Does anyone here work in a job with lots of interaction with people??
- Thread starter missjesss
- Start date
BlueDays
1
I hate to be a downer, but in my experience working in a job where I had to deal with lots of people, it never actually improved my SA.
As phocas mentioned it can be very exhausting as you need to constantly "pretend" to be happy and upbeat ALL the time.
Unless you work on the core of your SA beliefs, interacting with loads of people everyday won't get rid of it. At least it didn't for me.
As phocas mentioned it can be very exhausting as you need to constantly "pretend" to be happy and upbeat ALL the time.
Unless you work on the core of your SA beliefs, interacting with loads of people everyday won't get rid of it. At least it didn't for me.
brokenfingers04
Well-known member
force yourself to change. the sooner the better
hoddesdon
Well-known member
I worked as a salesman and was quite good at it. It is possible to have social phobia and still have natural ability as a salesman. Possibly because I was successful, it seemed to have fixed me while I was in that environment. I did not know about social phobia at that time, and neither did any of the others, but one mentioned that I had been "cured". Unfortunately the difference did not generalise to other situations or to later jobs.
Nanita
Well-known member
Really depends on what kind of job!
I´ve had jobs with lots of contact with people, and jobs with NO contact at all.
It suits me better with no contact, but... it gets lonely too
I worked as a manager in housekeeping at a hotel. I had to "tell people what to do", how to clean hotel rooms and so on, and this part of the job was really difficult for me. Also everybody on the hotel expected me to do the usual small that social people do.. Some days I couldn´t do that at all, and I just tried to look busy.
Having said that, I also met some very nice people through that job, and got a true friend.
I´ve had jobs with lots of contact with people, and jobs with NO contact at all.
It suits me better with no contact, but... it gets lonely too
I worked as a manager in housekeeping at a hotel. I had to "tell people what to do", how to clean hotel rooms and so on, and this part of the job was really difficult for me. Also everybody on the hotel expected me to do the usual small that social people do.. Some days I couldn´t do that at all, and I just tried to look busy.
Having said that, I also met some very nice people through that job, and got a true friend.
coyote
Well-known member
i manage a retail clothing store
dealing with customers is not too difficult for me - in fact, i enjoy it
it's much more difficult managing employees, coordinating things with the managers of the other stores, working with administrative and marketing staff, and dealing with my boss
any job in management will really test your people skills
dealing with customers is not too difficult for me - in fact, i enjoy it
it's much more difficult managing employees, coordinating things with the managers of the other stores, working with administrative and marketing staff, and dealing with my boss
any job in management will really test your people skills
Tuco
Well-known member
I am a teacher and have been for the more than two years now. Sometimes it's very stressful and I have to make huge efforts to act confident so no one can tell how nervous I am. It has helped me in the sense that I can now act like a normal person in everyday situations and I can even speak in public without the fear of spontaneously combusting. But I can't connect with people on a personal level, personal relationships are an impossibility for me, I have zero friends, so that job hasn't helped me at all in that respect.
Richey
Well-known member
It took me 8 months to feel at ease with working in a large open office and even now i still feel stressed out in the environment, its hard to relax when you feel you need to cram in as much work as possible before the day ends.
I'm still quiet but I can get up and ask people questions with no trouble, i'm just not as jokey and relaxed as i want to be. Actually I only ever feel like i'm talking normally and relaxed around one person.
I can't drink any milk drinks whilst working at an office because my stomach makes noises when i stress out and its freaking embarrassing, so no milk, only water drinks.
I someitmes get these intense anxiety attacks where i start fidgeting and i have to leave the office for a few minutes just to calm down and i develop these painful stitches and tightness from internally freaking out.
socially its like high school, very gossipy and i've found it hard to make friends because people seem to be so judgemental and picky. I know I overheard a girl saying that she only talks to the people that she clicks with and another said he blocks out the people he doesnt like. So I don't know how i fit into that, I generally keep very quiet because it feels so unnatural and institutionalised at work, its hard to relax in that setting, for me personally, those who work in sales are generally very tough skinned, you can't be a "nice" harmless personality to work in sales, generally. Techies are generally very confident and have tickets on themselves otherwise they wouldn't be doing the job for long.
I've always found assistant jobs as the best, you have mild responsibilities and you can work hard and not feel too stressed out.
Socially at work its a game, just like work and heirarchy is a game, you can play it well or you can really struggle, but you can always try and you can be down to earth and remember you don't have to agree to what people say, be yourself.
I'm still quiet but I can get up and ask people questions with no trouble, i'm just not as jokey and relaxed as i want to be. Actually I only ever feel like i'm talking normally and relaxed around one person.
I can't drink any milk drinks whilst working at an office because my stomach makes noises when i stress out and its freaking embarrassing, so no milk, only water drinks.
I someitmes get these intense anxiety attacks where i start fidgeting and i have to leave the office for a few minutes just to calm down and i develop these painful stitches and tightness from internally freaking out.
socially its like high school, very gossipy and i've found it hard to make friends because people seem to be so judgemental and picky. I know I overheard a girl saying that she only talks to the people that she clicks with and another said he blocks out the people he doesnt like. So I don't know how i fit into that, I generally keep very quiet because it feels so unnatural and institutionalised at work, its hard to relax in that setting, for me personally, those who work in sales are generally very tough skinned, you can't be a "nice" harmless personality to work in sales, generally. Techies are generally very confident and have tickets on themselves otherwise they wouldn't be doing the job for long.
I've always found assistant jobs as the best, you have mild responsibilities and you can work hard and not feel too stressed out.
Socially at work its a game, just like work and heirarchy is a game, you can play it well or you can really struggle, but you can always try and you can be down to earth and remember you don't have to agree to what people say, be yourself.
Josette
Well-known member
I agree with the person above who says liking what you do is most important. At least that will bring you some happiness.
It could help with your shyness to work in a field where you have to talk to people a lot -- but it only works to a certain extent. I'm in that position. Because of my job, I'm a lot less shy than I used to be, but I'm still alone. I still don't know how to connect with people. It's like I've learned how to deal with people "professionally" but not "personally."
It could help with your shyness to work in a field where you have to talk to people a lot -- but it only works to a certain extent. I'm in that position. Because of my job, I'm a lot less shy than I used to be, but I'm still alone. I still don't know how to connect with people. It's like I've learned how to deal with people "professionally" but not "personally."
Josette
Well-known member
R3K
Well-known member
my job is hectic, and has high customer interaction... like customers crawling all up and down the store asking me where things are, directions to places, where the restroom is... it's madness and chaos.
but i find myself squeaking through each customer interaction swifty and reflexively before i even know it happened. before i have the chance to worry or fret over possibly bad social performances in the brief conversations, i'm already being bombarded by new customers so i just rapid-fire my auto-response lines. every day is like this, so i'm not worrying about any of it mostly, cause each day just blurs into the next, and my lethargic brain doesn't even bother with it.
--this is all different than how it used to be when i first started the job. every customer interaction was hell for me back then XD. repetition and brainless auto-responses will help you get used to any high interaction job though... i think.
but i find myself squeaking through each customer interaction swifty and reflexively before i even know it happened. before i have the chance to worry or fret over possibly bad social performances in the brief conversations, i'm already being bombarded by new customers so i just rapid-fire my auto-response lines. every day is like this, so i'm not worrying about any of it mostly, cause each day just blurs into the next, and my lethargic brain doesn't even bother with it.
--this is all different than how it used to be when i first started the job. every customer interaction was hell for me back then XD. repetition and brainless auto-responses will help you get used to any high interaction job though... i think.
bigcat1967
Well-known member
I am a supervisor at a data center. I go to meetings and all that crap. However, I prefer to be alone.
For the past year I've worked at 2 different jobs, both requiring interaction with people over the phone and face to face. Previously I thought work was gonna exhaust me and when I first started out I got nervous, but now I'm doing fine.
Jobs like these hone your conversational skills. Take it from me, it helps to throw yourself out there. My avoidant tendencies are still there, though.
Jobs like these hone your conversational skills. Take it from me, it helps to throw yourself out there.
My avoidant tendencies are still there, though.