Good jobs for an unreliable person...?

[Pegs11]

Hi, I have a long-term health condition that means I am too sick to work. However, I would like to go back to work when I’m (hopefully) feeling a bit better... I do feel I am making some progress here with new treatment... so far so good... well, it’s sort of two steps forward, one step back... but I’m keeping everything crossed that I’ll continue making progress.

But, if I’m being honest, the nature of my health condition means I am probably ALWAYS going to be somewhat unreliable... I never know how I’m going to feel on any given day, and both my energy levels and mental capacity can fluctuate a lot. I am unlikely to ever make a complete recovery in this regard.

I wouldn’t be able to handle a job with lots of pressure... it would need to be something where I don’t have a huge amount of responsibility, lots of deadlines etc, as I wouldn’t be able to cope with this.

Are there ANY jobs that would be good for a person such as myself?

What is the market like at the moment for home-based positions? Honestly something like data entry or document uploading would be perfect for me (but I suspect most of that work is outsourced abroad now...)

Just trying to get some ideas and maybe give myself a bit of hope that I might be employable in the future!

(My background is in journalism/publishing/editing but I doubt I would be able to do something so high-pressure now.)

Thank you

Freelance article writing on Upwork and similar platforms.

Could you do proof reading or cv writing?

I think actual employment May be unrealistic at this stage. I say this with health issues myself that differ from one day to the next so I know where you're coming from.
You know yourself that employers need the people they're paying to be in at a certain time and maintain attendance.
Have you thought about selling on eBay, getting paid for online surveys, Hermes delivery etc. Anything self employed would probably suit you until your health is a bit more predictable.

I'll be honest and say that as an employer of a small business I'd find it really difficult to employ someone who was frequently unreliable. Finding cover at short notice is almost impossible when you haven't got a big pool of staff and if you've taken steps to employ people, it's because you need the work doing. Also the costs - employers no longer get reimbursed for statutory sick pay by the government, so when an employee is off sick you effectively have to pay their SSP plus the wages of someone else to cover. Which quite sadly, is not sustainable.
I have every sympathy for your situation and admire your drive to get back to the workplace. Do you have a support worker? Maybe they can advise based on their knowledge of others' experiences. May be a big employer would be better (more cover, less relative cost to cover sick pay, in house occupation services etc.) or on the other hand they usually have quite strict and inflexible sick policies.

IAre you physically able to do something like gardening or window washing?

@Redtartanshoes

Could you do proof reading or cv writing?

Proofreading would be the IDEAL job for me. Sadly I think most of this work is outsourced abroad now. I have never been able to find any steady proofreading jobs when I’ve looked.

@NotNowPlzz

Freelance article writing on Upwork and similar platforms.

Freelance work isn’t guaranteed enough, sadly. It tends to be feast or famine.

Ideally I’d find something where I can work from home and choose my own hours. If there was 50 hours worth of work that needed doing each month, I could almost certainly get it done. I just couldn’t reliably commit to specific hours/days... If I’m feeling unwell Wednesday morning but better in the evening, I’d do the work then. If that makes sense.

@Frogartist

IAre you physically able to do something like gardening or window washing?

Not reliably, no.

@Twistered

I think actual employment May be unrealistic at this stage. I say this with health issues myself that differ from one day to the next so I know where you're coming from. You know yourself that employers need the people they're paying to be in at a certain time and maintain attendance. Have you thought about selling on eBay, getting paid for online surveys, Hermes delivery etc. Anything self employed would probably suit you until your health is a bit more predictable.

I need a steady income...

I can defo do a certain number of hours each month, just can’t commit to exactly what hours the work will get done!

I don’t realistically think you can expect to be employed as a staff member while not being able to commit to a set number of hours at a set time. Anything else, you would have to be freelance. I work at home for a company in an editorial field, but it’s demanding and can be stressful. You can’t pick your hours either, because deadlines are very tight.

@stuckinarutatwork thank you for your honesty. I appreciate that it will be tough trying to find a job with my limitations because employers need reliable staff.

A steady but super-flexible-on-hours job would suit me. If I’m not well enough to work on Monday because I’m feeling too ill, I can make up the hours on Friday when I’m feeling better. That sort of thing.

Are there any jobs like that? Like, an employer whose attitude is “as long as the work gets done, you can do it when it suits you?”

I think you are looking for a golden egg to be honest. There are lots of people who would like this type of work (Mums especially!) but you rarely see anything advertised. Jobs like data entry or typing just don't exist these days.

I have seen a few jobs recently that are low hours (about 15 per week) where there is flexibility (i.e. minimum of 3 days). It might be a better approach to start low and slow rather than try and cram 40 hours in.

Are you asking for 50 hours a month? Because that’s not much at all, and makes it harder. Have you looked at PA-type jobs? I know someone who does it overseas and the time difference really helps, as the job can be done effectively overnight. But they’re self-employed. In my field, there’s consistent freelance work and you can pick your hours, but it’s unreliable.

I think the problem is work is often flexible to a point - I can work basically whatever hours I chose but sometimes something urgent will come up and I need to be able to deliver. I'd be concerned that you wouldn't be able to do that, as an employer I'd be concerned that I wouldn't be able to ask you to complete anything due to your health. I'm not sure any work is so unimportant it doesn't matter when it gets done.
We also employ people very flexibly - they let us know their availability for the week and agree to do a piece of work for a client but that would have to be done within an agreed timescale - the challenge is that you couldn't guarantee delivery, we'd find that too risky.

Uber driver?

My friend now manages to do this getting freelance contracts in her specialist area. It is feast or famine, but her partners income is more reliable. But she already had the skills and contacts.

I think there are jobs that could be done more flexibly, but most workplaces aren't set up to work that way. Employers want the certainty of being able to control when work is done.

Have you considered temp work eg hospital admin, or education enrolment/exams. I know companies are crying out for a flexible workforce. If you prove yourself, this could open the doors to better work.

Thank you all for the input, it sounds like I’m probably not suited to a permanent job just yet...

I employ someone on exactly this basis (and who is in a very similar position with a fluctuating level of ability to work), but it's home-work doing repetitive tasks and paid piece rate, so probably not the sort of thing you're looking for (imagine envelope stuffing type of thing).

Piece rate work with a monthly (and often flexible) quota isn't that unusual I think.

Also, going back a few years, but I've done telephone survey work from home, again paid piece rate & with a quota to achieve over a certain timescale. I don't know if that's still a thing.

@Sadik Envelope stuffing would be just fine for me! I don’t mind repetitive tasks, I find it quite meditative. And paid piece work is fine as I’m sure I could fulfil a monthly quota, provided the hours are totally flexible. Can you advise me, where should I be looking for this type of work?

Maybe approach a “disability confident” employer?

Can you type fast? There are companies where you can log in and pick up audio typing tasks, paid on a per line basis but with no minimum commitment required. I've no direct experience, but a google of online transcription jobs comes up with a few results. Might be worth investigating?

We've always recruited just through word of mouth. We're in a very rural area where that's the norm, but I think generally its true that small businesses tend to recruit that way anyways.

I suspect more generally that if you could find the right small business they might very well value someone with communication skills/a good work ethic / inclination to stay long term and be flexible around your needs. Maybe just ask around everyone you know / email any local businesses asking if they have any work that might suit. You never know!

@rubbishatballet

Can you type fast? There are companies where you can log in and pick up audio typing tasks, paid on a per line basis but with no minimum commitment required. I've no direct experience, but a google of online transcription jobs comes up with a few results. Might be worth investigating?

I can type reasonably fast, but not as fast as someone whose been doing secretarial work for years... I will investigate... thank you

@Sadik

We've always recruited just through word of mouth. We're in a very rural area where that's the norm, but I think generally its true that small businesses tend to recruit that way anyways.

I suspect more generally that if you could find the right small business they might very well value someone with communication skills/a good work ethic / inclination to stay long term and be flexible around your needs. Maybe just ask around everyone you know / email any local businesses asking if they have any work that might suit. You never know!

That’s a good idea, it certainly can’t hurt 😊