Terrible time to job hunt - Posted an update in this thread. Good news!

[Night Elf]

Ds23 is looking for a stocking job. Those seem impossible to find as people who found themselves out of work, they went to the grocery stores and got the stocking jobs. There are still some cashier jobs available, probably because no on wants to be that close to customers. Ds doesn't want to be a cashier, not because of the virus concern, but because he has Aspergers and has a difficult time interacting with people. He's never wanted a customer service job. So until all of this blows over and people leave the grocery stocking jobs for their old jobs, I guess ds is just out of luck for work right now. 

He even applied to Home Depot as a lot attendant and didn't get a call back from that job. He doesn't want to return to school. I just worry that the longer he's out of school/work without a job, the less likely someone will want to hire him. He hasn't been in school since last December. There's no telling when he'll find somewhere that is hiring someone like him with no skills.

Edited April 13, 2020 by Night Elf

[lewelma]

My dh's job is very shaky right now. And we have decided that he will volunteer his skills if he loses his job and cannot find work.  That keeps him active, allows him to fill a hole on his resume, and makes sure that he continues to contribute to the community. 

Perhaps you could start brainstorming ideas for volunteer work both during lockdown and after lockdown. 

So using your hands: what about gardening at a local park, picking up trash on the streets, etc

Edited April 7, 2020 by lewelma

[Night Elf]

13 minutes ago, HeighHo said:

Is there a not-for-profit agency in your county that can help your son with finding and keeping employment?

That I'm not sure. I know he doesn't qualify for disability so the only resource I know about is for disabled people.

[Night Elf]

27 minutes ago, lewelma said:

My dh's job is very shaky right now. And we have decided that he will volunteer his skills if he loses his job and cannot find work.  That keeps him active, allows him to fill a hole on his resume, and makes sure that he continues to contribute to the community. 

Perhaps you could start brainstorming ideas for volunteer work both during lockdown and after lockdown. 

So using your hands: what about gardening at a local park, picking up trash on the streets, etc

My job is a non-profit organization he could volunteer at if the store was open. Even the actual animal shelter is closed to the public and volunteers right now. 

[Night Elf]

So he just applied to Lowe's, a hardware warehouse to be a loader/cart assistant. This application did not ask for a personalty assessment, something every other application he has completed has asked for. I will be honest and say I think he doesn't get a call back because some of his answers. They are non-traditional but it's how he thinks. I suggested he answer some of the questions based on what they may be looking for but he didn't want to do that.

Please keep your fingers crossed or pray that he finds a job soon. I don't want him sitting home any longer than necessary. He needs to be out and working and away from the seclusion of his room.

[Laura Corin]

Our local foodbank is welcoming young volunteers because the usual crew are older and have been told to self shield by the government.

[itsheresomewhere]

Has he considered applying to be a grocery delivery driver like for Instacart or Whole Foods?  They are hiring and little interaction with people. It could be a great job to keep his confidence up and get him out of the house. 

[Night Elf]

2 minutes ago, itsheresomewhere said:

Has he considered applying to be a grocery delivery driver like for Instacart or Whole Foods?  They are hiring and little interaction with people. It could be a great job to keep his confidence up and get him out of the house. 

I suggested that but he didn't think he'd like to drive to stranger's houses to deliver anything. I know pizza places are also looking for drivers and he vetoed that idea as well. To be honest, I don't think he feels 100% confident driving although he's been driving since January 2019.

[Night Elf]

5 minutes ago, HeighHo said:

 

Does he qualify for supported employment services thru the state dept of behavioral health & developmental disabilities?  

I don't know. When I spoke to a couple of lawyers about disability, they had no advice to offer except to call the job rehabilitation place. But one lawyer told me their focus would be to find him any job he could work, so if they found him a job folding towels in a hotel laundry, they'd expect him to take it. I know for a fact that isn't going to fly, so I didn't pursue the idea any further.

[Night Elf]

11 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

Our local foodbank is welcoming young volunteers because the usual crew are older and have been told to self shield by the government.

Thanks, I'll look into that. I donate food to an organization who delivers the food to food banks in our area. That organization has cancelled pick-ups for a while. That's unfortunate because they normally collect a lot of food.

[klmama]

A friend's dd just got a job picking out the food for online grocery orders.  She's working 25 hrs a week. Could that be a possibility for him? 

[regentrude]

The Walmart distribution center close to us was hiring. Amazon needs warehouse people.

[PrincessMommy]

I found out a few weeks ago that my neighbor's husband was laid off in Nov.  They're really hurting now.  I feel so bad for those who were laid off right before the holidays. 😞 

Edited April 7, 2020 by PrincessMommy

[catz]

Could he be self sabotaging based on his history?   There are many options along those lines here begging for help right now.  

[AmandaVT]

This might be a good resource - am I remembering that you're in the south? There's a company based out of Georgia that specializes in placing adults on the autism spectrum in jobs. 

https://workology.com/companies-hiring-adults-with-autism/

[Night Elf]

Good news!! He got a job! He's really maturing by leaps and bounds this year and it's amazing to watch him grow. On Friday, he came out of his room and said he decided to go back to the grocery store he used to work at and talk to the manager to see if they had something available besides cashier which he really didn't want to do. My DH and I were stunned but told him that sounded like a good idea. So he left and was gone for a while and I was wondering where he was, when he came in, ran up the stairs and said "I got hired!" *laugh* We're so proud of him for taking the initiative like that.

He's going to be a ClickList employee. That's the online ordering thing at Kroger. We're assuming he'll be filling orders for people by pushing around the cart and following a shopping list. The only other part of the job I know is when the employees take the groceries out to someone's car and loads them for the customer. I'm assuming all the employees do both but who knows. The manager told him he'd get an email in a few days to start his background check. Then someone would call him to go in and fill out his paperwork. 

They are starting him out at $9.00/hr which is great, but the manager said since he was making $10/hr when he left there in 2017, he'd see if he could get that salary reinstated. That would be great but I told DS not to bank on that since he was only getting that much because he was in a union. The weird thing is that when he was hired for the stocking job, they started him at $7.45 and then within a couple of weeks he joined the union and his pay jumped to $10/hr. So I'm quite surprised they are hiring him in now at $9.00/hr instead of minimum wage. Good!

So yay!

[klmama]

That's wonderful!  And how nice of the manager to try to get him the higher pay. That says a lot, both about the manager and about how highly he thinks of your d's. 

[Bootsie]

That is great news!  

[Storygirl]

That is really good news!!!

In case circumstances change, please do contact your state department of vocational rehabilitation. My son is in the teen program through our state, and they work hard to pair people with job opportunities that fit their skill set. It's not a case of having to take any job they happen to find for you, as you indicated in your previous post. Please contact them directly in the future.

Vocational rehabilitation is really not what you think. I'm glad that he doesn't need it now, but please feel confident about helping him learn about their services, if needed in the future.

[mommyoffive]

Good for him!!

[klmama]

2 hours ago, Storygirl said:

In case circumstances change, please do contact your state department of vocational rehabilitation. My son is in the teen program through our state, and they work hard to pair people with job opportunities that fit their skill set. It's not a case of having to take any job they happen to find for you, as you indicated in your previous post. Please contact them directly in the future.

Vocational rehabilitation is really not what you think. I'm glad that he doesn't need it now, but please feel confident about helping him learn about their services, if needed in the future.

I agree.  I had a friend in college who had a terrific job through that program.  It was totally based on his abilities.   He was paid well and loved the work.  It's definitely worth looking into for the future.  

[Scarlett]

I am so happy for him and proud of the initiative he took. 

[ktgrok]

I'm so glad!