I am 66 and retired. I was diagnosed with chronic PTSD and OCD at age 62. I was put on meds and went to 2.5 years of therapy and now have the life I always wanted but couldn't find. I needed meds as a child, or better yet, removed from my abusive home, but I wasn't and have carried the effects for the rest of my life.

I had high-powered clerical jobs but couldn't last over a year and a half once I got to know the sub-culture of office politics. I loved the work of the job but not that underlying tension as people took sides and did their dirty work. It reminded me too much of home and that reminder tweaked up the cortisol and I'd quit, go home and rest for a year and a half and then go back out and get another high-powered job.

I repeated that year and a half pattern over and over. In looking back, I needed more than self-help books in guiding myself. Now that I have gotten the help I needed, I realize I don't have the social cue attachment wires like those raised in less tense homes. I am not an extrovert even though I tried to play the part as required by the job. I am very much an introvert--quiet, shy, and get overwhelmed with noise rather easily.

So in looking back, and knowing my emotional make-up, I would have put my intellect on the back burner and sought a job, part-time, either doing assembly line work or something like data entry off in a quiet corner. AND I would have taken SSRI meds when they came out in the 90s. And would have gotten into therapy at 18 when I left home. And would have became permanently estranged from my core family at 18, too. This I know for sure...now that I am old and looking back.

i got a job at 19 in college (im 27 now) and held two jobs. well, one job was for 7 mos and the 2nd one was a week. so yea, being abused emotionally really took a toll on me when it came to being employed. all i was told was mean things about what a job is really about that most people dont want u there, racism, discrimination, your gonna be working with a lot of white people, etc all coming from my mom.

she hated work, she never said anything about positive about having a career or job. she said working was being a slave, working for the white man was off her list, she had a job before i was born as a nurses aide and failed at that. she only worked a lil bit here and a lil bit there which all accumulated to 2 yrs of work experience from the 70s or 80s and hasnt worked since!

my lack of experience (with a degree but havent worked in the IT field at all since getting my degree in 2010)is really tough on me since i never held any jobs when i was 16-18 yrs old. i was told lies about work i mean what life and people are really about. all i heard from my mom was a bunch of racist attitudes coming from her mouth about working and she said me getting a job is being a sell out trying to be so white.

now at age 27, its costed me a lot on landing jobs plus other factors on jobs that other teachers/professionals werent that truthful about. one job for 7 mos, how else am i suppose to land work anywhere? ive been asking this question yet nobody has any answers...

When I was in my 20s I held jobs longer. After my 30s, especially after I was turned down for a promotions because the Director was friends with a woman who very obviously did not like me and everyone knew it for an unknown reason, and giving me the job would put me over her, I left the agency. Since then, I've struggled with employment - I've had jobs but just a lot of difficulty with authority.

What I think we need to give ourselves permission to do is:
1) dialog internally with ourselves on our own terms about why we do/don't do thus and so; why things turned out the way they did at a job. THIS SHOULD BE DONE IN A LOVING MANNER AS IT'S YOU TALKING TO YOU.
2) listen to the little kid inside when s/he tells you what the bad person did or didn't do and step up for that little kid and validate her him.
3) commit to deserving better and pursue this.

I recently realized that, in my 30s after that experience, that I'd had enough of shitty jobs, meaningless titles, shallow coworkers, and authority figures who set things up so that when shit happens, it's their word against yours. But if I'd been healthier emotionally then, I would have seen this sooner instead of just acting out - quitting mostly.

Most importantly, I learned that this IS NOT a typical work environment. IT IS NOT NORMAL (typical, maybe) BUT NOT NORMAL FOR A WORK ESTABLISHMENT TO HAVE THE INTEGRITY OF EXCREMENT. Yes we need jobs; but when we prioritize our own well being we learn how to skillfully husband the resources we have because we treasure them; we have a strong sense of self no matter what the potential employer sees, and we don't settle for organizational representations of abusers.

When it comes to lack of experience, and I've been thinking about this too as I've spent more time volunteering than being this that or the other thing since my 30s I suggest speaking with a department of labor advisor because they're free. When you go to them, they can be respectful and if they're not, it's a opportunity to self advocate. They can show you how to create a resume that will sell you; they can also redirect you to programs that may act as a gateway to getting into careers.

I've had more jobs than I can count or remember, and I have no one to put down as a reference.
I think this is due to my bipolar disorder. I've been on meds almost 3 years and have had the
same job since then. It's a low stress job so that helps a lot, if it were stressful I wouldn't have
lasted this long. My company is going to close soon and I don't feel capable of finding a new job.

current job, been here for 6 years.

"When it comes to lack of experience, and I've been thinking about this too as I've spent more time volunteering than being this that or the other thing since my 30s I suggest speaking with a department of labor advisor because they're free. When you go to them, they can be respectful and if they're not, it's a opportunity to self advocate. They can show you how to create a resume that will sell you; they can also redirect you to programs that may act as a gateway to getting into careers."

still not what i am asking.

your talking as if i i dont have a clue how to do a resume. nothing in my post said anything about not knowing how to do a resume or cover letter. no, you don't go to dept of labor and have them help you never heard of anyone doing that. i have gone to one stop career centers and finally got the jist of making a resume. ohh i've been through so many different programs or workshops it is not even funny! when i was 24, i finally learned how to do a resume! in hs and college, they didnt teach us.

there is this one place i was recommended to go to and its another set of workshops through WHEAT. ugh the amount of workshops i have been to and they are suppose to help you land a job. i am still frowning on that part i was told the Workforce Connection was suppose to help land you jobs too and never did.

my resumes are up to par and made a better cover letter. every career coach has told me a bunch of shit they all said go volunteer to cover the gaps. i am volunteering not for a job but i needed some new skills and be out of the house. one told me to go into telemarketing thats why i lasted a week couldnt stand the yelling from customers.

i told my therapist i am not volunteering forever how is that gonna pay for anything else that i need/want? again, she couldn't answer that question or anybody else for that matter. the jobs i am finding are pure shit jobs not good pay. people look at me strangely that i only had one job at my age 27 which they dont know anything else why. my parents just didnt want me to work at all saying if you do that your gonna be independent from us blah blah blah which i told my therapist that not sure why she didnt get that.

well, i am just applying to jobs everywhere that i think may fit me i either never hear back or if i do they claim i am not qualified. these jobs claim they will train you is a big lie because what i have found out is they secretly want the skilled employees and only use we will train you to lure you into the interview it is for marketing purposes as we were told this in workshops.

"your talking as if i i dont have a clue how to do a resume. nothing in my post said anything about not knowing how to do a resume or cover letter. no, you don't go to dept of labor and have them help you never heard of anyone doing that. i have gone to one stop career centers and finally got the jist of making a resume. ohh i've been through so many different programs or workshops it is not even funny! when i was 24, i finally learned how to do a resume! in hs and college, they didnt teach us."
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Perhaps I should have worded more carefully as this issue of experience I read as being more general among the group (thought I'd read it somewhere here and elsewhere). The department of labor to my understanding is the 'one stop' option at least in my neck of the woods. I'd had some satisfaction in that I'd gotten some guidance in areas of interest as well as resume development and all. This was a while ago, but it was positive enough for me to reconsider it as an option for guidance again.

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I reread my input and don't quite see where I'd even possibly alluded to what anyone does or doesn't know. Your aggravation is unfortunate, but I must protest that I'd said anything directly to anyone about her/his skill level. I was speaking to my process, "...I've been thinking about this too as I've spent more time volunteering than being this that or the other thing since my 30s ...". In my most recent interview for a paying position this issue was pointed out to me.- mostly volunteering and staying one year max. This is where I think agency advocacy may be of use. But this is just a suggstion to myself as much as anyone else.

Whatever insights I offered were general, not a promise of anything and not to any one person.