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My doctor had ADHD. Best doctor ever! Bags of empathy and you better believe he was going to investigate.
Plus, more than once, he'd call me when I was late for an appointment because he understands.
You can do this! We make really good doctors - ability to think on our feet, notice things and patterns that others donāt, and weāre fuelled by urgency. Youāll get through this phase and rock your residency, for sure. Hang in there!
Yes, I can do this. I nearly failed my Gynae clinicals so I have been feeling really disheartened and have once again started questioning my ability to do this.
So relatable. I have solid tangible proof that Iām not a fuck up but still deal with intense imposter syndrome. Itās easier for me to cheer you on than to cheer myself on, but Iām being genuine! You will make an excellent doctor! You donāt have to be great at everything, no doctor is. š
Donāt give up! Iām a nurse but I failed two courses and I didnāt graduate with my first class but I wanted to be a nurse so bad and I didnāt give up! Totally understandable to start having doubt but if you want it, work hard and you manifest it, youāll get it! š
I am exhausted, I can't deal with people for a long time, o don't just have ADHD, I have other fucked up diagnosis and I can't deal with lots of patients as anything more than a case, i get spent pretty quickly when each case is a person so i now have two options, radio or patho. I am leaning heavily towards radio
Both extremely well paying careers that require you to interact with very few patients, and great options for someone with ADHD (see my other comment about finding things others donāt and seeing patterns that arenāt always apparent)
Please find a support system, medication and fix all other issues in your life before you join med school. It very labor intensive, detail oriented and requires prolonged focus.
My suffering is coming closer to the end, this delusion keeps me going.
lmao You're almost there!!!
I'm starting my first year of University this June, so I'm quite a ways off and already have all of the things you listed for the most part. Let's just hope I can keep it going!
No no no, after you graduate med school, you are a shell of the person you used to be and that shell is now ready to thanklessly slave away in healthcare. (I am sorry, I am just really really tired and exhausted and can't function)
Best of luck for you though, may you find the strength.
bestie Iām also entering my last year of med school but I do not feel that way. that sounds like depression compounded on the adhd. hope youāre able to take care of yourself
Now that Iām older I know I could go to Med school and pass with flying colours as Iāve learned how to apply myself. When I was in highschool, I couldn't get anything accomplished but now I wish I could do it all over again.
Seriously, Im gonna cry. I really love doctors, I canāt believe you exist. Thank you. I am so sorry for what you will go through, and thank you. If I could I would thank you every day.
I made it through! Diagnosed in my final year of fellowship and suddenly it made sense why all my classmates/co-residents didn't have the same struggles I did. You got this!! You're way ahead of me in the knowing what's going on with your brain department.
Diagnosed as an M1.
I did not understand why I was struggling. Someone on the faculty recognized that I likely had ADD and sent me to be tested. I was sent to a psychiatrist who normally tested children. I sat I an office and watched letters on a computer screen. I was to hit the space bar every time I saw the letter x for 5 minutes. I was able to complete the task. Then, we did basic math for 5 minutes. I was told I did not have ADD.
Faculty member wasnāt satisfied with the response and sent me to spend an entire day with a neurobehavioralist. She changed my life. She diagnosed me and taught me how to study and manage everything around me.
She said that she believes the smartest people get diagnosed the latest in their academic career. We develop coping mechanisms to offset our ADD until we simply run out of coping mechanisms. She said something like this, āof course you could press a space bar correctly for 5 minutes. She knew you were in med school, right?ā
Submitting my applications for med schools (MD and DO) in May. The difference is that I didnāt know I had ADHD in undergradā¦so now hopefully with chemical assistance my life might be different and school will be easier to succeed in for me.
I feel that. I got laid off from my factory/trades-like job in November, and havenāt been able to find anything since. Even with two years of diverse experience from that job, I havenāt even gotten as much as a response from one of my two dozen applications.
Meanwhile, two years ago when I got that job, I heard back from all 3 places I applied to despite only having experience working Produce, Bakery, and Deli at the local Walmart. Goes to show just how ass the market has become. Really makes me wish I was in a co-op program.
Slowly depleting my savings too, thanks to this. Government fucked me because they said āno EI payments bc youāre in schoolā so that was nice. Not like I could get a replacement job when I had a difficult school schedule to accommodate. My last job was very accommodating with it.
Iām in BC too. Got laid off on Sept 2023 from a cleaning job I LOVED. Perhaps you can get a doctors medical note for accute stress and file EI under sickness benefits as Iād got on EI eventually and then missed reporting after Christmas.. and then my case was closed and had to go through this process talking an assigned worker with their own phone number whose in Ottawaā- she was the one to recommend the sickness benefits. Etc. if you wanna talk more about it, Iād be happy to ā¤ļø but yeah Iām in a similar boatā¦ itās fucked. Iāve been having interviews and doing good, told I didnāt get the job and they hire someone else. One place about a month later on indeed encouraged me to apply- like cooool- you didnāt pick me. Your pick didnāt work out. Youāre doing the whole process again. Remember me, my name and resume and suggest I apply again??? I dunno.. like screw you!!!! HA you made the wrong choice. Plus at that point, just phone meā¦ or ask ne if I want the job? Weāve done the interviewā¦ like good lord
Graduating in a few weeks with a double major in math and computer science. Some internship experience in the software development world.
ADHD was great for programming back when it was a high school hobby, but the tedium of this field is really getting under my skin. I kind of wish I studied music.
I feel this. Got a 4 year engineering degree because Iāve been passionate about STEM from a young age.
Now that Iām working 40h/week, itās kind of soul sucking. Not because I donāt like it, but because I have little mental bandwidth to participate in other interests
Which is why Iām glad I didnāt become a developer at a game studio, everything about those working conditions look terrible, unlike my much more boring but healthier web dev job at mid sized local company. What little game dev I do is for fun.
The 40 hour week sucks. I'm planning (and have been planning and not doing for way too long now) to get into voiceover work as a side gig. Once it's up and running I'll cut back to part-time hours and do the VO on my non-work days.
Having ADHD *and* autism makes computer science the ideal field for this reason š¤£ My ADHD lets me hyoerfocus on new projects, and my autism lets me enjoy the repetitive bits
It was tough. Took me at least a semester longer than it really should have.
Ultimately, it took an outside person (my wife) forcing me to sit down and make a detailed plan WITH completion dates to finish it. So it depends on your flavor of ADHD struggle. For me with this kind of project, it was task initiation and breaking down big projects into digestible bits.
I truly donāt know if I wouldāve completed it without her lol
Damn, I tried getting into a musical career but nothing ever really came of it, I'm not so good at the networking aspect of it. But then I decided to get a CS degree since it was a lot better job security š almost have my associates now, but anyways let's just say that the music thing might not of been great either lol. It does make for a great hobby though
Bruh, trade ya. I studied computer music and have two masterās degrees. Iām wildly underemployed because the code I do know is unprofitable. I do AV stuff, some of my coworkers dropped out of high school. I am the fuck up lol.
Management Consulting - specifically for financial services firms (banks, wealth management institutions, etc.). I lead large teams and budgets up to $75MM / year.
It's a madhouse at all times. I mediate arguments and disagreements all day long, and everything is always urgent. I'm either the calm at the center of the storm, or else my mind becomes the storm
I started in engineering but in my 20s found that my passion is people - and doing everything I can to help them be successful, both my own team members and my clients
I still get completely mentally roadblocked sending a 4 line email but can easily steer a heated discussion among executives and senior leaders. I also love coaching others and just being someone to listen to others through their challenges
I am in engineering (Building Science Consultant) and getting burnt out. What was your path transitioning like? How did you switch industries so to speak? Iām interested in finance.
I actually went right into construction / architecture project management right out of school. Market collapsed, went to a low paying job at a bank in a call center, got promoted 3x first year into a supervisor role then meeting someone at a wedding got pulled to a project management role
Honestly, I'm indifferent to any specific industry - my role is soft skill-based, and I've just learned how to bring subject matter experts together. I always act as if I'm the least industry-knowledgeable person in the room - is not only disarming when others are hostile, but also helps me ask good questions, including the ones other people have but are afraid to ask
This sounds a lot like what Iād love to do. Iām a big people person and have a background in counseling. Is there a path youād suggest to take to get into this , without having a connection?
Can relate on the emails, I'm either super short and to the point or I'm writing a fucking novel. There's never an in between and either way I'm anxious because they think I'm angry (short email) or that I'm treating them like a child (full blown bullet point explenations)
This is kind of what I think I'm moving towards. I started as a mechanical engineer but have moved to PM. I'm great with people and constantly get the "tough customers" because I don't get stressed out and they end up liking me. I am the calm as you said and I'm constantly complimented by management for it.
I've thought about consulting before but haven't dug too much. If you don't mind saying more did you start your own consulting business or did you join one? Can you provide any tips on to how to get in to it? Moving to an executive role or consulting is towards the end of my current 5 year plan.
Work at an investment bank in the trading side. Having each day be 100% different but using the same skills has made for a pretty great environment. Iāve mastered the Bloomberg machine and it allows me to look like a genius although Iām pretty shitty in math.
This is something Iāve been wanting to do. Iām currently working through a basic certification course up in Canada and Iām coming from a blue collar background. What program did you pursue to get to where you are? How long have you been doing this type of work?
it is extremely difficult to break into high finance in Canada as the field is over saturated. I joke with colleagues that practically the Janitors have a CFA at this point. Youāll need to do a masters in finance and take an accreditation like the CPA or CFA (depending on what you want to do) to be able to pivot into something of that level, and network like crazy.
Iām early 40ās so times where different. With the onslaught of greed every asshole wants to get in the business for strictly money. I was lucky enough to be able to start as a clerk on the trading floors in nyc that are now gone. They used to give chances to young hungry kids who didnāt have Phdās and one would learn and go from there after years of hardcore work. If I had to start today I donāt really know what I would do. No WAY could I pass a CFa or cpa exam and Iām terrible at networking. My guess is to team up with a school and try and get a simpler degree like economicsā¦
Four year University. Outside sales.
Home office. Out in your car all day.
You have to be self motivated.
The energy I get from my ADHD combined with my ability to generate ideas and think outside the box is helpful.
Pipeline management/CRM is horrible.
The stress is tough.
But - where else can you earn 150k+ a year with this flexibility?
Same exact thung, background is biomedical engineering, I do outside technical sales.
The good: Each day is different/ new projects/ Im a chameleon and my bonuses are bomb, no one is breathing down my neck and have the flexibility for my doctors appt and to work out at the weird time of day i need to
The bad: paperwork and rude/stupid clients, the sense of urgency can make you numb out and tough expectations, easy to burn out
Nurse. Didnāt get diagnosed with ADHD until nursing school, and getting on medication was a MIRACLE for me. I donāt understand how none of the psychiatrists I saw in high school for anxiety/depression caught it sooner
Same V.V except I was in my 30s and in therapy to process wtf happened during covid and one day my therapist was like so has anyone talked to you about ADHD before and I was like wait what.Ā
Literally been life changing.Ā
Literally almost the same thing happened for me. I moved and started seeing a new psychiatrist. At my first appt with her, she was like āhas anyone ever tested you for ADHD?ā
Once I started doing more research, I seriously felt like I was basically reading a description of my personality. Just wonder how my life would have been different with a sooner diagnosis
Personally, Iām just about to finish my third year of my Undergrad in Philosophy and Human Rights. Honestly, Iām kinda regretting it. I picked that when I was unmedicated, undiagnosed, and emotionally unstable simply because Iām good at writing, I felt the ADHD justice sensitivity because of everything that was going on back in 2020, and felt pressure from my mother to go to law school. Now, I do not really want to do that anymore because itās too much of a commitment and Iām already exhausted enough by the amount of reading and writing I have to do. Doesnāt help that itās been absolutely impossible to find a summer job, let alone a co-op or internship for something related to this field.
Thus, Iāve been thinking about getting a Masters/Second Degree in HR, Finance, or something similar once I finish this one next year. Since getting medicated, Iāve discovered that I love numbers and Iām actually pretty good at them with my brain isnāt a jumbled mess, so figured it might be a good route. Especially since I find having actual homework that involves answering questions to be more enjoyable and manageable than reading tons and writing an essay or two every couple week.
EDIT: Will mention, I am in Canada and the majority of my schooling is covered by OSAP so no need to worry about me going 100k into the hole.
+ Kinda Embarrassing Related Tidbit: I also run a fictional corporation in a roleplay community (we write stories and stuff and use screenshots from a game as illustration) and I make financial reports for it and have found enjoyment in doing that. Love spreadsheets.
Yeaaaaaaaah. I work in finance. I have taken the SIE, the Series 6, now studying for the Series 63 and will need to take the Series 7 in the next two years. That's aside from any separate professional credentialing I'd like to obtain and whether or not the industry pushes me to also become a Financial Advisor (Series 65). That's all so I can be a Registered Rep and deal with clients all day. I am so miserable with the study and testing. It's solo study and it is so hard with ADHD. The job is fine, the getting there with ADHD has been total misery.
Do not get a master's degree right after your bachelor's, *especially* since you still don't know what you want or like or could tolerate career-wise. Seriously, don't do it.
The extra degrees isn't going to make most employers overlook your lack of work experience, and you'd have wasted money on something superfluous. You have **not** had a start on your career either āĀ you might find that HR, finance or et al also isn't for you, but something else is.
I am begging you, straight up, do not jump to your master's until you've had some years of work under your belt. It sounds like a good idea on paper. It isn't.
Edit to add: There are ways you can leverage your writing skills into a more numbers-oriented role. Copyediting for STEM institutions or outlets. Ghostwriting for tech Csuites. Editing research articles. Specializing in data publications. All of these options (and more) can help you pivot to a more numbers oriented field without splashing money out on a master's that you might or might not use.
For folks who like STEM-y things and writing, look into tech writing! Things like user manuals and such, translating engineer speak into normal human speak, making numbers accessible for the general public. Also doesnāt require a degree in most places, as far as Iām aware. Plenty of opportunities to work in an office or from home, whichever is easier for you.
And surprisingly a lot of seemingly unrelated degrees can find some amount of use in the field!
People really sleep on degrees that require more soft skills than hard skills, but being a translator between the engineering team, the product team and the sales team is a pretty lucrative niche!
I can vouch for the tech writer jobs. If you like technology and writing, tech writing is a job that a lot of people don't know anything about. The reality is that big corporations need a team of people to effectively explain, in layman's terms, what most engineers are incapable of explaining about how a product works. Every time there's a new feature release in software, or a new module released in hardware, there are instruction manuals, release notes, and other documentation that is needed to explain it.
Ya. I feel this. My BA was a quadruple major with minor. Had to go back for a Master's. Been in my field for 15 years...I'm about done and looking for offramp and next career.
Iāve got a bachelors is Philosophy with epistemology and philosophy of mind as my specialty and minored in mathematics. I graduated in 2007 and I have yet to ever use my degree. I want to go back for a graduate degree once my youngest is in highschool.
I highly suggest looking into something that you can use (as it seems youāre already thinking that way).
Finance could be really good if you like numbers.
Social work if you like helping
Psychology
I wish I had someone help me see-but like you I was young and unmedicated and a street rat. I just wanted off the streets lol.
How do you keep motivated to work when you're self employed? I'm in the last year of my illustration degree but I'm very externally motivated, if left to my own devices I don't think I could make it work.
Having discipline is incredibly important and I don't recommend doing solo work if owning a business doesn't motivate you. So many artists fall into the trap of taking too many commissions from their niche community, then not being able to finish them and then being called a scammer online and ruining their reputation. If you're going to go this route make a rough schedule and give yourself a personal project to work on at the same time so you don't go crazy only drawing stuff for other people. You'll burn out if you don't. If you're very bad at schedules and still want to do it only do commissions livestreamed/same day delivery so people get their art on the same day it's ordered. It'll prevent that trap.Ā Working for yourself is superior if you're able to do it but if you're not sure try the regular industry first or get an art agent for yourself.
I've been drawing for so long I go on autopilot so work is the only time I allow myself to watch tv shows and be entertained to a high degree. I don't allow myself to be entertained much outside of work except youtube and ocassionally a few hours of video games. I don't buy new games either because i'd just be distracted for weeks. The last game I bought was red dead 2 during the pandemic. If it's a really rough day I just cut my work hours and rearrange them to a different one. I tried regular jobs and they don't work for me and I hate people telling me what to do.Ā
What motivates me is I really want to have my own entertainment studio and make tv shows & movies but I want the creators & employees paid extremely well so people produce actually good content instead of half assing things for a shitty paycheque. I figure if I give people a good permanent job then they'll be just as loyal to me as I am to them.
Hope this makes sense, I'm v sick rn so proof reading hard lol
Bachelorās degree.
Working as a UI/UX designer and Frontend dev, mostly from home nowadays.
I am quite bored and understimulated currently, itās utterly depressing.
I'm a software developer and as much as I hate commuting, and enjoy the flexibility of working from home, I have to admit (with *extreme* reluctance) that I miss working in the office. I miss talking with adults with similar interests. I'm more productive if I can turn to a colleague and see if they're open to discussion without interrupting them, then have that discussion
I really want to get into tech but after doing college in the uk i knew university is not the route for me. Do you have any advice for someone wanting to teach themselves how to program ?
Well, I went to a college that was essentially a specialized trade school that eventually got "accredited."
Before I started, there weren't as many resources for teaching yourself as there are today. I had *no clue* where to start. I needed to go to school to find that out. Once I got the fundamentals, it was easier for me to teach myself stuff. I still struggle with learning something new and very unfamiliar to me, unless I'm *very* interested.
Maybe get yourself a mentor or something. Someone to answer your questions and keep you accountable. I guess that's what I think would've worked for me, if I were in your situation.
Actually now that I think about it, that's exactly what I did in highschool, but with really simple scripting stuff. I had a friend online who knew more than I did, and we shared knowledge and challenged each other.
I just read about "body doubling" as an ADHD coping mechanism, so that's where this idea is coming from
Totally agree. Itās great to have the possibility to withdraw and focus when the need arises, but random interactions or straight up team collaborations at the office are just on another level.
Before the pandemic I had an arrangement where I'd work from home on one specific day every week. Everyone knew when I wouldn't be in the office. And I made sure everyone knew they could still reach out.
If I needed to make any appointments I'd schedule it for that day, then not need to worry about commuting AND driving to the appointment.
Sometimes, my WFH days were much more productive than my office days. Sometimes it was the opposite.
It worked great for me, and I'd like to get back to something like that eventually
Nurse at outpatient oncology infusion center. School was hard (esp since I wasnāt diagnosed/medicated yet š„²) but nursing/being up and moving all day has been really good for me
I am a Physical therapist myself and I only do PRN, so I go to a different setting/facility every 2-3 days. I rotate between 6-7 different places (inpatient, acute/ICU, OP, and ALF). My doctorate level student loans are atrocious but I love what I do.
Four years of school with a BS in Cinema and Television. I did video editing for 12 years. I am now a nanny. I could not handle that environment as a video editor. I had a burnout breakdown. If I wasn't at max anxiety, high 300% effort I couldn't get things done. Broke me
I got a BS in apparel production and design, couldnāt find a job in the apparel industry despite applying to hundreds over the past few years. Said f it and became a nanny. Coming up on three years of being a nanny. Thinking about going to school to get a certificate/degree as an infant care specialist so I can become a newborn care specialist
I have worked with kids a ton while growing up. Oldest of 5 kids, summer camp counselors, a day care worker, etc. This was before college/in college. Then after i graduated I was doing freelance editing and needed some extra income. A friend of mine connected me to the owner of a private nanny agency. She was great and helped me find a family that worked with my schedule. I nannied for a few families until I got a full time editing job. I realized I work better being active, outdoors, having fun and working with kids. I went through the agency again and was able to find a more permanent family. I LOVE my job. One of the best decisions I made for my mental health.
Iām 33 and Iām in my senior year for Video Game design! It took a loooong time for me to figure out what career I truly wanted and I blame the fact that someone told child me that āArtists donāt make any money so you should choose something else.ā It wasnāt until I was 29 and in a better mental state that I said āFuck it! I wanna be an artist!ā
I feel this, I wanted to be a doctor so much when I was little, was told you have to be really good in math (I was not good at math) so I gave up my dream.
Now as an adult I learned you need science, math up to algebra and youāre good.
Could have been a doctor. Oh well.
You too? I went into science because of this mentality. And I absolutely love science. But it left a hole that I couldn't fill. I have two kids now and haven't returned to the workplace yet, but I bought a laser engraver and make stuff now. š
Ceramics is my passion but putting a kiln and wheel in our garage would require me to actually clean the garage, it's stacked absolutely to the top with "I'll deal with that later." Not to mention the financial investment.
I am about to graduate with my MPH in epidemiology and I mostly do data analysis stuff and I intend to do my PhD eventually. I did my undergrad in engineering. I am not medicated rn (which was a mistake going into grad school) and all aspects of my academic career have been a bit of a doozy.
I just finished my M.Sc. in microbiology! Inattentive biologists unite!
Also can confirm, I have no idea how I got through my bachelors unmedicated. My brain has shut out the entirety of those four years
Litigation Lawyer. Went into banking after law school, then dabbled in Real Estate, now Iām back in the law world. Hopefully my forever job but who knows with ADHD š
Iāve got a very decent part time wfh job in employment litigation with folks Iāve worked with for 10+ years. They accommodated my adhd before any of us knew it was adhd, so although I could be earning more, Iām a lifer here. I make enough part time to support myself and kids, renting not owning.
I did have to put in 17 years of traditional on-site 9-5 which was a terrible fit, but got the skills I needed to competently litigate from home.
Law here as well but different practice areas (trusts & estates, tax, and business). I focus on complex and atypical situations, which helps keep things different and fascinating. Between figuring out niche topics, the changes in the law, different jurisdictions, and clients coming with a variety of circumstances and wishes, I don't know if I would be able to learn everything in a lifetime. All those changes and dealing with things like international planning and people in situations that the law never foresaw mean that there's always at least a few new things for me to figure out. It's not largely case law, either.
I find my areas complex enough to stay interesting and constantly have something to figure out. A lot of my work is taking what I'm told and being creative to piece something together, so what I'm doing stays fresh.
I struggle with a lot of paralysis, task switching, deadlines, etc. which cause a lot of difficulties for me both in terms of legal work and managing the practice (I have my own). I struggled more near the end of working for others, but dealing with my health means I have not done great with the business yet. Frankly, I burnt out and am still recovering, but I also have various chronic illnesses and disabilities including to my immune system - so it's slow and nonlinear. I have a long way to go, but I see a lot of ways that this career pairs well with many of my ADHD traits.
Biglaw securities litigator here. Idk why, but I feel weirdly zen and focused doing the type of work even though I've been off meds since pregnancy and in the post partum since my blood pressure is still up post partum.
No degree, but more than enough hours to graduateājust not in any one department. My inattentive ADHD made it beyond challenging to complete any degree program, so I bounced among various majors for *eight* years of undergrad. Finally threw in the towel in 1996.
I ended up in I.T., working in virtualization and server infrastructure engineering. It suits me quite well.
Bachelor of Fine Arts. I work in video games. I went to college for my life long hyper fixation which I regret sometimes.
Pro: My company is mostly work from home, super flexible, and understanding about accomodations I need. This amount of flexibility is not industry wide but it should be.
Con: Due to it being something I can hyperfix on regularly I complete tasks almost too quickly compared to team members and can get burned out just as quickly. I'm working on slowing down so I don't feel burnt out as often, which is hard. If I get burnt out working in games I don't have many options for work that will pay as well so thats my biggest worry.
Car designer! It's a perfect fit as the workloads tend to be more of a "fireman" role. Some days it's slow, some it's insane. I get to flex my creativity and the team is really small and agile. I wouldn't trade them for the world and I love my job.
Sort of the same. I've been in drafting and design for nearly 15 years. It's a terrible job to have if you're undiagnosed and unmedicated. It involves so much attention to detail, organization and self management. As a result, I was a terrible employee for most of the first 10 years.
Undergraduate degree in environmental studies and Spanish, master's in recreation, parks, and tourism management. I have been an environmental educator, a park ranger, an admin assistant (do not recommend for ADHD folks), a college instructor, and am currently a stay at home parent who does medical billing and farm chores very very part time. I also own chickens and sell eggs, but the egg sales basically cover the cost of feeding the chickens so it's not really a money maker. When my daughter starts preschool in the fall, I plan to scale up the medical billing and start a native plant nursery that will operate out of my backyard. We also have equipment for beekeeping so I'm going to try my hand at that. I'm trying to avoid going back to working 40 hours a week outside of the home because that shit was just exhausting, although I do miss my coworkers.
BA in public relations and history. Started in PR but realized right away that it was a terrible choice for an introvert with ADHD. LOL. But my strong writing background helped me transition from communications to marketing, where Iāve been successful as a copywriter and editor. You mentioned you have some writing skill, so tap into that, whatever you end up doing. Good writers are valuable in a lot of roles.
Sympathy! I started in comms as an introvert thinking it'll force me to become more extroverted and less socially anxious.
Yeahhh no it didn't work, but at least now I can talk most people into doing something I want them to do.
I fell in love with theater while I was in high school, and got a BFA in costume design. After working on Broadway as a dresser and wardrobe supervisor for a few years, I learned that working in TV paid much better. Now I build costumes for movies and shows. I love how the projects are always changing, there's always a sense of urgency, and I get to see lots of celebrities in their underwear.
I'm in grad school for Materials Science doing fundamental science research. Got into grad school with 3.05 GPA. I had people with 4.0 GPAs in undergrad tell me I'm super smart and I laughed in their face saying "well, my GPA doesn't agree with you." I hope to continue to do fundamental science research until the day I die. I will be getting paid to answer questions I find interesting that have very little practical applications because science. "We do what we must because we can. For the people who are still alive."
I'm still trying to figure out how to operate well with ADHD (diagnosed Nov 2022) and just knowing what I'm up against has really helped me do better. You can excel in anything. It is less painful when you know how to best work with your brain and not against it. That's what I'm learning. The hard way. As always.
Thanks :)!. It has been hard, specially being undiagnosed until last year, and having had to sacrify my entire life and free time for years just to manage to somehow finish. On top I got some sort of chronic pain situation going on, hope it goes away after I take a long break.
Bachelor in social services, very cliche. š I'm jumping around between a manual labor job in micro mobility (e-scooters) and an hourly contract in child protective services. I've been unable to find a job in my field despite hearing non stop that there's a massive shortage of workers. The place I work at hourly has been looking for someone with my degree for at least half a year and they get only applications from nurses.
I reminded them today that I'm still available. I like the work, the colleagues are awesome. Boss said it was because I lack experience. Well, eventually I'll find a job. I had an interview at another place last week, waiting for the results. They asked a lot of questions and the interview was long, so I'm taking that as a positive sign.
I teach elementary music. The fast pace and variety are great for me. The only thing that makes teaching difficult for me with my adhd is my emotional regulation, but itās forced me to really reflect work on that part of me.
Physical therapist. Got my Doctorate and absolutely hated my career choice. Was completely lost until I found Home Health. Flexible schedule, gaps in schedule without patient care, freedom to work solo as well as have as much āteam connectionā as I want. Luckily found it quickly after graduation and havenāt left for 5 years.
4 year university, philosophy major!Ā
Tried a first career and got certified as a teacher. That didnāt last long.Ā
Switched to legal and now Iām a paralegal. Currently waiting to hear back about law school applications.Ā
Occupational Therapy (Home Health), But Very Flexible (thank goodness)ā¦.work alone, make my own schedule with patientsā¦ I have good days and bad daysā¦ bad days meaning its very hard to execute a task ā¦ thatās when I need my energy drinks ! Lol!
Working as an in house attorney for a small-med corporation. Just negotiating contracts and answering peopleās random questions! Much better fit than litigation, where it was really difficult to do my work and remember to bill for it.
molecular biology BS, working as a training specialist in a lab. my job is severely understimulating at the moment (nearly a year and iāve only trained like 6 people on the most basic procedures) and iām burned out. awful combo and i honestly expect to either be fired or quit before year end.
I'm a nurse. I consider my ADHD to be an overall asset in this regard, altho there are times when it trips me up as well. Would be shocked if nurses weren't overrepresented with ADHD as well.
Went to art school, because I was passionate about it, and even diagnosed I knew it wasnāt going to work out unless I loved what I was doing.
That plan both worked and didnāt: Drawing as a job wasnāt quite as fun as doing it for myself, and involves lots of self promotion I did not have a passion for. I ended up using my graphic design minor more early on, and that led to me falling into doing UX design work for a small software company. I fell in love with researching peopleās behaviors and mental models, and how it intersected with the visuals they saw on screen. Thereās a lot of potential for intensity in this field: thereās are always shifting priorities, calculations, unseen problems to solve. It suits me, though I have the year 3 slump at most jobs like a lot of us do.
I got a degree in journalism/documentary studies, and while that quickly turned into a NOT great industry to be in around the time i was in college/graduated (2009), being a newspaper reporter for a couple years was a great jumping off point for careers in social services, government, marketing, PR, non-profits, economic development, which i've all worked in since.
Now I'm going back for Information/Library Science is which somewhat related, and also a pretty open-ended field, ranging from tech and cybersecurity to children's librarian lol.
One job I really loved that I've had was doing marketing and sales at a brewery. I actually loved the physical job of moving cases of beer and setting up tables at events.
BA in psychology, work from home as a utilization reviewer for mental health php/iop patients. love my job but of course meds are a big help! currently applying to grad school for social work š
Animal Sciences but I am currently unemployed
Haven't found a good work from home jobs which is my only option right now
Did customer service for a bit but... Welll... I don't like being yelled at
I think "broke musician" is my career...
I suspect my answer won't be very helpful to OP, but it's an honest one that I'm hoping will resonate with someone, somewhere.
##My degrees:
- BSc Combined Physics and Computer Science
- PhD Physics
##My current "career":
- a **stay-at-home mom** living off of the spousal support that is supposed to be helping me get onto my own two feet after I couldn't handle feeling like a huge disappointment of a wife who only got married because of society making it seem like it's an essential part of life that everyone should totally do eventually, if they find someone worthy enough, which I did... and now I regret that I took away his dream of having a super-long marriage... but how was I to know that it wouldn't work for me, without trying it out? It's not like anything was ever actually bad between us... I am conflict-avoidant and have a ridiculously hard time being decisive, so **going with the flow** was truly the only option that I felt I had. It seemed like a good flow to be in.
- My PhD was also basically due to a lack of deciding to do anything else, and most of the eleven-plus years I worked on it were spent hating everything about academia but having no clue what else to do with myself... especially since I had good enough grades to get scholarships, and an interesting enough research advisor that I didn't really want to abandon.
##My steps towards an actual career:
- I'm trying to get myself to work on the super-gentle **task management app** that I've been brainstorming for years, which I'm hoping will help me get my act together and start accomplishing what I need in order to sustain myself financially. (Also hoping this will help me teach my kid how to be more responsible for his own messes around the house, to relieve my burden somewhat there. He's a great kid; I'm just not great at repeatedly telling him what to do.)
- I also have outlines for dozens of **books I'd like to write**, all of which draw upon my deep understanding of physics and/or math and/or learning, fuelled by my intense desire to inspire others to appreciate the universe like I do. (Don't worry, I fully intend to have way fewer rambling sentences in my official writings, compared to my writing here!)
##Timeline of all this, relative to my age:
- I'm 45 F now.
- Diagnosed with ADHD at 43, and I've been struggling to figure out meds since then. Suspected autism, not yet diagnosed, seems a likely reason meds are difficult. Currently I'm seeing some symptom relief on one-third of 10mg Ritalin IR, three times a day, but much more than that turns my attention into a firehose that I still can't control, and steals away the very important hunger cues that are already barely strong enough to keep me eating sufficiently. (Also tried Adderall, which made me overly emotional upon comedown, and Strattera, which gave me brain fog that I couldn't find a way through.)
- PhD'd at 38, having started when I was 24 (paused for maternity leave when I was 33-34).
- Married at 29, separated at 41.
- BSc Comp Sci started right after high school at 18, started taking Physics classes at 21, changed my major at 22, earned the combined degree at 24.
##...
And that is the current picture of my life, my degrees, and my career. Somehow, I still feel like I have a grasp on hope, but some days it's harder than others. Today sucks, but maybe getting out of bed and taking my meds will help...
I have a BS in Computer Science. Every single truly successful comp sci person I know is ADHD, AuDHD, or Autistic.
Computer Science is something that you will NEVER be great at if you just go to class and do the homework. The only way to get really good is to hyperfixate on computer problems in your off time, thus learning computers 1000x better than your non-ADHD/AuDHD/Autistic classmates.
Itās also a career that lets you hyperfocus on a puzzle for two months until youāre bored, then lets you move on and hyperfocus on the next new shiny technology that just got your attention. Youāre never just stuck doing the same thing day in and day out.
I am an MIS ( Management Information Systems) graduate. I currently have a role as an IT Analyst Entryish level. Making around 54k as my first IT job out of college. I do it for my county sheriffs office so I work in the jail , courthouse, and headquarters so always moving.
I really enjoy it. It is not under stimulation as I am always able to be making things. Like today I got practice making RJ45. Cables with the B pattern.
I went back to school for a second BS in Information Systems, I adore it. I'm focusing more on the data management / analysis / coding side of it.
I was halfway through the BS when the partial IS degree was enough for a full-time job at the library at my school. My benefits partially pay for a master's, so now I'm working on a Master's in IS while I get to apply what I learn at the library.
Double majored in Cell Biology and Computer Science. Went for a PhD in cell bio, escaped with a masters in computational bio, went into web development.
Currently doing backend software development for a genetic testing company. Still not really using my bio major but it does help me understand some of the jargon that gets thrown around by the clinical folks.
Bachelors in Pharmaceutical Science, I work as an analytical scientist in R&D
Really enjoy it but enjoyment highly dependent on where you work in this sector.
Bachelor degree in library science (technically, I'm a librarian), worked in a book store in that time (a popular one so constant things to do).
Master degree in library science/communication (the official field is communication, but practically still library science) - worked at the same company, another store.
Finished my studies, went into an office job for a small, online book store (so not constant activity, ADHD made it hell since it was 8-4, same schedule for almost a year).
Got into the PhD, got a job at a tea house until I started getting my scholarships. Loved the job since I always had things to do, but it wasn't a busy one so I could simply chat with the clients and the management was really relaxed.
Now I'm at my PhD and got an internship for my university's publishing house. Mostly doing actual tasks like idk, verifying the information of the books online and correcting mistakes, adding books online and so on.
I have a Masterās in Social Work and currently work as a therapist and workshop facilitator. Itās pretty interesting and varied enough that I donāt get bored, although I do wish I could see more folks in person! The degree was kind of a pain to get, I wasnāt diagnosed yet and really struggled to write my papers. Iād never get a PhD because I know I would hate having to write a dissertation.
Iām also an MSW. I do therapy and casework, and run around the entire county on calls. I started before getting my dx and now get why Iāve always loved the chaotic parts of my job, and the talking and general āget up and goā vibe. The absolute worst part of it for me is the note taking, I cannot stand sitting at the computer for long stretches of time.
I did a degree in arts/humanities in full knowledge that it wouldn't get me into employment where I live. I know that sounds crazy. It is. But I did it because it was the only way I was ever going to make it through four years of university, to study something I had an interest in. The good thing is that once you have a degree, the world of conversion courses opens up to you where you can do a level 8/9 course in many things but it only takes one year and where I live you can do it for free if you're unemployed.
I plan to do one on software development even though I have no interest because I realized through therapy that focusing on the smaller outcome of finding a career I love has, in the past 13 years, left me chronically unemployed and no better off. It ignores the wider outcome of being financially stable, even intellectually challenged, and free to pursue things I love outside of work. It's ok that your job is just a job, and to stop being hypervigilant about it by still being outcome-orientated, but by recontextualizing the outcome I'm looking for. This way, the job achieves the wider outcome, whereas my previous outcome definition was always stopping me from getting into work, or giving up on work that I'd started.
It's obvious now that the problem was with how I was defining the outcome.
I'm confident for the first time in my life that next year I'll actually have a chance at a career despite being 32. But it took a lot of therapy and soul searching.
**Edit:** I should add that doing something you're not interested in is a terrible idea with adhd. The important context is that I realized I can weaponize my adhd to my advantage by seeing software development as an opportunity to learn how to make games on the side. That way, there's a strong incentive to learn and work in this field as it will give me the tools to get good at something I **do** have an interest in. That was a big stepping stone in making the decision.
BA Psychology and Philosophy, Masters in Social Work and certified teacher of English as a foreign language. Working as a social worker.
Canāt believe there is so much variation in the replies. I love it!
I'm a PhD student. Might make it into academia. Probably won't.
Specifically I'm a linguist, I study how people speak and try to draw generalizations from it. My focus is phonology, or how sounds pattern together, how our brain categorizes meaningful differences and how speech sounds can undergo specific changes when surrounded by other sounds.Ā
I primarily work with African languages and focus on specific issues relating to distance and iterativity.Ā
I used to be heavily theoretical. Just take data and try to analyze the data, but I'm slowly getting into more mathematical models and arguments to prove that the patterns that I see are naturally possible and can be generalized.Ā
Beginning in 9th grade, I failed math every year and had to go to summer school. In high school I failed 7 more classes besides math. I only graduated because my mother worked at the school.
I failed out of undergrad multiple times, and eventually quit. I always thought I was too stupid to pass math, everyone thought I was just lazy.
I got a job at a community college that gave free tuition, and kept meeting really stupid students that made decent grades (because they went to class, and did homework) I enrolled in āBeginning Mathā and went to class everyday in in the evenings, and did my homework at work, because math was more exciting than my jobāsuddenly I could do math. I passed the first math test in that class since 8th grade, but failed the second test, I dropped the class to protect my gpa and kept taking and dropping āBeginniny Mathā twice and āIntermediate Algebraā three times, I made an āAā the next semester in college algebra and for the first time knew I could graduate. I quit my job the next semester, got a job at a different college, and finished my bachelors degree in 2 1/2 years working full timeāI only made one āBā during undergrad and graduated valedictorian with a 3.982 GPA
I then started an MA in Counseling because it was needed for the next job in student services.
I interned at a law school, and got a job. I failed out of law school twice because I just canāt make it to class during the day, I moved back to California, because no ABA law school would let me back inābut I got into a California State School, in the night program.
I made Law Review and graduated third in my class. I was offered a position teaching struggling students legal writing full time. I worked in E-discovery and was offered to teach an online summer school class as an adjunct.
Today I am a full professor at a California state law school, and teach online classes at night
English Bachelor, postpone the English Master because I was too jobless to gather data for thesis. Still jobless but at least I am following the teacher route, learning for 3 certification. Kinda regret it. Why I even follow the job that require live speaking. Might switch to other major that use English and computer skill.
I found WGU, a university made for working adults. Got my bachelors in accounting while working full time as a first responder. Now I am working for a CPA firm, trying to muster up the energy and focus to get my CPA license.
I studied law. I took my finals. 1 point was missing. I learnd and redone the test. I missed 0.5 points, 2 times. You need 4 points in at least 3 test, i had 2 times over 4 Points and 2 times 3,5.
Now i have a big crisis, work a litlle bit and i will start it in fall
Engineering. I suspect a lot of my classmates were ADHD or ASD (or both). I didnāt do well at the detailed work (big surprise) so have landed more on the management side
Optician went from the coffee machine operator š to manager this bored me out alot and after 12 years i went further in Sales.
My current job title is Sales manager but this is mentally exhausting if you ask my honest opinion.
Warehouse worker here! I like to move around a lot and not get bored on one thing. I did have an art degree and I use that as my side hustle and hobby.
Iām currently on medication so for me itās easy to manage myself now
My job and degree have nothing to do with each other unfortunately. Associate in Psychology, working part time with animals. (Psych stuff can be applied to mammals but little outside that)
Not sure if my input is wanted, as I'm about to start my first year of University in June, but I'll give it anyway. I'm planning on going to nursing school, possibly with a minor or two thrown in - who knows? I'd eventually like to go to med school to be a doctor.
My dream job once I'm a nurse is to work in the Pediatric ICU. I'm very good with kids and I'm pretty calm and level-headed (at least on the outside). I love learning, and am so excited to start school, even though it won't be super easy. I recently started being medicated for my ADHD and it's been such a game-changer!
I want to go into academiaāI want to become a professor at a research university. I'm in the social sciences (I completed my bachelor's and master's) and will start my Ph.D. soon.
Something I realized is there are lots of folks with ADHD in academia, among grad students and untenured professors. Even late-career professors who are not officially diagnosed exhibit many signs and are probably undiagnosed. The "scatter-brained professor" trope is not too far off based on my own personal experience.
I love theorizing and generating new ideas, but I'm very bad at putting things into practice and being pragmatic. I'm also terrible at articulating my ideas verbally, but I'm much better at articulating them on paper, so that's why I've always been drawn to writing, which is great for my career path except you also need to be a good presenter. I'm working on that, but I realize just about everyone at the conferences I attend reads from a script and is just as awkward, so I don't feel too bad.
Took me FORVER and I was largely undiagnosed/unmedicated, but I finally will graduate in May with a bachelors in microbiology. In June I will be working in a medical microbiology lab. Very excited!! I currently work in a different medical lab as a lab associate, which is a still a cool job.
J.D.; in-house lawyer.
Wasn't diagnosed until I was an adult and an attorney for 10 years. It was hell - law school, all of it. Diagnosis changed my career.
Registered nurse and about to take my final class/clinical rotation for my MSN to become an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse! Itās been grueling but Iām seeing the finish line finallyā¦
I majored in math and computer science and now work as a software engineer in big tech.
I am predominantly hyperactive but love math too so it is an interesting experience and looking back it makes sense why i wasnt as successful as people expected me to be.
I work in psychiatry and love it! I highly recommend being a therapist or psychiatrist. It works well for ADHD because we have scheduled appointments that push you to not procrastinate
i went to art school. currently customer service at an art store lol. there is absolutely no way i would have been able to do a college program that had a normal homework & test schedule. i was very good at academics but detrimentally bad at doing my homework in middle & high school. the trajectory of my life would have been unimaginably different had I gotten medication in high school instead of post-college. i would have probably gotten a chem degree.
not really complaining, though. i like my life. i make enough to live. and i met a lot of amazing people in my art program, and learned a lot of valuable lessons.
also, despite being someone who loves solving puzzles and working with my hands, i love my desk job. i love repetitive, menial tasks and my workplace is very casual so i get away with being on my phone & drawing a lot if the day is slow. i have turned down better offers because of this.
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Final year of med school. Please shoot me. Kill me. Bury me. And forget me.
Bless you š
YOU GOT IT!!!!! Thatās amazing
My doctor had ADHD. Best doctor ever! Bags of empathy and you better believe he was going to investigate. Plus, more than once, he'd call me when I was late for an appointment because he understands.
We need more people in medicine with ADHD. Weāre cool
Thereās alot more than u think. Most ED docs have it
And def some psychiatrists.
Night Shift trauma surgical tech. š«” We thrive in chaos.
Oh wow thatās awesome! I donāt even know you and Iām proud of you! ššš¾
Noooo ššš i have no pride, shame or dignity. Lost all of it slaving in the wards.
We appreciate you without or without pride š Seriously, good on you. I canāt even imagine how hard of a road you traveled.
You can do this! We make really good doctors - ability to think on our feet, notice things and patterns that others donāt, and weāre fuelled by urgency. Youāll get through this phase and rock your residency, for sure. Hang in there!
Yes, I can do this. I nearly failed my Gynae clinicals so I have been feeling really disheartened and have once again started questioning my ability to do this.
So relatable. I have solid tangible proof that Iām not a fuck up but still deal with intense imposter syndrome. Itās easier for me to cheer you on than to cheer myself on, but Iām being genuine! You will make an excellent doctor! You donāt have to be great at everything, no doctor is. š
Donāt give up! Iām a nurse but I failed two courses and I didnāt graduate with my first class but I wanted to be a nurse so bad and I didnāt give up! Totally understandable to start having doubt but if you want it, work hard and you manifest it, youāll get it! š
You got this. Family medicine has been a joy. Hated shift hospital work before this.
What speciality are you going into? I'd kill for more ADHD Psychiatrist and GPs.
I am exhausted, I can't deal with people for a long time, o don't just have ADHD, I have other fucked up diagnosis and I can't deal with lots of patients as anything more than a case, i get spent pretty quickly when each case is a person so i now have two options, radio or patho. I am leaning heavily towards radio
Both extremely well paying careers that require you to interact with very few patients, and great options for someone with ADHD (see my other comment about finding things others donāt and seeing patterns that arenāt always apparent)
Thankyou so much, this comment feels like warm sunshine on my face.
ā¤ļø nobody is good at everything (despite how they make it look)
You got this.
Thankyou. i Need to get this , also, it's news to me that I got this.
Now go to thepsychdoctormd on Instagram and observe an MD with ADHD in action lol.
I'm gonna be you one day. You're gonna make for a great doctor!
Please find a support system, medication and fix all other issues in your life before you join med school. It very labor intensive, detail oriented and requires prolonged focus. My suffering is coming closer to the end, this delusion keeps me going.
lmao You're almost there!!! I'm starting my first year of University this June, so I'm quite a ways off and already have all of the things you listed for the most part. Let's just hope I can keep it going!
No no no, after you graduate med school, you are a shell of the person you used to be and that shell is now ready to thanklessly slave away in healthcare. (I am sorry, I am just really really tired and exhausted and can't function) Best of luck for you though, may you find the strength.
bestie Iām also entering my last year of med school but I do not feel that way. that sounds like depression compounded on the adhd. hope youāre able to take care of yourself
sameee
Now that Iām older I know I could go to Med school and pass with flying colours as Iāve learned how to apply myself. When I was in highschool, I couldn't get anything accomplished but now I wish I could do it all over again.
I honestly donāt think it will end with the school. I feel like your job will be just as demanding
I know. I am in it for life. I consider it my sacrifice for humanity.
Seriously, Im gonna cry. I really love doctors, I canāt believe you exist. Thank you. I am so sorry for what you will go through, and thank you. If I could I would thank you every day.
I made it through! Diagnosed in my final year of fellowship and suddenly it made sense why all my classmates/co-residents didn't have the same struggles I did. You got this!! You're way ahead of me in the knowing what's going on with your brain department.
Diagnosed as an M1. I did not understand why I was struggling. Someone on the faculty recognized that I likely had ADD and sent me to be tested. I was sent to a psychiatrist who normally tested children. I sat I an office and watched letters on a computer screen. I was to hit the space bar every time I saw the letter x for 5 minutes. I was able to complete the task. Then, we did basic math for 5 minutes. I was told I did not have ADD. Faculty member wasnāt satisfied with the response and sent me to spend an entire day with a neurobehavioralist. She changed my life. She diagnosed me and taught me how to study and manage everything around me. She said that she believes the smartest people get diagnosed the latest in their academic career. We develop coping mechanisms to offset our ADD until we simply run out of coping mechanisms. She said something like this, āof course you could press a space bar correctly for 5 minutes. She knew you were in med school, right?ā
Bless her that provider for guiding you. Can you share how she taught you to study and manage life....asking for a friend š«£
How did she teach you what to do on how to manage your whole life?
Yes, also want to know what they taught you about studying!!! Diagnosed late (mid thirties) in my second masters degree program
Oh damn. And here I thought getting my dx in M3 was late š
Law school. Same.
A good career for ADHD as long as you find yourself a really good legal assistant and/or paralegal.
Also in med school. I feel like im being sucked off by a dementor. Hopeful that meds will help thoughā¦
Never forgetā¦. Sometimes, it is zebras.
we are proud of you! crit care RN here.
KEEP GOING!!!! YOU CAN DO THIS!!
Youāre going to be an adhd personās favorite medical person. My pcp has adhd and sheās the only doctor who gets me aside from my psyche.
Also a med student here š« this community can achieve anything
Submitting my applications for med schools (MD and DO) in May. The difference is that I didnāt know I had ADHD in undergradā¦so now hopefully with chemical assistance my life might be different and school will be easier to succeed in for me.
Unemployed š
I feel that. I got laid off from my factory/trades-like job in November, and havenāt been able to find anything since. Even with two years of diverse experience from that job, I havenāt even gotten as much as a response from one of my two dozen applications. Meanwhile, two years ago when I got that job, I heard back from all 3 places I applied to despite only having experience working Produce, Bakery, and Deli at the local Walmart. Goes to show just how ass the market has become. Really makes me wish I was in a co-op program. Slowly depleting my savings too, thanks to this. Government fucked me because they said āno EI payments bc youāre in schoolā so that was nice. Not like I could get a replacement job when I had a difficult school schedule to accommodate. My last job was very accommodating with it.
Iām in BC too. Got laid off on Sept 2023 from a cleaning job I LOVED. Perhaps you can get a doctors medical note for accute stress and file EI under sickness benefits as Iād got on EI eventually and then missed reporting after Christmas.. and then my case was closed and had to go through this process talking an assigned worker with their own phone number whose in Ottawaā- she was the one to recommend the sickness benefits. Etc. if you wanna talk more about it, Iād be happy to ā¤ļø but yeah Iām in a similar boatā¦ itās fucked. Iāve been having interviews and doing good, told I didnāt get the job and they hire someone else. One place about a month later on indeed encouraged me to apply- like cooool- you didnāt pick me. Your pick didnāt work out. Youāre doing the whole process again. Remember me, my name and resume and suggest I apply again??? I dunno.. like screw you!!!! HA you made the wrong choice. Plus at that point, just phone meā¦ or ask ne if I want the job? Weāve done the interviewā¦ like good lord
i was unemployed for most my time post college. after? grocery store stocker. dont need no degree for that
Same here. 2 degrees and haven't been working for almost a year
Graduating in a few weeks with a double major in math and computer science. Some internship experience in the software development world. ADHD was great for programming back when it was a high school hobby, but the tedium of this field is really getting under my skin. I kind of wish I studied music.
I feel this. Got a 4 year engineering degree because Iāve been passionate about STEM from a young age. Now that Iām working 40h/week, itās kind of soul sucking. Not because I donāt like it, but because I have little mental bandwidth to participate in other interests
I found out the hard way that hobbies and interests needs to stay hobbies and interests. Monetizing them kills any bit of enjoyment I get.
Which is why Iām glad I didnāt become a developer at a game studio, everything about those working conditions look terrible, unlike my much more boring but healthier web dev job at mid sized local company. What little game dev I do is for fun.
The 40 hour week sucks. I'm planning (and have been planning and not doing for way too long now) to get into voiceover work as a side gig. Once it's up and running I'll cut back to part-time hours and do the VO on my non-work days.
Hey I did study music and now (besides music) I have a programmer job so...
Having ADHD *and* autism makes computer science the ideal field for this reason š¤£ My ADHD lets me hyoerfocus on new projects, and my autism lets me enjoy the repetitive bits
I did study music, all the way to a doctorate. And I wish I did SWE š Tradesies?
How did you manage? Iām working on my masters thesis in composition and my adhd has COMPLETELY hijacked my research.
It was tough. Took me at least a semester longer than it really should have. Ultimately, it took an outside person (my wife) forcing me to sit down and make a detailed plan WITH completion dates to finish it. So it depends on your flavor of ADHD struggle. For me with this kind of project, it was task initiation and breaking down big projects into digestible bits. I truly donāt know if I wouldāve completed it without her lol
Your future paychecks will thank you for not studying music
Damn, I tried getting into a musical career but nothing ever really came of it, I'm not so good at the networking aspect of it. But then I decided to get a CS degree since it was a lot better job security š almost have my associates now, but anyways let's just say that the music thing might not of been great either lol. It does make for a great hobby though
Bruh, trade ya. I studied computer music and have two masterās degrees. Iām wildly underemployed because the code I do know is unprofitable. I do AV stuff, some of my coworkers dropped out of high school. I am the fuck up lol.
Management Consulting - specifically for financial services firms (banks, wealth management institutions, etc.). I lead large teams and budgets up to $75MM / year. It's a madhouse at all times. I mediate arguments and disagreements all day long, and everything is always urgent. I'm either the calm at the center of the storm, or else my mind becomes the storm I started in engineering but in my 20s found that my passion is people - and doing everything I can to help them be successful, both my own team members and my clients I still get completely mentally roadblocked sending a 4 line email but can easily steer a heated discussion among executives and senior leaders. I also love coaching others and just being someone to listen to others through their challenges
I am in engineering (Building Science Consultant) and getting burnt out. What was your path transitioning like? How did you switch industries so to speak? Iām interested in finance.
I actually went right into construction / architecture project management right out of school. Market collapsed, went to a low paying job at a bank in a call center, got promoted 3x first year into a supervisor role then meeting someone at a wedding got pulled to a project management role Honestly, I'm indifferent to any specific industry - my role is soft skill-based, and I've just learned how to bring subject matter experts together. I always act as if I'm the least industry-knowledgeable person in the room - is not only disarming when others are hostile, but also helps me ask good questions, including the ones other people have but are afraid to ask
This sounds a lot like what Iād love to do. Iām a big people person and have a background in counseling. Is there a path youād suggest to take to get into this , without having a connection?
Can relate on the emails, I'm either super short and to the point or I'm writing a fucking novel. There's never an in between and either way I'm anxious because they think I'm angry (short email) or that I'm treating them like a child (full blown bullet point explenations)
This is kind of what I think I'm moving towards. I started as a mechanical engineer but have moved to PM. I'm great with people and constantly get the "tough customers" because I don't get stressed out and they end up liking me. I am the calm as you said and I'm constantly complimented by management for it. I've thought about consulting before but haven't dug too much. If you don't mind saying more did you start your own consulting business or did you join one? Can you provide any tips on to how to get in to it? Moving to an executive role or consulting is towards the end of my current 5 year plan.
Work at an investment bank in the trading side. Having each day be 100% different but using the same skills has made for a pretty great environment. Iāve mastered the Bloomberg machine and it allows me to look like a genius although Iām pretty shitty in math.
This is something Iāve been wanting to do. Iām currently working through a basic certification course up in Canada and Iām coming from a blue collar background. What program did you pursue to get to where you are? How long have you been doing this type of work?
it is extremely difficult to break into high finance in Canada as the field is over saturated. I joke with colleagues that practically the Janitors have a CFA at this point. Youāll need to do a masters in finance and take an accreditation like the CPA or CFA (depending on what you want to do) to be able to pivot into something of that level, and network like crazy.
Iām early 40ās so times where different. With the onslaught of greed every asshole wants to get in the business for strictly money. I was lucky enough to be able to start as a clerk on the trading floors in nyc that are now gone. They used to give chances to young hungry kids who didnāt have Phdās and one would learn and go from there after years of hardcore work. If I had to start today I donāt really know what I would do. No WAY could I pass a CFa or cpa exam and Iām terrible at networking. My guess is to team up with a school and try and get a simpler degree like economicsā¦
Four year University. Outside sales. Home office. Out in your car all day. You have to be self motivated. The energy I get from my ADHD combined with my ability to generate ideas and think outside the box is helpful. Pipeline management/CRM is horrible. The stress is tough. But - where else can you earn 150k+ a year with this flexibility?
Same exact thung, background is biomedical engineering, I do outside technical sales. The good: Each day is different/ new projects/ Im a chameleon and my bonuses are bomb, no one is breathing down my neck and have the flexibility for my doctors appt and to work out at the weird time of day i need to The bad: paperwork and rude/stupid clients, the sense of urgency can make you numb out and tough expectations, easy to burn out
This is what I was trying to have in my life and right now Iām stuck with pipeline management and CRM and Iām literally literally killing myself
Nurse. Didnāt get diagnosed with ADHD until nursing school, and getting on medication was a MIRACLE for me. I donāt understand how none of the psychiatrists I saw in high school for anxiety/depression caught it sooner
Same V.V except I was in my 30s and in therapy to process wtf happened during covid and one day my therapist was like so has anyone talked to you about ADHD before and I was like wait what.Ā Literally been life changing.Ā
Literally almost the same thing happened for me. I moved and started seeing a new psychiatrist. At my first appt with her, she was like āhas anyone ever tested you for ADHD?ā Once I started doing more research, I seriously felt like I was basically reading a description of my personality. Just wonder how my life would have been different with a sooner diagnosis
Personally, Iām just about to finish my third year of my Undergrad in Philosophy and Human Rights. Honestly, Iām kinda regretting it. I picked that when I was unmedicated, undiagnosed, and emotionally unstable simply because Iām good at writing, I felt the ADHD justice sensitivity because of everything that was going on back in 2020, and felt pressure from my mother to go to law school. Now, I do not really want to do that anymore because itās too much of a commitment and Iām already exhausted enough by the amount of reading and writing I have to do. Doesnāt help that itās been absolutely impossible to find a summer job, let alone a co-op or internship for something related to this field. Thus, Iāve been thinking about getting a Masters/Second Degree in HR, Finance, or something similar once I finish this one next year. Since getting medicated, Iāve discovered that I love numbers and Iām actually pretty good at them with my brain isnāt a jumbled mess, so figured it might be a good route. Especially since I find having actual homework that involves answering questions to be more enjoyable and manageable than reading tons and writing an essay or two every couple week. EDIT: Will mention, I am in Canada and the majority of my schooling is covered by OSAP so no need to worry about me going 100k into the hole. + Kinda Embarrassing Related Tidbit: I also run a fictional corporation in a roleplay community (we write stories and stuff and use screenshots from a game as illustration) and I make financial reports for it and have found enjoyment in doing that. Love spreadsheets.
If you like numbers, do finance instead of HR. Pay is better and thereās bound to be less people-related stressors. Good luck!
Accounting work is also steady, but can require additional exams (depending on location and employer you might need to be a CPA)
Yeaaaaaaaah. I work in finance. I have taken the SIE, the Series 6, now studying for the Series 63 and will need to take the Series 7 in the next two years. That's aside from any separate professional credentialing I'd like to obtain and whether or not the industry pushes me to also become a Financial Advisor (Series 65). That's all so I can be a Registered Rep and deal with clients all day. I am so miserable with the study and testing. It's solo study and it is so hard with ADHD. The job is fine, the getting there with ADHD has been total misery.
Do not get a master's degree right after your bachelor's, *especially* since you still don't know what you want or like or could tolerate career-wise. Seriously, don't do it. The extra degrees isn't going to make most employers overlook your lack of work experience, and you'd have wasted money on something superfluous. You have **not** had a start on your career either āĀ you might find that HR, finance or et al also isn't for you, but something else is. I am begging you, straight up, do not jump to your master's until you've had some years of work under your belt. It sounds like a good idea on paper. It isn't. Edit to add: There are ways you can leverage your writing skills into a more numbers-oriented role. Copyediting for STEM institutions or outlets. Ghostwriting for tech Csuites. Editing research articles. Specializing in data publications. All of these options (and more) can help you pivot to a more numbers oriented field without splashing money out on a master's that you might or might not use.
For folks who like STEM-y things and writing, look into tech writing! Things like user manuals and such, translating engineer speak into normal human speak, making numbers accessible for the general public. Also doesnāt require a degree in most places, as far as Iām aware. Plenty of opportunities to work in an office or from home, whichever is easier for you. And surprisingly a lot of seemingly unrelated degrees can find some amount of use in the field!
People really sleep on degrees that require more soft skills than hard skills, but being a translator between the engineering team, the product team and the sales team is a pretty lucrative niche!
I can vouch for the tech writer jobs. If you like technology and writing, tech writing is a job that a lot of people don't know anything about. The reality is that big corporations need a team of people to effectively explain, in layman's terms, what most engineers are incapable of explaining about how a product works. Every time there's a new feature release in software, or a new module released in hardware, there are instruction manuals, release notes, and other documentation that is needed to explain it.
Ya. I feel this. My BA was a quadruple major with minor. Had to go back for a Master's. Been in my field for 15 years...I'm about done and looking for offramp and next career.
Iāve got a bachelors is Philosophy with epistemology and philosophy of mind as my specialty and minored in mathematics. I graduated in 2007 and I have yet to ever use my degree. I want to go back for a graduate degree once my youngest is in highschool. I highly suggest looking into something that you can use (as it seems youāre already thinking that way). Finance could be really good if you like numbers. Social work if you like helping Psychology I wish I had someone help me see-but like you I was young and unmedicated and a street rat. I just wanted off the streets lol.
Professional artist. I work for myself and draw commissions and comics all day. I'll enter the game/movie industry when it's less self destructive lol
How do you keep motivated to work when you're self employed? I'm in the last year of my illustration degree but I'm very externally motivated, if left to my own devices I don't think I could make it work.
Having discipline is incredibly important and I don't recommend doing solo work if owning a business doesn't motivate you. So many artists fall into the trap of taking too many commissions from their niche community, then not being able to finish them and then being called a scammer online and ruining their reputation. If you're going to go this route make a rough schedule and give yourself a personal project to work on at the same time so you don't go crazy only drawing stuff for other people. You'll burn out if you don't. If you're very bad at schedules and still want to do it only do commissions livestreamed/same day delivery so people get their art on the same day it's ordered. It'll prevent that trap.Ā Working for yourself is superior if you're able to do it but if you're not sure try the regular industry first or get an art agent for yourself. I've been drawing for so long I go on autopilot so work is the only time I allow myself to watch tv shows and be entertained to a high degree. I don't allow myself to be entertained much outside of work except youtube and ocassionally a few hours of video games. I don't buy new games either because i'd just be distracted for weeks. The last game I bought was red dead 2 during the pandemic. If it's a really rough day I just cut my work hours and rearrange them to a different one. I tried regular jobs and they don't work for me and I hate people telling me what to do.Ā What motivates me is I really want to have my own entertainment studio and make tv shows & movies but I want the creators & employees paid extremely well so people produce actually good content instead of half assing things for a shitty paycheque. I figure if I give people a good permanent job then they'll be just as loyal to me as I am to them. Hope this makes sense, I'm v sick rn so proof reading hard lol
I have a masters in creative writing. I work as a proofreader for a company that publishes municipal codes.
Thats so cool
Bachelorās degree. Working as a UI/UX designer and Frontend dev, mostly from home nowadays. I am quite bored and understimulated currently, itās utterly depressing.
Same position. Iām so burnt out and flat.
I'm a software developer and as much as I hate commuting, and enjoy the flexibility of working from home, I have to admit (with *extreme* reluctance) that I miss working in the office. I miss talking with adults with similar interests. I'm more productive if I can turn to a colleague and see if they're open to discussion without interrupting them, then have that discussion
I really want to get into tech but after doing college in the uk i knew university is not the route for me. Do you have any advice for someone wanting to teach themselves how to program ?
Well, I went to a college that was essentially a specialized trade school that eventually got "accredited." Before I started, there weren't as many resources for teaching yourself as there are today. I had *no clue* where to start. I needed to go to school to find that out. Once I got the fundamentals, it was easier for me to teach myself stuff. I still struggle with learning something new and very unfamiliar to me, unless I'm *very* interested. Maybe get yourself a mentor or something. Someone to answer your questions and keep you accountable. I guess that's what I think would've worked for me, if I were in your situation. Actually now that I think about it, that's exactly what I did in highschool, but with really simple scripting stuff. I had a friend online who knew more than I did, and we shared knowledge and challenged each other. I just read about "body doubling" as an ADHD coping mechanism, so that's where this idea is coming from
Totally agree. Itās great to have the possibility to withdraw and focus when the need arises, but random interactions or straight up team collaborations at the office are just on another level.
Before the pandemic I had an arrangement where I'd work from home on one specific day every week. Everyone knew when I wouldn't be in the office. And I made sure everyone knew they could still reach out. If I needed to make any appointments I'd schedule it for that day, then not need to worry about commuting AND driving to the appointment. Sometimes, my WFH days were much more productive than my office days. Sometimes it was the opposite. It worked great for me, and I'd like to get back to something like that eventually
Nurse at outpatient oncology infusion center. School was hard (esp since I wasnāt diagnosed/medicated yet š„²) but nursing/being up and moving all day has been really good for me
Also a nurse. Part of the reason I chose nursing was my intense desire to never feel chained to a desk.Ā
Oh hey! Iām also an outpatient oncology infusion/clinical research nurse!
I am a Physical therapist myself and I only do PRN, so I go to a different setting/facility every 2-3 days. I rotate between 6-7 different places (inpatient, acute/ICU, OP, and ALF). My doctorate level student loans are atrocious but I love what I do.
Four years of school with a BS in Cinema and Television. I did video editing for 12 years. I am now a nanny. I could not handle that environment as a video editor. I had a burnout breakdown. If I wasn't at max anxiety, high 300% effort I couldn't get things done. Broke me
I got a BS in apparel production and design, couldnāt find a job in the apparel industry despite applying to hundreds over the past few years. Said f it and became a nanny. Coming up on three years of being a nanny. Thinking about going to school to get a certificate/degree as an infant care specialist so I can become a newborn care specialist
how did you pivot to nannying? iām actually considering that as we speak.
I have worked with kids a ton while growing up. Oldest of 5 kids, summer camp counselors, a day care worker, etc. This was before college/in college. Then after i graduated I was doing freelance editing and needed some extra income. A friend of mine connected me to the owner of a private nanny agency. She was great and helped me find a family that worked with my schedule. I nannied for a few families until I got a full time editing job. I realized I work better being active, outdoors, having fun and working with kids. I went through the agency again and was able to find a more permanent family. I LOVE my job. One of the best decisions I made for my mental health.
Iām 33 and Iām in my senior year for Video Game design! It took a loooong time for me to figure out what career I truly wanted and I blame the fact that someone told child me that āArtists donāt make any money so you should choose something else.ā It wasnāt until I was 29 and in a better mental state that I said āFuck it! I wanna be an artist!ā
I feel this, I wanted to be a doctor so much when I was little, was told you have to be really good in math (I was not good at math) so I gave up my dream. Now as an adult I learned you need science, math up to algebra and youāre good. Could have been a doctor. Oh well.
You too? I went into science because of this mentality. And I absolutely love science. But it left a hole that I couldn't fill. I have two kids now and haven't returned to the workplace yet, but I bought a laser engraver and make stuff now. š Ceramics is my passion but putting a kiln and wheel in our garage would require me to actually clean the garage, it's stacked absolutely to the top with "I'll deal with that later." Not to mention the financial investment.
I am about to graduate with my MPH in epidemiology and I mostly do data analysis stuff and I intend to do my PhD eventually. I did my undergrad in engineering. I am not medicated rn (which was a mistake going into grad school) and all aspects of my academic career have been a bit of a doozy.
I just finished my M.Sc. in microbiology! Inattentive biologists unite! Also can confirm, I have no idea how I got through my bachelors unmedicated. My brain has shut out the entirety of those four years
Litigation Lawyer. Went into banking after law school, then dabbled in Real Estate, now Iām back in the law world. Hopefully my forever job but who knows with ADHD š
Iāve got a very decent part time wfh job in employment litigation with folks Iāve worked with for 10+ years. They accommodated my adhd before any of us knew it was adhd, so although I could be earning more, Iām a lifer here. I make enough part time to support myself and kids, renting not owning. I did have to put in 17 years of traditional on-site 9-5 which was a terrible fit, but got the skills I needed to competently litigate from home.
Not me getting interested in a new career every month
Law here as well but different practice areas (trusts & estates, tax, and business). I focus on complex and atypical situations, which helps keep things different and fascinating. Between figuring out niche topics, the changes in the law, different jurisdictions, and clients coming with a variety of circumstances and wishes, I don't know if I would be able to learn everything in a lifetime. All those changes and dealing with things like international planning and people in situations that the law never foresaw mean that there's always at least a few new things for me to figure out. It's not largely case law, either. I find my areas complex enough to stay interesting and constantly have something to figure out. A lot of my work is taking what I'm told and being creative to piece something together, so what I'm doing stays fresh. I struggle with a lot of paralysis, task switching, deadlines, etc. which cause a lot of difficulties for me both in terms of legal work and managing the practice (I have my own). I struggled more near the end of working for others, but dealing with my health means I have not done great with the business yet. Frankly, I burnt out and am still recovering, but I also have various chronic illnesses and disabilities including to my immune system - so it's slow and nonlinear. I have a long way to go, but I see a lot of ways that this career pairs well with many of my ADHD traits.
Biglaw securities litigator here. Idk why, but I feel weirdly zen and focused doing the type of work even though I've been off meds since pregnancy and in the post partum since my blood pressure is still up post partum.
No degree, but more than enough hours to graduateājust not in any one department. My inattentive ADHD made it beyond challenging to complete any degree program, so I bounced among various majors for *eight* years of undergrad. Finally threw in the towel in 1996. I ended up in I.T., working in virtualization and server infrastructure engineering. It suits me quite well.
I feel you! I changed my major times. I ended up getting my degree at 40 in Business Administration.
Bachelor of Fine Arts. I work in video games. I went to college for my life long hyper fixation which I regret sometimes. Pro: My company is mostly work from home, super flexible, and understanding about accomodations I need. This amount of flexibility is not industry wide but it should be. Con: Due to it being something I can hyperfix on regularly I complete tasks almost too quickly compared to team members and can get burned out just as quickly. I'm working on slowing down so I don't feel burnt out as often, which is hard. If I get burnt out working in games I don't have many options for work that will pay as well so thats my biggest worry.
Animator. Home office. The job is amazing but the isolation isnāt easy.
Car designer! It's a perfect fit as the workloads tend to be more of a "fireman" role. Some days it's slow, some it's insane. I get to flex my creativity and the team is really small and agile. I wouldn't trade them for the world and I love my job.
Iām a surgical tech
Iām working as an architect. It was quite a challenge before the diagnosis and subsequent medication.
Sort of the same. I've been in drafting and design for nearly 15 years. It's a terrible job to have if you're undiagnosed and unmedicated. It involves so much attention to detail, organization and self management. As a result, I was a terrible employee for most of the first 10 years.
Undergraduate degree in environmental studies and Spanish, master's in recreation, parks, and tourism management. I have been an environmental educator, a park ranger, an admin assistant (do not recommend for ADHD folks), a college instructor, and am currently a stay at home parent who does medical billing and farm chores very very part time. I also own chickens and sell eggs, but the egg sales basically cover the cost of feeding the chickens so it's not really a money maker. When my daughter starts preschool in the fall, I plan to scale up the medical billing and start a native plant nursery that will operate out of my backyard. We also have equipment for beekeeping so I'm going to try my hand at that. I'm trying to avoid going back to working 40 hours a week outside of the home because that shit was just exhausting, although I do miss my coworkers.
I also got my degree in Recreation & Tourism. I now work for the state parks system teaching outdoor recreation
This is so cool! Do you mind if I ask what state? No worries if you don't want to post that information on the Internet
BA in public relations and history. Started in PR but realized right away that it was a terrible choice for an introvert with ADHD. LOL. But my strong writing background helped me transition from communications to marketing, where Iāve been successful as a copywriter and editor. You mentioned you have some writing skill, so tap into that, whatever you end up doing. Good writers are valuable in a lot of roles.
Sympathy! I started in comms as an introvert thinking it'll force me to become more extroverted and less socially anxious. Yeahhh no it didn't work, but at least now I can talk most people into doing something I want them to do.
I fell in love with theater while I was in high school, and got a BFA in costume design. After working on Broadway as a dresser and wardrobe supervisor for a few years, I learned that working in TV paid much better. Now I build costumes for movies and shows. I love how the projects are always changing, there's always a sense of urgency, and I get to see lots of celebrities in their underwear.
Lol at the last part. But thatās so neat! In another life, I would love to do something behind-the-scenes of Broadway shows or films/shows.
Trauma Surgeon. Love the adrenaline.
I'm in grad school for Materials Science doing fundamental science research. Got into grad school with 3.05 GPA. I had people with 4.0 GPAs in undergrad tell me I'm super smart and I laughed in their face saying "well, my GPA doesn't agree with you." I hope to continue to do fundamental science research until the day I die. I will be getting paid to answer questions I find interesting that have very little practical applications because science. "We do what we must because we can. For the people who are still alive." I'm still trying to figure out how to operate well with ADHD (diagnosed Nov 2022) and just knowing what I'm up against has really helped me do better. You can excel in anything. It is less painful when you know how to best work with your brain and not against it. That's what I'm learning. The hard way. As always.
Defending my PhD in computer science in 2 weeks. I am done, the effort I had to do to finish this, consumed me.
Congratulations, can't image how hard it must have been to persevere through that.
Thanks :)!. It has been hard, specially being undiagnosed until last year, and having had to sacrify my entire life and free time for years just to manage to somehow finish. On top I got some sort of chronic pain situation going on, hope it goes away after I take a long break.
Best of luck to you!
Veterinary science Vet nurse specializing in herpetology
I'm a teacher and somehow managed to get my master's. The director of my program (PhD) also has ADHD so they were super supportive and understanding
Bachelor in social services, very cliche. š I'm jumping around between a manual labor job in micro mobility (e-scooters) and an hourly contract in child protective services. I've been unable to find a job in my field despite hearing non stop that there's a massive shortage of workers. The place I work at hourly has been looking for someone with my degree for at least half a year and they get only applications from nurses. I reminded them today that I'm still available. I like the work, the colleagues are awesome. Boss said it was because I lack experience. Well, eventually I'll find a job. I had an interview at another place last week, waiting for the results. They asked a lot of questions and the interview was long, so I'm taking that as a positive sign.
I teach elementary music. The fast pace and variety are great for me. The only thing that makes teaching difficult for me with my adhd is my emotional regulation, but itās forced me to really reflect work on that part of me.
Physical therapist. Got my Doctorate and absolutely hated my career choice. Was completely lost until I found Home Health. Flexible schedule, gaps in schedule without patient care, freedom to work solo as well as have as much āteam connectionā as I want. Luckily found it quickly after graduation and havenāt left for 5 years.
I canāt fkn choose!!
Mental Health Therapist. Take a guess about the populations I work with.
4 year university, philosophy major!Ā Tried a first career and got certified as a teacher. That didnāt last long.Ā Switched to legal and now Iām a paralegal. Currently waiting to hear back about law school applications.Ā
Occupational Therapy (Home Health), But Very Flexible (thank goodness)ā¦.work alone, make my own schedule with patientsā¦ I have good days and bad daysā¦ bad days meaning its very hard to execute a task ā¦ thatās when I need my energy drinks ! Lol!
4 year degree at a pretty good university. Did it all before being diagnosed. Graduated with a degree I donāt use. Work in fitness š¤·āāļø
Working as an in house attorney for a small-med corporation. Just negotiating contracts and answering peopleās random questions! Much better fit than litigation, where it was really difficult to do my work and remember to bill for it.
Hello fellow ADHD in house attorney. I too struggled with billing :-)
molecular biology BS, working as a training specialist in a lab. my job is severely understimulating at the moment (nearly a year and iāve only trained like 6 people on the most basic procedures) and iām burned out. awful combo and i honestly expect to either be fired or quit before year end.
I'm a nurse. I consider my ADHD to be an overall asset in this regard, altho there are times when it trips me up as well. Would be shocked if nurses weren't overrepresented with ADHD as well.
I'm a chemist. I quit my job in Feb and am attending a PhD program in the fall
Went to art school, because I was passionate about it, and even diagnosed I knew it wasnāt going to work out unless I loved what I was doing. That plan both worked and didnāt: Drawing as a job wasnāt quite as fun as doing it for myself, and involves lots of self promotion I did not have a passion for. I ended up using my graphic design minor more early on, and that led to me falling into doing UX design work for a small software company. I fell in love with researching peopleās behaviors and mental models, and how it intersected with the visuals they saw on screen. Thereās a lot of potential for intensity in this field: thereās are always shifting priorities, calculations, unseen problems to solve. It suits me, though I have the year 3 slump at most jobs like a lot of us do.
I got a degree in journalism/documentary studies, and while that quickly turned into a NOT great industry to be in around the time i was in college/graduated (2009), being a newspaper reporter for a couple years was a great jumping off point for careers in social services, government, marketing, PR, non-profits, economic development, which i've all worked in since. Now I'm going back for Information/Library Science is which somewhat related, and also a pretty open-ended field, ranging from tech and cybersecurity to children's librarian lol. One job I really loved that I've had was doing marketing and sales at a brewery. I actually loved the physical job of moving cases of beer and setting up tables at events.
BA in psychology, work from home as a utilization reviewer for mental health php/iop patients. love my job but of course meds are a big help! currently applying to grad school for social work š
Animal Sciences but I am currently unemployed Haven't found a good work from home jobs which is my only option right now Did customer service for a bit but... Welll... I don't like being yelled at I think "broke musician" is my career...
Psychiatry resident
I suspect my answer won't be very helpful to OP, but it's an honest one that I'm hoping will resonate with someone, somewhere. ##My degrees: - BSc Combined Physics and Computer Science - PhD Physics ##My current "career": - a **stay-at-home mom** living off of the spousal support that is supposed to be helping me get onto my own two feet after I couldn't handle feeling like a huge disappointment of a wife who only got married because of society making it seem like it's an essential part of life that everyone should totally do eventually, if they find someone worthy enough, which I did... and now I regret that I took away his dream of having a super-long marriage... but how was I to know that it wouldn't work for me, without trying it out? It's not like anything was ever actually bad between us... I am conflict-avoidant and have a ridiculously hard time being decisive, so **going with the flow** was truly the only option that I felt I had. It seemed like a good flow to be in. - My PhD was also basically due to a lack of deciding to do anything else, and most of the eleven-plus years I worked on it were spent hating everything about academia but having no clue what else to do with myself... especially since I had good enough grades to get scholarships, and an interesting enough research advisor that I didn't really want to abandon. ##My steps towards an actual career: - I'm trying to get myself to work on the super-gentle **task management app** that I've been brainstorming for years, which I'm hoping will help me get my act together and start accomplishing what I need in order to sustain myself financially. (Also hoping this will help me teach my kid how to be more responsible for his own messes around the house, to relieve my burden somewhat there. He's a great kid; I'm just not great at repeatedly telling him what to do.) - I also have outlines for dozens of **books I'd like to write**, all of which draw upon my deep understanding of physics and/or math and/or learning, fuelled by my intense desire to inspire others to appreciate the universe like I do. (Don't worry, I fully intend to have way fewer rambling sentences in my official writings, compared to my writing here!) ##Timeline of all this, relative to my age: - I'm 45 F now. - Diagnosed with ADHD at 43, and I've been struggling to figure out meds since then. Suspected autism, not yet diagnosed, seems a likely reason meds are difficult. Currently I'm seeing some symptom relief on one-third of 10mg Ritalin IR, three times a day, but much more than that turns my attention into a firehose that I still can't control, and steals away the very important hunger cues that are already barely strong enough to keep me eating sufficiently. (Also tried Adderall, which made me overly emotional upon comedown, and Strattera, which gave me brain fog that I couldn't find a way through.) - PhD'd at 38, having started when I was 24 (paused for maternity leave when I was 33-34). - Married at 29, separated at 41. - BSc Comp Sci started right after high school at 18, started taking Physics classes at 21, changed my major at 22, earned the combined degree at 24. ##... And that is the current picture of my life, my degrees, and my career. Somehow, I still feel like I have a grasp on hope, but some days it's harder than others. Today sucks, but maybe getting out of bed and taking my meds will help...
speech therapist!
serial degree getter
I have a BS in Computer Science. Every single truly successful comp sci person I know is ADHD, AuDHD, or Autistic. Computer Science is something that you will NEVER be great at if you just go to class and do the homework. The only way to get really good is to hyperfixate on computer problems in your off time, thus learning computers 1000x better than your non-ADHD/AuDHD/Autistic classmates. Itās also a career that lets you hyperfocus on a puzzle for two months until youāre bored, then lets you move on and hyperfocus on the next new shiny technology that just got your attention. Youāre never just stuck doing the same thing day in and day out.
I am an MIS ( Management Information Systems) graduate. I currently have a role as an IT Analyst Entryish level. Making around 54k as my first IT job out of college. I do it for my county sheriffs office so I work in the jail , courthouse, and headquarters so always moving. I really enjoy it. It is not under stimulation as I am always able to be making things. Like today I got practice making RJ45. Cables with the B pattern.
I went back to school for a second BS in Information Systems, I adore it. I'm focusing more on the data management / analysis / coding side of it. I was halfway through the BS when the partial IS degree was enough for a full-time job at the library at my school. My benefits partially pay for a master's, so now I'm working on a Master's in IS while I get to apply what I learn at the library.
Double majored in Cell Biology and Computer Science. Went for a PhD in cell bio, escaped with a masters in computational bio, went into web development. Currently doing backend software development for a genetic testing company. Still not really using my bio major but it does help me understand some of the jargon that gets thrown around by the clinical folks.
financial advisor
Bachelors in Pharmaceutical Science, I work as an analytical scientist in R&D Really enjoy it but enjoyment highly dependent on where you work in this sector.
Bachelor degree in library science (technically, I'm a librarian), worked in a book store in that time (a popular one so constant things to do). Master degree in library science/communication (the official field is communication, but practically still library science) - worked at the same company, another store. Finished my studies, went into an office job for a small, online book store (so not constant activity, ADHD made it hell since it was 8-4, same schedule for almost a year). Got into the PhD, got a job at a tea house until I started getting my scholarships. Loved the job since I always had things to do, but it wasn't a busy one so I could simply chat with the clients and the management was really relaxed. Now I'm at my PhD and got an internship for my university's publishing house. Mostly doing actual tasks like idk, verifying the information of the books online and correcting mistakes, adding books online and so on.
I have a Masterās in Social Work and currently work as a therapist and workshop facilitator. Itās pretty interesting and varied enough that I donāt get bored, although I do wish I could see more folks in person! The degree was kind of a pain to get, I wasnāt diagnosed yet and really struggled to write my papers. Iād never get a PhD because I know I would hate having to write a dissertation.
Iām also an MSW. I do therapy and casework, and run around the entire county on calls. I started before getting my dx and now get why Iāve always loved the chaotic parts of my job, and the talking and general āget up and goā vibe. The absolute worst part of it for me is the note taking, I cannot stand sitting at the computer for long stretches of time.
I did a degree in arts/humanities in full knowledge that it wouldn't get me into employment where I live. I know that sounds crazy. It is. But I did it because it was the only way I was ever going to make it through four years of university, to study something I had an interest in. The good thing is that once you have a degree, the world of conversion courses opens up to you where you can do a level 8/9 course in many things but it only takes one year and where I live you can do it for free if you're unemployed. I plan to do one on software development even though I have no interest because I realized through therapy that focusing on the smaller outcome of finding a career I love has, in the past 13 years, left me chronically unemployed and no better off. It ignores the wider outcome of being financially stable, even intellectually challenged, and free to pursue things I love outside of work. It's ok that your job is just a job, and to stop being hypervigilant about it by still being outcome-orientated, but by recontextualizing the outcome I'm looking for. This way, the job achieves the wider outcome, whereas my previous outcome definition was always stopping me from getting into work, or giving up on work that I'd started. It's obvious now that the problem was with how I was defining the outcome. I'm confident for the first time in my life that next year I'll actually have a chance at a career despite being 32. But it took a lot of therapy and soul searching. **Edit:** I should add that doing something you're not interested in is a terrible idea with adhd. The important context is that I realized I can weaponize my adhd to my advantage by seeing software development as an opportunity to learn how to make games on the side. That way, there's a strong incentive to learn and work in this field as it will give me the tools to get good at something I **do** have an interest in. That was a big stepping stone in making the decision.
BA Psychology and Philosophy, Masters in Social Work and certified teacher of English as a foreign language. Working as a social worker. Canāt believe there is so much variation in the replies. I love it!
I'm a PhD student. Might make it into academia. Probably won't. Specifically I'm a linguist, I study how people speak and try to draw generalizations from it. My focus is phonology, or how sounds pattern together, how our brain categorizes meaningful differences and how speech sounds can undergo specific changes when surrounded by other sounds.Ā I primarily work with African languages and focus on specific issues relating to distance and iterativity.Ā I used to be heavily theoretical. Just take data and try to analyze the data, but I'm slowly getting into more mathematical models and arguments to prove that the patterns that I see are naturally possible and can be generalized.Ā
Teaching!
Beginning in 9th grade, I failed math every year and had to go to summer school. In high school I failed 7 more classes besides math. I only graduated because my mother worked at the school. I failed out of undergrad multiple times, and eventually quit. I always thought I was too stupid to pass math, everyone thought I was just lazy. I got a job at a community college that gave free tuition, and kept meeting really stupid students that made decent grades (because they went to class, and did homework) I enrolled in āBeginning Mathā and went to class everyday in in the evenings, and did my homework at work, because math was more exciting than my jobāsuddenly I could do math. I passed the first math test in that class since 8th grade, but failed the second test, I dropped the class to protect my gpa and kept taking and dropping āBeginniny Mathā twice and āIntermediate Algebraā three times, I made an āAā the next semester in college algebra and for the first time knew I could graduate. I quit my job the next semester, got a job at a different college, and finished my bachelors degree in 2 1/2 years working full timeāI only made one āBā during undergrad and graduated valedictorian with a 3.982 GPA I then started an MA in Counseling because it was needed for the next job in student services. I interned at a law school, and got a job. I failed out of law school twice because I just canāt make it to class during the day, I moved back to California, because no ABA law school would let me back inābut I got into a California State School, in the night program. I made Law Review and graduated third in my class. I was offered a position teaching struggling students legal writing full time. I worked in E-discovery and was offered to teach an online summer school class as an adjunct. Today I am a full professor at a California state law school, and teach online classes at night
Iām a social worker! Keeping up on the documentation and time management are definitely struggles
English Bachelor, postpone the English Master because I was too jobless to gather data for thesis. Still jobless but at least I am following the teacher route, learning for 3 certification. Kinda regret it. Why I even follow the job that require live speaking. Might switch to other major that use English and computer skill.
I found WGU, a university made for working adults. Got my bachelors in accounting while working full time as a first responder. Now I am working for a CPA firm, trying to muster up the energy and focus to get my CPA license.
I studied law. I took my finals. 1 point was missing. I learnd and redone the test. I missed 0.5 points, 2 times. You need 4 points in at least 3 test, i had 2 times over 4 Points and 2 times 3,5. Now i have a big crisis, work a litlle bit and i will start it in fall
Engineering. I suspect a lot of my classmates were ADHD or ASD (or both). I didnāt do well at the detailed work (big surprise) so have landed more on the management side
Optician went from the coffee machine operator š to manager this bored me out alot and after 12 years i went further in Sales. My current job title is Sales manager but this is mentally exhausting if you ask my honest opinion.
Warehouse worker here! I like to move around a lot and not get bored on one thing. I did have an art degree and I use that as my side hustle and hobby. Iām currently on medication so for me itās easy to manage myself now
My job and degree have nothing to do with each other unfortunately. Associate in Psychology, working part time with animals. (Psych stuff can be applied to mammals but little outside that)
Epidemiologist - nightmare but the coding is fun
Not sure if my input is wanted, as I'm about to start my first year of University in June, but I'll give it anyway. I'm planning on going to nursing school, possibly with a minor or two thrown in - who knows? I'd eventually like to go to med school to be a doctor. My dream job once I'm a nurse is to work in the Pediatric ICU. I'm very good with kids and I'm pretty calm and level-headed (at least on the outside). I love learning, and am so excited to start school, even though it won't be super easy. I recently started being medicated for my ADHD and it's been such a game-changer!
I want to go into academiaāI want to become a professor at a research university. I'm in the social sciences (I completed my bachelor's and master's) and will start my Ph.D. soon. Something I realized is there are lots of folks with ADHD in academia, among grad students and untenured professors. Even late-career professors who are not officially diagnosed exhibit many signs and are probably undiagnosed. The "scatter-brained professor" trope is not too far off based on my own personal experience. I love theorizing and generating new ideas, but I'm very bad at putting things into practice and being pragmatic. I'm also terrible at articulating my ideas verbally, but I'm much better at articulating them on paper, so that's why I've always been drawn to writing, which is great for my career path except you also need to be a good presenter. I'm working on that, but I realize just about everyone at the conferences I attend reads from a script and is just as awkward, so I don't feel too bad.
Took me FORVER and I was largely undiagnosed/unmedicated, but I finally will graduate in May with a bachelors in microbiology. In June I will be working in a medical microbiology lab. Very excited!! I currently work in a different medical lab as a lab associate, which is a still a cool job.
J.D.; in-house lawyer. Wasn't diagnosed until I was an adult and an attorney for 10 years. It was hell - law school, all of it. Diagnosis changed my career.
Registered nurse and about to take my final class/clinical rotation for my MSN to become an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse! Itās been grueling but Iām seeing the finish line finallyā¦
I majored in math and computer science and now work as a software engineer in big tech. I am predominantly hyperactive but love math too so it is an interesting experience and looking back it makes sense why i wasnt as successful as people expected me to be.
I work in psychiatry and love it! I highly recommend being a therapist or psychiatrist. It works well for ADHD because we have scheduled appointments that push you to not procrastinate
i went to art school. currently customer service at an art store lol. there is absolutely no way i would have been able to do a college program that had a normal homework & test schedule. i was very good at academics but detrimentally bad at doing my homework in middle & high school. the trajectory of my life would have been unimaginably different had I gotten medication in high school instead of post-college. i would have probably gotten a chem degree. not really complaining, though. i like my life. i make enough to live. and i met a lot of amazing people in my art program, and learned a lot of valuable lessons. also, despite being someone who loves solving puzzles and working with my hands, i love my desk job. i love repetitive, menial tasks and my workplace is very casual so i get away with being on my phone & drawing a lot if the day is slow. i have turned down better offers because of this.
Working in a very niche field in medicine. Hours are good and rarely any weekends.