize on as well as the above mentioned."

Interesting but there's no way to monetize it. If it's just that people seem to happen to walk into a store after her, and not because she's engaging them or somehow displaying merchandise or drawing attention to herself or something similar, a shop owner is not likely to see a quantifiable talent that can be measured and paid accordingly.

"Basically she never felt she was fulfilling her life's purpose." ...."help her...and feel like *she's doing her life's work*"

I don't know how to say this without sounding harsh. But working at a fulfilling job that serves one's highest purposes is a luxury. If your friend is trying to make money to live on and feed herself and pay the bills, she doesn't have the luxury of holding out for something that nurtures her soul and her spirit. There are bigger fish to fry right now.

Especially if she can't sit or stand for long periods of time, or lift anything. These restrictions rule out computer work, bookkeeping or other secretarial or clerical work, retail, child care, cleaning.

"Maybe a job where she could work from home, online with occassional projects where she could venture out."

How do you see this co-existing with the fact that she can't sit down for long periods of time?

Something else I haven't seen mentioned that might be helpful for answerers: what assets does your friend bring to this table? She has no car, you said, and apparently neither any access to public transportation (since geography is what keeps her from going back to school). Does she have a computer, an internet connection, a phone? You mentioned translation -- does she speak multiple languages?

Right now, all we can see is a beautiful, creative, engaging soul... inside a homebound, uneducated body with little professional work experience to show for decades as an adult. Can you help us understand a little more about the professional assets your friend has? I know that there are entities out there who might see the ability to incorporate driftwood in her everyday life as a remarkable skill worthy of a job, but they aren't likely to be offering work-from-home options, which are hard to come by.

Based on all we've heard here, the only thing that really comes to mind for me would be freelance writing (although good paying freelance gigs are hard to get and hard to earn a steady income from), or selling things on eBay.
posted by pineapple at 3:15 PM on March 25 [5 favorites]

that would be hard as she lives in the boonies and no car. Though maybe down the line....

Well, that depends on what she wants to do. I worked from home when I freelanced, and my portfolio is what got me that work. I was a designer. There are a number of similar fields that would allow her to freelance from home. Now, if your friend doesn't want to do the sort of work that would make it possible to freelance from home, then she's going to have a very, very hard time finding work if she can't drive anywhere.
posted by katillathehun at 3:16 PM on March 25

Floral arranger at her local grocery store.
posted by birdie birdington at 3:52 PM on March 25

Pineapple - Regarding the lack of a formal education - that surely impedes the quest of finding employment, where one is measured by resumes and grades. So probably working for herself, by herself or with a partner or small group of other like minded people would probably be best. Anyway she does like to be her own boss.

What changed is probably her outlook on life, her need for stablility and a sense of not *putting herself out there*. She knows she has the goods, she just lacks a direction with which to take them. Re- nurturing the soul - it's fair to say that this could be accomplished regardless of what one does in life. Even a janitor could be fulfilled - but the issue is more one of her being aligned with her skills and bringing that forth into a job. She really has sold herself short for so many years for the sake of making a buck. Low-self esteem didn't help. I think her getting that self-esteem also is key in her wanting to make a life change but making an honest living at the same time.
Sitting at a desk can be broken up in increments of time - where one could possibly vary their tasks - walking, stretching, relaxing the spine and more. It's safe to say she wouldn't be going for a 9-5, but something more flexible and even part-time. There are health issues involved as well...

The last part pineapple - she might not have gone to a building called school, but certainly her knowledge is right up there with the best of them. She worked at high-level jobs without a hitch. Obviously people are home-schooled, some are schooled by learning as they live, some continue to learn throughout their lives, increasing wisdom. She definitely falls into that last category. I have very high hopes that whatever she goes for, she will find her path and her bliss. No doubt.
posted by watercarrier at 4:01 PM on March 25

ps - she did get into those high-level jobs by lying on her resume. She doesn't want have to resort to doing that again.
posted by watercarrier at 4:06 PM on March 25

she might not have gone to a building called school, but certainly her knowledge is right up there with the best of them

And again, school/degrees are not used as an indicator of "smart" or even "competent" -- they are used as indicators of "plays well with others" and "can handle structured, hierarchical environments" and "can complete tasks with moderate supervision."

My honest take on this is that your friend does not need suggestions of the perfect thing to be doing -- she needs to solve whatever the underlying issues are that are keeping her from seizing the opportunities already in front of her. If the perfect work-from-home but without having to sit, stand, or do repetitive tasks job existed, we would all be doing it. It doesn't, and we aren't. There are an almost infinite number of jobs people do that are outside of the usual 9-5 grind, but there aren't many good ones that don't take a lot of initiative and capacity to network.

Is she willing to move to a city where not having a car is not a problem and there are a lot more economic opportunities? Or what about becoming an entrepreneur, drawing on her wide experience for inspiration? Can she make or grow stuff to sell at farmers markets? (Have you seen what people are willing to pay for soap, candles, and other products, if the packaging and marketing are done right?) Could she make jewelry or design t-shirts or screenprint awesome designs on underwear, and get them into stores in whatever nearby towns have the right kind of people who would buy such things, plus selling online via Etsy or wherever such things are sold?
posted by Forktine at 4:25 PM on March 25 [3 favorites]

she did get into those high-level jobs by lying on her resume. She doesn't want have to resort to doing that again.

Why would she have to lie again? She actually has those jobs on her resume now.
posted by The World Famous at 4:38 PM on March 25

Without at least a high-school degree, your friend's options in the corporate world are limited. Seconding the idea that she might be best off as an entrepreneur, especially since she seems to be artistically gifted. Lots of people love handcrafted things and are willing to pay for them - could she do jewelry-making, commercial art, or the like?

I would also suggest graphic design, except for that pesky little "lives in the boonies and has no car" thing. Could she either move to a place with public transit, or get herself a car (even a cheap heap would be a set of wheels). Getting a job as a graphic designer often relies less on formal education and more on the quality of one's portfolio.

Finally, if she's well and truly stuck in the boonies, and a car is absolutely out of the question, she could stretch her income by growing her own food - putting in a vegetable garden and the like.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 5:05 PM on March 25

Remember when you were looking for Grass Roots magazine? And it was learned that this magazine did not have an online presence at all? If I'm doing the math correctly, your friend dropped out of school right during the middle of all-things-hippie. Maybe she could contact that magazine, and offer to put them on the WWW, later maintaining the site as needed for each publication.
posted by Houstonian at 6:10 PM on March 25 [1 favorite]

How about using her contacts in the corporate world to snag some design work? That is, getting in touch her old financial contacts and trying to get them to hire her as a designer (or a shopper)?

Also, personal shoppers are awesome (if she can get to a big city).
posted by oddman at 6:25 PM on March 25

Or, work to bring online the publisher for Grass Roots?
Night Owl Publishers, PO Box 242 Euroa Vic. 3666
posted by Houstonian at 6:30 PM on March 25 [1 favorite]

She should open up a food co-operative or get a job as a manager at one already established. That way she could wear all her hats. As well, she could be doing some very meaningful work that would help out lots of good people on the buying and selling end of things. She sounds like a really interesting person, and she is very fortunate for having a friend like you help her!
posted by mamaraks at 6:31 PM on March 25

I'm confused, can she walk for long periods of time, or is it sitting/standing still which would be the dealbreaker?

The thing which just came to mind is tour-guide, if her physical limitations don't preclude it. And not necessarily just the clichéd "on the left is the Parthenon, everyone back at the bus in one hour" kind of tourist tour guide.

There are all kinds of interesting walking tours available in big cities: history tours, architecture tours, crime/murder tours, cookery/ethnic food tours of Chinatowns and so on. She can use her charisma, her writing and speaking skills, etc., and it's the kind of thing where you can set up a business pretty much from scratch with just an ad.
posted by AmbroseChapel at 6:46 PM on March 25

Sorry. Missed the "lives in the boonies" thing on first reading.
posted by AmbroseChapel at 6:57 PM on March 25

How about telemarketing or web-based personal assistant? She doesn't have to sit at a computer if she works from home. Even my company employs people who work from home - it's not that unusual anymore.
posted by Yavsy at 7:15 PM on March 25

If she really has a lovely voice and can take direction, maybe she should look into doing voice overs. I'm not sure of the required specifics (i.e. how to get in contact with an agent; does she need to be SAG/AFTRA etc.), but I know that it pays well and it's really only a few hours of work per session - if that (that is, if she was to be chosen of course). Bonus points for being fluently bilingual (where you can't hear an underlying American accent).
posted by tealeaf522 at 8:34 PM on March 25

From what you've said here, I think you're looking at a lady who very much needs to work for herself. Someone whose employment track record includes so many different jobs in so many different fields would ring alarm bells for me. It could indicate any one of a number of problems - a lack of commitment, easily bored, someone who doesn't play nicely with others, someone who skips out when the going gets tough, mental health issues, physical health issues, all kinds of things. I'm not saying that's the case, but I'm saying that she may not even get to the interview stage because of that, and there is very little you can do to change that.

From what you have told us, although your friend may be a delightful and creative person, she isn't going to be an especially desirable employee. Knowledge, talent and intelligence are important, but experience is equally important and is something that only comes through... well, experience. If I was going to hire someone to work on a creative project as part of a team, I'd want some evidence that they had successfully worked on team projects before and had a good track record - and also that they'd worked in the admin assistant type of positions as well, so that they had a realistic idea of how long a project would take to complete, all the permissions or considerations they'd have to take into account, etc.

It sounds as if her creativity is definitely her strong point, so the people who say she should make or design and sell something from home are spot-on. Freelance writing would work, but to do that you generally need good contacts; I know several people who are freelance writers and who do work out in the boonies, but they're all people who've left corporate life and are able to draw on the experience and contacts they've made in the past. Most of them are people who've already made a bit of money in their previous lives, too. What about hand-dyeing yarn to sell? Making soap? Jewellery? That stuff can all be marketed and sold via etsy . There's a big market for it, and she could use her creative skills to the full.
posted by andraste at 8:49 PM on March 25

Oops - last sentence of first para should be "she may not even get to the interview stage because of her track record". Sorry :)
posted by andraste at 8:50 PM on March 25

Sounds like owning her own business or freelancing might be better for her than a "job" working for someone else.

If she does want to be employed by someone else, but is finding that not having a degree is holding her back, she might be suited to completing a degree via credit for examination. See http://www.bain4weeks.com/ for details on how to do this at a legitimate, accredited university. (The 4 weeks refers to the shortest time frame in which it's reasonably feasible to take all the exams, assuming that one already has a lot of college level knowledge and just needs a brief exam prep review. If your friend is as extensively self-taught as you have described it will probably be no problem for her.)
posted by Jacqueline at 11:38 PM on March 25

Can she not, at least, get her GED? If I'm reading this right, she's 48 now, but left school when she was about 13? A high school diploma could help quite a bit.
posted by Houstonian at 3:58 AM on March 26

Thanks for your good help people. If you have any other ideas - you can feel free to connect with me through meta mail. Best wishes.
posted by watercarrier at 4:43 AM on March 26