Suffering from dyslexia makes it a little harder to land your dream job because the condition will limit your options.
Dyslexics have difficulties with reading, extended use of numbers, learning new words, spelling, and carrying out sequential tasks.
While it has nothing to do with one’s intelligence, being dyslexic will not only narrow down your job options but can make things worse especially if the condition is severe.
That said, there are a few worst jobs for dyslexics you should avoid. Most of these jobs deal primarily with numbers, reading, writing, and spelling.
More: 15 High-Paying Jobs for Dyslexics (2022)
Worst Jobs for People With Dyslexia
Although being dyslexic does not automatically disqualify you from getting your dream job, severe conditions make it almost impossible to succeed in any of the jobs we will highlight below. Here are a few worst jobs for dyslexics you should avoid.
1. Data entry
Data entry clerks transfer data from paper formats into database systems or computer files. The tasks can be done manually or with the use of scanners.
It involves typing in customers’ information, creating spreadsheets, and doing verification to make sure the data is accurately captured during the transfer.
Data entry is one of the worst jobs for people with dyslexia as it involves a lot of reading, writing, typing, and numbers.
The job also requires someone with fast typing skills, which becomes a problem because having someone with dyslexia transfer data that fast yet struggles with numbers, spelling, and reading will be the perfect recipe for multiple errors.
2. Proofreading
Proofreading is not a good job for people with dyslexia. A typical proofreader is tasked with identifying spelling, grammar, punctuation, typographical, and data & image attribution errors in a piece of text.
The job requires someone with good knowledge of the language, grammar, and spelling, which makes it unsuitable for dyslexics.
It should be considered that some proofreading tasks involve pieces of text with hundreds of thousands of words, graphical representations, and statistics.
3. Bookkeeping
Bookkeeping is among the worst jobs for dyslexics as it involves heavy use of numbers and statistics. The financial data has to be accurately captured because they play an integral role in the operations, investments, and financial decisions of a company.
In summary, a bookkeeper does four main tasks: analyzing financial transactions and assigning them to specific accounts, writing entries that credit and debit the appropriate accounts, posting entries to ledger accounts, and making entry adjustments at the end of each accounting period.
As you can see, this job involves a lot of numerical data, and since people will dyslexia struggle with numbers, it might not be a good idea for a dyslexic to pursue this career.
4. Cashier
Cashiers handle cash and transaction registers for companies, retail stores, malls, restaurants, and even banks. They handle monetary transactions over the counter, which involves calculations and drafting transactions.
Sadly, most dyslexics have visual sequential memory deficits. Visual sequential memory is the ability to remember listed items in the correct sequence. Cashiers are often required to organize money in specific sequences. This, coupled with the responsibility of maintaining large sets of data and registers can be overwhelming for dyslexic people.
In some cases, information is passed to cashiers in writing, and are required to act on it as quickly as possible to effect a transaction. This can also be a challenge for people with dyslexia because it can easily lead to financial errors resulting in losses.
5. Serial number stamper
Most manufacturing companies have employees whose sole task is to add serial numbers on the products manufactured before they are ready to be shipped out. The serial numbers act as product identifiers and should be unique.
Unfortunately, this job is not ideal for people with dyslexia. They are prone to making mistakes, which in turn cause problems at the shipping department with several parts or components being misidentified as a result of wrong serial numbers being assigned.
Although there are stamping machines to add serial numbers, you still need professional experts to ensure the right serial number is stamped on the components.
6. Bank teller
Bank tellers handle financial transactions for customers in a bank or financial institution. They process cash withdrawals, accept cash and check deposits, validate deposit slips, and perform other financial tasks such as foreign currency exchanges.
All these tasks can be overwhelming and require people with strong memorization skills and the ability to undertake sequential tasks, which can be a challenge for dyslexics.
As a bank teller, accuracy and precision are paramount, or else you will be making grave financial errors that can result in huge losses for the bank.
You should also have great math skills and be good with numbers, which explains why being a bank teller is one of the worst jobs for dyslexics.
7. Librarian
Being a librarian is not an ideal job for people with learning and language difficulties. It requires meticulous execution to ensure every single book or entry is in its right place.
Dyslexics struggle with slow learning and take them more time to learn and/or master new skills. If the library is big enough, it means one has to deal with hundreds of shelves when organizing books.
Dyslexics also make consistent reading and spelling errors such as letter reversals (d for b), word reversals (tip for pit), and inversions (m and w for u and n respectively). This becomes a challenge when working as a librarian.
You should also keep in mind that librarians can work in many other areas and not just in school or college libraries. The more demanding and tasking the tasks are, the more overwhelmed someone with dyslexia will be.
8. Accountant
Accountants work in the finance department and are responsible for making records of various business transactions and financial reports at the end of each accounting year. It involves extensive use of numbers, statistics, and percentages, which is definitely a challenge for people with dyslexia.
While dyslexics thrive in flexible work environments that give them the room to be creative and imaginative, the same cannot be accorded to you if you become an accountant. Accounting tasks are not individualized and involve working with other employees in multiple departments.
Although accounting is one of the best-paying jobs for business majors, it can be included among the worst jobs for dyslexics due to the sheer number of math and numbers involved on a day-to-day basis.
FAQs about jobs for dyslexics
Let’s now have a look at a few frequently asked questions about jobs for people with dyslexia.
a). What jobs can a dyslexic person not do?
Jobs people with dyslexia cannot do include data entry, proofreading, bookkeeping, accounting, cashier, bank teller, and librarian. Most of these jobs are characterized by heavy use of numbers, spelling, reading, and attention to detail.
b). Does dyslexia affect job opportunities?
Yes, dyslexia, be it mild or severe, affects job opportunities. People with dyslexia struggle doing jobs that deal extensively with numbers, reading, spelling, and attention to detail.
Final thoughts
We have highlighted just a few of the worst jobs for dyslexics. It’s important to note that people with dyslexia can still manage to do some of these jobs especially if the condition is mild. Severe cases make it impossible to do these jobs. In case you’re not sure about the signs of dyslexia, here is a simple guide for you.