We have an article from the career coaching group Position Ignition about work options for those with reduced ability - from insomnia, RSI to chronic migraines and speech impediments. The advice is useful to anyone considering how to tailor their next career to their own personal needs.
There are those of us who are able-bodied and take the ability to do any type of job for granted, and those of us who are so severely disabled that it’s very clear we can only do certain types of job, if any. However, there are also those of us who have reduced physical disability, without being officially registered disabled. What type of work is out there for someone like this?
You may consider yourself to have reduced physical ability if, for example, you have repetitive strain injury; suffer from insomnia, sciatica, migraines or another condition; can’t drive; or have a reduced sense of touch, a brain injury, or speech impediment. If you can relate to any of these scenarios, how do you go about finding a suitable job?
Freelancing and working from home
For those of us with reduced physical ability, flexibility and comfort are both very important when it comes to our work lives. One way to attain both is to become a home-based freelancer. If you have a skill that can be used in a freelance capacity, such as researching; writing; editing; designing; programming; website building; accounting; bookkeeping; social media management; and so on, you can use it to work from the comfort of your own home and on your own terms in regards to hours and workload.
How do you find this type of work, though? It’s becoming increasingly easy to get recruited for freelance jobs without even having to leave your computer. Traditionally, even if you’ve applied for a job or contract online, you’ve still been required to attend a job interview. However, online outsourcing companies such as eLance and oDesk are leading the way in terms of remote recruitment. They offer a range of work in a diversity of both traditional and non-traditional freelance areas such as writing & translation; administrative support; web development; and customer service.
With these websites, you can not only apply for contracts online, but can also be interviewed online by exchanging emails with work providers, and then go on to do the actual work online. Being able to do all this without leaving your home or speaking out loud gives you the flexibility you need if, for instance, you have limited mobility or a speech impediment.
Results-based rather than time-based work
If you believe you’d be better suited to a permanent and/or office-based job, look for results-based positions rather than attendance-based. For instance, if you’re good at selling to people, or just have a naturally persuasive nature, then you could succeed at a sales job by hitting targets quickly, rather than putting in the physical effort of clocking in a lot of hours. If you find a job where performing well and getting results means that you can spend less time at work, there’s more scope to be flexible and less pressure to be able to work “conventional hours”.
For those of us with reduced physical ability, it’s not only the type of work we do, but also how we choose to do our work, that’s crucial. For instance, if you suffer from insomnia, one way to try and alleviate the condition, thus increasing your work productivity, is to make sure you don’t work in the same room in which you sleep. If you’re a freelancer who works from their bedroom, you’re likely to spend all night thinking about work, instead of being able to get to sleep. Work in your living room or at your kitchen table instead.
Finding work and working productively is all about thinking creatively and seeking out alternative or pioneering opportunities and solutions. This applies not only to those of us with reduced physical ability, but to anyone who has some type of constraint on where or how they can work-and that’s the majority of us.
Leave a comment below: How can you tailor paid work to suit your personal needs?
By the Position Ignition Career Guides. Position Ignition is a modern day careers advisory firm for professionals offering help around careers, transition and personal & professional development.
W: www.positionignition.com
Blog: www.positionignition.com/blog
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