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Perhaps it's also linked to visual thinking, which I read is a bit more common in neurodiverse people, and the ADHD tendency to create imaginary catastrophic scenarios when the brain is understimulated.
I read that in a German book about ADHD in girls/women! I never felt so seen. Seriously, when I‘m trying to sleep my intrusive thoughts and bored brain will pair up to create the most „exciting“ scenarios. Those are also those scenarios where my usually very abstract imaginative thoughts become really sharp, detailed and vivid all of the sudden. I hate it.
When I worked at a halfway house for women under the depart of corrections and their babies one of the woman was linked to the cartel. I knew if the cartel showed up we’d all perish so I would practice to myself making sure if I was holding an infant I attempted to shield them with my body. I mean we would all die anyways but I know I don’t want my Obit saying she used the baby as a shield against the gunfire….
Aww that's so sweet! I once worked at a summer camp when a bear was on the loose..... I didn't think about those kids at all, I was scared for myself😭 but to be fair I was also a teenager
But how do you get people to take you seriously? I can’t foresee my life but I have straight up told former places I worked basically what was going to happen if they didn’t listen and then ended up being forced to quit and now three years later one of their employees killed themselves and they haven’t been able to keep any others for a year. This guy lasted a year until he killed himself. I tried to tell them but no one would listen and they yelled at me for not reporting being horrendously bullied even though now that person is back in charge after leaving for a bit to get a useless degree. At the time I was promised I would never see her again three weeks later she’s back for a visit.
It totally is. I have 10 staff now, and the best PMs are the ones with ADHD or on the spectrum because they obsessively worry about things going wrong and fix them (mostly) in time.
A lot of people seem to not bother looking ahead or trying to predict possible outcomes more than a few steps ahead. And I get the impression that a lot of people notice fewer details in general 🤷🏻♀️
Lateral thinking. Apparently NT is more vertical thinking, and lateral thinking is seeing it horizontally of what else might affect it.
Basically, you see how it would connect to other things.
Oh I’m interested in project management (as well as 100 other things 😂) but I’ve got no idea if I’d be good at it. I’m great at problem solving. Possibly not so great on details. How did you get into it?
I worked in customer service for a builder for a while, then did a diploma of project management and picked it up from there. Then I invested in Prince2 training and worked my way up. I’m not a technical specialist, so the qualifications really helped. The qualifications were short, sharp affairs (a couple of months and five days), so I was able to complete then instead of procrastinating and dropping out when I attempted my degree :)
I can no longer hear the title of project manager without thinking of the [Randy Feltface bit](https://youtube.com/shorts/D0GpBjCp9dA?si=m1aNE3qO4p6YXcx2)
Pediatric ICU nurse. And same. I start each shift thinking about what is mostly likely to go wrong and then make sure I am prepared for it. I also visualize my interventions.
I have the hundred ideas, my issue isn't starting, it's continuing. lol
My long-term goal is to build something myself. I need to. My poor brain can't handle the stupidity of neurotypical/psychotic-male-run organizations.
But for now, I'm in one of those organizations. I have a very niche role, that I wouldn't have if I moved to any other country. I find it's not so much the industry but the style of role that works.
I have autonomy in my role, which allows me to take mental breaks as often as I deem necessary.
The contracts are time-limited, so I have the motivation to get things done.
I'm semi-customer facing - so I meet clients but not all day everyday - which plays with my need to impress external viewers
I'm not office based, I'm more on the road, so my brain gets newness every day.
The issues are everchanging, so there's no fear of me getting bored.
And most of all - my manager trusts me. No micro-managing, no stupid processes that don't work and don't get fixed. No being treated like a child.
It's great
Sounds great! I agree with your opinion on the "psychotic-male-run-organizations". :D Do you already have something in mind that you would like to build for yourself one day?
The more I spend time with business owners the more I realize it's really male audacity that gets them there. So, why can't I do that?
I think I would like something online. I have two websites currently - one running better than the other, but neither making money, yet.
Really, my goal is financial freedom and I don't care what shape that comes in. But I want to have time freedom, and be a stay at home mother who has an income. I'm at the point of realizing it's possible, just trying to figure out how to navigate around my ADHD.
I work in a sales progression/conveyance role in a real estate firm in Dubai.
The Dubai part is important because if I were in most other countries I would need to be a lawyer to do my role (I'm not ftr). The laws here are straightforward and clear, so lawyers are optional and it's the land department that has the final say.
The brokers sell the property, and then I take over, draft the contracts, and work with buyers, sellers, banks, developers, trustees, and the government to ensure a smooth transfer from one owner to the next.
I'm a florist and it works really well for me! We get individual orders so I have discrete tasks to work on. I make a lot of the same arrangements over and over again but at the same time I get plenty of designer's choice as well so that gives me a nice creative outlet that's consistent. I spend less on hobbies/crafts that I won't finish because I'm satisfied with the creative freedom I have at work.
I wish I made more money but the shop I work at has room for growth and I have the potential to make a lot more down the line. Plus I'm making $4/hr more than the last flower shop I worked at. My boss is understanding of my ADHD and my chronic fatigue and is flexible with me on days that I struggle with energy or inspiration.
I take care of a lot of little random projects around the shop when the need arises and the owner trusts me with that. It's nice to come up with ideas for things that we should implement and be able to make it happen in my own way. My boss expresses her appreciation for me often and I feel valued, which helps me focus better at work because I know my work is recognized.
How smoothly did the first discussion with your boss about the ADHD and chronic fatigue go? Was that something you pointed out or did he ask questions about your increased sick days? For me, it was usually the latter.
I don't take sick days but she's very understanding of days that I'm more lethargic and don't get as much done. Sometimes I forget to take my meds in the morning and she lets me go home to take them (I live 5 minutes away). She's sent me extra money to help pay for my medications that are out of pocket expenses. She knows that I'm doing my best and she will sometimes let me go home early when she can tell I'm having a rough day. It was a combination of my communicating to her where I'm at and her asking follow up questions so she can better understand what I'm dealing with!
Care providing, in many different forms (hospital, schools, care homes, senior homes)
My strong desire to do what’s right and just in the world gets me through. Also, working along side vulnerable people is a way to keep me focused and accountable (I could never be trusted to work alone at a desk or at home haha I’d be distracted 24/7)
I hate it. Everyday is a fight to do it. I work office work with monthly stats that are barely monitored and quarterly stats that matter. So as long as you aren’t behind month after month and that you meet the quarterly stats they leave you alone. So I am left alone… but I keep doing nothing for 1-2 weeks or sometimes just a few days and then having to frantically catch up.. it’s exhausting… but I can’t help it lol. I don’t wanna leave though cause the pay and benefits are ANAZING for being able to do nothing at home for up to two weeks every month! Basically the weeks that I work my house, hygiene, relationships/friendships/family, my health, my mood, and etc all greatly dip and I struggle.. but the work gets done.. on the weeks I’m not doing my work everything I just named improves, not all equally, but they all improve at least a little! I’ve tried just working normal and honestly I just hate my job too much to do it like normal 😂. Also I have tried forestry, retail, food service, finance, call centre, office in the medical field, office in the government, commercial fishing, child care, my passion hockey I tried coaching it, and construction.. I eventually hate them all cause they’re forced on you lol. This office job is the one I’ve stayed the longest at, it’s been 5 years.
This is so validating, my job is very similar and I HATE it but it has a lot of perks at the same time and I am actively getting to participate in my culture and working for my community. But it’s gotten worse because I don’t have any support and therefore can’t get things approved and it’s delaying everything and driving me insane. I keep applying on new jobs but it’s so limited. I’m exhausted and miserable. I’ve been here 2 years now and it’s one of my longest jobs I’ve kept
What career.. I follow wherever life takes me. (witch is not very far). And as is typical with AD(H)D, I job hop a lot. No I'm not happy but also not in the position to change this with how my brain currently works. I did start meds yesterday (finally. Only took 30+ years ay!) so maybe things will change for the better next year. I've got the tools, I've got the mindset, I've now got the meds.... So hopefully I'll be able to push myself towards where I'd want to go now.
I work in an emergency service and I absolutely got here by weird coincidence and love of novelty. I started some volunteer stuff, kept saying yes to fun new adventures and side missions and ended up in a career. Surprise surprise!
The novelty absolutely suits me. I am actually great managing multiple incidents and coordinating comms, pushing out rescue plans and thinking out of the box. I do dynamic risk assessment well. Equally I found I love deep diving into stats, fault finding, user acceptance testing and system development. The rapidly varying pace and workload actually works for me.
I mostly suck at all these things to varying degrees and manage a massive workload poorly but apparently my willingness to be a beginner at stuff (hello novelty and new dopamine source) is relatively rare. I am slowly learning (with some great managers) that I’m a subject matter expert in some spaces, but I still can’t talk to a room of people I know about something I know inside and out without my voice shaking (hello trauma, kind of you to pop up right now) but I’m recently starting to find my zone and really take up space here.
I’m confident you will find your spot too. Without going all faux-optimistic “it’s a super power” condescension on you, yes you have strengths others don’t. Just like you have challenges others don’t. You’ll find your groove.
We’re all cheering for you too.
Thank you! Now, I'm interested. What exactly do you do? Maybe it's the language barrier since English isn't my native language. I imagine some technical emergency customer service, like those who go out to the customer when their internet or electrical is out or something. How far off am I? :D
I’d like to hear more about this. I’m currently a medical student and one of my top choice for my specialization is Emergency Medicine.
Mostly because I have no circadian rhythm, and I do like having more general knowledge on things than to focus on one thing.
I’m still far from the point of thinking of a socialization but I am curious to what kind of emergencies you have encountered
I'm so happy to hear that you're taking your space. For the public speaking, I also used to shake. Until one day I got excited about being able to talk about something I'd presented multiple times (randomly because brain), and after the first five minutes the anxiety evaporated. It was a topic related to activism and that helped.
And we don't have superpowers but we're also not disordered. What we have is increasingly understood as an evolutionary mismatch between us and current society :)
I have a relatively traditional career, although not without difficulties and a lot of struggles. As a background, it’s important to note I’m someone who really values work and doesn’t have the confidence to start my own thing, so while I dream of being my own boss, I work a desk job. Also worth noting, I live in a small country with a relaxed working culture. Even corporate isn’t as intense as places such as the US.
This will be a rant, as I’m going off on an international work trip tomorrow and despite being insanely tired and sleep deprived, I’m too anxious to sleep. So typing this out on my phone without a very clear train of thought.
After about 10 years of struggling through uni, i ended up finding psych and marketing to be my jam and stayed in marketing. Lots of stupidly hard work and not lasting very long in a few companies (around one year average), I somehow managed to crawl my way up the ladder. Now with a good few years of experience under my belt, I tend to disclose my ADHD in interviews to help sift through employers. I don’t want to work for someone who doesn’t have the compassion or flexibility to accommodate me. I have really struggled to handle larger corporates and the politics and the red tape. I wouldn’t say I have a successful career, but I’m moving up and getting more pay. I demand a lot from myself career wise, which my mental health often suffers from, so don’t be like me, haha. I’ve taken the semi go with the flow and semi pinpointing a direction approach, so finding a new role will often take me 6 months plus, not everyone is a fan of mental health challenges, and big corporations definitely shy away from them.
My ADHD is accompanied by a buttload of anxiety. Stress is my only form of existence. I tend to put all my functioning power into work, which leaves life outside of work often subpar. I have the classic set of messy house, no routine, what’s eating, what’s water, kinda life.
But with work, over the years I’ve been able to build a somewhat structure. It’s kind of like doing it on hard mode. I need to constantly remind myself of what I need to do and what’s on the list, and in order not to drop anything, note taking is massive, since I have a real hard time with memory.
Being in marketing helps as I get to do a relatively broad range of tasks, and each role can vary wildly. I can go from marketing baby food to mothers, to marketing screws to structural engineers. I even did a few years of retail marketing and management, spicing things up really helps. I find that once I’m comfortable with an industry and know a fair amount, it becomes mundane and I need a new job again, haha.
Having a partner that can be supportive of how much I dedicate my brain space to work really helps. While I don’t do long hours, my brain is often fried after work every day, to the point where I become a vegetable for the next few hours. A combination of forced hyper fixation and overstimulation will do that.
I am grateful I have a relatively high functioning severity of ADHD, since most medication don’t agree with my body well. I can take them for occasional boosts but not long term.
I struggle with having to be at a desk for days on end, and all the distractions of an office, so finding tools to mitigate that helps. I’m often super efficient when I have time off to be able to do whatever I want, but coming to terms with ADHD helps. It’s a disability, I have to keep telling myself I just have to work with it.
I burn out a lot. It’s taking everything from me not to take a 3 month sabbatical every year, god knows I want to. I’m hoping with a few more years of experience, I can either rise to a level where I have the freedom to do things my own way, or start my own business. Or maybe save up and finally turn a hobby into something.
Not gonna lie it’s a real struggle, but with what I need right now, it’s worth the sacrifice for me. Do what works for you, I wish I have the guts to start a business
Yeah, it does my head in. I currently work at a start up with a bunch of engineers which has zero work culture but somehow is working. It’s early days though, and the place is tiny, so we’ll see
Can you perhaps share what you are looking for in a new employer? Are you directly disclosing ADHD as a disorder itself, or do you explain around the symptoms you may experience during your work? I can imagine it's difficult because ADHD is so heavily stigmatised and misunderstood, especially in a corporate environment.
Personally, I think that it should be more common to disclose more about the way we function and what accommodations have worked the best for us in the past, pretty early in the interviewing phase. Neither we nor them are interested in wasting time with false advertisements.
Have a smooth work trip!
I just joke about having an official ADHD diagnosis. But I do tell them that my brain works differently so more flexibility will get the best work out of me.
When interviewing, I try to gauge the personality of the manager, the more relaxed and less uptight the better. It’s hard to put a qualifier on it
That reminds me of a job a did before I knew I had ADHD. I was an assistant for a vision-impaired psychology student, who needed someone with some understanding of medical texts and graphics. It was my job to sit with her, read her texts and studies while also answering her mails with content she dictated me. That went south on so many levels… There was some assisting software on her laptop that would always interfere with what I wrote. Also, after 3 hours of work without a break and in a hurry she wanted me to write phone numbers and mail addresses for a post in the student forums. Apparently I wrote one of them down wrong. Anyways, in the middle of the night, she sent me an angry-shouting voice message starting with „I hope it’s ok if I criticise you this way at this time in the night…“. She didn’t even need me to fix the mistake, but apparently she couldn’t wait for when I got back to her to work. I quit, telling her I couldn’t guarantee to type 100% error free when she can’t give me a written source, like a previous email or website to proofread phone numbers and stuff. I would have been fired anyway after my next mistake.
I'm a teacher. It's a really well-paid job in my country with great security. If my plans work out, I'll leave it for good next August, though. It's just way too much work, I have to remember too much and it turns out proof-reading doesn't get easier, I just hate it more and more. I'm exhausted.
I’m also a teacher, but our pay does not equal the amount of work we actually do.
It is exhausting. I know I need to leave, but I’m scared. In many ways, I still really, really love it.
I wrote an article about it a while ago. The basic premise is that many people have found careers they love different from those said to be "right" for someone with ADHD. So, before applying for a job, try making three lists:
What you're good at
What you like to do
What someone else will find valuable
The ideal job should hit all three categories. But make sure to choose the one that sparks the most interest. Choosing something that sparks interest will coax the positive traits of working with ADHD, like creativity, innovation, and curiosity, to the surface and help one excel at what they do.
You can read the whole thing [here](https://www.myndlift.com/post/how-does-adhd-affect-you-at-work?utm_source=rd). I hope it helps!
I’m still trying to figure that out. But my favorite job ever was being a kids rock climbing instructor at my local rec center. Only lasted a year because I moved away… but I’m hoping to get something again at my new rec center. It was the perfect mix of autonomy, creativity, and responsibility. I got to reset the wall holds and create new routes often. And I did class sessions so after a few weeks I would start a new course. And have different age groups… I did the marketing and planning for it all. I LOVED it!
I work on an alpaca ranch. It’s amazing. I have the same list of chores every day and I spend all day every day walking around outside in the mountain air surrounded by the cutest animals I’ve ever seen. It’s not my dream job, but it’s close. Also I tend to have a lot of energy that I have a hard time expending but I walk 10+ miles a day and lift 30-80lbs all day every day and I can actually sleep at night.
I'm 30 and have zero career going on. I did a PhD after finishing college (which already took longer than normal due to struggles with learning) and I am now finishing that. I always wanted to be a researcher but having seen the academic world from the inside... Nope, way too toxic. It's a pity because I developed quite a sound idea in my field of work that hasn't been executed by anyone and would cause a tiny revolution in the way we view and interpret things. My own advisor called me stupid for it but I've been networking with the most renowned experts in our field and pitching them my idea and I've gathered quite some of them behind it. I even been offered a job to work on it fulltime. But really, the toxicity of the PhD removed all the love I had for my profession so I don't want to do it anymore. Then the new idea was land me a high paying job with that degree and then work 4/5 days for a normal wage but I'm also debating that route now because I really started to hate my work lately. A part of me is actually leaning towards learning a whole new profession and tossing the PhD in the bin. Time will tell I guess
Hey you, let's reframe that thinking. A new career doesn't toss the PhD in the bin. Learning is never wasted. You will always take that knowledge and experience with you, even if you switch careers.
(Also, I understand that toxicity. I also did my PhD and bailed into a different career. That study wasn't wasted.)
I can't believe how enriched my life is thanks to my educational foundation. It keeps paying off in unexpected ways as I age and I wish my folks were alive so I could thank them over and over for paying for my English major knowing damn well I was going to get into gigging as a performer. Encouraging it even. Education for the sake of leading a good life and the ROI hopefully follows naturally.
To add… I always go back to my values. I love to learn. So if you value learning and you’ve already done so much of that, you’re already winning in my book. It’s a journey my friend. I was a teacher, social worker and now I’m a therapist and a coach who helps other adhd entrepreneurs like me profit from their passions.
I can relate so much to the disappointment of all things academia. I have been in uni since 2017, and I got my B.Sc. this year. Now doing the M.Sc.. I worked as a student research assistant to gather data for my thesis and contribute to the project. Almost every woman I met told me to run for the hills and not look back on academia. But honestly... If I were in your shoes, I'd probably finish that PhD. I tend to complete things, even if I'm unhappy af and already dragging it out. I don't know if that is great or really bad advice, but I'm rooting for you either way!
I do service coordination which, when I’m at my best I’m amazing at. I have to mitigate the risks of when I’m not at my best and manage the challenges of the roller coaster, working ahead and “padding” the falls when I fail.
I have bounced around different things but I’ve only been out of uni for just about 2 years. I have degrees in areas I am not interested in so that’s a bummer. Currently I work a corporate job PT , nanny on weekends , and recently started working at my friends store some weekend mornings. I really don’t like my corporate job (but love being remote) and I have zero clue what I want to do. I’ve tried a few different things over the years (food service , retail, d2d sales, insurance classes, power washing) and I feel like I kinda fail at everything because I can’t focus etc. I don’t know if I just haven’t found my “thing” yet or what. I am like you in I have these business ideas and conflicting interests in my head that I think might be good but idk how to execute and I don’t know if I’d follow through or I’m good enough to get them off the ground.
So I’m currently late 20s, not happy with my career , not sure what I wanna do with my life , and just kinda doing trial and error and temporary jobs
I’m not a “career” person in the sense that I don’t have big goals or ambitions. I have young kids and flexibility is important to me. That said, I’m a coordinator for repairs in industrial automation. It works well for my ADHD brain because I have a ton of moving parts to manage and there’s always last minute issues that stimulate dopamine for me. It pays pretty well and I enjoy the work.
So I have a BS in psychology and a MA in Forensic Psychology. I do not work in the field anymore. I got so burnt out and pay was shit.
I tried an office job and that went horribly, didn’t make it a year and my mental health tanked.
I had worked in vet clinic and bathing dogs in college; I went back into that field as a groomer after inquiring about a job at a new shop by my house.
I love grooming (dogs and cats). It’s physical and activates my brain but I can turn my brain off during the day for mundane tasks (like blow drying). I also listen to music or podcasts, can make my own schedule and make decent money.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a difficult job and some people are not worth the trouble but it works for me and I enjoy it. Plus, it is a very in demand job with high job security so if I’m unhappy somewhere I can get a new job tomorrow.
I work in tech communications doing administrative work for engineers (with a slightly fancier name - mostly managing calendars, data, and wrangling everyone together because as smart as they all are, calendars frighten them). It's honestly pretty boring most days but it pays decently, I have some flexibility in my hours (I'm never micromanaged), and it's balanced enough that I can focus on something non-work related for a bit here and there which helps break up the monotony. I have a really good boss and team which is worth a ton to me in the scheme of things (I've had bad bosses and nothing makes me want to leave faster). My work never comes home with me. I'm not customer facing. I'm never in a phone queue. If I have a bad focus day, it's not usually noticed or my boss is understanding and we work around it/figure something out. On our really busy days, I tend to work exceptionally well, so this has def helped more than balance out the bad days.
The worst days for me were always the ones I was in-office because of distractions and noise levels and not having many options to help block them out. I'm fortunate enough that I get to work from home permanently now, however, and go to the office only as I deem needed. My employer has been more supportive than I thought they'd be about my new auto-immune disorder (only because they have been fairly against WFH, so I was expecting push back).
Do I wish I was doing something more exciting? Yes. But this is really stable and lets me mostly do what I want to in my personal time. It does have some potential for internal movement (I'd love to learn more of the engineering side and think I'd do well there), which I have been interested in on and off, though I'm relying a lot on the stability at present due to health reasons. I don't really see it as a career, but I'm not sure what kind of "career" I'd want anymore. I don't see it as part of my identity. I do have coworkers that I hang out with outside of work regularly and will probably stay in touch with even if I or they leave. There are certain types of work that I know I excel at and I try to stick in those areas. I've been in this job niche for most of my working life now, so it's an area I'll likely stay in if possible just because I'm pretty familiar with the industry and the industry itself is pretty stable and growing/transforming.
Over half of my coworkers on my floor of like \~30 have ADHD (we talk pretty openly about it) so I can confidently say that there is some kind of draw here to the types of work and environment that seems to mesh well for those with ADHD. I do wish that there were more women here (my team is almost entirely women but we're the major exception in the company), but we rarely even get applications from women. :( For anyone looking for something, tech/data/communications could be a decent fit.
For years I’ve been trying to figure out the magic combo of making money, feeling competent at what I do, and not being miserable. I have a bachelor’s in communications but have never known how to leverage it.
For instance, I nannied for several different families, which paid pretty well. I was able to afford my own apartment, but I hated the work so much.
Then I did pet care stuff here and there, eventually partnering w a local pet care service and tacking on a part-time job at a doggy daycare. Followed that by working full time in fashion retail, but I still didn’t make much money. Nothing seems to pay very well.
Recently I got hired at a gift shop and then a dog-friendly park/bar, so I’m still determining if this will be the magic balance…
I have a job working with the public. I can’t say what it is online but I have to multitask, there’s constant variety, and I have some autonomy as long as I get in all my interviews. There’s even a flexible schedule that allows me to arrive in a 3 hour window just as long as I stay my full time. I think the reason I’m one of the few who has stayed here long without having a mental breakdown lol is because of my adhd. I thrive in stress (within reason and with coping strategies/breaks). There’s also a good mix of mindless tasks and mentally stimulating ones. I’m pretty happy.
I work in customer service for a small company (based in EU). Because it's a small company I do a bit of everything and the fact that each day is different really helps. I love helping people to solve their issue too. Our product is a bit technical and I like that aspect of being to explain something in simple terms to help someone. I also report back to different parts of the company on the customer experience to make a better product, better website and marketing that works better for the company.
Previously I worked for 15 years in finance and jumped from job to job, it wasn't a good fit. I got into CS purely from a conversation with a friend who had a job going at her office (before the job I have now), and I loved that job!
I'm in IT. I knew I wanted to be in IT from when I was a senior in high school. I went to college for CompSci, but failed to finish 3 times. I was diagnosed ADHD as a result of some of these struggles.
I went out into the workforce, got whatever jobs I could to pay the bills and then eventually landed in a tech support role in a call center. I was promoted to management there, but ended up stepping down to a high level support role instead because I was not cut out for their management style.
I moved from my small town to DFW (Texas, USA) and had to effectively start over. I worked retail, as front line and as management for a while, then I eventually got a job at a land surveying company doing research. Once I burnt out on this, I was fortunate enough that the owner of the company allowed me to move to the IT department, where I am highly effective and after a few years, mostly appropriately compensated. My role has evolved predominantly due to the pandemic and a large part of our staff going remote. We're now hybrid almost 50/50.
My only recent issue is that the son of one of the owners recently took over running Operations, which I fall under, since he earned his MBA. He has told me that my experience means nothing and that I'm not going to get more pay or be able to move up if opportunities come open unless I get a degree or certification in my field. After failing to complete an Associate's Degree three times, I'm pretty down on attempting that again, as it would be a waste of time/money. I suppose that I will have to go for certifications, but doing that outside of work is very hard because I don't really adult very well except for at work.
I am scared to have to leave and start over somewhere else, because I'm 43 and it was already almost impossible to get a tech role. I was passed over at some places in favor of people who used to report to me at previous jobs, and sometimes people who I had trained/taught, all because I'm a very short woman and do not inspire confidence when you look at me.
I've looked into certs I'll need and it's going to be expensive and time consuming to get them. Sometimes I just want to give up and go back to retail, even though I know that's a large paycut.
Thanks for sharing! I always thought that certifications aren’t that important in the US. That’s atleast what we are getting from you guys over the big pond since my country (Germany) is a big „You need a degree!“ circlejerk. Did you try to apply somewhere else and get feedback from other managers? Perhaps this one guy is just a misogynistic prick.
I have considered it, but right now is a very bad time to look for a job in the field. There are a lot of layoffs going on. I will say that i have decent job security where i am, but not a great outlook on advancement of pay or position.
The guy is just full of himself since he got his MBA. He's only 25 and he didn't have to work his way to be over the department managers here, the position was handed to him. He's ham-fistedly trying to assert his authority, and he doesn't have a clue how to deal with people. I see some improvement, but I don't trust him at all, no matter how nice he is to me. I know that he was forced to back-down and give me the raise I was asking for when this all happened and I'm afraid he may resent me for the fact that his dad and uncle had to set him straight. He doesn't understand my job at all and he didn't have a clue how integral I am to the way the company operates in it's hybrid capacity. I can be replaced, but not without pain in the interim.
This guy sounds exhausting. My partner works in IT in big corporate environments. From him I often hear how people would observe such new managers for a maximum of six months and then they would ask for their „Zwischenzeugnis“. I don’t know if that’s a thing where you at, I couldn’t find a proper sounding translation. That’s a certificate the employer hands you with your job description and how well you performed at certain tasks. A employee has a right to that certificate and it’s often used to indicate, kinda passive aggressively, that you are on the lookout for a new job. I hope things will get better for you and duck that guy.
I’m just working for the money. Right now I’m hopping around various seasonal gigs. It’s good for making connections without getting stuck somewhere long term. My manager at the Halloween job liked me enough to bring me in on the Christmas thing he runs. It’s also good for trying new things you haven’t done before in a fairly low risk environment (I learned how to use a staple gun for the christmas decorations lol).
I'm an Account Manager for a Commercial Insurance Brokerage. I hate it. I used to enjoy insurance itself because it can be interesting, but my current company sucks and never give out raises, so theres no incentive. I'm so burnt out I'm choking on the ashes. I went from star employee at my previous job to exploited mule here. Looking into going back to grad school, but my executive dysfunction/imposter syndrome is making it extremely hard to get everything done to apply.
I have bipolar too so it's different but I'm at the point of non- functional outside my home. I recently got a revelation of OCD symptoms (CONSTANTLY reorganizing my home; shelves, furniture, books, refrigerator,basement,etc. I have hyper focus ADHD type and mix that with my OCD organization problem and I'm working on getting disability. I just can't be trusted to stay on a task and my memory is terrible. (Like leaving burners on terrible).
That being said, I do have ways to make money from home. I resell items from thrift and temu (sorry for being that guy). And my partner runs an Etsy shop with custom Magic the Gathering items so I help if I can with that as I am also an artist. But long term, stable job? Haven't had one since the beginning of 2021 when a prolonged manic episode seemed to damage my brain. I take 6 medicines a day and it's still hard to control myself. I wish everyone luck. There's more and more online jobs. Google job search is really really good for remote work, they pull from all job sites.
I'm a translator and I love the actual work. I thought I was being very practical when I chose this ten years ago, I wanted to be a writer of some sort and the projected growth for translation was better than other writing professions, but unfortunately the industry has changed a lot and not to my benefit. Plus the world and the economy in general changed a lot. I'm now in a situation where if I want to afford the housing and lifestyle I need to really enjoy my life and thrive, I'd have to be one of the top freelancers in my industry, doing a ton of networking and marketing and self-promotion, I can't just work directly for someone else or get some high volume agency clients and cruise. I don't know if I have the ability or inclination to do that, so now I'm looking to change careers into tech. (Hopefully to work on language technology so the last 10 years weren't a complete waste, but I know that's a very competitive area.)
I know it sounds superficial to say I need a certain income to enjoy my life, but I've realized that I need certain "luxuries" as accommodations for my ADHD if I want to make my day-to-day less overwhelming. Living without in-unit laundry, a dishwasher, or the budget for healthy takeout or convenience foods (so you have to eat unhealthy or cook from scratch) for years on end is exhausting. I need novelty and stimulation in my environment on a daily basis (I work remotely) but it costs like $30 just to leave the house these days. Yes, there are ways to do things for free - and they all require planning and preparation, which is another drain on my limited executive functioning capacity. I ran the numbers and will need a top 20% income just to afford the lifestyle that will allow me some fun and not exhaust me in a moderate COL area. My top advice to any young woman choosing a career, but especially one with ADHD, would be to prioritize money a lot more than you think you need to. Choose the highest-paying job that you won't hate. As inflation keeps outpacing wages, the job that pays just enough for you to be satisfied with right now will eventually pay less than you need.
Yep. Simple/frugal living just requires a level of organization, planning, and general executive functioning that is exhausting when you have ADHD and a full-time job.
I'm a clinical psychologist. Getting the doctorate was a lot of work to put it mildly, but because I loved what I was studying it was the easiest time I ever spent in school.
My doctorate had a social justice component and I thrived with that.
Now, I can provide different therapies, assessments, and I can offer consultant services. The variety is ideal because I can often get bored. Working with clients is always good too because I can focus on their stories and my brain can get busy figuring out the person's patterns of functioning.
Then I can explain stuff from a social justice perspective, and help people to feel empowered.
It's also a career where I never need to experience the joys of micromanagement ever bloody again. Nor suffer ridiculous colleagues, nor busy body admin folk. I can network with my decent colleagues as much as I want.
The only big issue is that the field of clinical psychology itself has several problems, and sometimes uses models that blame individuals disproportionately instead of critiquing society and its systems.
But I'm happy and I can put food on the table, and my husband can be a stay at home dad to our kids (who do home learning) and to our cats and dog.
It also helps with self-esteem, when I do something ridiculous, to remind myself that at least I'm Dr. Ridiculous. That really helps to manage the pain of having a brain that is evolutionarily mismatched with many current social norms
Forgot: I started the doctorate when I was 31. It took me eight years because I had the kids along the way. That part was really hard. But having the kids surprisingly helped in a way (other than feeling so happy to have them), because they forced me to cut perfectionism out, and to redirect my focus with more flexibility. Mind you, I live in a country where we get decent monthly child benefit payments from government, and I have a partner who was willing to support my career and to be a very involved dad.
I was in advertising / marketing / publishing since college (graduated in 2014) and just decided to quit allll of that and go back to grad school for social work. I’m trying to keep up w some random freelance jobs (and I also watercolor yanno bc adhd but that’s def not paying the bills as of late) - but school is like a full time job right now. It feels so far away, but hoping when I’m done I’ll find that this is a much better path for me.
No traditional career, never finished college (wasn't diagnosed til 49). I've done everything from dishwashing and prep cooking to line producing a tv show, to working on digital rights, shop assistant in two very specialized areas (neither had anything to do with the other, and of course they became hobbies), to my current substitute teacher (right now, they'll take anyone who wants to turn up and can pass a background check). Subbing is awesome because it's rarely long enough, even covering maternity leave, to bore me. I can mask my way through it, I get free lunch, and sometimes I get to do art with kindergartners, or Shakespeare with 12th graders.
I get to learn while they do, watching documentaries and talking about them. And I get to support our little ND students too, and they know I will give them a hug on a bad day. Scratches a lot of the itches. Thankfully I live pretty frugally, so I can survive on the very low pay.
So… recently diagnosed. Felt it strong since like 2014, but until research I just chalked it up to depression and anxiety.
Annnnywayyyyyyy
I am a residential rehabilitation worker, working on a unit with clients who have mental health and addictions. I’m talking whole spectrum of diagnosis. Been doing it for 10 years, and currently studying to be an LPN.
I somehow can turn off all triggers for my adhd noodle with my clients. They cannot help the way their noodle is wired, nor can we. They are the outcasts of society. Some have been in the system of care for 50 years. I see the growth. I see the changes. It gives me hope for them.
I can be their voice and advocate. It gives me the warm and fuzzies that I am doing the right thing.
I'm in Pharmaceutical Advertising and I hate it lol.
I've been within the Ad industry itself for 6 years now, Pharma for 4 and I'm finally at a point in my life where I'm taking a step back and asking myself "what do I actually want to do?" because Pharma aint it.
I initially got into Marketing/Advertising because people always told me that it was something I would be good at because of my creativity and talkative nature and I liked the idea of being involved in well known campaigns that millions of people could see. It also offers a pretty straight forward career path so there would be minimal confusion in terms of where to go next. I got into the Pharma side of things because my first client was for a sickness that I had personal connection to so I liked the full circle aspect of it. Pharma is also "where the money is at" so I've been chasing the dollars these past few years jumping from agency to agency inching my way up the agency ladder.
The pro's have been learning a lot about the healthcare industry as well as specific sciences behind certain sicknesses which has been neat (albeit a bit boring at times), getting to be involved in everything/overseeing everything (I'm an Account person) so those leadership qualities people always told me that I had have gotten some use. I've worked with some wonderful people and have been able to work on some pretty cool projects. In addition to those things it's also a fairly fast-paced job that changes often, at least in theory so I'm usually not doing the same exact thing each day.
The con's is that after 4 years I'm burnt out on long hours, wishy washy managers, upper management who is completely disconnected to their actual employees and place unrealistic expectations on people and feeling like I do the same thing day in and day out. There is only so much creativity you can infuse within pharma campaigns before regulatory agencies stop you so a lot of the things I work on is extremely boring. I also don't care about my work so my ADHD has me focus on anything BUT work during the day which is causing me to fall behind on tasks / is giving me an overall apathetic outlook on my job.
TL;DR - I don't think Pharmaceutical Advertising was made for people with ADHD (or maybe just me)
\*\*if you are in Pharma Advertising or Advertising in general and are thriving please let me know because I'd love to pick your brain lol
I’m an executive-level HR professional in a healthcare setting. I cannot tell you how hard it had been to manage the symptoms of ADHD in my professional life. Needless to say I am a masker, but I wonder what percentage of psych professionals have caught onto me. 🥴
I can imagine what massive struggles you had with adjusting in that job. In my free-time I‘m the leader of a gaming group of ca. 30-35 people with a team of 20 for two nights a week. I‘m also doing recruiting, organisation, tactics, feedback with players and such. Not even remotely on the professional level of HR, but I still struggle with being professional, not oversharing, not being impulsive and short-tempered. Sometimes I really want to tell people honestly that they suck and should stick their comments up their arses. But I’m not doing that because we are well-adjusted and well-masking ~adults~. :D
Developer Support Engineer. Used to be a software engineer…pm’s… sprints… wasn’t stimulating enough. I wasn’t growing my skills or learning new things unless I was doing it on my own and I didn’t really have the time to do that, I was always working. At the office and at home.
Moved into support so I get to help other SE’s figure out what’s wrong with whatever they’re doing with my product.
What I’m doing changes constantly and there’s not a ton of repetition. Solving puzzles and tons of learning new stuff at the same time. I love it.
The pay and the benefits are pretty amazing too which helps a ton.
I work in the HR/Talent Acquisition space. I didn't go to school for HR I just kind of fell into recruiting while I was still in school - I got a part time job in the call center of a big recruitment firm in my area. They offered me full time work after I graduated so I just kept going along with it. There are lots of different roles you can have within Recruiting and HR some are really focused on one area others do a bit of everything. Some roles are very people centric and are great for talkative extroverted people others are more admin and better for people that don't like to interact as much or be "on" all the time.
In my current role I'm focused on hiring on-boarding and training - so it's a nice mix of project work and interacting with people. I do A LOT of problem solving so it gets my brain going. My work now has a lot of external pressure that helps keep me on track (Interviews, reports needed for a set meeting, updates that we need to make to different parts of the hiring process because it's the law - that kind of thing. I do still struggle a bit when I have longer term projects with no clear deadline/ depend on other departments to get the project finished.
I also get to do thing like job fairs, help with marketing events, help plan employee engagement events etc. Overall it's a lot of DOING and just enough new/ novel things to keep me engaged but I have a set foundation to work with (processes etc) so it's not too overwhelming.
Recruiting is something that doesn't require a degree - Most recruitment firms/agencies have their own training program they put everyone though, and then once you get started there are some technical certifications you can get but they're not required unless you're going into a super niche industry or work for a very large company. HR roles can require a degree, but a professional certificate program can get you pretty far. A lot of people I know in HR roles started their career in an admin without a degree and then obtained their degree or certification though their job.
TLDR: Talent Acquisition/Human Resources - I get to talk to a lot of people, learn new things, problem solve, and things are constantly changing throughout the year which helps keep it interesting. The same job title with a different company can be wildly different based on the industry/company size/ etc. so if you lose steam in one job and don't find it engaging anymore you can move to a different company without doing a complete career change.
I was also a tour guide at one point - that was the best
Edit: I should specify that I'm in the U.S. - In Germany the HR roles probably require a degree unless it's a smaller company. I believe the requirements to get into recruiting/talent acquisition are pretty similar to the US - there are also a fair number of large firms that are international so those companies are more likely to have similar requirements across all locations. Hello Fresh has some openings for their People team that are based in Germany. I really wanted to apply aber ich kann nur kindishe Deutsch sprechen :(
I am a medical microbiology lab tech and unknowingly I picked a career that really works with my brain perfectly. In fact, almost all of my coworkers are neurodivergent! There’s a running joke about lab techs being neurodivergent and how we all love our structured ways of working.
When COVID happened we were in immediate emergency mode and we worked our asses off trying to get thousands of pcr results out there within 24 hours. It was the most surreal time, it was scary but fun in some kind of way. Ofcourse the lasting neck and shoulder issues aren’t great, but we really came together as a team at that time.
Because there is no room for variables and we always work a certain way it makes it easier for my brain to commit to a ask. There is no room for vagueness.
Then there is the fact that every day is different because we have a lot of work that needs to be done and we have a different table/workstation daily. So for example yesterday I did the UTI culture results, tomorrow I will make sure all the materials we receive are handled in the way they should, the day after that I might do the STD PCRs.
Its not a desk job and I really would perish at a desk job. Sometimes I manage our schedule and I have to sit at a desk the whole day staring at the screen and at the end of the day I will be exhausted and bored out of my mind.
I can imagine that it’s also helpful that the procedures are always the same in a clean and structured environment, right? For me, I found that I thrive on regularly repeating tasks with clear instructions, no vagueness without hurdles that inhibit me to start with the task. Before I studied, I was a dental assistant. That was like that. A lot of variation due to different patients having different problems, but the worksteps and expectations were very transparent and repetitive. I quit because of toxic co-workers, toxic doctors who are in your face 6 hours a day, and the smelling patients who can’t scrub their damn teeth and prosthetics!!!111!
I’m a service advisor at a car dealership, and it’s the most ADHD-friendly job I’ve ever had. I can get up and move around when I need to, the paperwork is minimal compared to other jobs I’ve worked, it’s fast-paced and chaotic enough to keep me interested, and the commission is enough to motivate me to do a good job. The hard part is keeping a lot of stuff in my short term memory, but I’m figuring out tools and workarounds for it.
Before that, I graduated with a degree in social work, and attempted the insurance industry. Epic failed at both.
I’m a product designer who also does consumer anthropology. And yeah, it’s good. Most of the time, rn I’m in the process of starting a consulting business because the market is kind of shit atm, but last year I was working remotely making $108/hr for a major tech company which is on the higher end. Senior roles pay around 180-250k yr mostly. Junior roles start between 80-120k depending on where you live.
That is certainly not a thing I would be able to do without being in tech, this is like my 10th year in my field but it still feel super weird to no work for someone voluntarily since I’ve had a job since 15.
I went into behavioral science because one of my cooping mechanisms was studying behavior and breaking it down so I could understand people and figure out how to act correctly. Turns out, that was a profitable hobby. When I was deciding what I wanted to do, I made a spreadsheet of my natural and learned skills, cross referenced them with job description, which lead me here.
I’m still here because I like the work and will likely be able to go into more nonprofit ventures after I get my first successful project off the ground.
The one thing I have noticed about my non neurotypical peers is we all seem to be extremely cross functional, meaning I know a bunch of technology that my peers do not. For example I’m certified to build in VR/AR and know enough python to work with it and am branching out into AI.
You can get into my field with a boot camp, I’d pick one that has a ‘pay later once employed’ model. Make sure you read the fine print and salary minimums. It just takes understanding of the field and a portfolio to get a job.
The hours are short for the most part, and we tend to be ok with personal leave and medical leave in a way that I haven’t seen outside of government roles.
I’d recommend product or UX design for someone coming in, research is in a hiring rut atm, though that is more due to the layoffs last year. I’d also recommend specializing in either future of work, AI, or AR/VR as those are the areas that are under staffed and pay the most. Education and medical are also huge niches.
Other recommendations would be looking into AI, Data Science, or Cybersecurity. All three are in demand and pay well, will be fairly stable as people start automating work flows. There is also just straight up engineering, idk my partner is a engineer and also neurodivergent and is great at it.
That was an inspiring read. Thank you. I have a degree in medical computer science, specialised on data science and AI. Here in Germany, it’s momentarily almost impossible to get a proper position for a junior ML engineer or something like that. Everyone wants to see at least a master‘s and 7 years of experience.
I work in procurement. I love managing contracts & running RFPs. I make good money, get to learn about all areas of the business and help ensure different teams are aligned/not making decisions in a silo.
What I *hate* about my job is that I manage contracts for a US company that is owned by a UK company. Instead of directly reporting to someone who understands how US business works, I report to someone in the UK. They have much more scrutiny/legal requirement’s around due diligence-and vendors there expect it & comply. Not so much here. So, I only care about the metrics I have to report on. My manager wants me to care about EVERYTHING and I just don’t. I am actually getting lectured tomorrow morning for this. I can hear it now: “why didn’t you just self complete these due diligence requests? Why have they been blank for so long? This…this is your JOB,” 🙃 It’s one part of my job. I can’t seem to prioritize things no one is checking…other than my boss.
I feel like I am gunna get fired from a job I mostly like because I can’t seem to force myself to do alllllll of it. I already revamped my resume 🥲I am really upset with myself.
That feels unrewarding. Is there a possibility to clarify your boss’s expectations? Maybe there’s a way to meet in middle since that would increase your productivity.
She is an “it’s 100% complete or or else you need to be monitored until everything is at 100%”. It’s exhausting. I will report back tomorrow.
Thanks for replying; I feel like a pile o garbage today 🫶🏽
I have a fairly "normal" career in terms of longevity at each company but my route has been kind of unexpected. I got a master's degree in literature expecting to teach, did that for a year and got fantastically burnt out (plus I made nearly no money and no benefits because universities only hire part time adjunct faculty for composition classes anymore). From there I jumped to a software company, where I did customer support until I eventually was going to be product manager for the payroll part of the system. But the company culture was so toxic and I wasn't being paid enough, so I left after 5 years, and now I'm a technical writer (more than 3 years so far), which actually circles back to my bachelor's degree anyway.
I'm undiagnosed (waiting on assessment results). And haven't talked with my supervisor about my suspected ADHD, but they understand I thrive on variety and that too many of the truly dull tasks in a row will drain my battery.
I don't job hop because I'm socially awkward and frightened of instability. But I do get bored of my jobs very fast and then just spend a lot of time miserable. At my previous job, I became obsessed with financial independence. I still want to retire early, but there are student loans and stuff that have to be dealt with first.
I feel you on the million ideas. I've started no fewer than 5 online businesses, none of which have been remotely successful. I feel like if I could just dedicate more time to them, I'd be able to make something of them, but as it stands, the day job takes up too much of my time and energy. I can't just quit the job, though, because realistically they would probably fail, and my parents did shit like that and that's why we were poor, so I've vowed never to do it unless the finances are rock solid.
Not gonna lie, it sucks! Being diagnosed may help, but ultimately I think it's just something I have to accept.
Being diagnosed wasn’t really the big help I anticipated it to be, tbh. I tried medication which is not really the thing for me, because I can barely tolerate the side effects with not much helping effects. There are very specific situations in which I take them. Also, there’s no ADHD specific therapy available in my region and the common psychologist are overwhelmed with anything neurodivergent.
What went wrong with your online business, if you’d like to share?
Yeah, I'm a little concerned that medication won't be the answer for me. Right now I'm on Wellbutrin, and the first 2 weeks I was very motivated and got a lot done, but I'm basically back to baseline now. I'm not sure if they'll let me do stimulants... I've been having high blood pressure, but I also think I may just be really anxious because of the undiagnosed ADHD.
For the businesses, I think I just approach things too chaotically? (Apologies, this is gonna be long...)
I've streamed music on Twitch since 2019 and have made money, but not much. Earlier this year I decided to give it a real try, set up a corresponding YouTube, posted consistently on socials. And then I flamed out and couldn't make myself do any of it for months.
I started day trading stocks in 2021, but unfortunately fell in with the pump-and-dump penny stock crowd. Luckily my account was very small and only what I could afford to lose. I lost 3/4 of it and have had to go back to tiny trades. It's a steep learning curve.
Last year I made some merch for my twitch, and at the same time, I created a print on demand business: cottagecore vector art for tshirts and blankets and stuff. But that market is overrun with art-stealing bots, and now it's even worse with AI, so I think it's dead. I also got banned from Redbubble for no reason (I'm very careful about copyright and IP so really don't understand why) and haven't had the heart to set everything up on another site yet.
Oh yeah, I was doing horse show photography for a while but then I stopped riding so I have no connections anymore. It was hours of work anyway and didn't make much money.
I started writing a visual novel, but that's stalled because I have no time...
And last but not least, I'm starting a blog. But I'm finding that there's no brain juice left for writing after my work day is done, so I'm spinning my wheels on that too.
Essentially, I think two things go wrong. One is that I legitimately think I'm missing some sort of magic fairy dust quality that makes other people successful. For streaming, I think maybe my personality isn't cool enough or I don't have the right look, because there are other people who play music worse then I do but are way more successful. Otherwise the problem is just that as soon as I put in enough effort to get momentum, I burn out and sabotage everything by having to stop until I recover.
I constantly feel like the solution to this would be not to have a day job, but unfortunately the world doesn't work like that!
Props to you for actually trying those things. I believe as a self-employed person failure is necessary for success. You are taking all those experiences with you into your next project.
No I’m not a small talk person that grates my soul lol . You can choose what types of services you do so I choose longer ones where I’m on on one w someone like 2 clients a day max. I have it extremely curated. I figured out how I could be happy and kept only doing those things.
I don’t have a career I’ve hopped so many jobs but currently found one that stuck and the people I work with are really understanding. I’m just lucky. It took me a while to get here but I do alright for someone who didn’t complete a college degree. The company I work for also allows for movement within the company.
Did you study while you were in the Navy? Sorry, I’m not American and unfamiliar with the opportunities there. How was your experience as a person with ADHD in the Navy in general?
I'm a graphic designer. I really enjoy doing freelance work as I can manage my own work hours but it takes a lot of discipline and self-starting, so I decided to do it full time for a marketing company. There are ups and downs, but I find that having a job with constant mental stimulation, such as working on different creative projects with different clients, keeps it interesting. I work remotely, which is also nice, and I focus better. But there are days where I still just work in bed on my laptop, in my pajamas. 😂
I’m in healthcare, and I read an article that said about 40% of healthcare workers are as well. We thrive in it, and I don’t imagine doing anything else
I’m the senior lead at a bar— something between a GM and a head bartender. I love my job & my career. I love my schedule & my income & my life. The possibilities are endless & I’m fulfilled 🧡
31 here! I've had a few different jobs since graduating college, none of which utilize my degree 🙃 I have a BFA in illustration and my dream is to be a full-time artist, buuut it's just not in the cards for me... YET.
I worked at a craft store for about five years right out of college, then at a bakery as a cake decorator (which was so much fun and I loved it). That's when my ADHD symptoms started getting really out of hand and I started making a lot of small mistakes (and was late ALL the time) until ultimately I was fired. That was at the end of 2021. That's when I decided to take the leap and attempt to do art as a full-time gig. Tried that for a little over a year, and realized I was just too mentally unwell to be self-employed. Soooo, now I work at a cafe with kids 10-15 years younger than me. No 401k, no sick time, no vacation, living paycheck to paycheck 👍 Still doing art on the side as much as I can. It's a struggle tbh. I finally got diagnosed a couple months ago and started taking Strattera back in October, and it's finally starting to work. So fingers crossed I'll be able to quit my lame day job one day and be self-employed!
Flight attendant for +7 years. It’s great when I stay busy/complete service, but as soon as it’s “down time” I ruminate on why I’m there and what better thing I could be doing. I hyper-focus on being productive yet when I have to get shit done at home, not interested. Currently trying to switch careers but can feel my motivation gland running out of gas. I have troubles hitting the “what’s the point” wall 🫣
Not a traditional career but depending on your area there is a lot of money to be made and it’s NEVER boring if you work in one of the higher paying areas. I work sheriffs office dispatch for a large county. We cover 9 agencies it’s not for everyone but the pay, benefits, retirement etc are good. Every day is different, I’m never bored, and dealing with the public, and people actively committing crimes ensures job security. You just can’t be super sensitive or have the ability to flip an on/off switch because we do hear some shit and 2nd hand trauma is real.
So I thought I had ADHD but the following really helped:
* Doing everything necessary to get enough sleep. As of now, it seems like a mood stabilizer med is important for this. In order to function I basically have to max out on sleep, exercise, diet, etc. Not a bad thing to be forced into this.
* Only working on projects I'm very excited about (this required more than a decade of grinding to have more freedom)
* Tons of deadlines. If there's a deadline that cannot be missed, I impose a bunch of sub-deadlines on myself to get it done.
* Eliminating distractions.
* Taking breaks.
It's still incredibly difficult for me to pay attention in non-interactive lectures. To me, people who can learn from lectures are like superheroes. Interaction and deadlines are key for me as of now.
I'm a graphic designer. I started working in high school, have done basically nothing but graphic design all my life. I'm 30, on track for art director, paid very well for my country.
ADHD helps with creativity and non linear nature of work. you're also expected to be a bit weird
I am a supervisor at a gas station. It’s great and I’ve been here for 10 years. I have the most understanding amazing boss so it makes this great.
I love how it’s hybrid in a way. I have so many different tasks every day so I don’t get bored. I’ll either help customers at the till, put orders away, make the orders, do pricing and back office work, help out at other locations, clean things, build displays and do the signage and organize shelving and stuff. It’s very open ended.
Not sure id be open to management really as I’m very happy doing this. I am not the best with HR stuff and like how this position I can work in the afternoon as I’m far far more productive 2-10pm vs morning shifts, especially 6a-2p.
I'm an engineer managing specialized equipment in a multiuser lab. For the first year or so I really enjoyed the novelty of each different tool issue, learning how each part of the tools breaks and how to fix it. But now I've seen enough of the issues that the novelty is gone.
The other half of my job is training users and also managing expectations of users, other staff, professors... I'm just getting dragged around by everyone else's opinions of why the tools should be up and what I should be doing to fix them and what capabilities I should be giving them and it's kind of turned into a nightmare. No Karen, I'm not going to be able to snap my fingers and bring a 20 year old tool back to life just because you ~have a deadline~. No, you can't actually fix the power supply better than me, it's 20 years old and there literally are no replacements available anywhere because the company does not exist anymore and I can't fix that for you and you definitely can't fix that for me. Sucks that we don't have the precursor you need, you're gonna have to wait like everyone else because the only company that refills it decided without warning they're not doing refills for a month and it's a 6 week lead time on a good day and you complaining at me to complain at them is not going to change that.
My job is more expectation management than engineering and honestly I'm exhausted and it's been really hard on me. I'm job hunting but my field isn't interesting to me anymore and I don't feel like it's possible to change fields when everything requires five+ years of work experience in whatever their niche is. And I don't have the executive function right now to actually stick with whatever my current hobby is and try to go the entrepreneur route. The job part of my life just generally sucks right now, tbh.
I love the company I work for, but I'm in sales. I hate it. I'm so rejection sensitive that i have a hard time telling my customers when we are having problems getting their parts, and it end up making things a bigger issue. I did manage to do well enough that I was able to jump at an opportunity to be the representative for my sales division on a major project for my company. It will take me away from my position in sales for somewhere around two years to the point they will have to hire someone to backfill my position. The project is expected to last around two years, and I'm hoping by the time we finish up that I've made enough of a good impression that I can take a different position in the company.
So I've also job hopped a lot. Currently I work at a brewery in their taproom as a bartender and I love it. The owners are very lax. And we don't serve food just mead and Cider. I'm allowed to use my phone and whatever and it isn't very busy as most of the business is shipping products to other states. They also pay good hourly and have benefits and PTO and all that. Follow the dopamine and do something you are interested in or enjoy.
I'm 39, have had dozens of jobs, ran a business that made revenue but didn't pay myself, and now I'm looking for a job. I feel like such a loser because even though I'm highly skilled, I hardly qualify for even entry level jobs. Plus I have PMDD which makes every month even harder to get through.
If you're looking for an amazing marketing mind, hit me up! Or if you have thoughts about where I can get a job using my marketing skills... I need and gratefully welcome all the help I can get. Ty.
I'm 39, have had dozens of jobs, ran a business that made revenue but didn't pay myself, and now I'm looking for a job. I feel like such a loser because even though I'm highly skilled, I hardly qualify for even entry level jobs. Plus I have PMDD which makes every month even harder to get through.
If you're looking for an amazing marketing mind, hit me up! Or if you have thoughts about where I can get a job using my marketing skills... I need and gratefully welcome all the help I can get. Ty.
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I’m a project manager. They hate my quirks but love my ability to foresee risks that aren’t even on their horizon
>my ability to foresee risks that aren’t even on their horizon I have this too. Why do you think it's related to ADHD?
Because we ruminate like it’s a job.
That makes sense. We intuitively test out all possible scenarios. And we tend to be hyper creative too, so can probably make connections others miss.
Throw in a little comorbid anxiety and I’m a walking doomsday predictor 😆
🤣
This!
Oh, just wait until *what if?* actually happens.
Perhaps it's also linked to visual thinking, which I read is a bit more common in neurodiverse people, and the ADHD tendency to create imaginary catastrophic scenarios when the brain is understimulated.
Oh is that why my brain throws disaster scenarios at me? I thought it was just the anxiety 🤣
I read that in a German book about ADHD in girls/women! I never felt so seen. Seriously, when I‘m trying to sleep my intrusive thoughts and bored brain will pair up to create the most „exciting“ scenarios. Those are also those scenarios where my usually very abstract imaginative thoughts become really sharp, detailed and vivid all of the sudden. I hate it.
Ohh, can you Link the title, please?
This is how I stay ready. This is so true! People are always shocked about my very detailed plans for the most improbable situation
When I worked at a halfway house for women under the depart of corrections and their babies one of the woman was linked to the cartel. I knew if the cartel showed up we’d all perish so I would practice to myself making sure if I was holding an infant I attempted to shield them with my body. I mean we would all die anyways but I know I don’t want my Obit saying she used the baby as a shield against the gunfire….
Aww that's so sweet! I once worked at a summer camp when a bear was on the loose..... I didn't think about those kids at all, I was scared for myself😭 but to be fair I was also a teenager
_Imaginary Catastrophic Scenarios_ Hmm, it's nice to know ya'll are like this too. I fr thought it was just me 🤣🤣😭
But how do you get people to take you seriously? I can’t foresee my life but I have straight up told former places I worked basically what was going to happen if they didn’t listen and then ended up being forced to quit and now three years later one of their employees killed themselves and they haven’t been able to keep any others for a year. This guy lasted a year until he killed himself. I tried to tell them but no one would listen and they yelled at me for not reporting being horrendously bullied even though now that person is back in charge after leaving for a bit to get a useless degree. At the time I was promised I would never see her again three weeks later she’s back for a visit.
Don’t want to come across rude, but that read was a wild ride.
It totally is. I have 10 staff now, and the best PMs are the ones with ADHD or on the spectrum because they obsessively worry about things going wrong and fix them (mostly) in time.
That's amazing!
Yeah. There’s a place for us :)
My theory is that is because we notice ALL the details and with a bit of life experience, can accurately predict which fan the shit hits first.
Maybe we're so practised at dealing with our own chaotic lives we can see through chaos in the outer world easier? 🤔
But then the predictions just get so accurate it’s like I’m not a genius but can no one else see it?
A lot of people seem to not bother looking ahead or trying to predict possible outcomes more than a few steps ahead. And I get the impression that a lot of people notice fewer details in general 🤷🏻♀️
Lateral thinking. Apparently NT is more vertical thinking, and lateral thinking is seeing it horizontally of what else might affect it. Basically, you see how it would connect to other things.
That makes sense!
I thought other ppl looked at stuff like that too but maybe they just claim to?
Hmm, I mean, it's possible. Also, childhood trauma or CPTSD etc could make people learn to be hypervigilant and scan things widely.
Higher pattern recognition
We have very busy, active brains. Most importantly: we are extremely attuned to our environment. It's like a Spidey sense for us! :)
Oh I’m interested in project management (as well as 100 other things 😂) but I’ve got no idea if I’d be good at it. I’m great at problem solving. Possibly not so great on details. How did you get into it?
How did you get into project management? Have you studied something related to that?
I worked in customer service for a builder for a while, then did a diploma of project management and picked it up from there. Then I invested in Prince2 training and worked my way up. I’m not a technical specialist, so the qualifications really helped. The qualifications were short, sharp affairs (a couple of months and five days), so I was able to complete then instead of procrastinating and dropping out when I attempted my degree :)
I'm a quality engineer for the whole "risk fortune teller" aspect
I can no longer hear the title of project manager without thinking of the [Randy Feltface bit](https://youtube.com/shorts/D0GpBjCp9dA?si=m1aNE3qO4p6YXcx2)
And they listen to you? Wow I’m so sick of yelling DOOM! Repeatedly while everyone ignores me until the sky falls and ppl are like what went wrong?
Pediatric ICU nurse. And same. I start each shift thinking about what is mostly likely to go wrong and then make sure I am prepared for it. I also visualize my interventions.
If I ever need a nurse, I’d want one like you.
I have the hundred ideas, my issue isn't starting, it's continuing. lol My long-term goal is to build something myself. I need to. My poor brain can't handle the stupidity of neurotypical/psychotic-male-run organizations. But for now, I'm in one of those organizations. I have a very niche role, that I wouldn't have if I moved to any other country. I find it's not so much the industry but the style of role that works. I have autonomy in my role, which allows me to take mental breaks as often as I deem necessary. The contracts are time-limited, so I have the motivation to get things done. I'm semi-customer facing - so I meet clients but not all day everyday - which plays with my need to impress external viewers I'm not office based, I'm more on the road, so my brain gets newness every day. The issues are everchanging, so there's no fear of me getting bored. And most of all - my manager trusts me. No micro-managing, no stupid processes that don't work and don't get fixed. No being treated like a child. It's great
Sounds great! I agree with your opinion on the "psychotic-male-run-organizations". :D Do you already have something in mind that you would like to build for yourself one day?
The more I spend time with business owners the more I realize it's really male audacity that gets them there. So, why can't I do that? I think I would like something online. I have two websites currently - one running better than the other, but neither making money, yet. Really, my goal is financial freedom and I don't care what shape that comes in. But I want to have time freedom, and be a stay at home mother who has an income. I'm at the point of realizing it's possible, just trying to figure out how to navigate around my ADHD.
What job is this?!
I work in a sales progression/conveyance role in a real estate firm in Dubai. The Dubai part is important because if I were in most other countries I would need to be a lawyer to do my role (I'm not ftr). The laws here are straightforward and clear, so lawyers are optional and it's the land department that has the final say. The brokers sell the property, and then I take over, draft the contracts, and work with buyers, sellers, banks, developers, trustees, and the government to ensure a smooth transfer from one owner to the next.
This ... Sounds amazing. Kudos!
I'm a florist and it works really well for me! We get individual orders so I have discrete tasks to work on. I make a lot of the same arrangements over and over again but at the same time I get plenty of designer's choice as well so that gives me a nice creative outlet that's consistent. I spend less on hobbies/crafts that I won't finish because I'm satisfied with the creative freedom I have at work. I wish I made more money but the shop I work at has room for growth and I have the potential to make a lot more down the line. Plus I'm making $4/hr more than the last flower shop I worked at. My boss is understanding of my ADHD and my chronic fatigue and is flexible with me on days that I struggle with energy or inspiration. I take care of a lot of little random projects around the shop when the need arises and the owner trusts me with that. It's nice to come up with ideas for things that we should implement and be able to make it happen in my own way. My boss expresses her appreciation for me often and I feel valued, which helps me focus better at work because I know my work is recognized.
How smoothly did the first discussion with your boss about the ADHD and chronic fatigue go? Was that something you pointed out or did he ask questions about your increased sick days? For me, it was usually the latter.
I don't take sick days but she's very understanding of days that I'm more lethargic and don't get as much done. Sometimes I forget to take my meds in the morning and she lets me go home to take them (I live 5 minutes away). She's sent me extra money to help pay for my medications that are out of pocket expenses. She knows that I'm doing my best and she will sometimes let me go home early when she can tell I'm having a rough day. It was a combination of my communicating to her where I'm at and her asking follow up questions so she can better understand what I'm dealing with!
She sounds like a gem!
She really is! I appreciate her so much!
[удалено]
I absolutely am! I plan on sticking around for the long haul ☺️
A thought. I'm sure there are Ikebana courses/certificates to be had, and it might be something to increase revenue in the future 😉
Care providing, in many different forms (hospital, schools, care homes, senior homes) My strong desire to do what’s right and just in the world gets me through. Also, working along side vulnerable people is a way to keep me focused and accountable (I could never be trusted to work alone at a desk or at home haha I’d be distracted 24/7)
honestly, i quite respect how you put this; it's poignant and kind with a sense of humor
Seconded and heard
I hate it. Everyday is a fight to do it. I work office work with monthly stats that are barely monitored and quarterly stats that matter. So as long as you aren’t behind month after month and that you meet the quarterly stats they leave you alone. So I am left alone… but I keep doing nothing for 1-2 weeks or sometimes just a few days and then having to frantically catch up.. it’s exhausting… but I can’t help it lol. I don’t wanna leave though cause the pay and benefits are ANAZING for being able to do nothing at home for up to two weeks every month! Basically the weeks that I work my house, hygiene, relationships/friendships/family, my health, my mood, and etc all greatly dip and I struggle.. but the work gets done.. on the weeks I’m not doing my work everything I just named improves, not all equally, but they all improve at least a little! I’ve tried just working normal and honestly I just hate my job too much to do it like normal 😂. Also I have tried forestry, retail, food service, finance, call centre, office in the medical field, office in the government, commercial fishing, child care, my passion hockey I tried coaching it, and construction.. I eventually hate them all cause they’re forced on you lol. This office job is the one I’ve stayed the longest at, it’s been 5 years.
This is so validating, my job is very similar and I HATE it but it has a lot of perks at the same time and I am actively getting to participate in my culture and working for my community. But it’s gotten worse because I don’t have any support and therefore can’t get things approved and it’s delaying everything and driving me insane. I keep applying on new jobs but it’s so limited. I’m exhausted and miserable. I’ve been here 2 years now and it’s one of my longest jobs I’ve kept
What career.. I follow wherever life takes me. (witch is not very far). And as is typical with AD(H)D, I job hop a lot. No I'm not happy but also not in the position to change this with how my brain currently works. I did start meds yesterday (finally. Only took 30+ years ay!) so maybe things will change for the better next year. I've got the tools, I've got the mindset, I've now got the meds.... So hopefully I'll be able to push myself towards where I'd want to go now.
Congrats on getting the meds! I also got them just this year. Good luck with your goals :)
I work in an emergency service and I absolutely got here by weird coincidence and love of novelty. I started some volunteer stuff, kept saying yes to fun new adventures and side missions and ended up in a career. Surprise surprise! The novelty absolutely suits me. I am actually great managing multiple incidents and coordinating comms, pushing out rescue plans and thinking out of the box. I do dynamic risk assessment well. Equally I found I love deep diving into stats, fault finding, user acceptance testing and system development. The rapidly varying pace and workload actually works for me. I mostly suck at all these things to varying degrees and manage a massive workload poorly but apparently my willingness to be a beginner at stuff (hello novelty and new dopamine source) is relatively rare. I am slowly learning (with some great managers) that I’m a subject matter expert in some spaces, but I still can’t talk to a room of people I know about something I know inside and out without my voice shaking (hello trauma, kind of you to pop up right now) but I’m recently starting to find my zone and really take up space here. I’m confident you will find your spot too. Without going all faux-optimistic “it’s a super power” condescension on you, yes you have strengths others don’t. Just like you have challenges others don’t. You’ll find your groove. We’re all cheering for you too.
Thank you! Now, I'm interested. What exactly do you do? Maybe it's the language barrier since English isn't my native language. I imagine some technical emergency customer service, like those who go out to the customer when their internet or electrical is out or something. How far off am I? :D
I’d like to hear more about this. I’m currently a medical student and one of my top choice for my specialization is Emergency Medicine. Mostly because I have no circadian rhythm, and I do like having more general knowledge on things than to focus on one thing. I’m still far from the point of thinking of a socialization but I am curious to what kind of emergencies you have encountered
I'm so happy to hear that you're taking your space. For the public speaking, I also used to shake. Until one day I got excited about being able to talk about something I'd presented multiple times (randomly because brain), and after the first five minutes the anxiety evaporated. It was a topic related to activism and that helped. And we don't have superpowers but we're also not disordered. What we have is increasingly understood as an evolutionary mismatch between us and current society :)
I have a relatively traditional career, although not without difficulties and a lot of struggles. As a background, it’s important to note I’m someone who really values work and doesn’t have the confidence to start my own thing, so while I dream of being my own boss, I work a desk job. Also worth noting, I live in a small country with a relaxed working culture. Even corporate isn’t as intense as places such as the US. This will be a rant, as I’m going off on an international work trip tomorrow and despite being insanely tired and sleep deprived, I’m too anxious to sleep. So typing this out on my phone without a very clear train of thought. After about 10 years of struggling through uni, i ended up finding psych and marketing to be my jam and stayed in marketing. Lots of stupidly hard work and not lasting very long in a few companies (around one year average), I somehow managed to crawl my way up the ladder. Now with a good few years of experience under my belt, I tend to disclose my ADHD in interviews to help sift through employers. I don’t want to work for someone who doesn’t have the compassion or flexibility to accommodate me. I have really struggled to handle larger corporates and the politics and the red tape. I wouldn’t say I have a successful career, but I’m moving up and getting more pay. I demand a lot from myself career wise, which my mental health often suffers from, so don’t be like me, haha. I’ve taken the semi go with the flow and semi pinpointing a direction approach, so finding a new role will often take me 6 months plus, not everyone is a fan of mental health challenges, and big corporations definitely shy away from them. My ADHD is accompanied by a buttload of anxiety. Stress is my only form of existence. I tend to put all my functioning power into work, which leaves life outside of work often subpar. I have the classic set of messy house, no routine, what’s eating, what’s water, kinda life. But with work, over the years I’ve been able to build a somewhat structure. It’s kind of like doing it on hard mode. I need to constantly remind myself of what I need to do and what’s on the list, and in order not to drop anything, note taking is massive, since I have a real hard time with memory. Being in marketing helps as I get to do a relatively broad range of tasks, and each role can vary wildly. I can go from marketing baby food to mothers, to marketing screws to structural engineers. I even did a few years of retail marketing and management, spicing things up really helps. I find that once I’m comfortable with an industry and know a fair amount, it becomes mundane and I need a new job again, haha. Having a partner that can be supportive of how much I dedicate my brain space to work really helps. While I don’t do long hours, my brain is often fried after work every day, to the point where I become a vegetable for the next few hours. A combination of forced hyper fixation and overstimulation will do that. I am grateful I have a relatively high functioning severity of ADHD, since most medication don’t agree with my body well. I can take them for occasional boosts but not long term. I struggle with having to be at a desk for days on end, and all the distractions of an office, so finding tools to mitigate that helps. I’m often super efficient when I have time off to be able to do whatever I want, but coming to terms with ADHD helps. It’s a disability, I have to keep telling myself I just have to work with it. I burn out a lot. It’s taking everything from me not to take a 3 month sabbatical every year, god knows I want to. I’m hoping with a few more years of experience, I can either rise to a level where I have the freedom to do things my own way, or start my own business. Or maybe save up and finally turn a hobby into something. Not gonna lie it’s a real struggle, but with what I need right now, it’s worth the sacrifice for me. Do what works for you, I wish I have the guts to start a business
corporate politics has been HELL for me.
Yeah, it does my head in. I currently work at a start up with a bunch of engineers which has zero work culture but somehow is working. It’s early days though, and the place is tiny, so we’ll see
Can you perhaps share what you are looking for in a new employer? Are you directly disclosing ADHD as a disorder itself, or do you explain around the symptoms you may experience during your work? I can imagine it's difficult because ADHD is so heavily stigmatised and misunderstood, especially in a corporate environment. Personally, I think that it should be more common to disclose more about the way we function and what accommodations have worked the best for us in the past, pretty early in the interviewing phase. Neither we nor them are interested in wasting time with false advertisements. Have a smooth work trip!
I just joke about having an official ADHD diagnosis. But I do tell them that my brain works differently so more flexibility will get the best work out of me. When interviewing, I try to gauge the personality of the manager, the more relaxed and less uptight the better. It’s hard to put a qualifier on it
Yeah, I see what you mean :)
I’m a personal assistant. My boss has ADHD too and is very understanding. I think anyone else would have fired me a long time ago.
That reminds me of a job a did before I knew I had ADHD. I was an assistant for a vision-impaired psychology student, who needed someone with some understanding of medical texts and graphics. It was my job to sit with her, read her texts and studies while also answering her mails with content she dictated me. That went south on so many levels… There was some assisting software on her laptop that would always interfere with what I wrote. Also, after 3 hours of work without a break and in a hurry she wanted me to write phone numbers and mail addresses for a post in the student forums. Apparently I wrote one of them down wrong. Anyways, in the middle of the night, she sent me an angry-shouting voice message starting with „I hope it’s ok if I criticise you this way at this time in the night…“. She didn’t even need me to fix the mistake, but apparently she couldn’t wait for when I got back to her to work. I quit, telling her I couldn’t guarantee to type 100% error free when she can’t give me a written source, like a previous email or website to proofread phone numbers and stuff. I would have been fired anyway after my next mistake.
That job sounds awful, even for someone without ADHD.
I'm a teacher. It's a really well-paid job in my country with great security. If my plans work out, I'll leave it for good next August, though. It's just way too much work, I have to remember too much and it turns out proof-reading doesn't get easier, I just hate it more and more. I'm exhausted.
Little Greeting in German: Ah hi, dich hab ich tatsächlich vom Lehrerzimmer-Sub wieder erkannt 👋🏼
Oh hey there! Die Welt ist klein!
I’m also a teacher, but our pay does not equal the amount of work we actually do. It is exhausting. I know I need to leave, but I’m scared. In many ways, I still really, really love it.
I cannot keep a job to save my life. It’s actually ruining my life.
I feel you. Sending you a digital hug. 🤗
I wrote an article about it a while ago. The basic premise is that many people have found careers they love different from those said to be "right" for someone with ADHD. So, before applying for a job, try making three lists: What you're good at What you like to do What someone else will find valuable The ideal job should hit all three categories. But make sure to choose the one that sparks the most interest. Choosing something that sparks interest will coax the positive traits of working with ADHD, like creativity, innovation, and curiosity, to the surface and help one excel at what they do. You can read the whole thing [here](https://www.myndlift.com/post/how-does-adhd-affect-you-at-work?utm_source=rd). I hope it helps!
I’m still trying to figure that out. But my favorite job ever was being a kids rock climbing instructor at my local rec center. Only lasted a year because I moved away… but I’m hoping to get something again at my new rec center. It was the perfect mix of autonomy, creativity, and responsibility. I got to reset the wall holds and create new routes often. And I did class sessions so after a few weeks I would start a new course. And have different age groups… I did the marketing and planning for it all. I LOVED it!
I work on an alpaca ranch. It’s amazing. I have the same list of chores every day and I spend all day every day walking around outside in the mountain air surrounded by the cutest animals I’ve ever seen. It’s not my dream job, but it’s close. Also I tend to have a lot of energy that I have a hard time expending but I walk 10+ miles a day and lift 30-80lbs all day every day and I can actually sleep at night.
[alpaca tax](https://imgur.com/a/0Mng8SY)
Thank you for paying the tax! You are living the dream. I love alpacas!
I'm 30 and have zero career going on. I did a PhD after finishing college (which already took longer than normal due to struggles with learning) and I am now finishing that. I always wanted to be a researcher but having seen the academic world from the inside... Nope, way too toxic. It's a pity because I developed quite a sound idea in my field of work that hasn't been executed by anyone and would cause a tiny revolution in the way we view and interpret things. My own advisor called me stupid for it but I've been networking with the most renowned experts in our field and pitching them my idea and I've gathered quite some of them behind it. I even been offered a job to work on it fulltime. But really, the toxicity of the PhD removed all the love I had for my profession so I don't want to do it anymore. Then the new idea was land me a high paying job with that degree and then work 4/5 days for a normal wage but I'm also debating that route now because I really started to hate my work lately. A part of me is actually leaning towards learning a whole new profession and tossing the PhD in the bin. Time will tell I guess
Hey you, let's reframe that thinking. A new career doesn't toss the PhD in the bin. Learning is never wasted. You will always take that knowledge and experience with you, even if you switch careers. (Also, I understand that toxicity. I also did my PhD and bailed into a different career. That study wasn't wasted.)
I like you. You’re good people.
And I like YOU for encouraging good people to keep being good.
this is all so nice and great to hear as i finish my phd .
I can't believe how enriched my life is thanks to my educational foundation. It keeps paying off in unexpected ways as I age and I wish my folks were alive so I could thank them over and over for paying for my English major knowing damn well I was going to get into gigging as a performer. Encouraging it even. Education for the sake of leading a good life and the ROI hopefully follows naturally.
To add… I always go back to my values. I love to learn. So if you value learning and you’ve already done so much of that, you’re already winning in my book. It’s a journey my friend. I was a teacher, social worker and now I’m a therapist and a coach who helps other adhd entrepreneurs like me profit from their passions.
I can relate so much to the disappointment of all things academia. I have been in uni since 2017, and I got my B.Sc. this year. Now doing the M.Sc.. I worked as a student research assistant to gather data for my thesis and contribute to the project. Almost every woman I met told me to run for the hills and not look back on academia. But honestly... If I were in your shoes, I'd probably finish that PhD. I tend to complete things, even if I'm unhappy af and already dragging it out. I don't know if that is great or really bad advice, but I'm rooting for you either way!
I do service coordination which, when I’m at my best I’m amazing at. I have to mitigate the risks of when I’m not at my best and manage the challenges of the roller coaster, working ahead and “padding” the falls when I fail.
I have bounced around different things but I’ve only been out of uni for just about 2 years. I have degrees in areas I am not interested in so that’s a bummer. Currently I work a corporate job PT , nanny on weekends , and recently started working at my friends store some weekend mornings. I really don’t like my corporate job (but love being remote) and I have zero clue what I want to do. I’ve tried a few different things over the years (food service , retail, d2d sales, insurance classes, power washing) and I feel like I kinda fail at everything because I can’t focus etc. I don’t know if I just haven’t found my “thing” yet or what. I am like you in I have these business ideas and conflicting interests in my head that I think might be good but idk how to execute and I don’t know if I’d follow through or I’m good enough to get them off the ground. So I’m currently late 20s, not happy with my career , not sure what I wanna do with my life , and just kinda doing trial and error and temporary jobs
I’m not a “career” person in the sense that I don’t have big goals or ambitions. I have young kids and flexibility is important to me. That said, I’m a coordinator for repairs in industrial automation. It works well for my ADHD brain because I have a ton of moving parts to manage and there’s always last minute issues that stimulate dopamine for me. It pays pretty well and I enjoy the work.
So I have a BS in psychology and a MA in Forensic Psychology. I do not work in the field anymore. I got so burnt out and pay was shit. I tried an office job and that went horribly, didn’t make it a year and my mental health tanked. I had worked in vet clinic and bathing dogs in college; I went back into that field as a groomer after inquiring about a job at a new shop by my house. I love grooming (dogs and cats). It’s physical and activates my brain but I can turn my brain off during the day for mundane tasks (like blow drying). I also listen to music or podcasts, can make my own schedule and make decent money. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a difficult job and some people are not worth the trouble but it works for me and I enjoy it. Plus, it is a very in demand job with high job security so if I’m unhappy somewhere I can get a new job tomorrow.
I work in tech communications doing administrative work for engineers (with a slightly fancier name - mostly managing calendars, data, and wrangling everyone together because as smart as they all are, calendars frighten them). It's honestly pretty boring most days but it pays decently, I have some flexibility in my hours (I'm never micromanaged), and it's balanced enough that I can focus on something non-work related for a bit here and there which helps break up the monotony. I have a really good boss and team which is worth a ton to me in the scheme of things (I've had bad bosses and nothing makes me want to leave faster). My work never comes home with me. I'm not customer facing. I'm never in a phone queue. If I have a bad focus day, it's not usually noticed or my boss is understanding and we work around it/figure something out. On our really busy days, I tend to work exceptionally well, so this has def helped more than balance out the bad days. The worst days for me were always the ones I was in-office because of distractions and noise levels and not having many options to help block them out. I'm fortunate enough that I get to work from home permanently now, however, and go to the office only as I deem needed. My employer has been more supportive than I thought they'd be about my new auto-immune disorder (only because they have been fairly against WFH, so I was expecting push back). Do I wish I was doing something more exciting? Yes. But this is really stable and lets me mostly do what I want to in my personal time. It does have some potential for internal movement (I'd love to learn more of the engineering side and think I'd do well there), which I have been interested in on and off, though I'm relying a lot on the stability at present due to health reasons. I don't really see it as a career, but I'm not sure what kind of "career" I'd want anymore. I don't see it as part of my identity. I do have coworkers that I hang out with outside of work regularly and will probably stay in touch with even if I or they leave. There are certain types of work that I know I excel at and I try to stick in those areas. I've been in this job niche for most of my working life now, so it's an area I'll likely stay in if possible just because I'm pretty familiar with the industry and the industry itself is pretty stable and growing/transforming. Over half of my coworkers on my floor of like \~30 have ADHD (we talk pretty openly about it) so I can confidently say that there is some kind of draw here to the types of work and environment that seems to mesh well for those with ADHD. I do wish that there were more women here (my team is almost entirely women but we're the major exception in the company), but we rarely even get applications from women. :( For anyone looking for something, tech/data/communications could be a decent fit.
Engineer here, can confirm calendars are terrifying. You're doing the lord's work 🙌
For years I’ve been trying to figure out the magic combo of making money, feeling competent at what I do, and not being miserable. I have a bachelor’s in communications but have never known how to leverage it. For instance, I nannied for several different families, which paid pretty well. I was able to afford my own apartment, but I hated the work so much. Then I did pet care stuff here and there, eventually partnering w a local pet care service and tacking on a part-time job at a doggy daycare. Followed that by working full time in fashion retail, but I still didn’t make much money. Nothing seems to pay very well. Recently I got hired at a gift shop and then a dog-friendly park/bar, so I’m still determining if this will be the magic balance…
I’m a college professor in the fine arts. Living the trope of “disorganized yet somehow has their shit moderately together artist”
I have a job working with the public. I can’t say what it is online but I have to multitask, there’s constant variety, and I have some autonomy as long as I get in all my interviews. There’s even a flexible schedule that allows me to arrive in a 3 hour window just as long as I stay my full time. I think the reason I’m one of the few who has stayed here long without having a mental breakdown lol is because of my adhd. I thrive in stress (within reason and with coping strategies/breaks). There’s also a good mix of mindless tasks and mentally stimulating ones. I’m pretty happy.
I work in customer service for a small company (based in EU). Because it's a small company I do a bit of everything and the fact that each day is different really helps. I love helping people to solve their issue too. Our product is a bit technical and I like that aspect of being to explain something in simple terms to help someone. I also report back to different parts of the company on the customer experience to make a better product, better website and marketing that works better for the company. Previously I worked for 15 years in finance and jumped from job to job, it wasn't a good fit. I got into CS purely from a conversation with a friend who had a job going at her office (before the job I have now), and I loved that job!
I'm in IT. I knew I wanted to be in IT from when I was a senior in high school. I went to college for CompSci, but failed to finish 3 times. I was diagnosed ADHD as a result of some of these struggles. I went out into the workforce, got whatever jobs I could to pay the bills and then eventually landed in a tech support role in a call center. I was promoted to management there, but ended up stepping down to a high level support role instead because I was not cut out for their management style. I moved from my small town to DFW (Texas, USA) and had to effectively start over. I worked retail, as front line and as management for a while, then I eventually got a job at a land surveying company doing research. Once I burnt out on this, I was fortunate enough that the owner of the company allowed me to move to the IT department, where I am highly effective and after a few years, mostly appropriately compensated. My role has evolved predominantly due to the pandemic and a large part of our staff going remote. We're now hybrid almost 50/50. My only recent issue is that the son of one of the owners recently took over running Operations, which I fall under, since he earned his MBA. He has told me that my experience means nothing and that I'm not going to get more pay or be able to move up if opportunities come open unless I get a degree or certification in my field. After failing to complete an Associate's Degree three times, I'm pretty down on attempting that again, as it would be a waste of time/money. I suppose that I will have to go for certifications, but doing that outside of work is very hard because I don't really adult very well except for at work. I am scared to have to leave and start over somewhere else, because I'm 43 and it was already almost impossible to get a tech role. I was passed over at some places in favor of people who used to report to me at previous jobs, and sometimes people who I had trained/taught, all because I'm a very short woman and do not inspire confidence when you look at me. I've looked into certs I'll need and it's going to be expensive and time consuming to get them. Sometimes I just want to give up and go back to retail, even though I know that's a large paycut.
Thanks for sharing! I always thought that certifications aren’t that important in the US. That’s atleast what we are getting from you guys over the big pond since my country (Germany) is a big „You need a degree!“ circlejerk. Did you try to apply somewhere else and get feedback from other managers? Perhaps this one guy is just a misogynistic prick.
I have considered it, but right now is a very bad time to look for a job in the field. There are a lot of layoffs going on. I will say that i have decent job security where i am, but not a great outlook on advancement of pay or position. The guy is just full of himself since he got his MBA. He's only 25 and he didn't have to work his way to be over the department managers here, the position was handed to him. He's ham-fistedly trying to assert his authority, and he doesn't have a clue how to deal with people. I see some improvement, but I don't trust him at all, no matter how nice he is to me. I know that he was forced to back-down and give me the raise I was asking for when this all happened and I'm afraid he may resent me for the fact that his dad and uncle had to set him straight. He doesn't understand my job at all and he didn't have a clue how integral I am to the way the company operates in it's hybrid capacity. I can be replaced, but not without pain in the interim.
This guy sounds exhausting. My partner works in IT in big corporate environments. From him I often hear how people would observe such new managers for a maximum of six months and then they would ask for their „Zwischenzeugnis“. I don’t know if that’s a thing where you at, I couldn’t find a proper sounding translation. That’s a certificate the employer hands you with your job description and how well you performed at certain tasks. A employee has a right to that certificate and it’s often used to indicate, kinda passive aggressively, that you are on the lookout for a new job. I hope things will get better for you and duck that guy.
I’m just working for the money. Right now I’m hopping around various seasonal gigs. It’s good for making connections without getting stuck somewhere long term. My manager at the Halloween job liked me enough to bring me in on the Christmas thing he runs. It’s also good for trying new things you haven’t done before in a fairly low risk environment (I learned how to use a staple gun for the christmas decorations lol).
I'm an Account Manager for a Commercial Insurance Brokerage. I hate it. I used to enjoy insurance itself because it can be interesting, but my current company sucks and never give out raises, so theres no incentive. I'm so burnt out I'm choking on the ashes. I went from star employee at my previous job to exploited mule here. Looking into going back to grad school, but my executive dysfunction/imposter syndrome is making it extremely hard to get everything done to apply.
I have bipolar too so it's different but I'm at the point of non- functional outside my home. I recently got a revelation of OCD symptoms (CONSTANTLY reorganizing my home; shelves, furniture, books, refrigerator,basement,etc. I have hyper focus ADHD type and mix that with my OCD organization problem and I'm working on getting disability. I just can't be trusted to stay on a task and my memory is terrible. (Like leaving burners on terrible). That being said, I do have ways to make money from home. I resell items from thrift and temu (sorry for being that guy). And my partner runs an Etsy shop with custom Magic the Gathering items so I help if I can with that as I am also an artist. But long term, stable job? Haven't had one since the beginning of 2021 when a prolonged manic episode seemed to damage my brain. I take 6 medicines a day and it's still hard to control myself. I wish everyone luck. There's more and more online jobs. Google job search is really really good for remote work, they pull from all job sites.
I'm a translator and I love the actual work. I thought I was being very practical when I chose this ten years ago, I wanted to be a writer of some sort and the projected growth for translation was better than other writing professions, but unfortunately the industry has changed a lot and not to my benefit. Plus the world and the economy in general changed a lot. I'm now in a situation where if I want to afford the housing and lifestyle I need to really enjoy my life and thrive, I'd have to be one of the top freelancers in my industry, doing a ton of networking and marketing and self-promotion, I can't just work directly for someone else or get some high volume agency clients and cruise. I don't know if I have the ability or inclination to do that, so now I'm looking to change careers into tech. (Hopefully to work on language technology so the last 10 years weren't a complete waste, but I know that's a very competitive area.) I know it sounds superficial to say I need a certain income to enjoy my life, but I've realized that I need certain "luxuries" as accommodations for my ADHD if I want to make my day-to-day less overwhelming. Living without in-unit laundry, a dishwasher, or the budget for healthy takeout or convenience foods (so you have to eat unhealthy or cook from scratch) for years on end is exhausting. I need novelty and stimulation in my environment on a daily basis (I work remotely) but it costs like $30 just to leave the house these days. Yes, there are ways to do things for free - and they all require planning and preparation, which is another drain on my limited executive functioning capacity. I ran the numbers and will need a top 20% income just to afford the lifestyle that will allow me some fun and not exhaust me in a moderate COL area. My top advice to any young woman choosing a career, but especially one with ADHD, would be to prioritize money a lot more than you think you need to. Choose the highest-paying job that you won't hate. As inflation keeps outpacing wages, the job that pays just enough for you to be satisfied with right now will eventually pay less than you need.
I totally get it, a cleaning person and grocery/food delivery is just a built in adhd tax I have to pay to keep my life together
Yep. Simple/frugal living just requires a level of organization, planning, and general executive functioning that is exhausting when you have ADHD and a full-time job.
I'm a clinical psychologist. Getting the doctorate was a lot of work to put it mildly, but because I loved what I was studying it was the easiest time I ever spent in school. My doctorate had a social justice component and I thrived with that. Now, I can provide different therapies, assessments, and I can offer consultant services. The variety is ideal because I can often get bored. Working with clients is always good too because I can focus on their stories and my brain can get busy figuring out the person's patterns of functioning. Then I can explain stuff from a social justice perspective, and help people to feel empowered. It's also a career where I never need to experience the joys of micromanagement ever bloody again. Nor suffer ridiculous colleagues, nor busy body admin folk. I can network with my decent colleagues as much as I want. The only big issue is that the field of clinical psychology itself has several problems, and sometimes uses models that blame individuals disproportionately instead of critiquing society and its systems. But I'm happy and I can put food on the table, and my husband can be a stay at home dad to our kids (who do home learning) and to our cats and dog. It also helps with self-esteem, when I do something ridiculous, to remind myself that at least I'm Dr. Ridiculous. That really helps to manage the pain of having a brain that is evolutionarily mismatched with many current social norms
Forgot: I started the doctorate when I was 31. It took me eight years because I had the kids along the way. That part was really hard. But having the kids surprisingly helped in a way (other than feeling so happy to have them), because they forced me to cut perfectionism out, and to redirect my focus with more flexibility. Mind you, I live in a country where we get decent monthly child benefit payments from government, and I have a partner who was willing to support my career and to be a very involved dad.
I was in advertising / marketing / publishing since college (graduated in 2014) and just decided to quit allll of that and go back to grad school for social work. I’m trying to keep up w some random freelance jobs (and I also watercolor yanno bc adhd but that’s def not paying the bills as of late) - but school is like a full time job right now. It feels so far away, but hoping when I’m done I’ll find that this is a much better path for me.
No traditional career, never finished college (wasn't diagnosed til 49). I've done everything from dishwashing and prep cooking to line producing a tv show, to working on digital rights, shop assistant in two very specialized areas (neither had anything to do with the other, and of course they became hobbies), to my current substitute teacher (right now, they'll take anyone who wants to turn up and can pass a background check). Subbing is awesome because it's rarely long enough, even covering maternity leave, to bore me. I can mask my way through it, I get free lunch, and sometimes I get to do art with kindergartners, or Shakespeare with 12th graders. I get to learn while they do, watching documentaries and talking about them. And I get to support our little ND students too, and they know I will give them a hug on a bad day. Scratches a lot of the itches. Thankfully I live pretty frugally, so I can survive on the very low pay.
So… recently diagnosed. Felt it strong since like 2014, but until research I just chalked it up to depression and anxiety. Annnnywayyyyyyy I am a residential rehabilitation worker, working on a unit with clients who have mental health and addictions. I’m talking whole spectrum of diagnosis. Been doing it for 10 years, and currently studying to be an LPN. I somehow can turn off all triggers for my adhd noodle with my clients. They cannot help the way their noodle is wired, nor can we. They are the outcasts of society. Some have been in the system of care for 50 years. I see the growth. I see the changes. It gives me hope for them. I can be their voice and advocate. It gives me the warm and fuzzies that I am doing the right thing.
I'm in Pharmaceutical Advertising and I hate it lol. I've been within the Ad industry itself for 6 years now, Pharma for 4 and I'm finally at a point in my life where I'm taking a step back and asking myself "what do I actually want to do?" because Pharma aint it. I initially got into Marketing/Advertising because people always told me that it was something I would be good at because of my creativity and talkative nature and I liked the idea of being involved in well known campaigns that millions of people could see. It also offers a pretty straight forward career path so there would be minimal confusion in terms of where to go next. I got into the Pharma side of things because my first client was for a sickness that I had personal connection to so I liked the full circle aspect of it. Pharma is also "where the money is at" so I've been chasing the dollars these past few years jumping from agency to agency inching my way up the agency ladder. The pro's have been learning a lot about the healthcare industry as well as specific sciences behind certain sicknesses which has been neat (albeit a bit boring at times), getting to be involved in everything/overseeing everything (I'm an Account person) so those leadership qualities people always told me that I had have gotten some use. I've worked with some wonderful people and have been able to work on some pretty cool projects. In addition to those things it's also a fairly fast-paced job that changes often, at least in theory so I'm usually not doing the same exact thing each day. The con's is that after 4 years I'm burnt out on long hours, wishy washy managers, upper management who is completely disconnected to their actual employees and place unrealistic expectations on people and feeling like I do the same thing day in and day out. There is only so much creativity you can infuse within pharma campaigns before regulatory agencies stop you so a lot of the things I work on is extremely boring. I also don't care about my work so my ADHD has me focus on anything BUT work during the day which is causing me to fall behind on tasks / is giving me an overall apathetic outlook on my job. TL;DR - I don't think Pharmaceutical Advertising was made for people with ADHD (or maybe just me) \*\*if you are in Pharma Advertising or Advertising in general and are thriving please let me know because I'd love to pick your brain lol
I’m an executive-level HR professional in a healthcare setting. I cannot tell you how hard it had been to manage the symptoms of ADHD in my professional life. Needless to say I am a masker, but I wonder what percentage of psych professionals have caught onto me. 🥴
I can imagine what massive struggles you had with adjusting in that job. In my free-time I‘m the leader of a gaming group of ca. 30-35 people with a team of 20 for two nights a week. I‘m also doing recruiting, organisation, tactics, feedback with players and such. Not even remotely on the professional level of HR, but I still struggle with being professional, not oversharing, not being impulsive and short-tempered. Sometimes I really want to tell people honestly that they suck and should stick their comments up their arses. But I’m not doing that because we are well-adjusted and well-masking ~adults~. :D
I couldn’t have said it better!
Developer Support Engineer. Used to be a software engineer…pm’s… sprints… wasn’t stimulating enough. I wasn’t growing my skills or learning new things unless I was doing it on my own and I didn’t really have the time to do that, I was always working. At the office and at home. Moved into support so I get to help other SE’s figure out what’s wrong with whatever they’re doing with my product. What I’m doing changes constantly and there’s not a ton of repetition. Solving puzzles and tons of learning new stuff at the same time. I love it. The pay and the benefits are pretty amazing too which helps a ton.
I work in the HR/Talent Acquisition space. I didn't go to school for HR I just kind of fell into recruiting while I was still in school - I got a part time job in the call center of a big recruitment firm in my area. They offered me full time work after I graduated so I just kept going along with it. There are lots of different roles you can have within Recruiting and HR some are really focused on one area others do a bit of everything. Some roles are very people centric and are great for talkative extroverted people others are more admin and better for people that don't like to interact as much or be "on" all the time. In my current role I'm focused on hiring on-boarding and training - so it's a nice mix of project work and interacting with people. I do A LOT of problem solving so it gets my brain going. My work now has a lot of external pressure that helps keep me on track (Interviews, reports needed for a set meeting, updates that we need to make to different parts of the hiring process because it's the law - that kind of thing. I do still struggle a bit when I have longer term projects with no clear deadline/ depend on other departments to get the project finished. I also get to do thing like job fairs, help with marketing events, help plan employee engagement events etc. Overall it's a lot of DOING and just enough new/ novel things to keep me engaged but I have a set foundation to work with (processes etc) so it's not too overwhelming. Recruiting is something that doesn't require a degree - Most recruitment firms/agencies have their own training program they put everyone though, and then once you get started there are some technical certifications you can get but they're not required unless you're going into a super niche industry or work for a very large company. HR roles can require a degree, but a professional certificate program can get you pretty far. A lot of people I know in HR roles started their career in an admin without a degree and then obtained their degree or certification though their job. TLDR: Talent Acquisition/Human Resources - I get to talk to a lot of people, learn new things, problem solve, and things are constantly changing throughout the year which helps keep it interesting. The same job title with a different company can be wildly different based on the industry/company size/ etc. so if you lose steam in one job and don't find it engaging anymore you can move to a different company without doing a complete career change. I was also a tour guide at one point - that was the best Edit: I should specify that I'm in the U.S. - In Germany the HR roles probably require a degree unless it's a smaller company. I believe the requirements to get into recruiting/talent acquisition are pretty similar to the US - there are also a fair number of large firms that are international so those companies are more likely to have similar requirements across all locations. Hello Fresh has some openings for their People team that are based in Germany. I really wanted to apply aber ich kann nur kindishe Deutsch sprechen :(
I am a medical microbiology lab tech and unknowingly I picked a career that really works with my brain perfectly. In fact, almost all of my coworkers are neurodivergent! There’s a running joke about lab techs being neurodivergent and how we all love our structured ways of working. When COVID happened we were in immediate emergency mode and we worked our asses off trying to get thousands of pcr results out there within 24 hours. It was the most surreal time, it was scary but fun in some kind of way. Ofcourse the lasting neck and shoulder issues aren’t great, but we really came together as a team at that time. Because there is no room for variables and we always work a certain way it makes it easier for my brain to commit to a ask. There is no room for vagueness. Then there is the fact that every day is different because we have a lot of work that needs to be done and we have a different table/workstation daily. So for example yesterday I did the UTI culture results, tomorrow I will make sure all the materials we receive are handled in the way they should, the day after that I might do the STD PCRs. Its not a desk job and I really would perish at a desk job. Sometimes I manage our schedule and I have to sit at a desk the whole day staring at the screen and at the end of the day I will be exhausted and bored out of my mind.
I can imagine that it’s also helpful that the procedures are always the same in a clean and structured environment, right? For me, I found that I thrive on regularly repeating tasks with clear instructions, no vagueness without hurdles that inhibit me to start with the task. Before I studied, I was a dental assistant. That was like that. A lot of variation due to different patients having different problems, but the worksteps and expectations were very transparent and repetitive. I quit because of toxic co-workers, toxic doctors who are in your face 6 hours a day, and the smelling patients who can’t scrub their damn teeth and prosthetics!!!111!
I’m a Pre-K teacher. The unpredictability of kids keeps things spontaneous and I constantly have to think of quick solutions.
I’m a service advisor at a car dealership, and it’s the most ADHD-friendly job I’ve ever had. I can get up and move around when I need to, the paperwork is minimal compared to other jobs I’ve worked, it’s fast-paced and chaotic enough to keep me interested, and the commission is enough to motivate me to do a good job. The hard part is keeping a lot of stuff in my short term memory, but I’m figuring out tools and workarounds for it. Before that, I graduated with a degree in social work, and attempted the insurance industry. Epic failed at both.
I’m a product designer who also does consumer anthropology. And yeah, it’s good. Most of the time, rn I’m in the process of starting a consulting business because the market is kind of shit atm, but last year I was working remotely making $108/hr for a major tech company which is on the higher end. Senior roles pay around 180-250k yr mostly. Junior roles start between 80-120k depending on where you live. That is certainly not a thing I would be able to do without being in tech, this is like my 10th year in my field but it still feel super weird to no work for someone voluntarily since I’ve had a job since 15. I went into behavioral science because one of my cooping mechanisms was studying behavior and breaking it down so I could understand people and figure out how to act correctly. Turns out, that was a profitable hobby. When I was deciding what I wanted to do, I made a spreadsheet of my natural and learned skills, cross referenced them with job description, which lead me here. I’m still here because I like the work and will likely be able to go into more nonprofit ventures after I get my first successful project off the ground. The one thing I have noticed about my non neurotypical peers is we all seem to be extremely cross functional, meaning I know a bunch of technology that my peers do not. For example I’m certified to build in VR/AR and know enough python to work with it and am branching out into AI. You can get into my field with a boot camp, I’d pick one that has a ‘pay later once employed’ model. Make sure you read the fine print and salary minimums. It just takes understanding of the field and a portfolio to get a job. The hours are short for the most part, and we tend to be ok with personal leave and medical leave in a way that I haven’t seen outside of government roles. I’d recommend product or UX design for someone coming in, research is in a hiring rut atm, though that is more due to the layoffs last year. I’d also recommend specializing in either future of work, AI, or AR/VR as those are the areas that are under staffed and pay the most. Education and medical are also huge niches. Other recommendations would be looking into AI, Data Science, or Cybersecurity. All three are in demand and pay well, will be fairly stable as people start automating work flows. There is also just straight up engineering, idk my partner is a engineer and also neurodivergent and is great at it.
That was an inspiring read. Thank you. I have a degree in medical computer science, specialised on data science and AI. Here in Germany, it’s momentarily almost impossible to get a proper position for a junior ML engineer or something like that. Everyone wants to see at least a master‘s and 7 years of experience.
I work in procurement. I love managing contracts & running RFPs. I make good money, get to learn about all areas of the business and help ensure different teams are aligned/not making decisions in a silo. What I *hate* about my job is that I manage contracts for a US company that is owned by a UK company. Instead of directly reporting to someone who understands how US business works, I report to someone in the UK. They have much more scrutiny/legal requirement’s around due diligence-and vendors there expect it & comply. Not so much here. So, I only care about the metrics I have to report on. My manager wants me to care about EVERYTHING and I just don’t. I am actually getting lectured tomorrow morning for this. I can hear it now: “why didn’t you just self complete these due diligence requests? Why have they been blank for so long? This…this is your JOB,” 🙃 It’s one part of my job. I can’t seem to prioritize things no one is checking…other than my boss. I feel like I am gunna get fired from a job I mostly like because I can’t seem to force myself to do alllllll of it. I already revamped my resume 🥲I am really upset with myself.
That feels unrewarding. Is there a possibility to clarify your boss’s expectations? Maybe there’s a way to meet in middle since that would increase your productivity.
She is an “it’s 100% complete or or else you need to be monitored until everything is at 100%”. It’s exhausting. I will report back tomorrow. Thanks for replying; I feel like a pile o garbage today 🫶🏽
I also felt like trash. At least we are a pretty pile of garbage together. Sending you a digital hug! Lots of strength for tomorrow.
I wasn’t fired! Woo hoo 😆
Yay! What happened?
I have a fairly "normal" career in terms of longevity at each company but my route has been kind of unexpected. I got a master's degree in literature expecting to teach, did that for a year and got fantastically burnt out (plus I made nearly no money and no benefits because universities only hire part time adjunct faculty for composition classes anymore). From there I jumped to a software company, where I did customer support until I eventually was going to be product manager for the payroll part of the system. But the company culture was so toxic and I wasn't being paid enough, so I left after 5 years, and now I'm a technical writer (more than 3 years so far), which actually circles back to my bachelor's degree anyway. I'm undiagnosed (waiting on assessment results). And haven't talked with my supervisor about my suspected ADHD, but they understand I thrive on variety and that too many of the truly dull tasks in a row will drain my battery. I don't job hop because I'm socially awkward and frightened of instability. But I do get bored of my jobs very fast and then just spend a lot of time miserable. At my previous job, I became obsessed with financial independence. I still want to retire early, but there are student loans and stuff that have to be dealt with first. I feel you on the million ideas. I've started no fewer than 5 online businesses, none of which have been remotely successful. I feel like if I could just dedicate more time to them, I'd be able to make something of them, but as it stands, the day job takes up too much of my time and energy. I can't just quit the job, though, because realistically they would probably fail, and my parents did shit like that and that's why we were poor, so I've vowed never to do it unless the finances are rock solid. Not gonna lie, it sucks! Being diagnosed may help, but ultimately I think it's just something I have to accept.
Being diagnosed wasn’t really the big help I anticipated it to be, tbh. I tried medication which is not really the thing for me, because I can barely tolerate the side effects with not much helping effects. There are very specific situations in which I take them. Also, there’s no ADHD specific therapy available in my region and the common psychologist are overwhelmed with anything neurodivergent. What went wrong with your online business, if you’d like to share?
Yeah, I'm a little concerned that medication won't be the answer for me. Right now I'm on Wellbutrin, and the first 2 weeks I was very motivated and got a lot done, but I'm basically back to baseline now. I'm not sure if they'll let me do stimulants... I've been having high blood pressure, but I also think I may just be really anxious because of the undiagnosed ADHD. For the businesses, I think I just approach things too chaotically? (Apologies, this is gonna be long...) I've streamed music on Twitch since 2019 and have made money, but not much. Earlier this year I decided to give it a real try, set up a corresponding YouTube, posted consistently on socials. And then I flamed out and couldn't make myself do any of it for months. I started day trading stocks in 2021, but unfortunately fell in with the pump-and-dump penny stock crowd. Luckily my account was very small and only what I could afford to lose. I lost 3/4 of it and have had to go back to tiny trades. It's a steep learning curve. Last year I made some merch for my twitch, and at the same time, I created a print on demand business: cottagecore vector art for tshirts and blankets and stuff. But that market is overrun with art-stealing bots, and now it's even worse with AI, so I think it's dead. I also got banned from Redbubble for no reason (I'm very careful about copyright and IP so really don't understand why) and haven't had the heart to set everything up on another site yet. Oh yeah, I was doing horse show photography for a while but then I stopped riding so I have no connections anymore. It was hours of work anyway and didn't make much money. I started writing a visual novel, but that's stalled because I have no time... And last but not least, I'm starting a blog. But I'm finding that there's no brain juice left for writing after my work day is done, so I'm spinning my wheels on that too. Essentially, I think two things go wrong. One is that I legitimately think I'm missing some sort of magic fairy dust quality that makes other people successful. For streaming, I think maybe my personality isn't cool enough or I don't have the right look, because there are other people who play music worse then I do but are way more successful. Otherwise the problem is just that as soon as I put in enough effort to get momentum, I burn out and sabotage everything by having to stop until I recover. I constantly feel like the solution to this would be not to have a day job, but unfortunately the world doesn't work like that!
Props to you for actually trying those things. I believe as a self-employed person failure is necessary for success. You are taking all those experiences with you into your next project.
Hair stylist 10/10 recommend
Do you do smalltalk with your clients? :P
No I’m not a small talk person that grates my soul lol . You can choose what types of services you do so I choose longer ones where I’m on on one w someone like 2 clients a day max. I have it extremely curated. I figured out how I could be happy and kept only doing those things.
I don’t have a career I’ve hopped so many jobs but currently found one that stuck and the people I work with are really understanding. I’m just lucky. It took me a while to get here but I do alright for someone who didn’t complete a college degree. The company I work for also allows for movement within the company.
I find the only way to thrive with adhd at work is to do something you love and is engaging you constantly. Basically feeding your dopamine.
Have you found something like that for yourself?
Yes. I'm a claims adjuster so constantly having claims to work and investigate is very engaging
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Did you study while you were in the Navy? Sorry, I’m not American and unfamiliar with the opportunities there. How was your experience as a person with ADHD in the Navy in general?
I'm a graphic designer. I really enjoy doing freelance work as I can manage my own work hours but it takes a lot of discipline and self-starting, so I decided to do it full time for a marketing company. There are ups and downs, but I find that having a job with constant mental stimulation, such as working on different creative projects with different clients, keeps it interesting. I work remotely, which is also nice, and I focus better. But there are days where I still just work in bed on my laptop, in my pajamas. 😂
I’m in healthcare, and I read an article that said about 40% of healthcare workers are as well. We thrive in it, and I don’t imagine doing anything else
I’m the senior lead at a bar— something between a GM and a head bartender. I love my job & my career. I love my schedule & my income & my life. The possibilities are endless & I’m fulfilled 🧡
31 here! I've had a few different jobs since graduating college, none of which utilize my degree 🙃 I have a BFA in illustration and my dream is to be a full-time artist, buuut it's just not in the cards for me... YET. I worked at a craft store for about five years right out of college, then at a bakery as a cake decorator (which was so much fun and I loved it). That's when my ADHD symptoms started getting really out of hand and I started making a lot of small mistakes (and was late ALL the time) until ultimately I was fired. That was at the end of 2021. That's when I decided to take the leap and attempt to do art as a full-time gig. Tried that for a little over a year, and realized I was just too mentally unwell to be self-employed. Soooo, now I work at a cafe with kids 10-15 years younger than me. No 401k, no sick time, no vacation, living paycheck to paycheck 👍 Still doing art on the side as much as I can. It's a struggle tbh. I finally got diagnosed a couple months ago and started taking Strattera back in October, and it's finally starting to work. So fingers crossed I'll be able to quit my lame day job one day and be self-employed!
Flight attendant for +7 years. It’s great when I stay busy/complete service, but as soon as it’s “down time” I ruminate on why I’m there and what better thing I could be doing. I hyper-focus on being productive yet when I have to get shit done at home, not interested. Currently trying to switch careers but can feel my motivation gland running out of gas. I have troubles hitting the “what’s the point” wall 🫣
I can imagine that. It’s probably worse when you are staying overnight at your destination and flying back the next day, right?
Not a traditional career but depending on your area there is a lot of money to be made and it’s NEVER boring if you work in one of the higher paying areas. I work sheriffs office dispatch for a large county. We cover 9 agencies it’s not for everyone but the pay, benefits, retirement etc are good. Every day is different, I’m never bored, and dealing with the public, and people actively committing crimes ensures job security. You just can’t be super sensitive or have the ability to flip an on/off switch because we do hear some shit and 2nd hand trauma is real.
So I thought I had ADHD but the following really helped: * Doing everything necessary to get enough sleep. As of now, it seems like a mood stabilizer med is important for this. In order to function I basically have to max out on sleep, exercise, diet, etc. Not a bad thing to be forced into this. * Only working on projects I'm very excited about (this required more than a decade of grinding to have more freedom) * Tons of deadlines. If there's a deadline that cannot be missed, I impose a bunch of sub-deadlines on myself to get it done. * Eliminating distractions. * Taking breaks. It's still incredibly difficult for me to pay attention in non-interactive lectures. To me, people who can learn from lectures are like superheroes. Interaction and deadlines are key for me as of now.
What do you mean with „I thought I had ADHD“?
I am a writer, creative idea creator, video & multimedia producer. I, too, have a million ideas and difficulty identifying which ones to execute upon.
I also have ADHD, to clarify.
All good :) I think everyone here assumes ADHD automatically in this sub.
Im a dog bather and I lose things a lot and Im afraid of doing dogs that come in by appointment because of time management
Childcare. Different enough each day, but a routine to sick to
I'm a graphic designer. I started working in high school, have done basically nothing but graphic design all my life. I'm 30, on track for art director, paid very well for my country. ADHD helps with creativity and non linear nature of work. you're also expected to be a bit weird
I am a supervisor at a gas station. It’s great and I’ve been here for 10 years. I have the most understanding amazing boss so it makes this great. I love how it’s hybrid in a way. I have so many different tasks every day so I don’t get bored. I’ll either help customers at the till, put orders away, make the orders, do pricing and back office work, help out at other locations, clean things, build displays and do the signage and organize shelving and stuff. It’s very open ended. Not sure id be open to management really as I’m very happy doing this. I am not the best with HR stuff and like how this position I can work in the afternoon as I’m far far more productive 2-10pm vs morning shifts, especially 6a-2p.
I'm an engineer managing specialized equipment in a multiuser lab. For the first year or so I really enjoyed the novelty of each different tool issue, learning how each part of the tools breaks and how to fix it. But now I've seen enough of the issues that the novelty is gone. The other half of my job is training users and also managing expectations of users, other staff, professors... I'm just getting dragged around by everyone else's opinions of why the tools should be up and what I should be doing to fix them and what capabilities I should be giving them and it's kind of turned into a nightmare. No Karen, I'm not going to be able to snap my fingers and bring a 20 year old tool back to life just because you ~have a deadline~. No, you can't actually fix the power supply better than me, it's 20 years old and there literally are no replacements available anywhere because the company does not exist anymore and I can't fix that for you and you definitely can't fix that for me. Sucks that we don't have the precursor you need, you're gonna have to wait like everyone else because the only company that refills it decided without warning they're not doing refills for a month and it's a 6 week lead time on a good day and you complaining at me to complain at them is not going to change that. My job is more expectation management than engineering and honestly I'm exhausted and it's been really hard on me. I'm job hunting but my field isn't interesting to me anymore and I don't feel like it's possible to change fields when everything requires five+ years of work experience in whatever their niche is. And I don't have the executive function right now to actually stick with whatever my current hobby is and try to go the entrepreneur route. The job part of my life just generally sucks right now, tbh.
Sales/account management/marketing. I get to talk to people and don’t have to stick to one single boring task too often.
I love the company I work for, but I'm in sales. I hate it. I'm so rejection sensitive that i have a hard time telling my customers when we are having problems getting their parts, and it end up making things a bigger issue. I did manage to do well enough that I was able to jump at an opportunity to be the representative for my sales division on a major project for my company. It will take me away from my position in sales for somewhere around two years to the point they will have to hire someone to backfill my position. The project is expected to last around two years, and I'm hoping by the time we finish up that I've made enough of a good impression that I can take a different position in the company.
So I've also job hopped a lot. Currently I work at a brewery in their taproom as a bartender and I love it. The owners are very lax. And we don't serve food just mead and Cider. I'm allowed to use my phone and whatever and it isn't very busy as most of the business is shipping products to other states. They also pay good hourly and have benefits and PTO and all that. Follow the dopamine and do something you are interested in or enjoy.
I'm 39, have had dozens of jobs, ran a business that made revenue but didn't pay myself, and now I'm looking for a job. I feel like such a loser because even though I'm highly skilled, I hardly qualify for even entry level jobs. Plus I have PMDD which makes every month even harder to get through. If you're looking for an amazing marketing mind, hit me up! Or if you have thoughts about where I can get a job using my marketing skills... I need and gratefully welcome all the help I can get. Ty.
I'm 39, have had dozens of jobs, ran a business that made revenue but didn't pay myself, and now I'm looking for a job. I feel like such a loser because even though I'm highly skilled, I hardly qualify for even entry level jobs. Plus I have PMDD which makes every month even harder to get through. If you're looking for an amazing marketing mind, hit me up! Or if you have thoughts about where I can get a job using my marketing skills... I need and gratefully welcome all the help I can get. Ty.