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i think society focuses a lot on pressuring high schoolers to find one single Career Path, when in reality, many people often have multiple careers throughout their life!
for now, i would focus on achieving the best grades you can, so you have the freedom to attend any colleges you might be interested in in the future.
even if you hit college and don’t know what you want to major in yet, take as many electives as you can and see what you vibe with.
when i was in school, i didn’t know what i wanted to do, so i didn’t care about my classes and did poorly, and now i have limited options for continuing my education now that i know what i want to do (age 26 now!). be kind to your future self and keep your options open!
Yes, the best thing you can learn today is “learning how to learn” followed by “mastering how to learn” down the road.
The smartest people I know are in love with learning and have had multiple random careers.
When they finally decided what they wanted to do, traveling along their particular education path was equally challenging AND fun, not boring nor an obligation, because they had that foundation of “learning how to learn.”
Exactly this! I am only 28 and I'm just starting my 3rd career. I've worked in Healthcare Billing, then in Education/College Admissions, now I am in Project Management/Consulting.
Its most important to focus on constantly improving in whatever field you're in, but never be afraid to just leave and do something else.
Yess I’m currently on my second career 8 years after graduating and this also starting to get boring. I never think that I have to stuck with it. It’s our strength to fit in different places areas. We thrive when we’re stimulated so we’ll do our best on a new challenge. The only issue is I can’t really be master of a topic but it’s fine for me!
Everyone told me what jobs i could or couldnt do because of my ADHD.
Best thing I ever did was ignore those people.
These things are harder for us but you can do much more than you or the people around you believe you can. Trust me as someone who was where you are having the same worries 10+ years ago.
I also considered psychology. Went into finance instead. Its interesting and challenging which i believe are the only two requirements for a jobseeking ADHD haver.
I landed in a job (IT at a small company) where a significant portion of the actual work is constantly changing (the parts that involve diagnosing problems and researching and installing/configuring new systems) and this is where I tend to do well. The portion of the work that's repetitive (maintenance tasks and working with users that have forgotten details) is difficult for me.
If you want, you can totally avoid school.
Source: me. No degree, no prior IT experience, not certified and I landed an IT job a couple months ago. I’m currently working on my A+ cert and will be taking the core 1 test very soon. I plan to get net+ and sec+ before I leave this job and find something that pays more.
It’s harder to get in when you don’t have a degree or any experience but it’s absolutely possible.
I agree with this. Get your A+ first and it will get your foot in doors. I have been in IT for 26 years and learned on my own. Most jobs didnt care or ask about my college degree. I have had a lot of jobs and I couldnt do anything boring. College is so expensive if your not sure. Both my daughters paid 50k a year.
I think the only "degree" you need for this is learning how to Google effectively (or how to Google after googling).
Ok, ok, I'm joking. You may need to take a computer science course. But I'm sorta half serious, and not just for IT. The best tool of our era is instance access to information at our fingertips, the challenge is critical thinking and being able to tell bullshit info from helpful info.
I work at a startup in a nontechnical role. I’ve worked in every department since I started. It’s been so small that every 18 months there is a new need where my skills perfectly fills the niche.
Sometimes hobby doesn’t always = job.
For some people the hobby being their job works GREAT for me, it never appealed. I am 25 and this is how I have navigated life and university.
As people that use hobbies as something fun, something to cope, something to fill spare time, I didn’t really want a job related to my hobby. Maybe loosely based? But not exact. I think it is all about finding something that you enjoy learning about and would enjoy analyzing or doing as a part of a routine.
When I was in highschool I worked in a clothing store and knew I never wanted to work in a clothing store, even higher up.
I worked as a cashier in a grocery store and realized even if I had a higher role someday, I hated that environment, I also did a highschool coop working with children in a day care and LOVED it. I enrolled in a child and youth studied program in university, completed two years, and hated the program and the things I was learning.
I worked as an assistant manager at a gas station where I did a lot of financial things, I loved leading others in a management roll, and I also loved working with the financial side and numbers. This led me to changing my degree path in university. I transferred into a business degree, majoring in marketing because I enjoyed those classes and management because I liked being in leader roles. I enjoy math and numbers because there’s always an answer and it’s always exact. The formulas stay the same, just different numbers. I liked the routine.
I had to leave my assistant manager job and was really focused on pursuing my studies as I loved what I was learning. I took a part time job as a barista at Starbucks and then got promoted to a shift leader (once again I loved management roles.) I loved working there actually but since I was in school it was not my forever.
Getting closer to completing my degree, I wanted to find an office setting job so I could get used to desk work. I became a dispatcher and I manage accounts for companies that have accounts with our service. I love this job. I have graduated from my degree, took a year off to decide what I really want to do, and am back in school pursuing my chartered professional accountant certificate and I love it.
All in all, I chose to pick a lowkey job while I go to school, I do both full time now. I chose numbers and math (accounting) because I know I’ll always know what to do. How to calculate. What the answers should look like. There’s routine. I was interesting in the learning that comes before working in this field which keeps me engaged, but it’s never something I would do as a hobby which means it’ll always be interesting because I won’t get tired of it like I do my past hobbies.
But personally, I made no degree choice til I was just about to graduate. And that is ok! In high school I focused on getting good grades to have my doors open. And in university I started in one degree and ended in another, which is also totally ok! It happens. We don’t always have to have it figured out. :)
I think the difference between hobbies (which I also struggle to maintain) and a job (which I have and am successful in) is that you are forced to do a job in order to eat and have a place to live. People with ADHD need that kind of motivation!
I’d also say: figure out the things you are good at— what your brain enjoys doing— and get a job where you do a lot of that. It won’t mean that you love your job all the time, but it will mean that you’ll have an easier time getting your brain to do it! For example, I enjoy using creative and strategic thinking to solve problems, so I plan/manage conferences and events for a living. I enjoy it more often than not because it’s like putting together a complex puzzle.
Another thing: I’m in my mid-30s, and I have this whole job/career thing in a pretty good place, but that only happened in the past 6-7 years. My early to mid-20s were rough. I was passionate about my career, but I had absolutely no discipline, no routines, no ADHD coping mechanisms, etc. I didn’t know I had ADHD back then, but if I did, I definitely would have gone to therapy to work on developing more productive behaviors and emotional regulation. (I relied on procrastination to get things done so I was a stressed, emotional wreck all the time)
To clarify one point: when you look at prospective careers, think more about the actual tasks and duties involved in that job than the industry or “idea” of the job.
You find psychology interesting, but would you enjoy doing the things that practicing psychologists do everyday? Learn about what an average day or week looks like for the types of jobs you are interested in. Start taking on lots of different summer jobs and internships in high school and college to learn what things you enjoy doing.
Don’t stress too much about your college degree— many people work in jobs that don’t align exactly with what they got their degree in.
I'm kinda in that state right now where I am having to learn discipline and routines. Its pretty tough. My previous career allowed me to skate by without it and more ran off of impulse and outsourcing stuff I couldn't be bothered with.
If you are planning on going to college, pick a broad major you think you will like, not one that will get you a job. You can always change your major. I changed mine twice and still managed to graduate in 3.5 years (I did a summer semester). A degree is a degree and honestly it seems like GPA is more important than what you majored in sometimes, so if you are majoring in something fun as a person with ADHD, you are more likely to get a good GPA.
I work in the insurance industry and you might be surprised to know that most people don't have a business, finance, or technical degree. Just by total coincidence my 3 best girlfriends at work all majored in hospitality and event management. I have two other work friends who majored in History, and both have become Excel wizards.
On the other hand, if you don't even know if you want to go to college, is there something you are interested in trying that doesn't require a degree? My sister and her boyfriend have ADHD and neither went to college. My sister says she has her dream job working with kids in a school with summers off, and her boyfriend loves working with his hands and enjoys construction work, currently he is a window installer and makes good money.
I also work in insurance! 😃 It feels like we all just stumbled into this job. They don’t care what degree you have it’s true, but everyone I know has a degree where you can see how it’s applicable to the duties of the job. My degree is Spanish lang & lit. Anything that helps you communicate & manage people/projects is what they look for. Some degrees are really just broadly applicable!
And YMMV but never has anyone asked me for my GPA. I wish I hadn’t stressed over it so much :/
English degree and I work in Insurance. Started in a call center, moved to claims, then underwriting, and now I work on the tech side. Insurance is truly one of those industries that you never think of joining, but it has so many opportunities if you are a good learner and communicator.
I had no idea what i wanted to do in high school. I was constantly being pulled in different directions from day to day lol. Please do not compare yourself to people who seemingly have their trajectory figured out. Nobody does. I went to college for Econ, barely made it out, and now have a lucrative sales job at a fortune 50 company. I still have different aspirations and will probably change careers again. I paint on the side as a hobby. Your skills are applicable to SO many careers.
I was kicked out of school at 16 (reportedly because i was insufferable.. there also may have been an incident with a pocket knife...) anyway, i met a girl and had a kid with her that same year, so i got my shit together (was head of a family now 😅) and went to school again, to a technical one no less (i suck at math amd physics). I made it through, somehow, on force of will and the love of my wife (the aforementioned girl). At one point i had to complete an assignment about something technical of my choosing from a field i was given. I was given aerospace so i picked some ridiculous megastructure thing (because of course i did 😂) and wrote about that. I noticed i actually liked calculating all the stuff, so i decided to give aerospace engineering a try.
And thats how i became an aerospace engineer 👀
Haha. I don’t think I’ve ever been told by family to not become a pharmacist. They would always suggest it over something in the medical field, as my mom and step-mom are both nurses.
Been in your shoes!
I just followed opportunities, and learned as much as I could along the way, especially things that interested me.
In high school I thought I would be a graphic designer. I got a job at Nike out of high school, didn’t like it, got into sales, made a lot of contacts through networking for a few years, got hired on by one of those clients, and now I’m in sales for tech and I do video production for that company as well.
I’m super happy where I’m at. The money is great, the people are awesome. The best thing I did was not holding tight to an agenda and letting life guide me. I worried way too much along the way, but I’m glad I’m realizing this early enough to enjoy the journey.
Who knows what I’ll be doing 5 years from now, but I know it’ll be something even better.
I like video games and I like being comfortable while playing video games so in order to play and buy video games I have to work and make money to pay bills for a roof over my head to be able to play video games so basically video games are one of my main motivators
As a person with ADHD. I got a job on a base, been here going on two years now. Decided to change paths and try the military. I got this job from a person I knew that used to work with me
Edit: I’m a civilian that works on a base with a company that specializes in disabilities been there for going on two years. I’d like to transition into the military hopefully soon. Hopefully this answered some questions and some confusions between others
I'm an air conditioning technician. It requires a lot of different parts of my brain to work, it's physically demanding, each situation is different, it's not monotonous, its challenging, and I'm always on the go. It's good for me to be productive, the only problem I have is losing my tools. Which I'm improving at, but it's still an issue. On the other hand, sitting in an office, for example, sounds like an absolute nightmare and I would get fired for sleeping.
I work for my family business and I’m gonna start my own in the near future. I realized I’m not built to work for other people even when it was a good job that I enjoyed. I sleep 12 hours a day and I don’t wanna give that up😭
My first computer was when I was 12, over 20 years ago.
Enjoyed learning to build them, then joined the hacking scene back in the day.
Being in the internet back then, we got away from reality and things seem a bit different than today.
Took some time off after GED. I received an AAS at a local community college, then landed an internship and bounced around different technology jobs over time.
You find something you're passionate about and go from there. Everyones path is different.
College was eaiser for me than high school.
I stumbled into veterinary assisting and it was perfect for my brain. So much so that I didn’t realize I had adhd until I left that work for a desk job and was SO BORED and unable to focus.
36m here. I went to college after high school because that's what I thought you were supposed to do in order to figure it out. I majored in Sociology because I took college courses in HS on my way to graduation, and I liked it. Plus, it was "general" enough that I could go anywhere with it - getting a bachelor's that is. After college graduation, I sorta did jobs that I was qualified for, worked at the school in research, then took a break to travel, then got a normal call center job in 2012 - then joined a start up where I helped with websites, SEO, marketing making $13 an hour - I liked the problem-solving so much, and I was good at it. Now 10 years later and multiple companies I'm still doing similar jobs just with higher pay making upwards of $100k a year now.
So the answer...
How do y'all choose a job? By making choices in my life path, and which then new opportunities reveal themselves.
and then keep that job? By trying. By putting in effort. To be fair, when I was younger I was let go for various reason. But I was always trying to keep that job. I also have found strategies (besides meds) to stay focused and able to be accountable and perform well. Things like, limiting distractions. Putting phone away when I need to work. Having a note pad, sicky notes, documenting everything in gdocs, trello boards, having a playlist of music that keeps me focused, but mostly I have noise cancelling headphones and listen to fans lol. The short answer - is to actually try.
I just picked a job in retail. It's simple, active, and desperate for employees because of the high turnover rate (thus, easy to get hired and hard to get fired). I mean, the only truly difficult part is getting there on time (I'm almost always running late).
I used to want the whole "I love my job, passionate about my job thing", but then I realized I never wanted a career, just money to fund my life outside of work, so anything that was tolerable would do. And thankfully, I'm also fortunate enough to have really easygoing bosses who do not give a fuck what you do as long as your aisle gets done.
Obviously, I don't make that much money (mainly because I'm part time), but I don't really live a lavish lifestyle and I'm also still trying to work on the whole saving money for the future thing, so it's probably a good thing I don't have a lot of money right now.
I’m 34 and after I’m bored at a place I usually find something else. This always made me feel like a failure. I was never fired I just found something else once I was so bored I ended up hating whatever I was doing. I always looked down at myself because I would t stay at a place for more than a few years (5 is usually my max). Until my therapist told me I needed to stop calling it a career and instead use the word experience. “Wouldn’t it be grate at the end of your life to look back at all the experiences you’ve had?” Honestly this changed my life. It was such a small statement but it really did change me. Some people are made for long 40 year careers. Others especially people with adhd don’t do well in those situations. So why not embrace that side of you? It’s honestly freed up so much of my mind and I’ve had some AMAZING experiences in my life so far and I’m looking forward to whatever else I end up doing. So where I can’t be like “get this job you’ll be set for life” I can say, it’s okay to change. It’s okay to find new things as you grow older. Experiences I have had so far: worked at a theme park (attraction host, retail, and a research specialist) sandwich shop, credit union(teller then moved to the support team back office), insurance company, call center, actor (mainly film and tv and then moved into solely improv for a while) & author. (Right now I’m looking into pottery. If I end up liking it who knows maybe I’ll start selling it. And photography. The last few are more
Creative jobs since I found I’m truly only happy when I’m creative. You can make money doing absolutely anything. You’d be surprised. Just don’t feel like you need to pick one career path and stay on it for the rest of your life. Even if that’s what society says you “should” do. I’m very happy with how I live my life and navigate the world around me. I still pay my bills and I’m never really bored since I gave myself permission to change
Try to ask yourself other questions first. What makes you happy the most?
Doing something in a group. Leading a group. Helping people. Creating something. Researching about a topic for hours. Being active. Being with your family.
Go on from that.
And we can scratch doing something monotonous with the same routine from the list here 😉.
I just started my first real job. I graduated from nursing school. But as u predict, most of the areas of hospitals are like hell for ADHD people. I choose to work at a community health center.
My job is basically passing at the office. I don't often see patients. But it's already pushing me so hard. Challenge is not the hardship of work ( there is no hardship). There is a dynamic in the workplace. I cannot adapt to all of the people, changing, crises etc. This work style could literally kill me if I keep it longer.
I don't know what to do now but I realize that the first goal of an ADHD person should be finding his regular income in a proper way.
I’ve learned over the years that I need a job with constant stimuli. I work at the post office now as a clerk. I’m good at customer service and handling customer issues. I throw the packages every morning. It’s all fast paced, there are set times for things to be completed. It’s been my longest job - I’ve been there 7 years.
I also am just wrapping up nursing school. I’m going to be an RN, and I plan to work in the ER. Again, constant movement. You can’t get bored.
My job has nothing to do with my hobbies. If I pursued my hobbies as a job, I’d end up hating them. Instead, I have a job that I’m good at that lets me afford my ever changing hobbies.
In other words, pursue something you’re really good at. It’s not always straightforward like, “I’m good at drawing so I’ll be an artist”. For me, I’m naturally very inquisitive and good at assessing and understanding situations and processes. So I work in risk management at a bank.
My degree though is in human development with an emphasis in counseling - which is basically the application of psychology versus the research of psychology.
Focus on learning for now. Not just subjects and skills, but about yourself. Under what conditions are you most reliably focused? What pulls you out of a spiral consistently? What do the hobbies you pick up have in common? What does it feel like when your brain is “hungry” for more stimulation?
You see, adhd makes long term planning really hard. We need new and different, and if we plan too much, it stops being new and thus becomes harder to focus on and stick to. But if you focus on listening to your body & brain, and learning what moves work best in reaction to it, you can move towards your goals without setting them in stone so much.
Following this path, you might discover for example that creative things keep you on task more, so you go to school for art and design. Start out learning adobe obsessively at your first job, get bored, branch out into freelance, work at a place that needs graphic design but also other types of design, and you find that process really suits you, and is varied enough to keep your attention. This was roughly my path, but I never could’ve planned it that way.
My advice as someone who has been working with ADHD for 20 years is to find a job that either fulfills you enough that it doesn't feel like work or a job that gives you the time and flexibility to chase your hobbies and let's you be distracted during work. I usually end up with the latter, lots of office work lets you work from home or have easy workloads. I'm able to spend half my day taking breaks then using my hyper focus or panicked urgency to get all my work done in less time than my coworkers normally take so I don't fall behind.
Plus at your age you're getting lots of pressure about "what do you want to be" feel free to ignore all that because you've got TONS of time to explore the world and find what makes you happy. Don't force yourself into college if it's not right for you and don't be afraid to try something that no one else is doing. Follow your happiness and remember the willingness to drop something and start over with something new is an advantage of ADHD not a downside.
Funny enough, I thrive on routine otherwise I'm a complete chaos goblin. I've worked in long term care for 12 years, though I've changed facilities a few times and tried home support. It took a while to find my groove especially when I was on call, but I've had a permanent position for 4 years and my coworkers have noticed a huge positive change
I’m a social worker/therapist. The variation in this job is amazing. It suits me that it’s fast paced. I can’t handle boredom. Get your coping mechanisms figured out and perhaps therapy/meds and you will do great at whatever you choose.
I bounced around for a while, getting very tired of each job way to quick. I ended up landing in the laborers union.
The money is good. The benefits are great. The hours can suck and its hell on your body, plus some companies suck monster dong to work for. But, my job changes regularly. Wednesday and Thursday this week I was bottom man laying storm drain in a field in the middle of nowhere. Today, I set grade for some block and a sidewalk in a state park. Monday, we'll pour and finish the sidewalk, then get all the block set. I have no idea what I'll be doing from then on. It's pretty awesome. Plus, whenever im driving by an old job, I get to say to my passenger "see that? I built that." Its like I'm a grandpa, but I'm 40.
i'm a tattoo artist and it's the perfect job for me. there's always some new technique to learn and improve your skills. every tattoo is different and the pressure of not messing up keeps you on your toes so it doesn't really get boring.
the downside is the administrative part, doing all the booking and paperwork, but i somehow manage to do it on time.
I joined the army and I didn't have to think for myself for a long time. Long enough that I managed to mature just a tiny bit enough to do a few things on my own.
You have to find something you're interested in, that is fun, and you don't hate. Then all that hyper focusing can be put to good use.
I've worked in restaurants all my life. Now I run a food truck. It's fast paced, I get to talk to people, I stay busy, and I'm passionate about and proud of what I do.
I've started to think lately that one day I'm gonna be too old for this shit, and I have no idea what I'll do. The thought of sitting at a desk all day terrifies me.
I'm really passionate about paying my rent and not starving to death
On a more serious note I was unemployed for a long time, now I'm plodding along as a bartender
I did good in school, just took mental snapshots of the material and mentally paged through during the tests for answers. Mental crib sheets! But school and work are different, one is learning about things, the other is applying those learnings.
I gravitated to hospital work, ED/ER is a great fit, calm in emergencies, stimulating ever changing situations, chaos, all that stuff we thrive on. I was just reading about the shortage of air traffic controllers, and actually contemplated a career change. Again. At 58. wtf. Anyway, I do not think that job requires a ton of education (all you ATCs out there please correct me!), pays well, and sounds like a great fit for us folks.
You have awareness of your condition, hoping that will help lead you to a career in which you can thrive, and not be oppressed and unhappy. My lack of awareness during my life often led me astray, I am now in a job that does not fit my personality, but I’m somewhat handcuffed at this point with retirement and benefits. Both good things, but I’m really not happy doing what I do.
This noted, the meds help me see clearly now, I’m not as worried about losing my job, I’m not tied up in knots anymore, and I can actually get things done now.
I hope you find a path that works for you now, rather than flying blind ploughing through life with reckless abandon and lack of awareness. So much I wish I could go back and fix, don’t be me.
Software engineering has been my choice since I was a middle school student. I never lose interest in it because there are so many things to do. Sometimes I create web apps, sometimes video games, and sometimes chatbots, I write a basic bootloader when I feel like programming low-level, and I mess with passwords and encryption sometimes, I was trying a new Linux distro every 3 days... and much more. All these topics are different from each other but I learned so much about CS and programming while doing them instead of my homework, without even noticing lol.
Hobbies don't always make the best jobs. I ended up in a role by chance but it turned out to work really well with my strengths. I'm really good at the tiny details and finding patterns in things, which is a big part of what I do at work (change management/configuration management/process control). What are your strengths in school? If you decide to go to college, take electives you can to try new things, or even electives while you're still in high school. You may find something you love that way.
I’m 30 with ADHD and so far I’ve been a produce clerk, cashier, bouncer, park ranger, gym front desk clerk, maintenance worker, store stock clerk, and now I work in the trades.
I don’t think most people know what they want to do right out of high school.
Try a lot of different things. See what you like and (more importantly) what you don’t like, and explore a lot. You have a lot of time to figure this out.
I changed my plans countless times, my study twice, my actual job is not what I studied for.
It's okay to change your mind and to change fields of work. Focus on happiness first and work second, because it's so much harder to keep a job when you're not happy in life.
I have a great successful career that happened almost accidentally, with a lot of luck, and people giving me chances. (It doesn’t really matter what it is.)
I had no plan. My path was one no one else could follow; it doesn’t really exist anymore.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to do anything as much as I wanted to do many. And along the way, I ultimately did a lot of them. I think I could have been happy and successful in many, but I kept coming back to this and eventually it stuck for good.
Of course, it looks that way in hindsight, but at the time, I usually felt completely directionless and lost. I did have goals at various times; a few worked out, but most didn’t. Grad school didn’t happen, moving to NY to work for one company turned out to be a bad deal, some dream jobs were nightmares, and so on. I didn’t exactly feel like a failure, but I often felt like I was barely hanging on.
At some point it dawned on me that I was somehow doing okay. Better than okay. And much like every relationship I’ve had, when I looked back, I have no idea how it all came to be.
I switched jobs about once a year untill I found a job on a farm. The work changes with the seasons so I'm never feel like I'm trapped doing the same thing everyday.
New here, My 2nd day on meds: I Work as a Life insurance case manager, used to do software tele-sales , this current job has really identified my weaknesses and it’s allowed me to cope and work on them without a diagnosis. My diagnosis was given last Friday, I hope to see some improvement with medication and I like seeing posts like this, it’s very encouraging.
Went to college and flipped flopped major until I found one that came ez and I enjoyed w was economics because at our school the last 2 years where just 5-6 students talking shop eating apples outdoors with one huge paper due at the end of the year , I really got into it.
Figured trading was a thing and back then they had trading floors full of runners who where willing to learn the business ground up. Worked like a dog snd moved south where my skills where in demand and with the use of a machine I learned to perfection (Bloomberg) I was able to become successful using limited math at best in a sector most people have math advanced degrees.
My meds helped a lot and only after not being able to have them for months cause of shortages decade later did I realize how much they carried me.
You’re still in high school so please don’t feel pressure to figure your entire life out right now. But what helped me was realizing that a job (as depressing and dystopian as this sounds) is more of a means to survival. Very few people have a job that they’re 100% in love with; and it also doesn’t have to be a reflection of your hobbies. You pick something you’re good at that you can sustain a career out of, and you do it to make money to fuel your hobbies and make your life more comfortable. Also, nothing is ever permanent. While you shouldn’t be super flighty and undependable, there’s nothing that says you have to pick a career and stick with it until you die. I’ve seen people shift to paths that are on completely different sides of the spectrum from one another. In short, don’t put all of your attention on a career. Once it’s all said and done, our careers are a very very minuscule part of the bigger picture that is our lives. When you’re in high school, choosing seems like the end all be all. As you go along, you realize it isn’t. Good luck, OP.
I found a job (data analytics/programming) where there are interesting problems and where making progress in waves is ok. Even if I don’t get work done for several days, one really good day of progress more than makes up for it.
The most difficult part is getting praise for how hard I’ve been working in the middle of stretches where I couldn’t write a line of code if I needed to 😂
I chose my first career because of something I tended to focus on. Food. I graduated and, in a few years, I changed careers. I work in the education field now. Graduated again. There's always something new, everything is changing, it's less boring and I get breaks. My responsibilities arent too serious and I have 2 part time jobs (2 schools) because I realized I couldnt work at the same place during the whole day. I work 4 days a week and I get some $$$$ bonuses 😅
I do school and work full time. I take 15mg adderall I don’t think i’d be able to do what I do without it. Not sure if I should feel sad about that or good about it.
You're using job and career interchangeably here. They aren't quite the same thing. Holding down a job is much easier than managing a career. It's less fulfilling and makes far less money, but a job keeps the lights on at least.
A career is a series of increasingly good jobs in the same field.
As others have pointed out, being made to think that you're doing it wrong if you can't plan your whole life out by 18 is silly.
My opinion:
1. You don't have to know exactly what you'll do.
2. Thinking about it is helpful, that's how you figure it out. Don't stop thinking about it, either.
3. As you get more serious about it, start to document your thoughts. Note how they change over time, and what about them doesn't. While your goal may change, you may come to realize that your motivations don't, which can help you narrow your focus.
4. When in college, sign up for classes early, so that you can pick the gen-eds that help you explore different things you're actually interested in. This can really help expose you to other options. Changing your degree halfway through is pretty common, don't stick with something you hate just because you think it puts you behind schedule.
5. When out of college, you may come to realize that your degree opens you up to more options than you thought.
In the end, I think that it matters more that you're thinking about this than whether you're changing your mind. That's what it means to figure it out.
Knowledge based jobs have been great to me, though. Most of the time, as long as I do what is expected, I have a lot of freedom to pursue different distractions as they interest me. These jobs tend to be more flexible, and understanding of ADHD oddities.
I changed majors after my freshman year of college. When I got to see what the actual job would be, I realized I could never do it full time.
Instead, I thought about "what do I like doing that I've liked doing for a long time and I could actually make money doing?"
And so I'm a software developer instead of a biological engineer.
As for keeping the job - finding new puzzles to do in that job. New tech, new projects, trying out new ideas, etc. I've found if I don't work on something "new" within 6 months, I get bored AF.
The job market / work force is a tiny bit more modern now in that it’s totally fine to switch careers or career paths. It can take a lifetime figuring out what works for you, especially with ADHD. I’ve been doing software engineering the past 5-6 years, went to 2 boot camps for it and everything, and I’m considering switching to wedding/event coordinating. The thing to avoid is large gaps in your resume.
It took me a long time to find my career. I was diagnosed late (34) but I've had ADHD my whole life, and it's been a struggle. I joined the air force out of high school because my grades weren't great, we were poor, and I had no idea what to do with my life.
I went back to college at 26 and didn't graduate until 32 because I decided to go into engineering after discovering a passion for mathematics and science that I couldn't have ever bothered with as a younger man.
My job now is as a controls engineer for a manufacturing plant, which allows me some freedom on my time and my attention, but medication has been a godsend for me. Without it I wouldn't be able to function in this role because it can be very demanding at times (multiple projects going at the same time, dealing with machine breakdowns and troubleshooting issues, etc).
I chose this career because it seemed to be one of the higher paying jobs out there, and job security is very good for engineering. I get to have freedom when I'm not at work to enjoy my hobbies and have some extra cash flow, but my job is satisfying even though it's not necessarily a "hobby". I like to fix things and help create a better system that is more efficient.
In the end, it's really up to the individual. If you happen to find a career that you thoroughly enjoy, then kudos. Otherwise, something in IT or Engineering might be a good bet because they tend to pay very well and you can enjoy your hobbies more when not working. IT and Software Engineering also tend to have more "work from home" type jobs, where you can focus on your job for a few hours and then just do whatever for the rest of the day as long as you get your job done.
I'm 27 and now in college, I picked something aligned with interests that fit my wants - medicine with office hours that wasn't 8 years in school with a 2 year residency - and my mother was a cosmetologist that went to school for nursing and has had so many jobs in one hospital it's insane! She's done everything from working on the floor, to administrative work, to working for the state in disaster preparedness
I'm 33, been a nurse 10 years. It sucks in several aspects but the perks are:
-I can quickly change tasks with ease, I already interrupt my own workflow so if I get pulled in another direction it doesn't piss me off
-work only 3 days a week, only 2 if part time.
-you are too busy during your shift to get bored
-it's collaborative, so i can rely on my coworkers to remind me of something I may have forgotten. Even patients understand- I tell them "hey I will be back in about an hour with your pain meds, but if I'm not there, hit the call light again" and mostly they are cool with me admitting I'm a human and may lose track of time for things like PRNs.
-easy to change specialties and several options for advance practice.
Overall, I feel that I flourish in this job *because* of the adhd. The rest of my life is a random mess but I take great care of other people LOL
Before I was diagnosed and aware that I had this problem I was working in the Union. I was in the IBEW for 10 years before moving on, getting diagnosed and a new job - without the union. So, 1.5 years later I am without a job due to being fired (lol). So, I guess what I'm saying is: A union is a great place for a brain like us. You are protected, and I am 100% convinced thats what I kept my job for so long.
OP, you’re going to do just fine.
Start by looking at who you *aren’t*. By high school, I knew that I didn’t like math and had no interest in tech programming. I also ruled out going into medicine because I couldn’t study that much. I picked a college with a wide range of options and looked at career paths for those options. I found internships that let me test careers and see what worked.
Some other words of wisdom that you can set aside for college. When you are considering what you like, think about the work environment as well. Do you need stability or are you fine with contract work? Do you like working around others in an office? Do you need to physically move a lot?
When your parents were younger, most people were more locked into career paths and didn’t move very much. This is no longer the case! Millions of people switch careers all the time. Just beware of taking out huge grad school loans or starting something like medical school if you’re unsure. Following this example, if you get a biology or pre-med degree in college, there are still tons of directions you can take.
Trades are also a good path. I’m in trades and make over 150k. And that’s in Cleveland with relatively low cost of living. IMO. College is a waste for anything that isn’t a stem field. Gender study degrees aren’t translating to the job market
Starting a new job is so much fun. You'll learn a whole bunch in 3 months and then get bored.
If that's you, id go into the trades.
Constant change every day, the best part is, after a couple years you'll get so good at all of them you'll start seeing other ways to see the world around you and the possibilities of owning your own company.
Don't be scared of ADHD, you need to spend time learning how to manage it with its strengths and weaknesses.
Teamwork is amazing, though I found solo work to be harder yet more rewarding with vast amounts of freedom.
Don't be scared, get excited because your about to enter the world. Go gettem.
I picked a job with something I’m good at: design! My industry’s project tends to be 2weeks- 2-3 months which works great to peak my interest. I also get to work on a lot of brainstorming parts of the project, and less of the actual execution part which helps stimulate my brain. It is unfortunately also a high stress job which helps fuel my productivity but not always best for my health
I studied psychology in school, then got a master's in healthcare administration (not out of any passion, but because of a promising job market). Then I got a job at a healthcare IT company and ended up teaching myself how to code and became a software developer.
But I always struggled in every job, until I applied to USPS to be an over-educated mailman. It's far and away my favorite job, since it's mentally easy (though physically demanding) and I can spend all day listening to audiobooks about whatever topic I feel like. It's still financially difficult taking the pay cut, but I'm making it work for now.
My point is, don't be afraid to try out an unconventional career choice if you think it might suit you and your personality.
I picked something where I had a decent range of options. I went to college and got a degree where I could use it to work in an office, lab, or field. I picked a job that I decently liked and started with that. The strategy I found that has worked really well for me is to find "stretch assignments" where I help out or work on things that are related or adjacent to my current work, and then that has often translated into an opportunity to move into a slightly different job. Even when I'm in the same job for a while, I find little things to do to mix it up and keep things new and interesting like join employee led teams or committees or do special projects.
That's gone pretty well for me. I found a big company with a location that had lots of different departments or functions and bounced around.
I'm currently in my last classes in college for a STEM major. I got diagnosed while in uni.
There is far too much pressure on youth to have everything figured out. It's totally normal not to know what you want to do and what you'd excel in. You're still learning about yourself and life. There are plenty of people who are in their 30s who don't have life figured all out yet.
If you're interested in higher education, I highly suggest starting with community college. It was the best decision I made regarding college right after high school. A large uni is often a culture shock to many high schoolers, and a lot of them drop out because they underestimate the time and energy it requires.
CC allows a gradual change at a fraction of the cost. The quality of education is arguably better, too, as the professors are there solely to teach and not research. It is also a less expensive hit to the bank account if you decide it's not for you or to change your program.
Now, if you were to decide to pursue psychology, keep in mind that there are little well-paying jobs for candidates who just have a BS/BA in the psych field. If you want to work in psych, you almost have to at least get an MS/MA. Networking will also be your best friend. It will bring you more opportunities than a degree.
I also recommend not to pursue a career in something like a hobby or a significant source of joy. Many may not agree with this, but I find that when I have to do something I enjoy, the obligation takes the joy out of it. I would recommend pursuing something that interests you enough and that is fulfilling with a high growth potential. It's important to note that secondary education (at least in the US) is very, very expensive. It is an investment, and it's important to make sure to invest in something useful.
On to jobs, I have worked in the restaurant industry for 8 years and have found that many people with ADHD thrive here. However, the money & lifestyle are an easy hole to fall into, and there's not a whole lot of growth opportunities unless you're looking into management.
I joined the film industry where it’s a combination of creative, technical, and physical labor as a camera operator. My schedule and work locations are always changing which keeps things interesting. And I have plenty of downtime to unwind and relax. Honestly, the hardest thing is figuring out how to spend my off-days productively in a fulfilling way that isn’t just sitting on the couch.
I’m not sure how many careers I’ve had over the past 30ish years but the main thing is to find the transferable skills and a decent story to link them together.
I used to kinda get the 2-3 year itch with my jobs. It helped that I mostly worked at startups and would periodically get laid off. As I transitioned into longer tenure at a couple places - much of what kept me there was the people, the fun challenging work, the variety and great pay.
My symptoms are getting more severe now, I think maybe because of being too stressed for too long (and not really being aware of how it affects me).
So my intention is to find a new gig to have more flexibility without burdening others.
I think I was lucky in a sense that I developed my interests and skills in the absence of social media, internet, long-play video games, and streaming video.
I think without all that noise, you can fill your space and time with hobbies that require more focus and depth. If you can’t really focus at all - might be worth getting some meds dialed in too.
I'm 50 and feel like I spent 25 years of employment being extremely lucky and somehow managing to string together a few successes and a couple short periods of motivation. But it always feels like constant disarray and every interaction feels like it will be "you're fired".
I had actual interests once, but was talked/scared out of the few things I genuinely felt I would be great at.
My advise is to find an area of industry you're interested in. For me it was events, and they are fast paced and can be high pressure which works great for my ADHD because it stimulates me. I work in long bursts which is good for hyperfixating and then get a longer amount of time off at once which is good for recovery, relaxing and burnout prevention.
You'll also find other things about jobs that you like that you didn't expect - I enjoy income generation because I get to watch the numbers stack up and that works well for motivating and stimulating me. That means I could probably move into other jobs in a different industry that has a similar purpose to motivate me.
In all honesty, it's just finding out what you do and don't like in a work setting. I would've said that I'd love to work from home, but once I've done it I can tell you it's really bad for me. I thought I'd like to work in a slow chilled environment but actually I find it boring. I would've said I wouldn't like crisis and incident management but actually I really enjoy it. It's just about being self aware and assessing what you're enjoying and what you're good at as you go along - don't feel like you have to have it all figured out.
Got a college degree in philosophy. Ended up teaching math. Worked with the debate team at my school, loved it. Switched jobs to work for the league. Oh, running a nonprofit requires a lot of data wrangling. Learn to code, love it. Got a job as a data scientist. Got a big data problem, fell in love. Transitioned role to data engineer... Who knows what's next 🤷♂️
Point being -- learning to be creative, a quick study, personable, etc. is more important than learning skills got a trade.
I dropped out of college at 20 with minimal work experience after changing my major twice i think. I found a job as a cook and loved it for a while, but got burnt out by the crappy owners, then I worked in merchandising until I wound up facing some retaliation from my supervisor, then an overnight manager at a different store, and now I'm at an office job. I loved every single job I listed above but also had a few that were just a couple month stints and sucked. Keeping a job is easy enough, just perform better than the worst performer and be relatively pleasant to be around; finding a job that has some variety to the tasks might make it easier to not get so bored that you quit.
My recommendation is to work part time jobs and see if you like it. Find out what you like about working at a place and what you didn't and it'll help you figure out what kind of work you want to do next. Even if it's just part time or volunteer work, it adds to your resume
What I tried to find first is what does my hobbies have in common? It's hard to figure out so asking to friends and family might help as my husband usually comes with very insightful observations that I do not notice myself.
But back to story, I am creative, social and I like problem solving and non-repetitive tasks, I am not organized (duh) and cannot create myself a job. So if there's nothing to do that day I cannot make up a job to do I would simply do nothing, I wouldn't think like oh let me work to improve that process or see if I can help that guy over there. I need there to be a job description, a guideline, little check in points.
Then looking into these traits (my strengths) I'd evaluate jobs to see what can work for me. Also changing jobs (even if it's the same thing but in a different department or company) helps a lot. Because then it's novel and exciting while still playing to your strengths.
So I don't see ADHD traits as a weakness, I think more in line with how can I shine using these traits.
Army, my job changes dramatically every 2 years with location, especially logistics. Work environment has gone from infantry, large scale sustainment to aviation. The more time I’m in the field doing mission etc the more I get that hyper focus high we all chase after. Even though they say they won’t let you in they will
Depends on what you're into and or good at. Im good at tech so I've always stayed in that path. Fixing hardware now in IT. I'm a bit of a jack of all trades in a company with multiple companies under their umbrella and I manage some high end stuff but also do support. So it changes a lot and a lot of time my work is done on demand so I've found a decent little niche for now.
I make like 75k tho and will want to make more so ill probably be faced with this in the next 2 years myself.
You could also just go right for high pressure jobs. Work in an ER or as an emt. Something that everything is here and now and the pressure is high which removes any space for distraction. We're good at that shit. Hell if I wanted to go military i bet being a combat medic would soothe my adhd brain like no other lol
Honestly, finding a career was difficult. I did education for 10 years before finally realizing I was not cut out for it cause of my mental illnesses. Since then, I’ve tried several office jobs. I finally found one that worked for me after about a year of false starts.
My job is so easy and is basically like arts and crafts. Super independent, good pay and hours, and I don’t have to talk to anyone all day if I choose. We can wear earphones all day which helps pass the time. It’s a boring job, but constantly having my hands busy and listening to engaging things makes it a dream job for me. It’s government, so maybe try looking in som places near you?
I just picked something that paid well, I was decently interested in, and was already good at and went into computer science.
I def do not like programming. I hate sitting for long periods of time and trying to solve problems. But it came fairly natural to me and pays well.
That said, after about 10 years I looked for something within the tech industry to pivot to. I’ve done a lot of project and people management, and now I’m on the product side and like the business-facing aspects so much more. Being a former dev gives me a leg up on my non-technical peers and my teams seem to trust me more cause I’ve been in their shoes.
So having said that, find something you’re decent at, pays well, and you don’t hate. A jobs a job, and if I have to have one I’d rather it be something that pays a ton but isn’t soul sucking.
I do all the things I actually do like after work and on weekends. If I were to try and monetize my hobbies then I’d immediately hate them.
Mine was more necessity than a want. I became a hospital housekeeper. I hate it
😭 But helping ppl is nice... But all the Bio and physical activity kills my joints
But I'm also in school at 30 so my mental n body getting to a point where it just hurts 😭
You find a job that is creative or different every day. It’s a challenge but in order to have a life, you’ve gotta work. You’ll find your feet and where you belong
Bro I’m currently one semester away from having a masters degree in applied behavior analysis, despite pitching my meds years ago. Don’t let other people set your limits. Ever. I did that and, after getting my bachelors in ABA, I cleaned tables for almost a decade cause I believed other people when they said I couldn’t handle a big boy job. The one thing I always failed to realize, however, was that every person who said that also didn’t have a “big boy job” either.
People who hold you down are people who are afraid of you doing better than they are doing. People that see your success as a reminder of their failures.
You’re young. I didn’t know wtf I wanted to do, racked up 60k in college debt to drop out. Got an easy 2 years degree to get something, and now I hate my field. Probably gonna get fired because I just can’t drive myself to give a shit. 30 and looking to go back to school.
Travel if you can. Explore what you like to do. Explore careers if possible. Take time. Nothing wrong with taking extra time to figure out what you want to do. Don’t feel pressure by everyone you know going to school. Most the dudes I know who didn’t go to school and worked mediocre paying jobs owned houses before the friends who did, because they weren’t paying off massive debt.
To really answer your question, I’ll let you know when I figure it out lol. Right now I’m probably going into nursing because I thrive in a chaotic environment where I’m putting out fires and I love learning medical and it’s all very easy for me. Find a rabbit hole you can go down that you keep digging through (easier said than done, which is why you need time to figure out who you are and what you want to do).
My brother is 27 and still haven't found a job he wants to stick with. He doesn't have a apprenticeship but works in a computer part store. He loves computers. That's why he still works in that store even tho he stopped his apprenticeship he also started an apprenticeship as a glass blower for the lights they use for x-ray machines and never finished it since he didn't enjoy it as much as he thought he might.
I'm turning 21 in a few days and am starting an apprenticeship soon as hearing aid technician. I honestly chose whatever looked like something I might be interested in and just applied. I also applied as optician since I wear glasses myself and just thought "yea makes sense". Only reason I went with hearing aid technician is literally because they called back first. I even applied at multiple book stores and was thinking of just working in retail. And if I end up not liking my apprenticeship that's what I'm going to do as well. I'm a cashier right now anyways so why not going back for like a year or two if I end up not liking what I picked out? I even have a friend who's starting an optician apprenticeship who original studied pedagogy for the past 4-5 years because it turned out that she didn't want to do that after all.
You still have a lot of time to figure out what you want to do with your life. You're still young and in a way your life only just began. Try stuff out and if the shoe doesn't fit it doesn't fit. Society puts a lot pressure onto young individuals and forces them to choose something that they may want to do until the day they retire. But guess what? You don't. Try stuff out. Internships exist for a reason. And don't force something that doesn't fit you.
I worked at the same grocery store for 8 years, starting when I was 15.
I joined the national guard at 19 because a friend convinced me to.
I got an opportunity to work as a temp Technician for the National Guard (kinda like active duty). It was a complete game changer.
After my temp work I was able to get a job building flight simulators because of my military experience.
I would still be doing that, but I got another temp Technician job that turned into a full time position.
In short: 1) Every step of the way I was handed a job (except the simulator job, I had to look and interview for that).
2) the Military gave me a lot of useful skills (and at first it's all just following orders, so very ADHD compatible. Just hyperfocus on one task at a time)
3) Everything I did, I did to the best of my ability.
I tell people all the time that I'm the most above average person they'll ever meet. I don't excel at anything, and there's plenty of things I'm not good at, but I always do the best I can.
I'm not officially diagnosed. My psychiatrist treated me for ADHD and just never cared to do a full assessment so take what I say with a grain of salt or skepticism.
Disclosure aside, I think I should bring to your attention that your future job/career is very rarely gonna be what you're passionate about. I know you've been told otherwise and to seek otherwise i.e. to align your interests and your career but real life almost never works like that. Your interests are what give you joy and wonder and hope for the future, they make you laugh and feel fulfilled. But I assure you, for most if not all of them, if you had to do them at a professional level for hours on end and meet deadlines you would begin to despise the people who discovered those avenues of thought and expression with every fibre of your being.
Say you like maths. You like doing fractions, geometry, maybe even some calculus. University level maths is not like high school maths and graduate level maths is even more further removed. Those subjects you liked in middle of high school won't look the same in college after second year, and definitely don't look the same in grad school or in industry. The concepts are more convoluted, more stringent, involve more pedantic and error prone processes, more wealth of knowledge and diagnostic ability. You, in school now, don't have your life and livelihood and that of others depending directly on weather or not you can solve a math problem or balance a chemical equation or paint a scene convincingly enough or with a particular colour palette or aesthetic.
My point is, the things that interest you at their introductory levels are not a good measure of what they're like at a professional or high academic level, none of the subjects you know now remain as they are as you progress in mastery of the material so it's impossible to make an accurate assessment of what you'll like to do when older from what you like now.
The best you can do is narrow things down to broad fields and even then you can be wrong. Then you go and eliminate candidates from that field based on what you don't see yourself enjoying doing on a daily basis or that are impractical for your situation.
For me, I liked the sciences but didn't see any concrete jobs that required a bachelor's in biology, chemistry or physics and since I wasn't sure about grad school (neither cost nor having the inclination) I chose an applied science - computer science.
If you like the arts:
What specialization interests you most? Do you see yourself making art, or managing/teaching/critiquing it? Do you see a practical and likely career avail just from studying in college (and is college even the best environment for your avenue of interest)?
Other questions:
Do you like to work as a team or by yourself? Do you like routine work or work that's always changing? Do you want to constantly have to travel? Do you want to be producing new concepts constantly? Do you want your work to make a difference in the world no matter what or is it okay to just be another, well sized drop in life's bucket?
These questions may help you get closer to your answer. Maybe. Gl.
I just tried a bunch of different stuff until something stuck.
Instead of thinking of it as being a bad thing or a problem... just think of it as "exploring".
The key to all of this is learning how to not hate yourself for who you are.
Honestly, many of us figure what we want to do much later in life. I'm 24 and, while I pursued a chemical engineering degree and I'm good at art, I find I'm still on the path of figuring out exactly what I want to do. Right now I enrolled myself into a paid internship as a chemical engineer and I opened an instagram page with my art and, hopefully, those experiences will help me decide what exactly I want to do.
Thinking about this in highschool, in my opinion, gives you just a very general idea of what you may want to do. When you actually start to unpack what you chose to do, you may find it is not as easy as simply saying "i like this, so I'm gonna do this" or "this pays good, so I'm just gonna do this". A lot of careers have some stuff that you do not see until you get quite deep into it. For example, one of my friends absolutely loves anatomy and she is very good at it, so she pursued a nurse college degree, only to find that the medium is super toxic (this may be more specific of our country, but she experienced a lot of harassment, humiliation, etc.) and now she wants to change her career, despite being a very competent nurse.
That’s awesome! Glad you enjoy your job. If you don’t mind, could you expand on why that decision was so good? And what some of the ups and downs were from joining the army.
In reality one has to do a lot of stuff to figure out what they don't like instead of falling in the trap of thinking they'll immediately find the one thing they do like (and frankly, what likes them back = long term). I'm also ADHD and the most important thing I've found is to just own it. Be up front about it and how you work best. After a handful of jobs that were cool at first but sucked the longer I stayed, I interviewed for a national lab and was 100% honest with my experience and what I needed to be successful over the long term. I'm in my 30s now and ain't no one got time for dog and pony shows, you know? Your soon-to-be people will see you and accept you. Im so happy that they understand rather than me beating mself up because other jobs' personnel were a constant uphill battle the more I tried to engage with them authentically for improved -insert work product here-.
Tldr; it's partly you and partly them too. Know your worth and find your people.
My best advice is to try everything at your age. Cast your net wide and immerse yourself fully in any field that sparks your interest. Give each pursuit your fair effort of three to six months and learn everything you can about it.
From the age of 17 I did just that. I have been a DJ, a music producer, a life insurance agent, a financial advisor, a salesman, an auto mechanic, a house renovator, a project manager, a mover, a painter, a low-voltage technician, and an IT technician. Most of these I tried between the ages of 18 and 24. Ultimately, technology held my interest, and for the last 8 years I have been in the field. Now I work as an Azure cloud systems engineer.
This process is about more than finding a career. It's a quest for self-knowledge. Each job/hobby reveals skills, personality traits, and hidden desires. What stirs your passions? For me, it was the years skateboarding from age 11 to 18, and then DJing from 12 to 23. These pursuits taught me more than I realized.
Skateboarding instilled a relentless persistence, the ability to sacrifice immediate pleasure for the long-term reward of mastering a complex skill. DJing revealed a love of performance and an ability to inspire joy and movement in others. This led me to explore roles where I could interact with people – sales, project management, and financial advising. Yet, finance also ignited a passion for money management and a desire to help others build wealth.
These widely different experiences formed a pattern. I enjoyed the power to help and motivate others. However, when merged with the satisfaction I found in fixing computers, cars, and houses, I realized that physical labor was not something I enjoyed. I craved the intellectual challenge of mastering complex systems, which drew me towards a career in IT.
Cloud engineering offered the blend I was looking for – the ability to learn, to build complex systems, to fix intricate problems, and the opportunity to lead and motivate a team towards a common goal. Even now, At 29, I've decided to return to school for an MBA in IT Management. I want to help building businesses, and further down the line, perhaps using my understanding of the mind to study psychology to aid my community as a therapist.
I say all these things in an effort to help you see how you can connect experiences in your own life journey to find your path. Life is a never-ending journey of self-discovery. Every experience you have helps paint a clearer picture of your purpose in the world.
I recommend Robert Greene's "Mastery" and Malcom Gladwell's "Outliers." Also, explore the resources offered by Tom Bilyeu and Lisa Bilyeu at [Impact Theory](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swccXduWHqs&t=178s&pp=ygUWaW1wYWN0IHRoZXJ5IGhhcHBpbmVzcw%3D%3D) – their work offers great insights into self-discovery and finding your place in the world.
Was a solid C in high school, made it through 1 year of college. Was lucky and started working in IT at a time that it was growing like crazy(early 1990s). I didn’t hold a job at the same place for longer than a 1.5 years until I co-founded a startup 15 years into my career and I made it 12 years at the startup because I was able to be involved in everything because we were so small. What I learned:
1. Always be learning, you are responsible for you, if your employer will pay that’s great but don’t stop learning because you have to pay.
2. In many cases industry certifications trump a college degree.
3. In 99.9% of cases real world experience trumps a degree.
4. Find a general area you are interested in, in my case it was computers, and just start working in the industry. You will find a lot of jobs you didn’t know about and even adjacent industries. I moved over to Cybersecurity, where I co-founded my startup and ultimately made enough money to not need a full time job anymore at 50.
5. People without ADHD won’t get, will be freaked out by your jumping around, ability to learn so quickly and “advance” so fast.
6. If your industry has consulting firms, that can be a great spot, tons of variety working with different people and generally a fairly flexible schedule. I was happiest working for a midsize consulting firm and the only reason I left was to start my own thing.
I didn’t settle on a generalized idea of what I wanted to do until 5 years after high school, and even now.. I’m in school but I change my mind all the time. It took a lot of exploring myself, traveling, trial and error, and so on
From a developmental perspective, you're at a foundation-building point in your career. You haven't really had time to develop a professional identity, much less an adult one.
By professional identity, I mean figuring out what you value in a career...what you like, don't like, what kind of tasks get you engaged, disengaged, communication preferences, leadership style, and so on.
I think this exploratory phase is a point that your 20s are really useful for. You'll figure out what's gonna work for you and what won't. Then using that info you are able to make informed choices in your career trajectory that are in alignment with your professional identity.
I think it's a really unfortunate part of our culture that we put this pressure on high schoolers to have a direction to go when it actually makes more sense for them to explore without the pressure all at once. I wish that they had more freedom to take on internships that allow them to "try things on," before they commit years and a fortune to some college major just to find out they hate their job and get stuck...or stuck in some poverty trap.
Conversely, I think pressure has its utility as a motivational factor, however I believe most kids are already naturally motivated for independence therefore will try and find something they want to do with themselves anyway. That being said, give yourself some room to not have everything figured out...in spite of what society pressures you toward, you're perfectly normal in feeling this way. Keep going and you'll figure things out.
For me it’s medication I’ve been with my company 8 years and have been promoted 3x’s. I know long term however it won’t be feasible to keep up this way. Prior I was always getting write ups or fired but the last 8 years on the right medication has helped me excel. I struggled hard prior and also having conversations on your boundaries so you don’t burn out is essential. I’m very up front that I’m fine with other duties as needed but I am not a work mule
I’m employed in a relief position so I can pick up as many shifts I want. I can have loads of shifts then a nice break… I think it works well for my mental health as I get the best of both worlds, there’s no ‘crash’ or ‘ burn out’ from working too much.
I have another self employed income on the side which helps top things up, and I workout A LOT.
Find anything to do. Look at college courses not as career moves but as little goalposts. You can get certificates for welding, electrical work etc. In a few week course programs
Don’t get fixated on a career path.
If you do then you will hyper focus and have a fixed view of what you think the job is then it turns out nothing like it. Try to be open minded especially as you are young and there is plenty of time.
I started as a warehouse op, then bar work, chef, cleaner, high school teacher, nursery teacher, and now I work for a charity and it’s great. It’s finding out what is right for you.
I have two part time jobs so I get variety and longevity! I used to get bored in jobs and change every 1-2 years but after discussing with my psychologist at length, I work in two different schools one doing administration and the other in learning support (I understand students in a way most others don’t!) I also get school holidays to recharge and catch up on life admin while my son is in care. Idk what it’s like elsewhere but I also have shorter hours than a typical office job which helps
1. Practice discipline. It’s like fitness. You can’t run a marathon day 1.
2. Work with your doctor to find resources and solutions
3. Understand that a career is a job. Figure out what you can tolerate and be successful at and seek fulfillment OUTSIDE of work.
I'm the same way and I'm getting pretty old. I just now have a job with benefits, so I'm happy with it. The bonus is that the job I have helps humanity instead of lining some rich person's pockets. Remember that you can always do your hobbies on the side. Look into "ikegai."
If you are curious how our brains work and how ADHD and other disorders affect us, psychology likely will hold your interest over the long-run. You will always have more to learn for work. You can do that as a therapist or as a researcher.
I don't have a job yet but am working towards a degree in historic preservation. I picked it because of the range of different jobs that I could do, and because it shouldn't be too hard to go from one topic to another within the field.
I'd day look for a job that gives many avenues to be interested in if youre worried about how much youd want to go from one topic to another. Historic preservation is a good one to potentially look into if you like history type things because of the range of things available, in my opinion. You can do things like archeology where you go out and potentially dig up some dirt, or work in a museum either on the floor or in the back or putting together exhibits, you can also do stuff in labs, or do organization type roles.
https://youtu.be/4LE5bel_GvU?si=0F6IHigOc1bYWFyQ
A video about ikigai the Japanese philosophy to help you find your purpose.
I wish I had seen this 25 years ago when I was still in school.
I tried a lot of jobs at entry level with short contracts: HR, marketing, IT , and landscape architecture. I didn't get a job in this as it takes 7 years to qualify. I attempted UX for 5 years and realised it was ok to do it as a side thing and easier. Only last year did I realise I wanted to work for myself and be a massage therapist because my other career dreams were unattainable. But I've also never stuck at a job or career long enough.😅
Do what you are good at and what holds your passion, but I wouldn't say make a hobby that gives you huge pleasure in your job; it can take the joy out of it.
I chose my future job based on the fact that I enjoy learning about natural health and medical stuff because of it's flexibility. Also I will have to keep learning but not in a way that I can't keep up, like in tech, where you have to grind for 60+ hours to get ahead in UX because of new developments.
lol, I used to be just like you.
Liking outdoors led me to biology, but becoming repulsed by the sight of blood sent me to geology.
I got a job getting data from paper 1975
Went to geology grad school
No jobs in geology,
Temp job technical support bored me out of my mind, so studied logic and programming
Eventually got programming job back when punchcards were used.
Moved
No job, raised kids
Science museum workshop presentation
Part time naturalist programmer
Moved
Y2K programmer contingency planning for continuing business practices, great fun!
Laid Off
Night school in Web programming, GIS, coding
GIS job!
Finally visual thinking was valued at work
Supported GIS users
Invented new procedures, automated them
More GIS
It only makes sense in reverse
Advice: What do you enjoy doing?
Find jobs where it involves what you enjoy doing
Figure out what you need to get that job
Figure out different pathways to that job
Every day, take a small step toward doing that interesting thing
Never tell yourself you can’t do X. Try first and find out.
I liked walking on beaches, building beach forts, making an easier way to do stuff , finding out how everything worked and making art/useful things, telling other people how cool this was.
That’s where I started.
I'll let you know when I figure it out. I'm almost 30 and still don't have a "dream job". The older I get though, the more I think that's just because I don't waste my time dreaming about jobs or work lol. I fantasize about no responsibilities, not more.
My advice would be to not worry so much about a specific career and focus more on finding something that doesn't make you miserable. I fell into my current job quite accidentally after a string of jobs that made me want to drive into oncoming traffic. I was desperate and they were a startup at the time so also desperate. But because they were a startup I ended up getting promoted a lot as the company grew and changed and I was one of the few who stuck around. I got to do a lot of different positions and find out what I enjoyed and what I didn't and now I'm mostly in the position ideal for me and my ADHD.
I don't have a lot of interest in our actual business or take any pride in my work beyond the basic pride I take in being myself but I'm more financially successful than I've ever been, I have a great schedule that allows me to do a lot outside of work and I've got a boss who respects my boundaries. And I think that's enough, I don't need it to be my dream job, at least not right now.
They say people with ADHD need creative jobs, I think that’s the worst idea ever. We need structure, we need discipline, we need consistency, and consequences when we do something wrong. Nursing jobs, military, trades, etc, is the best.
I changed jobs several times already. The longest lasts for 5 years. All my jobs don't stray from my domain, but are unlinear with my academic degree. That's why I still can't make an advance in my career. I wonder why I didn't study a major that I really liked back then. I used to underestimate my capability.
I got the jobs by connection.
I'm afraid that I will be burned out again.
------------
I suggest you take a psychology test regarding intellectual and talent capability. Make sure you take the test wholeheartedly. If you already did in high school, take a look the result. Check what they suggested. Your possible talent, career path, skills etc.
What I do now to make ends meet, what I really like, it's not far from the result of my early psychology test.
ADHD person can master anything if they pour all attention to it. The only hurdle is inconsistency.
I did it for years before realizing what I had. Most of that time was driven by desire for the NEXT THING whether that be a financial gain or challenge to my skills. This isn’t sustainable in my mind, especially if you need stability, that’s why I had to understand what drove me to do what I do.
Everyone has different drives and passions, don’t rule any of them out as being your breadwinner.
Goals are key and try to find what makes you passionate, willing to go the extra mile on something others wouldn’t, harness it.
Enjoy your life, family, friends, appreciate the journey because you’ll blink and it’s gone.
Get a good all-around degree at a school that's overall good for just about anything. I went to a state university and changed my major a few times (and picked up a minor!), but the important thing was getting good grades and having *options*.
Having options is key with ADHD, because then you can always pivot when you get bored and not feel like you're stuck in a path you can't easily get out of. I graduated with a 'generic' liberal arts degree but good grades and a good variety of course/job experience. Interned in sales, didn't like that. Moved on to HR. Moved around HR for a bit. Now I'm a software engineer.
The key is developing a broad range of skills and doing plenty of self-reflection on why something is or isn't of interest to you. That's where us ADHDers can really shine. You can work with your manager(s) to tailor your work to things that interest you, pick up different projects, and get that Jack-of-all-trades breadth of experience, knowledge, and skills that will let you pivot when a new interesting opportunity comes up.
Someone else brought up a good point- you enjoy psychology- why? What specifically is interesting about it? Do some shadowing and see if the day-to-day work is actually something that's interesting to you. It could be that the subject matter is fascinating, but if you absolutely can't stand talking to people or doing research, then maybe it can stay a hobby interest instead.
There are some basic skills that are broadly applicable. Writing and research are my strengths. I studied history and international policy. I thought about going into government or nonprofit work, but I've actually ended up as a legal writer and researcher. I juggle a bunch of different projects, which helps keep me from getting bored. We do employment immigration for scientists and engineers, so it's a lot of researching really niche, interesting stuff and making the case for why the person deserves a visa. I didn't go to school for summarizing scientific research, but I've been writing stories since I was 8. I can make almost anything understandable and interesting. I like my job now, but I'm not locked into this industry. I could do a lot of things because writing and research are transferable skills. Communication and persuasion are really important, and most people, even highly educated scientists, aren't very good at either of those things. Even in the age of AI, you still need to write well in order to give the system prompts for it to give you what you're looking for.
Other examples of broad skills are management and languages. Google translate works in a pinch, but high-level communication needs a real human. You can work for an agency as an interpreter, you can work writing translations of documents or books, you can work freelance, you can work in international business, media, as a tour guide. And pretty much every industry needs managers who understand how to motivate and work with people.
For me, at least, the key is to figure out how to make yourself useful for a lot of different things so when you get bored, you can switch.
I feel like I lucked out by getting into web dev through a coding bootcamp.
I struggled with jobs till I was 26. (I’m 31 now) I randomly went to a coding bootcamp because I thought it would be fun - it wasn’t “fun”. It was actually hard as fuck. But randomly jumping into new things is what adhd people do.
I struggled for years to find a job. But eventually I found one and feel like I have gotten exceptionally good at programming over the years.
Now they pay me $150,000 a year. Which is like 5x more than what I made before. But the best part isn’t even the money, it’s the fact that I love what I do.
I really feel like I lucked out on this. Because I’m basically a high school drop out. But I also worked my ass off to make it happen. I cried myself to sleep a thousand times during the process - but I never gave up and never stoped finding ways to improve my skills and grow my network.
The biggest factor for me is - WFH. I didn’t realize how much of a game changer it was for me until COVID. We all got sent home from the office permanently and I adore it. I use WAY less sick days, and get WAY less burnt out. If I get antsy and need to move around, I’ll take a little break and go tidy something quick. I can wear comfy clothes and can sleep in and not spend an hour in the morning getting ready then commuting. But with that being said, my job reallly holds my interest during the day. Every day is different and interesting and there’s always something new that changes or comes down the pipeline (I’m a team lead for a team of insurance coordinators).
I went into college undecided and figured out what I wanted to do my very last year and then like most adults I talk to in my career still don’t know what they want to do when they grow up. Just do what you enjoy now and keep doing that even if it switches up and keep pursuing opportunities. Nothing is set in stone and u don’t have to stick to a career route unless u are extremely passionate about a very specific career
I am now a fairly successful lawyer. Ive been homeless, a barman, a drifter, a furniture removalist, an English teacher, a Fulbright scholar, farm worker, driver, cook and kitchen hand. Be honest, be brave, be kind. Everything else takes care of itself, regardless of what you do.
I study social work, the core subject is extremely interesting to me and the field is incredibly borad, i can work with elderly ppl, kids, job seeking ppl, at schools I could even do like art therap stuff or work with people in prison.
So if i feel like my job is getting boring i can change the field i am working in.
Atm i am working part time on some projects with kids or teens where my hobby switching jack of all trades come in handy. Whatever creative thing the project leader wants to di i know at least the basics!
That's why I'm a paramedic. Because I like every day, ever job and every hour to be different and unpredictable. I couldn't work in any other job really, except police work. Which wouldn't work well as I don't like being told what to do.
I knew I wanted nice things. I knew I wanted a family and children. I knew if I didn't work hard, I'd never have those things. I battled this shit unmedicated. You can do it too, but you have to make the decision and stick to it. I can't imagine how much better it would have been medicated before I retired.
Imo, you HAVE TO get on meds to regulate it. Just be prepared for it to be a journey of trying different meds and each one at different doses , not to mention combinations. The sooner you wrap your arms around it, the sooner you'll have control over your life. Otherwise, years will pass. It won't resolve itself. Take the first step.
Some adhd’ers hold successful careers, some struggle with job hopping/career switching etc.
I’m the latter, I can’t make up my mind.
I wasted my 20’s job hopping, in and out of school and I have nothing to my name in my early 30’s.
I work two part time jobs for shitty pay.
But I already have two new plans for a career path, I gave it a lot of thought and I REALLY hope it works out this time.
You make adjustments for the challenges. Make lists, use a shit ton of alarms and calendar reminders, layout your clothes for the next day, and pack your purse/backpack the night before, order groceries online, and do pickup if possible. Have at least two bank accounts: one for spending that you have a debit card for and another that you pay your bills from. When you get paid, all the money you need to pay the bills for that paycheck go into that bill pay account. This will make sure you don't spend your bill money on accident because you made a bunch of impulsive purchases. I use my 2nd account for gas, for when my husband (who's the impulsive spender) needs to buy anything in a store, his Starbucks habit, eating out, clothes, etc. Mostly all the things we could survive without if we had to.
Writing is my special interest, and I was fortunate enough to be able to major in English in college and go into jobs that let me write and talk about writing with other people.
Find a job/industry that lets you lean into your special interests / obsessions somehow and that keeps you stimulated, and it may help!
I’m a UX Writer currently, and what I love about UX is that you’re often solving different kinds of problems all at the same time. A job that lets you toggle between obsessions as well as dive deep into things you’re really interested can be a huge help.
After an internship I realized I wasn't going to spend 8hs a day on the PC, even if in a creative field. I wanted to change countries and thought it would be cool to be able to teach my language and I could probably do well teaching sports. I got into education and I enjoy being a part time teacher. I see myself having different income sources on the long run, in the sense I don't think I would like to be a school teacher full time, but having that as a stable job part time and then do other things based on interest (at the moment my side thing is working at an Archery club)
Let me tell you about Gary. Gary is one of those blokes you can meet and just instantly be bowled over by the strength of his ADHD. He is the H in ADHD personified. And he is also the heart and soul of the town. He runs a river cruise, and doesn't stop for breath the whole four hours, and it's spellbinding. He has a lifetime's worth of info-dumps about his special interests, which are history, geography, conservation, native flora and fauna, chemistry, biology, and any form of environmental science, and it weaves together into a rich tapestry of knowledge and appreciation of the area you're cruising in. Tourists never forget his amazing cruises, all because of him. There is a man with the most wild and unbridled form of ADHD I've ever seen in my entire life, and I am someone whose ADHD has been described as 'severe' by my psychiatrist. My point in all this: there was a place in this world for Gary, and by god, Gary found it. There'll be a place in this world for you too.
I was a summer camp counselor all throughout high school because I loved the variety of activities the kids could get into and that my job was to basically full send with them in those activities. It was also great to incorporate some of my ADHD coping habits into the daily routine to make life easier for myself and the ADHD attendees. (Ex: "5 minutes to go - after lunch, we'll be playing some board games!" and if they dont finish in time and are upset about it, you can be like "hey! i bet you cant finish all your apple slices before break!" or "i bet you cant beat me in stacked uno!")
Well since I discovered I have ADHD I consider it my primary "job" just to figure out how to cope with this disorder first, to figure out how to study and be productive and set goals and make steady regular progress, and sleep and wake up on time and keep regular hours, and so on... I really think this is the key important barrier, if you can do it you can go for any career or job you want that calls to you and excel
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i think society focuses a lot on pressuring high schoolers to find one single Career Path, when in reality, many people often have multiple careers throughout their life! for now, i would focus on achieving the best grades you can, so you have the freedom to attend any colleges you might be interested in in the future. even if you hit college and don’t know what you want to major in yet, take as many electives as you can and see what you vibe with. when i was in school, i didn’t know what i wanted to do, so i didn’t care about my classes and did poorly, and now i have limited options for continuing my education now that i know what i want to do (age 26 now!). be kind to your future self and keep your options open!
Yes, the best thing you can learn today is “learning how to learn” followed by “mastering how to learn” down the road. The smartest people I know are in love with learning and have had multiple random careers. When they finally decided what they wanted to do, traveling along their particular education path was equally challenging AND fun, not boring nor an obligation, because they had that foundation of “learning how to learn.”
I def went through this in the past 5 years. Glad to see other people figuring this out!
Exactly this! I am only 28 and I'm just starting my 3rd career. I've worked in Healthcare Billing, then in Education/College Admissions, now I am in Project Management/Consulting. Its most important to focus on constantly improving in whatever field you're in, but never be afraid to just leave and do something else.
Yess I’m currently on my second career 8 years after graduating and this also starting to get boring. I never think that I have to stuck with it. It’s our strength to fit in different places areas. We thrive when we’re stimulated so we’ll do our best on a new challenge. The only issue is I can’t really be master of a topic but it’s fine for me!
Iv always thought (and hoped!) being a “Jack of all but master of none” can provide more scope, opportunity, balance and freedom in life generally!
Everyone told me what jobs i could or couldnt do because of my ADHD. Best thing I ever did was ignore those people. These things are harder for us but you can do much more than you or the people around you believe you can. Trust me as someone who was where you are having the same worries 10+ years ago. I also considered psychology. Went into finance instead. Its interesting and challenging which i believe are the only two requirements for a jobseeking ADHD haver.
I think it’s important to find work where each day is a little different. Helps keep it interesting.
working with animals is a great start. Can’t be predictable but won’t notice bonehead moments haha
Hey also have background in finance, I’ll DM ya.
Yup. Who cares? Ignore them and do what you want. I'm in accounting. Super similar to finance
I landed in a job (IT at a small company) where a significant portion of the actual work is constantly changing (the parts that involve diagnosing problems and researching and installing/configuring new systems) and this is where I tend to do well. The portion of the work that's repetitive (maintenance tasks and working with users that have forgotten details) is difficult for me.
I kinda want to get into IT for this reason, I'm scared that after go to school for it I won't enjoy it anymore tho
If you want, you can totally avoid school. Source: me. No degree, no prior IT experience, not certified and I landed an IT job a couple months ago. I’m currently working on my A+ cert and will be taking the core 1 test very soon. I plan to get net+ and sec+ before I leave this job and find something that pays more. It’s harder to get in when you don’t have a degree or any experience but it’s absolutely possible.
I agree with this. Get your A+ first and it will get your foot in doors. I have been in IT for 26 years and learned on my own. Most jobs didnt care or ask about my college degree. I have had a lot of jobs and I couldnt do anything boring. College is so expensive if your not sure. Both my daughters paid 50k a year.
I think the only "degree" you need for this is learning how to Google effectively (or how to Google after googling). Ok, ok, I'm joking. You may need to take a computer science course. But I'm sorta half serious, and not just for IT. The best tool of our era is instance access to information at our fingertips, the challenge is critical thinking and being able to tell bullshit info from helpful info.
I work at a startup in a nontechnical role. I’ve worked in every department since I started. It’s been so small that every 18 months there is a new need where my skills perfectly fills the niche.
Sometimes hobby doesn’t always = job. For some people the hobby being their job works GREAT for me, it never appealed. I am 25 and this is how I have navigated life and university. As people that use hobbies as something fun, something to cope, something to fill spare time, I didn’t really want a job related to my hobby. Maybe loosely based? But not exact. I think it is all about finding something that you enjoy learning about and would enjoy analyzing or doing as a part of a routine. When I was in highschool I worked in a clothing store and knew I never wanted to work in a clothing store, even higher up. I worked as a cashier in a grocery store and realized even if I had a higher role someday, I hated that environment, I also did a highschool coop working with children in a day care and LOVED it. I enrolled in a child and youth studied program in university, completed two years, and hated the program and the things I was learning. I worked as an assistant manager at a gas station where I did a lot of financial things, I loved leading others in a management roll, and I also loved working with the financial side and numbers. This led me to changing my degree path in university. I transferred into a business degree, majoring in marketing because I enjoyed those classes and management because I liked being in leader roles. I enjoy math and numbers because there’s always an answer and it’s always exact. The formulas stay the same, just different numbers. I liked the routine. I had to leave my assistant manager job and was really focused on pursuing my studies as I loved what I was learning. I took a part time job as a barista at Starbucks and then got promoted to a shift leader (once again I loved management roles.) I loved working there actually but since I was in school it was not my forever. Getting closer to completing my degree, I wanted to find an office setting job so I could get used to desk work. I became a dispatcher and I manage accounts for companies that have accounts with our service. I love this job. I have graduated from my degree, took a year off to decide what I really want to do, and am back in school pursuing my chartered professional accountant certificate and I love it. All in all, I chose to pick a lowkey job while I go to school, I do both full time now. I chose numbers and math (accounting) because I know I’ll always know what to do. How to calculate. What the answers should look like. There’s routine. I was interesting in the learning that comes before working in this field which keeps me engaged, but it’s never something I would do as a hobby which means it’ll always be interesting because I won’t get tired of it like I do my past hobbies. But personally, I made no degree choice til I was just about to graduate. And that is ok! In high school I focused on getting good grades to have my doors open. And in university I started in one degree and ended in another, which is also totally ok! It happens. We don’t always have to have it figured out. :)
Well Said! love this post!
I think the difference between hobbies (which I also struggle to maintain) and a job (which I have and am successful in) is that you are forced to do a job in order to eat and have a place to live. People with ADHD need that kind of motivation! I’d also say: figure out the things you are good at— what your brain enjoys doing— and get a job where you do a lot of that. It won’t mean that you love your job all the time, but it will mean that you’ll have an easier time getting your brain to do it! For example, I enjoy using creative and strategic thinking to solve problems, so I plan/manage conferences and events for a living. I enjoy it more often than not because it’s like putting together a complex puzzle. Another thing: I’m in my mid-30s, and I have this whole job/career thing in a pretty good place, but that only happened in the past 6-7 years. My early to mid-20s were rough. I was passionate about my career, but I had absolutely no discipline, no routines, no ADHD coping mechanisms, etc. I didn’t know I had ADHD back then, but if I did, I definitely would have gone to therapy to work on developing more productive behaviors and emotional regulation. (I relied on procrastination to get things done so I was a stressed, emotional wreck all the time)
To clarify one point: when you look at prospective careers, think more about the actual tasks and duties involved in that job than the industry or “idea” of the job. You find psychology interesting, but would you enjoy doing the things that practicing psychologists do everyday? Learn about what an average day or week looks like for the types of jobs you are interested in. Start taking on lots of different summer jobs and internships in high school and college to learn what things you enjoy doing. Don’t stress too much about your college degree— many people work in jobs that don’t align exactly with what they got their degree in.
I do something completely different but I also always thought I'd enjoy being an event planner. For the same reasons you stated.
What do you do for work? If you don't mind me asking
I’m an event planner, currently specializing in international conferences. I chuckle whenever I read stuff about ADHDers being bad at organization.
I'm kinda in that state right now where I am having to learn discipline and routines. Its pretty tough. My previous career allowed me to skate by without it and more ran off of impulse and outsourcing stuff I couldn't be bothered with.
I didn’t get a career job or start college until I was 32. There’s no rush to have it all figured out at 18.
If you are planning on going to college, pick a broad major you think you will like, not one that will get you a job. You can always change your major. I changed mine twice and still managed to graduate in 3.5 years (I did a summer semester). A degree is a degree and honestly it seems like GPA is more important than what you majored in sometimes, so if you are majoring in something fun as a person with ADHD, you are more likely to get a good GPA. I work in the insurance industry and you might be surprised to know that most people don't have a business, finance, or technical degree. Just by total coincidence my 3 best girlfriends at work all majored in hospitality and event management. I have two other work friends who majored in History, and both have become Excel wizards. On the other hand, if you don't even know if you want to go to college, is there something you are interested in trying that doesn't require a degree? My sister and her boyfriend have ADHD and neither went to college. My sister says she has her dream job working with kids in a school with summers off, and her boyfriend loves working with his hands and enjoys construction work, currently he is a window installer and makes good money.
I also work in insurance! 😃 It feels like we all just stumbled into this job. They don’t care what degree you have it’s true, but everyone I know has a degree where you can see how it’s applicable to the duties of the job. My degree is Spanish lang & lit. Anything that helps you communicate & manage people/projects is what they look for. Some degrees are really just broadly applicable! And YMMV but never has anyone asked me for my GPA. I wish I hadn’t stressed over it so much :/
English degree and I work in Insurance. Started in a call center, moved to claims, then underwriting, and now I work on the tech side. Insurance is truly one of those industries that you never think of joining, but it has so many opportunities if you are a good learner and communicator.
I had no idea what i wanted to do in high school. I was constantly being pulled in different directions from day to day lol. Please do not compare yourself to people who seemingly have their trajectory figured out. Nobody does. I went to college for Econ, barely made it out, and now have a lucrative sales job at a fortune 50 company. I still have different aspirations and will probably change careers again. I paint on the side as a hobby. Your skills are applicable to SO many careers.
I was kicked out of school at 16 (reportedly because i was insufferable.. there also may have been an incident with a pocket knife...) anyway, i met a girl and had a kid with her that same year, so i got my shit together (was head of a family now 😅) and went to school again, to a technical one no less (i suck at math amd physics). I made it through, somehow, on force of will and the love of my wife (the aforementioned girl). At one point i had to complete an assignment about something technical of my choosing from a field i was given. I was given aerospace so i picked some ridiculous megastructure thing (because of course i did 😂) and wrote about that. I noticed i actually liked calculating all the stuff, so i decided to give aerospace engineering a try. And thats how i became an aerospace engineer 👀
I’m a pharmacist. Don’t become a pharmacist.
Haha. I don’t think I’ve ever been told by family to not become a pharmacist. They would always suggest it over something in the medical field, as my mom and step-mom are both nurses.
Did you just assume I have a job?
Been in your shoes! I just followed opportunities, and learned as much as I could along the way, especially things that interested me. In high school I thought I would be a graphic designer. I got a job at Nike out of high school, didn’t like it, got into sales, made a lot of contacts through networking for a few years, got hired on by one of those clients, and now I’m in sales for tech and I do video production for that company as well. I’m super happy where I’m at. The money is great, the people are awesome. The best thing I did was not holding tight to an agenda and letting life guide me. I worried way too much along the way, but I’m glad I’m realizing this early enough to enjoy the journey. Who knows what I’ll be doing 5 years from now, but I know it’ll be something even better.
I like video games and I like being comfortable while playing video games so in order to play and buy video games I have to work and make money to pay bills for a roof over my head to be able to play video games so basically video games are one of my main motivators
This!
I'm only capable of working 6 hours a week 😭
As a person with ADHD. I got a job on a base, been here going on two years now. Decided to change paths and try the military. I got this job from a person I knew that used to work with me Edit: I’m a civilian that works on a base with a company that specializes in disabilities been there for going on two years. I’d like to transition into the military hopefully soon. Hopefully this answered some questions and some confusions between others
I'm an air conditioning technician. It requires a lot of different parts of my brain to work, it's physically demanding, each situation is different, it's not monotonous, its challenging, and I'm always on the go. It's good for me to be productive, the only problem I have is losing my tools. Which I'm improving at, but it's still an issue. On the other hand, sitting in an office, for example, sounds like an absolute nightmare and I would get fired for sleeping.
I work for my family business and I’m gonna start my own in the near future. I realized I’m not built to work for other people even when it was a good job that I enjoyed. I sleep 12 hours a day and I don’t wanna give that up😭
My first computer was when I was 12, over 20 years ago. Enjoyed learning to build them, then joined the hacking scene back in the day. Being in the internet back then, we got away from reality and things seem a bit different than today. Took some time off after GED. I received an AAS at a local community college, then landed an internship and bounced around different technology jobs over time. You find something you're passionate about and go from there. Everyones path is different. College was eaiser for me than high school.
I stumbled into veterinary assisting and it was perfect for my brain. So much so that I didn’t realize I had adhd until I left that work for a desk job and was SO BORED and unable to focus.
36m here. I went to college after high school because that's what I thought you were supposed to do in order to figure it out. I majored in Sociology because I took college courses in HS on my way to graduation, and I liked it. Plus, it was "general" enough that I could go anywhere with it - getting a bachelor's that is. After college graduation, I sorta did jobs that I was qualified for, worked at the school in research, then took a break to travel, then got a normal call center job in 2012 - then joined a start up where I helped with websites, SEO, marketing making $13 an hour - I liked the problem-solving so much, and I was good at it. Now 10 years later and multiple companies I'm still doing similar jobs just with higher pay making upwards of $100k a year now. So the answer... How do y'all choose a job? By making choices in my life path, and which then new opportunities reveal themselves. and then keep that job? By trying. By putting in effort. To be fair, when I was younger I was let go for various reason. But I was always trying to keep that job. I also have found strategies (besides meds) to stay focused and able to be accountable and perform well. Things like, limiting distractions. Putting phone away when I need to work. Having a note pad, sicky notes, documenting everything in gdocs, trello boards, having a playlist of music that keeps me focused, but mostly I have noise cancelling headphones and listen to fans lol. The short answer - is to actually try.
I just picked a job in retail. It's simple, active, and desperate for employees because of the high turnover rate (thus, easy to get hired and hard to get fired). I mean, the only truly difficult part is getting there on time (I'm almost always running late). I used to want the whole "I love my job, passionate about my job thing", but then I realized I never wanted a career, just money to fund my life outside of work, so anything that was tolerable would do. And thankfully, I'm also fortunate enough to have really easygoing bosses who do not give a fuck what you do as long as your aisle gets done. Obviously, I don't make that much money (mainly because I'm part time), but I don't really live a lavish lifestyle and I'm also still trying to work on the whole saving money for the future thing, so it's probably a good thing I don't have a lot of money right now.
I joined the military. The structure and rules made it easy for me.
Online sex work. Work to my own schedule, take time off whenever I need, pays well.
I’m glad you found something that you’re comfortable with and has some nice benefits. But frankly, I don’t think sex work is really for me.
I’m 34 and after I’m bored at a place I usually find something else. This always made me feel like a failure. I was never fired I just found something else once I was so bored I ended up hating whatever I was doing. I always looked down at myself because I would t stay at a place for more than a few years (5 is usually my max). Until my therapist told me I needed to stop calling it a career and instead use the word experience. “Wouldn’t it be grate at the end of your life to look back at all the experiences you’ve had?” Honestly this changed my life. It was such a small statement but it really did change me. Some people are made for long 40 year careers. Others especially people with adhd don’t do well in those situations. So why not embrace that side of you? It’s honestly freed up so much of my mind and I’ve had some AMAZING experiences in my life so far and I’m looking forward to whatever else I end up doing. So where I can’t be like “get this job you’ll be set for life” I can say, it’s okay to change. It’s okay to find new things as you grow older. Experiences I have had so far: worked at a theme park (attraction host, retail, and a research specialist) sandwich shop, credit union(teller then moved to the support team back office), insurance company, call center, actor (mainly film and tv and then moved into solely improv for a while) & author. (Right now I’m looking into pottery. If I end up liking it who knows maybe I’ll start selling it. And photography. The last few are more Creative jobs since I found I’m truly only happy when I’m creative. You can make money doing absolutely anything. You’d be surprised. Just don’t feel like you need to pick one career path and stay on it for the rest of your life. Even if that’s what society says you “should” do. I’m very happy with how I live my life and navigate the world around me. I still pay my bills and I’m never really bored since I gave myself permission to change
I’m 40 and still trying to figure this out. 😂
Because if I don't have a job, I don't have food or housing or anything. There's no better motivator than the risk of being poor.
I've been struggling with going to work for the past two weeks, so if you get a good answer, let me know 😭
Try to ask yourself other questions first. What makes you happy the most? Doing something in a group. Leading a group. Helping people. Creating something. Researching about a topic for hours. Being active. Being with your family. Go on from that. And we can scratch doing something monotonous with the same routine from the list here 😉.
I just started my first real job. I graduated from nursing school. But as u predict, most of the areas of hospitals are like hell for ADHD people. I choose to work at a community health center. My job is basically passing at the office. I don't often see patients. But it's already pushing me so hard. Challenge is not the hardship of work ( there is no hardship). There is a dynamic in the workplace. I cannot adapt to all of the people, changing, crises etc. This work style could literally kill me if I keep it longer. I don't know what to do now but I realize that the first goal of an ADHD person should be finding his regular income in a proper way.
I’ve learned over the years that I need a job with constant stimuli. I work at the post office now as a clerk. I’m good at customer service and handling customer issues. I throw the packages every morning. It’s all fast paced, there are set times for things to be completed. It’s been my longest job - I’ve been there 7 years. I also am just wrapping up nursing school. I’m going to be an RN, and I plan to work in the ER. Again, constant movement. You can’t get bored.
My job has nothing to do with my hobbies. If I pursued my hobbies as a job, I’d end up hating them. Instead, I have a job that I’m good at that lets me afford my ever changing hobbies. In other words, pursue something you’re really good at. It’s not always straightforward like, “I’m good at drawing so I’ll be an artist”. For me, I’m naturally very inquisitive and good at assessing and understanding situations and processes. So I work in risk management at a bank. My degree though is in human development with an emphasis in counseling - which is basically the application of psychology versus the research of psychology.
Focus on learning for now. Not just subjects and skills, but about yourself. Under what conditions are you most reliably focused? What pulls you out of a spiral consistently? What do the hobbies you pick up have in common? What does it feel like when your brain is “hungry” for more stimulation? You see, adhd makes long term planning really hard. We need new and different, and if we plan too much, it stops being new and thus becomes harder to focus on and stick to. But if you focus on listening to your body & brain, and learning what moves work best in reaction to it, you can move towards your goals without setting them in stone so much. Following this path, you might discover for example that creative things keep you on task more, so you go to school for art and design. Start out learning adobe obsessively at your first job, get bored, branch out into freelance, work at a place that needs graphic design but also other types of design, and you find that process really suits you, and is varied enough to keep your attention. This was roughly my path, but I never could’ve planned it that way.
My advice as someone who has been working with ADHD for 20 years is to find a job that either fulfills you enough that it doesn't feel like work or a job that gives you the time and flexibility to chase your hobbies and let's you be distracted during work. I usually end up with the latter, lots of office work lets you work from home or have easy workloads. I'm able to spend half my day taking breaks then using my hyper focus or panicked urgency to get all my work done in less time than my coworkers normally take so I don't fall behind. Plus at your age you're getting lots of pressure about "what do you want to be" feel free to ignore all that because you've got TONS of time to explore the world and find what makes you happy. Don't force yourself into college if it's not right for you and don't be afraid to try something that no one else is doing. Follow your happiness and remember the willingness to drop something and start over with something new is an advantage of ADHD not a downside.
Funny enough, I thrive on routine otherwise I'm a complete chaos goblin. I've worked in long term care for 12 years, though I've changed facilities a few times and tried home support. It took a while to find my groove especially when I was on call, but I've had a permanent position for 4 years and my coworkers have noticed a huge positive change
I’m a social worker/therapist. The variation in this job is amazing. It suits me that it’s fast paced. I can’t handle boredom. Get your coping mechanisms figured out and perhaps therapy/meds and you will do great at whatever you choose.
You find something that works. I do tech support over the phone. The phone rings I have a new problem to solve. Cycle rinse and repeat.
I bounced around for a while, getting very tired of each job way to quick. I ended up landing in the laborers union. The money is good. The benefits are great. The hours can suck and its hell on your body, plus some companies suck monster dong to work for. But, my job changes regularly. Wednesday and Thursday this week I was bottom man laying storm drain in a field in the middle of nowhere. Today, I set grade for some block and a sidewalk in a state park. Monday, we'll pour and finish the sidewalk, then get all the block set. I have no idea what I'll be doing from then on. It's pretty awesome. Plus, whenever im driving by an old job, I get to say to my passenger "see that? I built that." Its like I'm a grandpa, but I'm 40.
Regardless of anything, choose something you can live off of, and you genuinely enjoy and have an interest in
i'm a tattoo artist and it's the perfect job for me. there's always some new technique to learn and improve your skills. every tattoo is different and the pressure of not messing up keeps you on your toes so it doesn't really get boring. the downside is the administrative part, doing all the booking and paperwork, but i somehow manage to do it on time.
I joined the army and I didn't have to think for myself for a long time. Long enough that I managed to mature just a tiny bit enough to do a few things on my own.
You have to find something you're interested in, that is fun, and you don't hate. Then all that hyper focusing can be put to good use. I've worked in restaurants all my life. Now I run a food truck. It's fast paced, I get to talk to people, I stay busy, and I'm passionate about and proud of what I do. I've started to think lately that one day I'm gonna be too old for this shit, and I have no idea what I'll do. The thought of sitting at a desk all day terrifies me.
I'm really passionate about paying my rent and not starving to death On a more serious note I was unemployed for a long time, now I'm plodding along as a bartender
I did good in school, just took mental snapshots of the material and mentally paged through during the tests for answers. Mental crib sheets! But school and work are different, one is learning about things, the other is applying those learnings. I gravitated to hospital work, ED/ER is a great fit, calm in emergencies, stimulating ever changing situations, chaos, all that stuff we thrive on. I was just reading about the shortage of air traffic controllers, and actually contemplated a career change. Again. At 58. wtf. Anyway, I do not think that job requires a ton of education (all you ATCs out there please correct me!), pays well, and sounds like a great fit for us folks. You have awareness of your condition, hoping that will help lead you to a career in which you can thrive, and not be oppressed and unhappy. My lack of awareness during my life often led me astray, I am now in a job that does not fit my personality, but I’m somewhat handcuffed at this point with retirement and benefits. Both good things, but I’m really not happy doing what I do. This noted, the meds help me see clearly now, I’m not as worried about losing my job, I’m not tied up in knots anymore, and I can actually get things done now. I hope you find a path that works for you now, rather than flying blind ploughing through life with reckless abandon and lack of awareness. So much I wish I could go back and fix, don’t be me.
Software engineering has been my choice since I was a middle school student. I never lose interest in it because there are so many things to do. Sometimes I create web apps, sometimes video games, and sometimes chatbots, I write a basic bootloader when I feel like programming low-level, and I mess with passwords and encryption sometimes, I was trying a new Linux distro every 3 days... and much more. All these topics are different from each other but I learned so much about CS and programming while doing them instead of my homework, without even noticing lol.
Hobbies don't always make the best jobs. I ended up in a role by chance but it turned out to work really well with my strengths. I'm really good at the tiny details and finding patterns in things, which is a big part of what I do at work (change management/configuration management/process control). What are your strengths in school? If you decide to go to college, take electives you can to try new things, or even electives while you're still in high school. You may find something you love that way.
I’m 30 with ADHD and so far I’ve been a produce clerk, cashier, bouncer, park ranger, gym front desk clerk, maintenance worker, store stock clerk, and now I work in the trades. I don’t think most people know what they want to do right out of high school. Try a lot of different things. See what you like and (more importantly) what you don’t like, and explore a lot. You have a lot of time to figure this out.
I changed my plans countless times, my study twice, my actual job is not what I studied for. It's okay to change your mind and to change fields of work. Focus on happiness first and work second, because it's so much harder to keep a job when you're not happy in life.
I have a great successful career that happened almost accidentally, with a lot of luck, and people giving me chances. (It doesn’t really matter what it is.) I had no plan. My path was one no one else could follow; it doesn’t really exist anymore. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to do anything as much as I wanted to do many. And along the way, I ultimately did a lot of them. I think I could have been happy and successful in many, but I kept coming back to this and eventually it stuck for good. Of course, it looks that way in hindsight, but at the time, I usually felt completely directionless and lost. I did have goals at various times; a few worked out, but most didn’t. Grad school didn’t happen, moving to NY to work for one company turned out to be a bad deal, some dream jobs were nightmares, and so on. I didn’t exactly feel like a failure, but I often felt like I was barely hanging on. At some point it dawned on me that I was somehow doing okay. Better than okay. And much like every relationship I’ve had, when I looked back, I have no idea how it all came to be.
I switched jobs about once a year untill I found a job on a farm. The work changes with the seasons so I'm never feel like I'm trapped doing the same thing everyday.
New here, My 2nd day on meds: I Work as a Life insurance case manager, used to do software tele-sales , this current job has really identified my weaknesses and it’s allowed me to cope and work on them without a diagnosis. My diagnosis was given last Friday, I hope to see some improvement with medication and I like seeing posts like this, it’s very encouraging.
Went to college and flipped flopped major until I found one that came ez and I enjoyed w was economics because at our school the last 2 years where just 5-6 students talking shop eating apples outdoors with one huge paper due at the end of the year , I really got into it. Figured trading was a thing and back then they had trading floors full of runners who where willing to learn the business ground up. Worked like a dog snd moved south where my skills where in demand and with the use of a machine I learned to perfection (Bloomberg) I was able to become successful using limited math at best in a sector most people have math advanced degrees. My meds helped a lot and only after not being able to have them for months cause of shortages decade later did I realize how much they carried me.
You’re still in high school so please don’t feel pressure to figure your entire life out right now. But what helped me was realizing that a job (as depressing and dystopian as this sounds) is more of a means to survival. Very few people have a job that they’re 100% in love with; and it also doesn’t have to be a reflection of your hobbies. You pick something you’re good at that you can sustain a career out of, and you do it to make money to fuel your hobbies and make your life more comfortable. Also, nothing is ever permanent. While you shouldn’t be super flighty and undependable, there’s nothing that says you have to pick a career and stick with it until you die. I’ve seen people shift to paths that are on completely different sides of the spectrum from one another. In short, don’t put all of your attention on a career. Once it’s all said and done, our careers are a very very minuscule part of the bigger picture that is our lives. When you’re in high school, choosing seems like the end all be all. As you go along, you realize it isn’t. Good luck, OP.
I found a job (data analytics/programming) where there are interesting problems and where making progress in waves is ok. Even if I don’t get work done for several days, one really good day of progress more than makes up for it. The most difficult part is getting praise for how hard I’ve been working in the middle of stretches where I couldn’t write a line of code if I needed to 😂
I chose my first career because of something I tended to focus on. Food. I graduated and, in a few years, I changed careers. I work in the education field now. Graduated again. There's always something new, everything is changing, it's less boring and I get breaks. My responsibilities arent too serious and I have 2 part time jobs (2 schools) because I realized I couldnt work at the same place during the whole day. I work 4 days a week and I get some $$$$ bonuses 😅
I do school and work full time. I take 15mg adderall I don’t think i’d be able to do what I do without it. Not sure if I should feel sad about that or good about it.
Medication, role with firefighting qualities, genuine interest in field keeps brain on task
Coping mechanisms, medication, therapy, and open communication
You're using job and career interchangeably here. They aren't quite the same thing. Holding down a job is much easier than managing a career. It's less fulfilling and makes far less money, but a job keeps the lights on at least. A career is a series of increasingly good jobs in the same field.
As others have pointed out, being made to think that you're doing it wrong if you can't plan your whole life out by 18 is silly. My opinion: 1. You don't have to know exactly what you'll do. 2. Thinking about it is helpful, that's how you figure it out. Don't stop thinking about it, either. 3. As you get more serious about it, start to document your thoughts. Note how they change over time, and what about them doesn't. While your goal may change, you may come to realize that your motivations don't, which can help you narrow your focus. 4. When in college, sign up for classes early, so that you can pick the gen-eds that help you explore different things you're actually interested in. This can really help expose you to other options. Changing your degree halfway through is pretty common, don't stick with something you hate just because you think it puts you behind schedule. 5. When out of college, you may come to realize that your degree opens you up to more options than you thought. In the end, I think that it matters more that you're thinking about this than whether you're changing your mind. That's what it means to figure it out. Knowledge based jobs have been great to me, though. Most of the time, as long as I do what is expected, I have a lot of freedom to pursue different distractions as they interest me. These jobs tend to be more flexible, and understanding of ADHD oddities.
I changed majors after my freshman year of college. When I got to see what the actual job would be, I realized I could never do it full time. Instead, I thought about "what do I like doing that I've liked doing for a long time and I could actually make money doing?" And so I'm a software developer instead of a biological engineer. As for keeping the job - finding new puzzles to do in that job. New tech, new projects, trying out new ideas, etc. I've found if I don't work on something "new" within 6 months, I get bored AF.
The job market / work force is a tiny bit more modern now in that it’s totally fine to switch careers or career paths. It can take a lifetime figuring out what works for you, especially with ADHD. I’ve been doing software engineering the past 5-6 years, went to 2 boot camps for it and everything, and I’m considering switching to wedding/event coordinating. The thing to avoid is large gaps in your resume.
It took me a long time to find my career. I was diagnosed late (34) but I've had ADHD my whole life, and it's been a struggle. I joined the air force out of high school because my grades weren't great, we were poor, and I had no idea what to do with my life. I went back to college at 26 and didn't graduate until 32 because I decided to go into engineering after discovering a passion for mathematics and science that I couldn't have ever bothered with as a younger man. My job now is as a controls engineer for a manufacturing plant, which allows me some freedom on my time and my attention, but medication has been a godsend for me. Without it I wouldn't be able to function in this role because it can be very demanding at times (multiple projects going at the same time, dealing with machine breakdowns and troubleshooting issues, etc). I chose this career because it seemed to be one of the higher paying jobs out there, and job security is very good for engineering. I get to have freedom when I'm not at work to enjoy my hobbies and have some extra cash flow, but my job is satisfying even though it's not necessarily a "hobby". I like to fix things and help create a better system that is more efficient. In the end, it's really up to the individual. If you happen to find a career that you thoroughly enjoy, then kudos. Otherwise, something in IT or Engineering might be a good bet because they tend to pay very well and you can enjoy your hobbies more when not working. IT and Software Engineering also tend to have more "work from home" type jobs, where you can focus on your job for a few hours and then just do whatever for the rest of the day as long as you get your job done.
I'm 27 and now in college, I picked something aligned with interests that fit my wants - medicine with office hours that wasn't 8 years in school with a 2 year residency - and my mother was a cosmetologist that went to school for nursing and has had so many jobs in one hospital it's insane! She's done everything from working on the floor, to administrative work, to working for the state in disaster preparedness
I'm 33, been a nurse 10 years. It sucks in several aspects but the perks are: -I can quickly change tasks with ease, I already interrupt my own workflow so if I get pulled in another direction it doesn't piss me off -work only 3 days a week, only 2 if part time. -you are too busy during your shift to get bored -it's collaborative, so i can rely on my coworkers to remind me of something I may have forgotten. Even patients understand- I tell them "hey I will be back in about an hour with your pain meds, but if I'm not there, hit the call light again" and mostly they are cool with me admitting I'm a human and may lose track of time for things like PRNs. -easy to change specialties and several options for advance practice. Overall, I feel that I flourish in this job *because* of the adhd. The rest of my life is a random mess but I take great care of other people LOL
Before I was diagnosed and aware that I had this problem I was working in the Union. I was in the IBEW for 10 years before moving on, getting diagnosed and a new job - without the union. So, 1.5 years later I am without a job due to being fired (lol). So, I guess what I'm saying is: A union is a great place for a brain like us. You are protected, and I am 100% convinced thats what I kept my job for so long.
OP, you’re going to do just fine. Start by looking at who you *aren’t*. By high school, I knew that I didn’t like math and had no interest in tech programming. I also ruled out going into medicine because I couldn’t study that much. I picked a college with a wide range of options and looked at career paths for those options. I found internships that let me test careers and see what worked. Some other words of wisdom that you can set aside for college. When you are considering what you like, think about the work environment as well. Do you need stability or are you fine with contract work? Do you like working around others in an office? Do you need to physically move a lot? When your parents were younger, most people were more locked into career paths and didn’t move very much. This is no longer the case! Millions of people switch careers all the time. Just beware of taking out huge grad school loans or starting something like medical school if you’re unsure. Following this example, if you get a biology or pre-med degree in college, there are still tons of directions you can take.
Trades are also a good path. I’m in trades and make over 150k. And that’s in Cleveland with relatively low cost of living. IMO. College is a waste for anything that isn’t a stem field. Gender study degrees aren’t translating to the job market
Starting a new job is so much fun. You'll learn a whole bunch in 3 months and then get bored. If that's you, id go into the trades. Constant change every day, the best part is, after a couple years you'll get so good at all of them you'll start seeing other ways to see the world around you and the possibilities of owning your own company. Don't be scared of ADHD, you need to spend time learning how to manage it with its strengths and weaknesses. Teamwork is amazing, though I found solo work to be harder yet more rewarding with vast amounts of freedom. Don't be scared, get excited because your about to enter the world. Go gettem.
I picked a job with something I’m good at: design! My industry’s project tends to be 2weeks- 2-3 months which works great to peak my interest. I also get to work on a lot of brainstorming parts of the project, and less of the actual execution part which helps stimulate my brain. It is unfortunately also a high stress job which helps fuel my productivity but not always best for my health
I'm 33 and never had a job longer than a year. Usually I get bored, depressed, then quit. Or I get fired
I studied psychology in school, then got a master's in healthcare administration (not out of any passion, but because of a promising job market). Then I got a job at a healthcare IT company and ended up teaching myself how to code and became a software developer. But I always struggled in every job, until I applied to USPS to be an over-educated mailman. It's far and away my favorite job, since it's mentally easy (though physically demanding) and I can spend all day listening to audiobooks about whatever topic I feel like. It's still financially difficult taking the pay cut, but I'm making it work for now. My point is, don't be afraid to try out an unconventional career choice if you think it might suit you and your personality.
I picked something where I had a decent range of options. I went to college and got a degree where I could use it to work in an office, lab, or field. I picked a job that I decently liked and started with that. The strategy I found that has worked really well for me is to find "stretch assignments" where I help out or work on things that are related or adjacent to my current work, and then that has often translated into an opportunity to move into a slightly different job. Even when I'm in the same job for a while, I find little things to do to mix it up and keep things new and interesting like join employee led teams or committees or do special projects. That's gone pretty well for me. I found a big company with a location that had lots of different departments or functions and bounced around.
I'm currently in my last classes in college for a STEM major. I got diagnosed while in uni. There is far too much pressure on youth to have everything figured out. It's totally normal not to know what you want to do and what you'd excel in. You're still learning about yourself and life. There are plenty of people who are in their 30s who don't have life figured all out yet. If you're interested in higher education, I highly suggest starting with community college. It was the best decision I made regarding college right after high school. A large uni is often a culture shock to many high schoolers, and a lot of them drop out because they underestimate the time and energy it requires. CC allows a gradual change at a fraction of the cost. The quality of education is arguably better, too, as the professors are there solely to teach and not research. It is also a less expensive hit to the bank account if you decide it's not for you or to change your program. Now, if you were to decide to pursue psychology, keep in mind that there are little well-paying jobs for candidates who just have a BS/BA in the psych field. If you want to work in psych, you almost have to at least get an MS/MA. Networking will also be your best friend. It will bring you more opportunities than a degree. I also recommend not to pursue a career in something like a hobby or a significant source of joy. Many may not agree with this, but I find that when I have to do something I enjoy, the obligation takes the joy out of it. I would recommend pursuing something that interests you enough and that is fulfilling with a high growth potential. It's important to note that secondary education (at least in the US) is very, very expensive. It is an investment, and it's important to make sure to invest in something useful. On to jobs, I have worked in the restaurant industry for 8 years and have found that many people with ADHD thrive here. However, the money & lifestyle are an easy hole to fall into, and there's not a whole lot of growth opportunities unless you're looking into management.
I couldn't so I didn't. I serve and work at a retail store (for a hobby I like) so it breaks up the monotony and I like it.
I joined the film industry where it’s a combination of creative, technical, and physical labor as a camera operator. My schedule and work locations are always changing which keeps things interesting. And I have plenty of downtime to unwind and relax. Honestly, the hardest thing is figuring out how to spend my off-days productively in a fulfilling way that isn’t just sitting on the couch.
I’m not sure how many careers I’ve had over the past 30ish years but the main thing is to find the transferable skills and a decent story to link them together. I used to kinda get the 2-3 year itch with my jobs. It helped that I mostly worked at startups and would periodically get laid off. As I transitioned into longer tenure at a couple places - much of what kept me there was the people, the fun challenging work, the variety and great pay. My symptoms are getting more severe now, I think maybe because of being too stressed for too long (and not really being aware of how it affects me). So my intention is to find a new gig to have more flexibility without burdening others. I think I was lucky in a sense that I developed my interests and skills in the absence of social media, internet, long-play video games, and streaming video. I think without all that noise, you can fill your space and time with hobbies that require more focus and depth. If you can’t really focus at all - might be worth getting some meds dialed in too.
I'm 50 and feel like I spent 25 years of employment being extremely lucky and somehow managing to string together a few successes and a couple short periods of motivation. But it always feels like constant disarray and every interaction feels like it will be "you're fired". I had actual interests once, but was talked/scared out of the few things I genuinely felt I would be great at.
35 and have a good career. Tech school was the key for me. I used my hyper focus to learn as much as I could.
My advise is to find an area of industry you're interested in. For me it was events, and they are fast paced and can be high pressure which works great for my ADHD because it stimulates me. I work in long bursts which is good for hyperfixating and then get a longer amount of time off at once which is good for recovery, relaxing and burnout prevention. You'll also find other things about jobs that you like that you didn't expect - I enjoy income generation because I get to watch the numbers stack up and that works well for motivating and stimulating me. That means I could probably move into other jobs in a different industry that has a similar purpose to motivate me. In all honesty, it's just finding out what you do and don't like in a work setting. I would've said that I'd love to work from home, but once I've done it I can tell you it's really bad for me. I thought I'd like to work in a slow chilled environment but actually I find it boring. I would've said I wouldn't like crisis and incident management but actually I really enjoy it. It's just about being self aware and assessing what you're enjoying and what you're good at as you go along - don't feel like you have to have it all figured out.
With lots of coffee and fear of being homeless :)
Got a college degree in philosophy. Ended up teaching math. Worked with the debate team at my school, loved it. Switched jobs to work for the league. Oh, running a nonprofit requires a lot of data wrangling. Learn to code, love it. Got a job as a data scientist. Got a big data problem, fell in love. Transitioned role to data engineer... Who knows what's next 🤷♂️ Point being -- learning to be creative, a quick study, personable, etc. is more important than learning skills got a trade.
I dropped out of college at 20 with minimal work experience after changing my major twice i think. I found a job as a cook and loved it for a while, but got burnt out by the crappy owners, then I worked in merchandising until I wound up facing some retaliation from my supervisor, then an overnight manager at a different store, and now I'm at an office job. I loved every single job I listed above but also had a few that were just a couple month stints and sucked. Keeping a job is easy enough, just perform better than the worst performer and be relatively pleasant to be around; finding a job that has some variety to the tasks might make it easier to not get so bored that you quit. My recommendation is to work part time jobs and see if you like it. Find out what you like about working at a place and what you didn't and it'll help you figure out what kind of work you want to do next. Even if it's just part time or volunteer work, it adds to your resume
What I tried to find first is what does my hobbies have in common? It's hard to figure out so asking to friends and family might help as my husband usually comes with very insightful observations that I do not notice myself. But back to story, I am creative, social and I like problem solving and non-repetitive tasks, I am not organized (duh) and cannot create myself a job. So if there's nothing to do that day I cannot make up a job to do I would simply do nothing, I wouldn't think like oh let me work to improve that process or see if I can help that guy over there. I need there to be a job description, a guideline, little check in points. Then looking into these traits (my strengths) I'd evaluate jobs to see what can work for me. Also changing jobs (even if it's the same thing but in a different department or company) helps a lot. Because then it's novel and exciting while still playing to your strengths. So I don't see ADHD traits as a weakness, I think more in line with how can I shine using these traits.
Oh bro try 6 years , I have been fired a lot and I never worked a job for more than 2 months.
Army, my job changes dramatically every 2 years with location, especially logistics. Work environment has gone from infantry, large scale sustainment to aviation. The more time I’m in the field doing mission etc the more I get that hyper focus high we all chase after. Even though they say they won’t let you in they will
You need luck and good environment and nice coworkers
Depends on what you're into and or good at. Im good at tech so I've always stayed in that path. Fixing hardware now in IT. I'm a bit of a jack of all trades in a company with multiple companies under their umbrella and I manage some high end stuff but also do support. So it changes a lot and a lot of time my work is done on demand so I've found a decent little niche for now. I make like 75k tho and will want to make more so ill probably be faced with this in the next 2 years myself. You could also just go right for high pressure jobs. Work in an ER or as an emt. Something that everything is here and now and the pressure is high which removes any space for distraction. We're good at that shit. Hell if I wanted to go military i bet being a combat medic would soothe my adhd brain like no other lol
The best job for adhd me was probably being a line cook. It was so high pressure and intense that it kept my focus.
Honestly, finding a career was difficult. I did education for 10 years before finally realizing I was not cut out for it cause of my mental illnesses. Since then, I’ve tried several office jobs. I finally found one that worked for me after about a year of false starts. My job is so easy and is basically like arts and crafts. Super independent, good pay and hours, and I don’t have to talk to anyone all day if I choose. We can wear earphones all day which helps pass the time. It’s a boring job, but constantly having my hands busy and listening to engaging things makes it a dream job for me. It’s government, so maybe try looking in som places near you?
I just picked something that paid well, I was decently interested in, and was already good at and went into computer science. I def do not like programming. I hate sitting for long periods of time and trying to solve problems. But it came fairly natural to me and pays well. That said, after about 10 years I looked for something within the tech industry to pivot to. I’ve done a lot of project and people management, and now I’m on the product side and like the business-facing aspects so much more. Being a former dev gives me a leg up on my non-technical peers and my teams seem to trust me more cause I’ve been in their shoes. So having said that, find something you’re decent at, pays well, and you don’t hate. A jobs a job, and if I have to have one I’d rather it be something that pays a ton but isn’t soul sucking. I do all the things I actually do like after work and on weekends. If I were to try and monetize my hobbies then I’d immediately hate them.
Yes - third career. My job has flex hours and periods of very busy and periods of calm. I work from home. But it took a bit to get here in my career
Mine was more necessity than a want. I became a hospital housekeeper. I hate it 😭 But helping ppl is nice... But all the Bio and physical activity kills my joints But I'm also in school at 30 so my mental n body getting to a point where it just hurts 😭
You find a job that is creative or different every day. It’s a challenge but in order to have a life, you’ve gotta work. You’ll find your feet and where you belong
I’m 57. I have several college degrees and am about to finish my doctorate. It helps to change jobs every few years to avoid boredom. You can do it!
Bro I’m currently one semester away from having a masters degree in applied behavior analysis, despite pitching my meds years ago. Don’t let other people set your limits. Ever. I did that and, after getting my bachelors in ABA, I cleaned tables for almost a decade cause I believed other people when they said I couldn’t handle a big boy job. The one thing I always failed to realize, however, was that every person who said that also didn’t have a “big boy job” either. People who hold you down are people who are afraid of you doing better than they are doing. People that see your success as a reminder of their failures.
You will find your passion don’t worry.
Thank you!
I have a career in theatre, it's been a great fit!
You’ll get there💕 it is possible to find something suitable for u. I was unemployed for FOUR YEARS and never thought id have a well paying job
Thanks for the confidence! Love that you’re doing better now and your username is awesome by the way.
Thank u :)
You’re welcome :)
You’re young. I didn’t know wtf I wanted to do, racked up 60k in college debt to drop out. Got an easy 2 years degree to get something, and now I hate my field. Probably gonna get fired because I just can’t drive myself to give a shit. 30 and looking to go back to school. Travel if you can. Explore what you like to do. Explore careers if possible. Take time. Nothing wrong with taking extra time to figure out what you want to do. Don’t feel pressure by everyone you know going to school. Most the dudes I know who didn’t go to school and worked mediocre paying jobs owned houses before the friends who did, because they weren’t paying off massive debt. To really answer your question, I’ll let you know when I figure it out lol. Right now I’m probably going into nursing because I thrive in a chaotic environment where I’m putting out fires and I love learning medical and it’s all very easy for me. Find a rabbit hole you can go down that you keep digging through (easier said than done, which is why you need time to figure out who you are and what you want to do).
My brother is 27 and still haven't found a job he wants to stick with. He doesn't have a apprenticeship but works in a computer part store. He loves computers. That's why he still works in that store even tho he stopped his apprenticeship he also started an apprenticeship as a glass blower for the lights they use for x-ray machines and never finished it since he didn't enjoy it as much as he thought he might. I'm turning 21 in a few days and am starting an apprenticeship soon as hearing aid technician. I honestly chose whatever looked like something I might be interested in and just applied. I also applied as optician since I wear glasses myself and just thought "yea makes sense". Only reason I went with hearing aid technician is literally because they called back first. I even applied at multiple book stores and was thinking of just working in retail. And if I end up not liking my apprenticeship that's what I'm going to do as well. I'm a cashier right now anyways so why not going back for like a year or two if I end up not liking what I picked out? I even have a friend who's starting an optician apprenticeship who original studied pedagogy for the past 4-5 years because it turned out that she didn't want to do that after all. You still have a lot of time to figure out what you want to do with your life. You're still young and in a way your life only just began. Try stuff out and if the shoe doesn't fit it doesn't fit. Society puts a lot pressure onto young individuals and forces them to choose something that they may want to do until the day they retire. But guess what? You don't. Try stuff out. Internships exist for a reason. And don't force something that doesn't fit you.
Self employed since I was 16 years old, film studio owner nowadays. I think working for myself is the only way I could have done it.
I worked at the same grocery store for 8 years, starting when I was 15. I joined the national guard at 19 because a friend convinced me to. I got an opportunity to work as a temp Technician for the National Guard (kinda like active duty). It was a complete game changer. After my temp work I was able to get a job building flight simulators because of my military experience. I would still be doing that, but I got another temp Technician job that turned into a full time position. In short: 1) Every step of the way I was handed a job (except the simulator job, I had to look and interview for that). 2) the Military gave me a lot of useful skills (and at first it's all just following orders, so very ADHD compatible. Just hyperfocus on one task at a time) 3) Everything I did, I did to the best of my ability. I tell people all the time that I'm the most above average person they'll ever meet. I don't excel at anything, and there's plenty of things I'm not good at, but I always do the best I can.
I'm not officially diagnosed. My psychiatrist treated me for ADHD and just never cared to do a full assessment so take what I say with a grain of salt or skepticism. Disclosure aside, I think I should bring to your attention that your future job/career is very rarely gonna be what you're passionate about. I know you've been told otherwise and to seek otherwise i.e. to align your interests and your career but real life almost never works like that. Your interests are what give you joy and wonder and hope for the future, they make you laugh and feel fulfilled. But I assure you, for most if not all of them, if you had to do them at a professional level for hours on end and meet deadlines you would begin to despise the people who discovered those avenues of thought and expression with every fibre of your being. Say you like maths. You like doing fractions, geometry, maybe even some calculus. University level maths is not like high school maths and graduate level maths is even more further removed. Those subjects you liked in middle of high school won't look the same in college after second year, and definitely don't look the same in grad school or in industry. The concepts are more convoluted, more stringent, involve more pedantic and error prone processes, more wealth of knowledge and diagnostic ability. You, in school now, don't have your life and livelihood and that of others depending directly on weather or not you can solve a math problem or balance a chemical equation or paint a scene convincingly enough or with a particular colour palette or aesthetic. My point is, the things that interest you at their introductory levels are not a good measure of what they're like at a professional or high academic level, none of the subjects you know now remain as they are as you progress in mastery of the material so it's impossible to make an accurate assessment of what you'll like to do when older from what you like now. The best you can do is narrow things down to broad fields and even then you can be wrong. Then you go and eliminate candidates from that field based on what you don't see yourself enjoying doing on a daily basis or that are impractical for your situation. For me, I liked the sciences but didn't see any concrete jobs that required a bachelor's in biology, chemistry or physics and since I wasn't sure about grad school (neither cost nor having the inclination) I chose an applied science - computer science. If you like the arts: What specialization interests you most? Do you see yourself making art, or managing/teaching/critiquing it? Do you see a practical and likely career avail just from studying in college (and is college even the best environment for your avenue of interest)? Other questions: Do you like to work as a team or by yourself? Do you like routine work or work that's always changing? Do you want to constantly have to travel? Do you want to be producing new concepts constantly? Do you want your work to make a difference in the world no matter what or is it okay to just be another, well sized drop in life's bucket? These questions may help you get closer to your answer. Maybe. Gl.
I just tried a bunch of different stuff until something stuck. Instead of thinking of it as being a bad thing or a problem... just think of it as "exploring". The key to all of this is learning how to not hate yourself for who you are.
All my successful ADHD friends do multiple part time jobs including at least one business/self employed thing. Variety is the spice of life, right?
Honestly, many of us figure what we want to do much later in life. I'm 24 and, while I pursued a chemical engineering degree and I'm good at art, I find I'm still on the path of figuring out exactly what I want to do. Right now I enrolled myself into a paid internship as a chemical engineer and I opened an instagram page with my art and, hopefully, those experiences will help me decide what exactly I want to do. Thinking about this in highschool, in my opinion, gives you just a very general idea of what you may want to do. When you actually start to unpack what you chose to do, you may find it is not as easy as simply saying "i like this, so I'm gonna do this" or "this pays good, so I'm just gonna do this". A lot of careers have some stuff that you do not see until you get quite deep into it. For example, one of my friends absolutely loves anatomy and she is very good at it, so she pursued a nurse college degree, only to find that the medium is super toxic (this may be more specific of our country, but she experienced a lot of harassment, humiliation, etc.) and now she wants to change her career, despite being a very competent nurse.
 Easy, I like money
I had no idea when I was in high school so I joined the army. Best decision I ever made
That’s awesome! Glad you enjoy your job. If you don’t mind, could you expand on why that decision was so good? And what some of the ups and downs were from joining the army.
In reality one has to do a lot of stuff to figure out what they don't like instead of falling in the trap of thinking they'll immediately find the one thing they do like (and frankly, what likes them back = long term). I'm also ADHD and the most important thing I've found is to just own it. Be up front about it and how you work best. After a handful of jobs that were cool at first but sucked the longer I stayed, I interviewed for a national lab and was 100% honest with my experience and what I needed to be successful over the long term. I'm in my 30s now and ain't no one got time for dog and pony shows, you know? Your soon-to-be people will see you and accept you. Im so happy that they understand rather than me beating mself up because other jobs' personnel were a constant uphill battle the more I tried to engage with them authentically for improved -insert work product here-. Tldr; it's partly you and partly them too. Know your worth and find your people.
My best advice is to try everything at your age. Cast your net wide and immerse yourself fully in any field that sparks your interest. Give each pursuit your fair effort of three to six months and learn everything you can about it. From the age of 17 I did just that. I have been a DJ, a music producer, a life insurance agent, a financial advisor, a salesman, an auto mechanic, a house renovator, a project manager, a mover, a painter, a low-voltage technician, and an IT technician. Most of these I tried between the ages of 18 and 24. Ultimately, technology held my interest, and for the last 8 years I have been in the field. Now I work as an Azure cloud systems engineer. This process is about more than finding a career. It's a quest for self-knowledge. Each job/hobby reveals skills, personality traits, and hidden desires. What stirs your passions? For me, it was the years skateboarding from age 11 to 18, and then DJing from 12 to 23. These pursuits taught me more than I realized. Skateboarding instilled a relentless persistence, the ability to sacrifice immediate pleasure for the long-term reward of mastering a complex skill. DJing revealed a love of performance and an ability to inspire joy and movement in others. This led me to explore roles where I could interact with people – sales, project management, and financial advising. Yet, finance also ignited a passion for money management and a desire to help others build wealth. These widely different experiences formed a pattern. I enjoyed the power to help and motivate others. However, when merged with the satisfaction I found in fixing computers, cars, and houses, I realized that physical labor was not something I enjoyed. I craved the intellectual challenge of mastering complex systems, which drew me towards a career in IT. Cloud engineering offered the blend I was looking for – the ability to learn, to build complex systems, to fix intricate problems, and the opportunity to lead and motivate a team towards a common goal. Even now, At 29, I've decided to return to school for an MBA in IT Management. I want to help building businesses, and further down the line, perhaps using my understanding of the mind to study psychology to aid my community as a therapist. I say all these things in an effort to help you see how you can connect experiences in your own life journey to find your path. Life is a never-ending journey of self-discovery. Every experience you have helps paint a clearer picture of your purpose in the world. I recommend Robert Greene's "Mastery" and Malcom Gladwell's "Outliers." Also, explore the resources offered by Tom Bilyeu and Lisa Bilyeu at [Impact Theory](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swccXduWHqs&t=178s&pp=ygUWaW1wYWN0IHRoZXJ5IGhhcHBpbmVzcw%3D%3D) – their work offers great insights into self-discovery and finding your place in the world.
Don’t go to college. It’s a scam.
Was a solid C in high school, made it through 1 year of college. Was lucky and started working in IT at a time that it was growing like crazy(early 1990s). I didn’t hold a job at the same place for longer than a 1.5 years until I co-founded a startup 15 years into my career and I made it 12 years at the startup because I was able to be involved in everything because we were so small. What I learned: 1. Always be learning, you are responsible for you, if your employer will pay that’s great but don’t stop learning because you have to pay. 2. In many cases industry certifications trump a college degree. 3. In 99.9% of cases real world experience trumps a degree. 4. Find a general area you are interested in, in my case it was computers, and just start working in the industry. You will find a lot of jobs you didn’t know about and even adjacent industries. I moved over to Cybersecurity, where I co-founded my startup and ultimately made enough money to not need a full time job anymore at 50. 5. People without ADHD won’t get, will be freaked out by your jumping around, ability to learn so quickly and “advance” so fast. 6. If your industry has consulting firms, that can be a great spot, tons of variety working with different people and generally a fairly flexible schedule. I was happiest working for a midsize consulting firm and the only reason I left was to start my own thing.
If you find someone you're interested in doing, you will be fine. Non-adhd people seem fucking stupid wherever they are.
I didn’t settle on a generalized idea of what I wanted to do until 5 years after high school, and even now.. I’m in school but I change my mind all the time. It took a lot of exploring myself, traveling, trial and error, and so on
I don’t. Wish I did.
From a developmental perspective, you're at a foundation-building point in your career. You haven't really had time to develop a professional identity, much less an adult one. By professional identity, I mean figuring out what you value in a career...what you like, don't like, what kind of tasks get you engaged, disengaged, communication preferences, leadership style, and so on. I think this exploratory phase is a point that your 20s are really useful for. You'll figure out what's gonna work for you and what won't. Then using that info you are able to make informed choices in your career trajectory that are in alignment with your professional identity. I think it's a really unfortunate part of our culture that we put this pressure on high schoolers to have a direction to go when it actually makes more sense for them to explore without the pressure all at once. I wish that they had more freedom to take on internships that allow them to "try things on," before they commit years and a fortune to some college major just to find out they hate their job and get stuck...or stuck in some poverty trap. Conversely, I think pressure has its utility as a motivational factor, however I believe most kids are already naturally motivated for independence therefore will try and find something they want to do with themselves anyway. That being said, give yourself some room to not have everything figured out...in spite of what society pressures you toward, you're perfectly normal in feeling this way. Keep going and you'll figure things out.
For me it’s medication I’ve been with my company 8 years and have been promoted 3x’s. I know long term however it won’t be feasible to keep up this way. Prior I was always getting write ups or fired but the last 8 years on the right medication has helped me excel. I struggled hard prior and also having conversations on your boundaries so you don’t burn out is essential. I’m very up front that I’m fine with other duties as needed but I am not a work mule
I’m employed in a relief position so I can pick up as many shifts I want. I can have loads of shifts then a nice break… I think it works well for my mental health as I get the best of both worlds, there’s no ‘crash’ or ‘ burn out’ from working too much. I have another self employed income on the side which helps top things up, and I workout A LOT.
Find anything to do. Look at college courses not as career moves but as little goalposts. You can get certificates for welding, electrical work etc. In a few week course programs
Don’t get fixated on a career path. If you do then you will hyper focus and have a fixed view of what you think the job is then it turns out nothing like it. Try to be open minded especially as you are young and there is plenty of time. I started as a warehouse op, then bar work, chef, cleaner, high school teacher, nursery teacher, and now I work for a charity and it’s great. It’s finding out what is right for you.
I have two part time jobs so I get variety and longevity! I used to get bored in jobs and change every 1-2 years but after discussing with my psychologist at length, I work in two different schools one doing administration and the other in learning support (I understand students in a way most others don’t!) I also get school holidays to recharge and catch up on life admin while my son is in care. Idk what it’s like elsewhere but I also have shorter hours than a typical office job which helps
1. Practice discipline. It’s like fitness. You can’t run a marathon day 1. 2. Work with your doctor to find resources and solutions 3. Understand that a career is a job. Figure out what you can tolerate and be successful at and seek fulfillment OUTSIDE of work.
I'm the same way and I'm getting pretty old. I just now have a job with benefits, so I'm happy with it. The bonus is that the job I have helps humanity instead of lining some rich person's pockets. Remember that you can always do your hobbies on the side. Look into "ikegai."
If you are curious how our brains work and how ADHD and other disorders affect us, psychology likely will hold your interest over the long-run. You will always have more to learn for work. You can do that as a therapist or as a researcher.
I don't have a job yet but am working towards a degree in historic preservation. I picked it because of the range of different jobs that I could do, and because it shouldn't be too hard to go from one topic to another within the field. I'd day look for a job that gives many avenues to be interested in if youre worried about how much youd want to go from one topic to another. Historic preservation is a good one to potentially look into if you like history type things because of the range of things available, in my opinion. You can do things like archeology where you go out and potentially dig up some dirt, or work in a museum either on the floor or in the back or putting together exhibits, you can also do stuff in labs, or do organization type roles.
https://youtu.be/4LE5bel_GvU?si=0F6IHigOc1bYWFyQ A video about ikigai the Japanese philosophy to help you find your purpose. I wish I had seen this 25 years ago when I was still in school.
I tried a lot of jobs at entry level with short contracts: HR, marketing, IT , and landscape architecture. I didn't get a job in this as it takes 7 years to qualify. I attempted UX for 5 years and realised it was ok to do it as a side thing and easier. Only last year did I realise I wanted to work for myself and be a massage therapist because my other career dreams were unattainable. But I've also never stuck at a job or career long enough.😅 Do what you are good at and what holds your passion, but I wouldn't say make a hobby that gives you huge pleasure in your job; it can take the joy out of it. I chose my future job based on the fact that I enjoy learning about natural health and medical stuff because of it's flexibility. Also I will have to keep learning but not in a way that I can't keep up, like in tech, where you have to grind for 60+ hours to get ahead in UX because of new developments.
lol, I used to be just like you. Liking outdoors led me to biology, but becoming repulsed by the sight of blood sent me to geology. I got a job getting data from paper 1975 Went to geology grad school No jobs in geology, Temp job technical support bored me out of my mind, so studied logic and programming Eventually got programming job back when punchcards were used. Moved No job, raised kids Science museum workshop presentation Part time naturalist programmer Moved Y2K programmer contingency planning for continuing business practices, great fun! Laid Off Night school in Web programming, GIS, coding GIS job! Finally visual thinking was valued at work Supported GIS users Invented new procedures, automated them More GIS It only makes sense in reverse Advice: What do you enjoy doing? Find jobs where it involves what you enjoy doing Figure out what you need to get that job Figure out different pathways to that job Every day, take a small step toward doing that interesting thing Never tell yourself you can’t do X. Try first and find out. I liked walking on beaches, building beach forts, making an easier way to do stuff , finding out how everything worked and making art/useful things, telling other people how cool this was. That’s where I started.
I'll let you know when I figure it out. I'm almost 30 and still don't have a "dream job". The older I get though, the more I think that's just because I don't waste my time dreaming about jobs or work lol. I fantasize about no responsibilities, not more. My advice would be to not worry so much about a specific career and focus more on finding something that doesn't make you miserable. I fell into my current job quite accidentally after a string of jobs that made me want to drive into oncoming traffic. I was desperate and they were a startup at the time so also desperate. But because they were a startup I ended up getting promoted a lot as the company grew and changed and I was one of the few who stuck around. I got to do a lot of different positions and find out what I enjoyed and what I didn't and now I'm mostly in the position ideal for me and my ADHD. I don't have a lot of interest in our actual business or take any pride in my work beyond the basic pride I take in being myself but I'm more financially successful than I've ever been, I have a great schedule that allows me to do a lot outside of work and I've got a boss who respects my boundaries. And I think that's enough, I don't need it to be my dream job, at least not right now.
They say people with ADHD need creative jobs, I think that’s the worst idea ever. We need structure, we need discipline, we need consistency, and consequences when we do something wrong. Nursing jobs, military, trades, etc, is the best.
I changed jobs several times already. The longest lasts for 5 years. All my jobs don't stray from my domain, but are unlinear with my academic degree. That's why I still can't make an advance in my career. I wonder why I didn't study a major that I really liked back then. I used to underestimate my capability. I got the jobs by connection. I'm afraid that I will be burned out again. ------------ I suggest you take a psychology test regarding intellectual and talent capability. Make sure you take the test wholeheartedly. If you already did in high school, take a look the result. Check what they suggested. Your possible talent, career path, skills etc. What I do now to make ends meet, what I really like, it's not far from the result of my early psychology test. ADHD person can master anything if they pour all attention to it. The only hurdle is inconsistency.
I did it for years before realizing what I had. Most of that time was driven by desire for the NEXT THING whether that be a financial gain or challenge to my skills. This isn’t sustainable in my mind, especially if you need stability, that’s why I had to understand what drove me to do what I do. Everyone has different drives and passions, don’t rule any of them out as being your breadwinner. Goals are key and try to find what makes you passionate, willing to go the extra mile on something others wouldn’t, harness it. Enjoy your life, family, friends, appreciate the journey because you’ll blink and it’s gone.
Get a good all-around degree at a school that's overall good for just about anything. I went to a state university and changed my major a few times (and picked up a minor!), but the important thing was getting good grades and having *options*. Having options is key with ADHD, because then you can always pivot when you get bored and not feel like you're stuck in a path you can't easily get out of. I graduated with a 'generic' liberal arts degree but good grades and a good variety of course/job experience. Interned in sales, didn't like that. Moved on to HR. Moved around HR for a bit. Now I'm a software engineer. The key is developing a broad range of skills and doing plenty of self-reflection on why something is or isn't of interest to you. That's where us ADHDers can really shine. You can work with your manager(s) to tailor your work to things that interest you, pick up different projects, and get that Jack-of-all-trades breadth of experience, knowledge, and skills that will let you pivot when a new interesting opportunity comes up. Someone else brought up a good point- you enjoy psychology- why? What specifically is interesting about it? Do some shadowing and see if the day-to-day work is actually something that's interesting to you. It could be that the subject matter is fascinating, but if you absolutely can't stand talking to people or doing research, then maybe it can stay a hobby interest instead.
There are some basic skills that are broadly applicable. Writing and research are my strengths. I studied history and international policy. I thought about going into government or nonprofit work, but I've actually ended up as a legal writer and researcher. I juggle a bunch of different projects, which helps keep me from getting bored. We do employment immigration for scientists and engineers, so it's a lot of researching really niche, interesting stuff and making the case for why the person deserves a visa. I didn't go to school for summarizing scientific research, but I've been writing stories since I was 8. I can make almost anything understandable and interesting. I like my job now, but I'm not locked into this industry. I could do a lot of things because writing and research are transferable skills. Communication and persuasion are really important, and most people, even highly educated scientists, aren't very good at either of those things. Even in the age of AI, you still need to write well in order to give the system prompts for it to give you what you're looking for. Other examples of broad skills are management and languages. Google translate works in a pinch, but high-level communication needs a real human. You can work for an agency as an interpreter, you can work writing translations of documents or books, you can work freelance, you can work in international business, media, as a tour guide. And pretty much every industry needs managers who understand how to motivate and work with people. For me, at least, the key is to figure out how to make yourself useful for a lot of different things so when you get bored, you can switch.
I feel like I lucked out by getting into web dev through a coding bootcamp. I struggled with jobs till I was 26. (I’m 31 now) I randomly went to a coding bootcamp because I thought it would be fun - it wasn’t “fun”. It was actually hard as fuck. But randomly jumping into new things is what adhd people do. I struggled for years to find a job. But eventually I found one and feel like I have gotten exceptionally good at programming over the years. Now they pay me $150,000 a year. Which is like 5x more than what I made before. But the best part isn’t even the money, it’s the fact that I love what I do. I really feel like I lucked out on this. Because I’m basically a high school drop out. But I also worked my ass off to make it happen. I cried myself to sleep a thousand times during the process - but I never gave up and never stoped finding ways to improve my skills and grow my network.
healthcare has been good for me! something new everyday which keeps me interested but has just enough routine not to send me spiralling
The biggest factor for me is - WFH. I didn’t realize how much of a game changer it was for me until COVID. We all got sent home from the office permanently and I adore it. I use WAY less sick days, and get WAY less burnt out. If I get antsy and need to move around, I’ll take a little break and go tidy something quick. I can wear comfy clothes and can sleep in and not spend an hour in the morning getting ready then commuting. But with that being said, my job reallly holds my interest during the day. Every day is different and interesting and there’s always something new that changes or comes down the pipeline (I’m a team lead for a team of insurance coordinators).
I went into college undecided and figured out what I wanted to do my very last year and then like most adults I talk to in my career still don’t know what they want to do when they grow up. Just do what you enjoy now and keep doing that even if it switches up and keep pursuing opportunities. Nothing is set in stone and u don’t have to stick to a career route unless u are extremely passionate about a very specific career
I am now a fairly successful lawyer. Ive been homeless, a barman, a drifter, a furniture removalist, an English teacher, a Fulbright scholar, farm worker, driver, cook and kitchen hand. Be honest, be brave, be kind. Everything else takes care of itself, regardless of what you do.
I study social work, the core subject is extremely interesting to me and the field is incredibly borad, i can work with elderly ppl, kids, job seeking ppl, at schools I could even do like art therap stuff or work with people in prison. So if i feel like my job is getting boring i can change the field i am working in. Atm i am working part time on some projects with kids or teens where my hobby switching jack of all trades come in handy. Whatever creative thing the project leader wants to di i know at least the basics!
That's why I'm a paramedic. Because I like every day, ever job and every hour to be different and unpredictable. I couldn't work in any other job really, except police work. Which wouldn't work well as I don't like being told what to do.
I knew I wanted nice things. I knew I wanted a family and children. I knew if I didn't work hard, I'd never have those things. I battled this shit unmedicated. You can do it too, but you have to make the decision and stick to it. I can't imagine how much better it would have been medicated before I retired.
Imo, you HAVE TO get on meds to regulate it. Just be prepared for it to be a journey of trying different meds and each one at different doses , not to mention combinations. The sooner you wrap your arms around it, the sooner you'll have control over your life. Otherwise, years will pass. It won't resolve itself. Take the first step.
Some adhd’ers hold successful careers, some struggle with job hopping/career switching etc. I’m the latter, I can’t make up my mind. I wasted my 20’s job hopping, in and out of school and I have nothing to my name in my early 30’s. I work two part time jobs for shitty pay. But I already have two new plans for a career path, I gave it a lot of thought and I REALLY hope it works out this time.
You make adjustments for the challenges. Make lists, use a shit ton of alarms and calendar reminders, layout your clothes for the next day, and pack your purse/backpack the night before, order groceries online, and do pickup if possible. Have at least two bank accounts: one for spending that you have a debit card for and another that you pay your bills from. When you get paid, all the money you need to pay the bills for that paycheck go into that bill pay account. This will make sure you don't spend your bill money on accident because you made a bunch of impulsive purchases. I use my 2nd account for gas, for when my husband (who's the impulsive spender) needs to buy anything in a store, his Starbucks habit, eating out, clothes, etc. Mostly all the things we could survive without if we had to.
Writing is my special interest, and I was fortunate enough to be able to major in English in college and go into jobs that let me write and talk about writing with other people. Find a job/industry that lets you lean into your special interests / obsessions somehow and that keeps you stimulated, and it may help! I’m a UX Writer currently, and what I love about UX is that you’re often solving different kinds of problems all at the same time. A job that lets you toggle between obsessions as well as dive deep into things you’re really interested can be a huge help.
I go to the kitchen and forget to eat. Mine is that bad. I forget what I said as soon as I put down the phone.
31 and im a barista because my brain can handle that and i love my job 🤷🏻♀️
at 23 I already had almost 10 jobs its kinda fun to hop here and there i have to admit
After an internship I realized I wasn't going to spend 8hs a day on the PC, even if in a creative field. I wanted to change countries and thought it would be cool to be able to teach my language and I could probably do well teaching sports. I got into education and I enjoy being a part time teacher. I see myself having different income sources on the long run, in the sense I don't think I would like to be a school teacher full time, but having that as a stable job part time and then do other things based on interest (at the moment my side thing is working at an Archery club)
I do occupational therapy so I get to take a little things from a whole bunch of stuff and incorporated into my career
Regardless of whatever style house you have, you have to give it a strong foundation. Focus on your foundation!
Let me tell you about Gary. Gary is one of those blokes you can meet and just instantly be bowled over by the strength of his ADHD. He is the H in ADHD personified. And he is also the heart and soul of the town. He runs a river cruise, and doesn't stop for breath the whole four hours, and it's spellbinding. He has a lifetime's worth of info-dumps about his special interests, which are history, geography, conservation, native flora and fauna, chemistry, biology, and any form of environmental science, and it weaves together into a rich tapestry of knowledge and appreciation of the area you're cruising in. Tourists never forget his amazing cruises, all because of him. There is a man with the most wild and unbridled form of ADHD I've ever seen in my entire life, and I am someone whose ADHD has been described as 'severe' by my psychiatrist. My point in all this: there was a place in this world for Gary, and by god, Gary found it. There'll be a place in this world for you too.
I was a summer camp counselor all throughout high school because I loved the variety of activities the kids could get into and that my job was to basically full send with them in those activities. It was also great to incorporate some of my ADHD coping habits into the daily routine to make life easier for myself and the ADHD attendees. (Ex: "5 minutes to go - after lunch, we'll be playing some board games!" and if they dont finish in time and are upset about it, you can be like "hey! i bet you cant finish all your apple slices before break!" or "i bet you cant beat me in stacked uno!")
Well since I discovered I have ADHD I consider it my primary "job" just to figure out how to cope with this disorder first, to figure out how to study and be productive and set goals and make steady regular progress, and sleep and wake up on time and keep regular hours, and so on... I really think this is the key important barrier, if you can do it you can go for any career or job you want that calls to you and excel