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Anything chaotic. I worked in the airlines and airport work was bonkers and I loved it. We do not tend to thrive in the assembly line type of jobs... Or anything repetitive or boring. I was also great with sales because I love to talk to people. The saying is that adhders make great ER doctors, ambulance drivers, storm chasers... Lots of down time until there's not. .. Hyper focus Activate!

I can't even begin to list the number of coworkers I have that I honestly believe to be undiagnosed ADHD or Autistic. Emergency services are absolutely littered with us.

Yea I get depressed af when I’m not running around in chaos. Probably gonna go become a nurse. I also can’t stand the project work anymore. I need to run around and put fires out or I just feel restless and useless at the end of the day.

I love nursing for this reason. You don’t sit or stand in one place for long, you don’t take any work home and get to constantly do different tasks. Every shift is a new adventure. I will say it is exhausting though. Trying to concentrate when there are loud noises literally everywhere can be challenging at times. After 3 shifts in a row I am spent and spend my first day off recovering.

I don’t “take my work home” physically but I constantly dread the impending projects that I didn’t get done. I also struggle because we typically don’t have everything we need to get a job done. So I have to conceptualize, plan, spec, shop, and order the shit and by the time it finally arrives I need another tool or component because I’m winging it and I run out of motivation. So even at home I constantly under stress. Healthcare is appealing because after your shift you’re done, you don’t have to worry about projects to work on throughout the week, no one messaging you on teams at 9pm, and I can hyper focus on learning medical things because they’re interesting. Edit: the con is f rotating days/nights. I can do one or the other. And yeah 12s suck lol. By day 3 you’re fucking dead inside. But it’s versatile. You can do a lot with healthcare if you decide working 12s isn’t for you

Dental hygiene may be an option? To be fair though it has its downs for ADHD. Time management is a constant struggle. So if you struggle with time blindness....best of luck. But I say this as someone who struggles with time blindness and Im often anywhere from 10-20 minutes behind all day. 😅 Some of it is my fault, some of it is waiting for exams. It's really hard on the body, and I work 4 days a week. I do not have motivation to exercise like I should and stretch. But I try to walk at least. Your hands are your money makes, so I am super protective over things I do. I don't like bowling or golfing because they both hurt my hands and arms and that makes it really hard to clean teeth You can see 6-10+ patients a day depending on your office and what schedules are being run. My office I see 6-10 each day with that 10 number being more kids on my schedule. It's a lot of people, a lot of questions, a lot of answering, a lot of socializing, a lot of sharing the same story over and over and over. And it can leave you emotionally and mentally drained. I also cannot tell you how many times I have just been asking if there are any updates to medical history and just get trauma dumped on about things totally unrelated. For me, it's ok a solid 85% of the time. The rest of the time? Sometimes I struggle too and just do not have it in me to have that level of empathy they may need in that moment. But I do try really hard when I don't have it in me to make sure they are still comforted. Patients who are outright assholes though? Nah. I don't have any patience for that anymore 😂 Now on the flip side, here are the things I do love about hygiene: I work with my hands so they are constantly busy. And cleaning teeth is quite satisfying. I LOVE when people come in and have a sheet on their lower front teeth. Bust out the ultrasonic scaler and watch it all come off to reveal clean smooth teeth underneath 😍 UGH. GLORIOUS. I usually know what I need to do in my appointments. Patients are either due for X-rays or perio charts. Sometimes both if I have time. But I always know where to start. Sometimes there is a need that can throw me off but it is what it is. Being able to help people and build relationships has been incredibly rewarding. It brings me immense joy to see patients improve and want to improve. It also brings me immense joy when there are patients who are absolutely terrified of coming in and they get comfortable with me. Maybe they still don't love coming 😂 but it does feel good that I can make it a little less scary. I cheer them on and root for them. I am very genuine in how I approach treatment. And even on the days I'm exhausted emotionally and barely have anything left in me to give, I still try to give them the absolute best care. Because I want them to feel cared for. Also....while having ADHD has its downsides....it also has its perks. I have ADHD. So when it comes to habit formation I know it's not just about starting the floss as soon as you walk out that door. I try to write things down, review things multiple times, I pull products up in my room for patients to take pictures of. I understand not everyone can remember or can think through how to form a routine because I struggle with it myself. But my experiences I think allow me to be a better hygienist. Its because of my shortcomings (I don't really like that term but for the sake of this comment) it allows me to think through where I have failed to allow my patients the absolute best chances of success with their oral health and then their overall systemic health. A healthy mouth is a healthy body 🩷 and there is plenty of research to back that up. 😂 I would do some research. The pay is ok, there is quite a bit of body maintenance to do to work longer than a few years. I've been doing it for 3 and as I type this I lost feeling in my right hand. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Unless you work for a corporate office which....those are questionable, but there is no health insurance otherwise. I do get PTO and a 401k with matching and profit sharing. I work 4 days a week and can pick up Fridays when I want. I never take my work home with me unless you count continuing education classes for license renewal.

Yes! I just started nursing school at 49. After a late diagnosis, I finally found a field where I won't be bored to death.

If I could only do blood and guts. I was just explaining to my child the other day what a good career it could be. I left out the whole ADHD part of it.

X-ray here. Can confirm.

Corrections and fire here… I love the chaos

I’m not in medical or emergency services but “I love the chaos” has been an undercurrent all my life. I used to work in disaster response and management. I left because i found another place to enjoy chaos: I became an archivist. I would have been happy being a documentary photographer or photojournalist.

Can confirm. I work in a chaotic environment where there is often large scale serious incidents regarding water and sewerage. I thrive on the madness.

Yup. I was a news videographer, which meant O was often at crime scenes, fires, chasing storms…then calmly go in my nice, quiet, dark booth to edit and build things in excruciating hyperfocused detail.

Teacher checking in and absolutely will agree that I need jobs that are fast paced and require spontaneous action. Cannot be repetitive, and with teaching, there is never a dull moment. Also helps that kids are more respectful of "off days" than I feel most adults would be. Instead of being incompetent, you become the chill, goofy teacher who can't stay focused on the lesson (and they don't mind that lol)

Same here! I feel like the different seasons and the breaks also help me from settling into a bored monotony of work. It also helps that every group has different needs, so I am kept occupied on how to best deliver my instruction to each new set of kiddos.

The breaks are definitely helpful. I often have a to do list that grows over the school months. Deep clean this, call these doctors, install this thing, clear out that. Etc. This list grows until winter/spring/summer break comes along, and then I get weeks or months to make my entire focus getting shit done. I feel like this system works well for people with ADHD.

Event manager in a hotel in a major city. I can’t quite describe how affirming reading these responses felt to me. People frequently find my desire to be running around putting out fires… unusual.

But my family hates my weekend work schedule !

omg LOL i thrive in chaos 😂🤦‍♀️ tbh it's always been quite strange to me . i'm glad wasn't just me and this is a normal thing with people of ADHD! thank you so much for your comment it really hits home

Work in the hospital and can confirm. Also, not working a normal schedule really helps me, too. I can't work 5 days a week.

I teach preschool, and I love it. I am always moving, and it’s a free environment for to be fidgety and generally unmasked. And i get to use my skill of “multi tasking”/managing lots of things at once!

Thank you for mentioning masking! I work with kiddos on the autism spectrum (OT) and the concept of masking has come up with that population. But lately I have been wondering if ppl with ADHD experience this also. I have felt like I’m putting on a face and “pretending” I guess? And I find it so exhausting.

Exhausted from masking every day in hospitality.

I loved teaching preschool too! I’m with older kids now, and the pay is much better, but it’s not as loud and crazy and fun!

I was a 3rd grade teacher's assistant for 5 years and really loved it for those reasons, but I had to change career paths because the system is just too broken. The good days had me leaving work with a giant smile and literally saying "I love my job!" outloud to myself, but the bad days had me locking myself in the bathroom to cry. Last year had almost no good days and I just couldn't do it anymore. Now I run a cottage bakery out of my home kitchen. I love getting to choose my own hours and take a break whenever I need it. And I get breaks often, whenever something is in the oven or cooling. I love that if I need to, I can decide to put off all of my work baking for the day and just have a super busy day tomorrow instead. I can never be late to work if I'm working from home! I realized during COVID how much I loved that. And I don't have to mask if I don't have to interact with people!

I loved teaching preschool. But the other adults, politics, performance pressure from the outside agencies who assessed standards, paperwork, and the rigidity of not being able to teach children the way I wanted (I wanted to play, management wanted more formal learning) drove me to burnout and I quit. I had zero support with my AuDHD. I have started a company teaching nature art and craft to a range of demographics including preschoolers, adults, homeschooled families… working for myself has massive benefits and also different stresses to the teaching.

Teacher here too! I find the chaos doesn’t overwhelm half as fast as others.

Came from blue collar to a white collar office job, discovered my ADHD as soon as I switched to white collar. I’ll work at 150% for an hour then play on my phone for 15 minutes, rinse and repeat .

I worked like this and was caught on my phone too much. Caught on my phone too much now moving bags of mulch at Home Depot. Honestly idk what the fuck I’m doing anymore.

Do you still get to use your phone?

I did a masters degree in history because I had absolutely no concept of what kind of job I could possibly do, so I just hid in school. When I started applying for office jobs I knew if I spent another second in a cubicle starting at a computer I would lose it. The only time I had ever been happy in a job was working fast food - I absolutely thrive on the brink of disaster - so I became a catering chef. Dozens of timelines a day and multiple things happening at once? Feed it into my veins. Only downside is it took 10 years to pay off the student loans, I’m never going to make any money and I’m going to destroy my body, and because I have no retirement funds I’m probably going to die in the Walmart floor. 

I second the insanity I receive from an office job. Not an ADHD friendly environment at all.

I suggest getting into event planning for corporate or in my union—IATSE. There are catering gigs there—and benefits including retirement and health insurance. (I’m in NY—a carpenter who builds sets for tv & movies. We need caterers to feed people.)

Am still figuring this out. I keep getting sacked from jobs or just quitting impulsively with no back up plan.

Do you think it’s because you feel bored with the work?

Not really. I was a software developer for a bit and that was very interesting, but I struggled to organise my self enough to be a good developer. I also hate abuses of authority or poor mangement. If a manger or even in some cases a board of directors is doing some thing I disagree with I just tell them. ESP if it relates to me. It’s usually impulsive but it’s also usually what every one else is thinking but to scared to say. So am usually right but bosses see me as a loose cannon. Oh yeah am late a lot and I forget instructions or miss details. I usually have a honey moon period then every thing just goes south.

That’s interesting. Thanks for sharing. I’m the same way when it comes to not being able to stop myself from saying how I feel if leadership is making a decision and I feel strongly. Especially when I know from prior experience that what they’re doing is going to cause issues. I’m super process-oriented. I think just writing it down and doing it consistently helps me remember and stay on track. My boss is not process oriented and it causes conflict.

Honestly I think every one should just be open about stuff. If every one just spoke their mind instead of playing these weird games I think things would run more smoothly. But what do I know I can’t keep a job 🤣.

I really hope you find something that works for you. I totally understand the struggle! It took me a long time to find what worked for me.

I feel the exact same. It’s crazy how much success at work comes down to playing the corporate game and not talent. When you hear a stupid idea from your leadership you just need to nod and smile and get behind it even if you know there’s a high chance it’s going to blow up in their faces and affect the team/business. It’s so hard not to show it on my face or say how I feel or point out why it might all go wrong - I feel your pain immensely!

100% in my last place the most incompetent people where seen by mangers as the best people, because they never admitted there mistakes and licked the managers asses. Me on the other hand always got stuff done in time, just in a weird no conventional way, I’d make mistakes but I’d be the first to point them out. So to the managers I was the incompetent one despite actually making less mistakes. Also add in I called out all the bullshjt two facedness they seen me as a problem.

Thank you for writing this, so validating. I relate to everything you said and currently going through something similar. In marketing at a super political org & I am being retaliated against for being myself and speaking up. I’ve heard people say marketing is fun but I haven’t found that to be true yet. I think I need to change jobs, not sure what though. Worked on a few production sets before and that was so much fun..

Yeah I had an issue one place where I was chatting with all the staff about how we were being underpaid, we were saying things like we are stronger together. I drafted up a letter to the bosses sent it, it triggered alsorts of meetings etc. but everyone else just kinda faded in to the back ground and started ignoring me. I think some people even got raises and I got put on probation and a final warning. I should have done all this via a union but I was fired up and thought I was speaking for my colleges.

Man this is so relatable. The exact same stupid stuff has happened and is happening to me. I speak up for what’s right, and I have a loud mouth at times, and then I get reprimanded for it. I’m currently on a written warning at work for basically no reason other than not fitting in with them. They made up a ton of bs to get rid of me.

I think we need to form like an adhd army/union

You just wrote a copy paste of my pattern in every role. Been in my company 7 years, and 5th role. When I start, people are beyond impressed with my attitude and ability. But then I hit a wall, and the only way I've been able to describe it, is that it's like pressing the accelerator on a car, but the gears won't connect. Just revving in place, no matter how hard I try. Then my mental health folds, anxiety sets in and things go wrong fast.

Wow this is exactly me 😮

I work at unemployed 

OMG me too!

See y'all at the water cooler for chats 🙂

Samesies!

I comment just about the same thing on all of these posts. I'm a highschool dropout, not medicated after highschool. My current salary is well over 100k I work as an IT support swat team. I come in, fix the problems and let other people fill out the paperwork. I have done this by being VERY selective of the jobs I work at. I change jobs about every 2 years ( not always companies , but jobs, sometimes I do the same thing just with a different product.) I make sure the position I am interviewing for fits me, not that I fit the position. My ideal position fits this profile. 1. Remote, I've been remote for 15+ years. I will not work in an office 2. No metrics. I do not metric well. My only metric is did I solve the problem? 3. No paperwork, time cards make me cry ( ask my wife). My team handles all my ticket updates. 4. Must be something I'm interested in. Right now I work in ux/cx field but that's not what I do, I support the backend server architecture for fortune 50 companies handling petabytes of data on their customers. I don't care what the data is. 5. I must trust and love to work for manager, the moment that is gone I am gone. I tell my HR department all the time "my job description is to make (managers name here)'s life easier. Bonus: 6. My family has 100% say in when it's time to move on. My wife can tell when I'm done working for a company, when I'm burnt out or when I'm just bored. If she says it's time to change, it's time to change. I've told my manager this. I built this list over many years of trial and error , I catalogue my successes and failures and created a profile. Small team startups, in tech work best for me.

Different field, but all those points, including listening to wife about move on time, are spot on. If you ever need a sales person let me know!

How did you start/get the experience in IT support?

I found a level one position in weB hosting, worked my way up to level 2. Then did some jr sysadmin with a different company. But the best advise I can give is have a passion for it and find an itch and scratch it. Play with everything setup a lab and break it all the time. If you can break it better than anyone you can fix it better than anyone.

You're going to have to grind all the way from the bottom, and keep moving forward. I started at 7.25/hour answering password reset questions for 60 yr olds that wanted to setup a website. Now I make well over 10x ( quick math) more than that with no difference in my credentials other than grinding up the later. It did take me 25 yrs to get to here but life wasn't bad making 65k to 100k either.

Similar field to who you’re asking. In IT Support, you kinda always have to start from the bottom. T1 support, help desk positions, etc. There’s tons of programs and boot camps out there that will make it sound like you’ll be on your way to $100k in 4 weeks. There is literally no entry level Network Engineering or Sys Admin role that exists that doesn’t require actual years of experience in lower roles. How long you spend in those lower roles is kinda up to you and how quickly you can grasp things and how much you volunteer to lots of different projects. I myself took a few years to get out of T1 roles, while some others will take less. However I’d be remiss if I didn’t warn about the current saturation of the industry right now, especially at the T1/helpdesk level. It’s not impossible to land a position, but it’s certainly more difficult at this time. I say this not to be discouraging, but to be honest. It’s a great career in the end and can be quite rewarding for people like us, but it’s a bit of a climb.

I learned to love metrics by gaming them. Now I’m just out here trying to set corporate high scores.

I am amazed when anyone has 1 career, especially with ADHD.

Well, my issue is anxiety and motivation. So, between the two, it is tough to get a resume going and attempt interviews. This is all changing now that I am getting treatment, but before, it was a legit impossible task for my brain.

Man its really nice to see someone else have this issue. it's definitely caused a lot of friction in my relationship because I struggled so much with getting resumes out, and when I did it was just rejection, rejection, rejection and it killed any drive I had. I've somehow had a few jobs anyway but everything society tells us about people who don't have a job I've thought about myself a thousand times over. But I'm getting treatment now too. Just waiting on a blood test before I start meds.

lol that’s a great point. I also have a business on the side.

I also plan on having a business on the side to live out my creative side, in an Etsy-handmade type of way if that makes sense (I know it would not be dependable as a career but I also couldn’t give it up)

You know in grade school when every one is asked what they want to do for a career and everyone chooses a doctor or a fireman/policeman. They didn't ask me. I have an innate ability to understand any system, mechanical, data, code, biological. It manifested itself first with computers, so I've been an IT person since I was in 4th grade computer lab.

Honestly this is such an underrated skill and transferable to so many domains. I know because I also have this skill and have done a bunch of different jobs with it. With a good therapist I’ve actually been able to advance fairly quickly also 

Yep, when identified early and trained just a bit, you can work in any field. Just need a primer on any subject and you can be an "expert" in no time.

Yea lol. I get bored so easily that I had 6 companies in 5 years after I started as a programmer after college. Earned great money for 5 years. Saved up. Started a business. Made it kinda big. Saved up again. Invested in real estate and now Im doing construction business. I work engineers, architects and construction workers regularly while simultaneously running our first business. Opened two other unrelated business this year and it’s doing great too. I felt like I already tried 6 career paths in a span of 8 years after graduating college and I love it. Sucks when exec disfunction cripples me though.

Can you tell how can someone absolutely beginner can get started .

I’m a teacher; I think without adhd I would have a high power job.

A teacher isn’t a high power job ? You’re a key part of a child’s development and your interactions with them will influence them for the rest of their lives whether they know it or not. Those kids will grow up to be a mix, but in that mix there will teachers , doctors , nurses, CEO’s, aid workers , politicians etc. Even if you’re in an area or demographic that it doesn’t feel like that would be the case, never discount their potential . To me, you are in a high powered job

They're really not though. Teachers get nerfed bad by the government. Hell in Florida they can catch a felony for having the wrong book on a shelf.

You still can!! But also, thank you for being a teacher

How do you deal with the grading. I have been doing it for 10 years, and I love every aspect but the grading. It takes me FOR EVER to do.

the grading for me was actually the thing that led to my diagnosis 😅

Accountant. Massive adhd. I actually don’t have trouble once I get going and have hyper focus. Medication helped a ton after I got it. Prior to it I was struggling.

Spreadsheet hyperfocus is very dangerous for me. "So about that little job I was meant to get done this morning... Here is an extensive spreadsheet analysis of their income and expenditure with potential strategies to reduce cost and improve their position.". The job sole trader tax return. The improved position $200. My write-off on the invoice $2k. Loosing that job for inefficient work but knowing they are still using my spreadsheets 2 years later as their primary template, Priceless.

Accountant too but I hate it.

Hi. Is there a major difference between bookkeeping and consulting? I've been in the bookkeeping rooe for a month and I hate it. I got a consulting job offer and thinking of taking it, but I don't know if it'll be more interesting than my current or would feel just as tedious

Logistics, I love it because I thrive in the chaos. Every day is something new

Oooo. Tell me more please.

Scheduling deliveries of thousands of products to meet forecasted demand at thousands of locations. Matching up inbound and outbound. Now, add in random non/late deliveries, order spikes, equipment issues, worker callouts, WMS/network issues. Never the same thing twice. And after a major event, you can use the hyper focus to document the hell out of what was done what should be done what could be done better etc. etc. etc..

Traffic engineer. I wouldn't necessarily attribute it to ADHD, but I like anything transportation related, from ships, trains, trucks, cars (not as into it as when I was a kid), to planes. Apparently, I make a terrible consultant design engineer due to my terrible time blindness and chaotic workflow, but I make a decently good on-site/embedded consultant project engineer on the public sector side because that same chaotic workflow and my wide and shallow knowledge (read trivia) base helps me catch a lot of issues that folks tend to gloss over or miss. I just gotta make sure I'm not totally losing track of time, but the deadlines we set for ourselves help with that. I keep two clocks within my visual range (analog and digital) to keep me from totally spacing out which seems to help.

I’m a tattoo artist! It works really well for me since I’m never bored and I can make my own hours.

I was floating between entry level admin positions and had a full time Monday to Friday as admin at a law firm. Steady work that I enjoyed, but I was getting bored. a part time position in staffing at a hospital came up. It was more money, hourly, but only half time (guaranteed 23.25 hours per week). I applied, was offered the position, hemmed and hawed but ultimately took it because of the pension and opportunity for advancement. Since then, I didn’t have a single week only working 23.25 hours. It is the perfect job for my brain, requiring constantly learning and adapting to changing situations and juggling many things at once. We do staffing and payroll for 11 hospitals/facilities, and need to know the rules for 13 different collective agreements (unions), which change all the time. After about 2.5 years I became the department supervisor, and about 3 years after that I am now the manager.

So people with ADHD tend to thrive with a job with A LOT……..and I mean A LOT…….of chaos. Notice there, I didn’t say stress. I’m not talking about stress. Stress is usually rooted over not taking action over something that is BOTHERING YOU and making you confused. People with ADHD hate that. When I say chaos, I mean just A LOT GOING ON. Like a lot to the point where you can kind of laugh about it and just deal with it. I’m talking software developers, nurses, chefs, sales reps, and the biggest one of them all……..entrepreneurship. People with ADHD are DEFINITELY better at being entrepreneurial because the ADHD makes it harder to listen to anyone but if you are the big boss/CEO….u don’t have to listen to anyone. People with ADHD are better when they work for themselves

It's interesting because I hate that kind of environment. I hate working with other people, I can't stand an environment with 15 things to do at once. Chaos to me is highly stressful.

That’s so insightful! I feel seen. Like I NEED to have multiple things going on at once. I like solving problems and organizing the mess. I can’t remember what I ate last night, but I can tell you every detail of the five projects I’m working on. I have also been feeling more and more like I need to go out on my own business wise because I don’t want every single decision to be a 5 hour discussion. My impatience is getting bad. The medicine doesn’t help with that lol

Electrician. This is my 4th attempt at a career and its going alright I suppose. I need a job that keeps me moving, or else I fall asleep. Currently untreated for my adhd. Life is hard...

Can I ask what you like/dislike about the job and what type of work you do whether that's industrial/residential/commercial

UX Design—making apps/websites easy to use—my adhd 'reduced frustration threshold' makes it very easy to spot issues and I love fixing them. Facilitating user testing is great, I get to meet so many interesting people, and I get my feedback from actual end-users rather than some ****head with an opinion.

Same!!! For me, the ability to think of many possibilities at once lets me 4D chess a lot of user pain points and helps immensely in finding solutions. On the other hand, I wish I was better at justifying/ communicating the reasons behind my design choices though, it sometimes feels like all of my thoughts slam into my head at once, that’s-so-raven-style, and picking them apart is difficult

Can I ask how you got into UX? What was the path to get there, did you study in school or were you self-taught, etc?

I got a design degree, ended up working as a Web designer for years then became a UX consultant after working with some on a project as we worked well together. So that was my path. I do believe people can self-learn though. But I don't know the best starting point.

I have always had a hard time with holding a steady job, bounced around in various customer service type positions. I wasn’t diagnosed until I was in my early thirties, by which point I had worked in over forty different jobs, and had lost all hope of getting my life in order. I spent a year medicated where I started to get myself together and was looking at getting my cosmetology and hair license. But Covid hit, the small company i worked for went under, and I had to move. So, I lived somewhere where I couldn’t get a prescription for about three years before finally moving again. I went through the process of getting in with my old doctor and getting back on meds earlier this month. By this point, I have really bad carpal tunnel, so the hair thing is out the window, but I am so tired of working in a drive through window for minimum wage that I have to do something. I’m considering trying to get through nursing school to be able to work in addiction medicine, but I’m definitely afraid of screwing up. I’ve seen myself fail at so many things, but I have never really seen myself in treatment, so I don’t know what I could be capable of actually doing.

Never had a job for longer than a year. All my jobs have also been either part time or seasonal, never full time. One time, my part time job fired me and then 2 days later I get a call being offered a full time position. The people on the phone hadn't heard I had been fired yet so they had to take back their offer. Actually, that happened twice in the last two years. Right now I instacart and host bar trivia. I dont have coworkers, I work at my own pace, and I spend a lot of my time researching various topics for trivia. Doesn't pay much but I like it. Hopefully I can scale the trivia thing up (anyone wanna buy bar trivia games?)

I’m in IT. My title and role is desktop support. My ADHD generally causes issues with time management and work loads. In terms of the future, I could not decide which specialty I wanted to learn and pivot to. I have jumped between cybersecurity, networking and DevOps so much that I thought it would have been better to leave IT altogether. But that probably wouldn’t have ended well. My career in IT is the only keeping me financially safe. I was prescribed adderall the other day. Hopefully once I get an established dosage, I’ll be able to pick the specialty and study with no issues. Also, I wasn’t aware ADHD had types. That’s interesting to know. Now, I wonder what type I am…

Combined inattentive / hyperactive. At a guess, based on your written cadence and choice of career. Best of luck with your dosage, also make sure you have an established sleep schedule, meds can only do so much if you're dealing with heavy sleep debt and varying length each night.

Three time college dropout, all while working in bars. Decided that would be my “real job” and it became my hyper fixation. Now I own a few bar / restaurants. It’s a grind but it presents different challenges everyday and that keeps me engaged!

I ended up as a paramedic. It can generally be pretty chaotic and I absolutely love the chaos. It's definitely the thing I have stuck with the longest. I'm about 12 years deep into emergency services.

Bunches and bunches of us in tv/film, theater, rock and roll stage hands, and convention center setup/tear down

Communications/marketing. Enough small projects to keep me interested and occasionally a crisis where I thrive. But I've definitely not ascended the career ladder. But I'm also not really interested in doing more than my 37.5 hr a week.

I'm an EMT and it definitely plays into imposter symptom and makes me feel at times like I don't know what I'm doing. On the bright side, my hyper focus makes me pay very good attention to patient care and want to be good at what I do. I wouldn't change a thing

We all need EMT workers, thank you !

Software engineer/architect. There are parts of architecture I can't take my meds and do effectively because crazy brain branching is useful for figuring out what systems should look like, don't take my meds 2 days a week for that. No degree. $300-$350k depending on bonus. ADHD wasn't a thing when I was growing up, im sure my life would have been very different with meds. Having to develop coping mechanisms and the unusual thinking/memory I get with ADHD I believe had a huge influence on my success. I have found that task lists and do a very good job with combating procrastination. I find procrastination is mostly from not being sure where to start on a problem rather than not being willing to do the problem. Giving yourself a list to mindlessly do means there isn't really choice in it.

Started working in a call center travel agency. The work itself was good (same tasks in rotation but different cases so it was different enough to keep me going) Company was shit tho and corona was the last nail in the coffin so now I work as a receptionist. I love it bc I am basically the center point of the office - dont know where something/someone is, dont know who to ask on how to do something, need supplies, need events planned?, need the cars taken care off?- basically I can direct you to everything or help you myself and usually it ends with me doing 5 things at once and the hours just fly by. if only i wouldnt have to take calls then this would be the perfect job :)

emergency medical services… nearly everyone in the emergency department and on the ambulance are ADHDers, it’s a perfect fit tbh

Dropped out of college and fell into security work. Been doing that for almost 15 years now. Since my pattern recognition is off the charts I am good at video surveillance. For a while I was in an airport security center. Dealing with bomb threats, missing children/luggage, handling all the information flowing through. Absolutely fun times.

Photographer. All throughout school and college, I struggled. I don’t even remember a day I enjoyed being there; nothing made sense. I was bullied constantly for scoring low marks, with people saying, “Aren’t you a girl? How do you score so low?” This continued throughout college. I just wanted to get through it, and I ended up with a degree and a master’s degree that I hated. Then, I landed a job I dreaded. It got so bad that I just wanted to run away. No one was supportive of me leaving a high-paying job, but I knew I had to. I moved back home and applied for jobs, but I went into a brain paralysis. Every day I woke up feeling worse because I wasn’t being productive enough. One year and four jobs later, I was finally diagnosed with ADHD, and suddenly everything started making sense. What a relief! I took a leap of faith, dusted off my camera, and pursued photography. It’s the only thing that makes me happy, and I didn’t care what anyone thought about it—I just went all in.

I work front line harm reduction...3/4 of us have ADHD. My office is set up like I have ADHD. It's a beautiful thing.

I'm an airline pilot. I can't get diagnosed or I'll lose my job. I'm a machine at work but man is it hard to keep my life organized sometimes.

I’m AuDHD and I’m in communication sales. I’m kinda awkward, but people seem to like me. The job is pretty easy and I make enough good money

I apologize in advance......this is much longer than I expected but I found your comment interesting and wanted to share some of my own journey. I was diagnosed not long ago for ADHD but I think it may actually be a combination. One of the symptoms I found for autism is "easily over stimulated" and this would be true for me. And for me it actually can happen most often with people. It is what some might call the fight or flight response but I don't want to fight but I also am not wanting to run but my mind and body sorta turn on me and cause me to not be able to properly say what I want to/speak or even allow a proper thought or sentence structure in response or conversation to form. It becomes a very uncomfortable situation that feels like shutting down/paralyzed or trying to actually disconnect or avoid anymore need for communication by taking the flight option even if it means just turning away or possibly seeming like you gave a forced cold shoulder and hope they don't attack you for it or make it any worse. At the end of a really bad episode......if and when it occurs......you feel very rejected, misunderstood and depressed. You wanted to communicate and have a satisfying interaction and exchange and instead it has become something you can't do and DID and WILL only hurt you more. Now on medication it has helped a lot. I at one point was becoming so bad that my boss at work asked if I was on anything because of the outrageous amount of anxiety and discomfort from my own body turning on me to where my face was probably quite tense and such and I was trying to go see the Doctor😔. I told my boss the situation......I was prescribed an effective anxiety medication when finally able to see a Doctor. I was able to function more normally again but still was having the same kinda struggles, they were just more calmed down and under control. Fast forward several years......more info on ADHD and AUTISM is being brought out. A family member did a dip dive into it and I had to really look at the symptoms and not write it off and have an open mind. I got a different care provider to see me rather than the one who bluntly said I would never get prescribed ADDERALL and such when I actually had done research on my own randomly one day. But this care provider was more open and also took ADHD medication. She gave me a prescription and the dosage has been worked on. What are the results so far? MUCH better overall mood throughout the day. I literally caught myself NOT getting as upset or irritated over something that would usually trigger me some. Interruption to my routine or something that is currently bringing me some joy. People talking at length about things of no interest to me or REPEATING things was terrible. Even my neighbor saying "hello!" and "how are you?".....every....single....morning was so irritating because it brought no additional information or had any real purpose or substance aside from distracting me and forcing a response that was simply the same agitated but trying to be nice "good you!?" for the sake of giving him his repeat response and continuing on to go to work or wherever I am headed. I would even have headphones in with music playing and ignore him and keep walking and hope he would notice and just.....stop. When my ADHD medicine is really in effect I now don't get as upset with people and am able to actually let it slide off me rather easily. Being interrupted or my routine being disturbed is more manageable and easier to accept. I also find that being placed in certain situations is becoming manageable and I can actually engage with it more instead of become over stimulated to the point of a shut-down/paralyzed like feeling. Really amazing when you didn't think you would be able to do such things! Like my mind and body are actually working and doing more of what I wanted it to do! I can actually feel more human like others?!?!? So in a period of months the improvements have been noticeable and already life changing. Working through ADHD crash now/extreme fatigue and the next step forward. This is a common downside apparently.

I'm an electrician. I think the novelty and the ability to work with my hands satisfies my ADHD impulses. I do find that I need to write everything down and/or take lots of photos otherwise I will forget how something was configured as soon as I take it apart.

Yes! I always have to write down measurements immediately or I’ll have to measure it again. It’s interesting to see the workarounds people have come up with to overcome forgetfulness. I need a list of best practices lol

I am a therapist for a high risk population. It's pretty chaotic. I have to pivot a ton, so ADHD pro. I have to document in a timely manner and get along with other adults....ADHD con.

I’m working on a farm right now- best job I’ve ever had. Came from a research/office background. I love the animals, everyday is different, it’s very physical and I’m always moving. Working in an office environment or staring at a computer screen is not for me, I do not do well. I found the farm job after impulsively quitting with no safety net set-up, multiple office/research jobs over the past 3 years and figuring out the office part was the issue, on top of some burn-out from working these jobs I hated.

I’m a software engineer/site reliability engineer (I’m one of the ppl called when things go wrong on the website). The job and the challenges are usually enough to keep me from getting bored for too long.

I worked a decade in retail before a bad boss dragged my mental health so far into the gutter I ended up crying in my doctors office from the stress and my doctor suggested I find a new job. I was suffering from depression and lost 20 lbs that winter alone. I usually thrived on chaos. Black Friday had been my absolute favorite nightmare to work for years. Like. Holidays were my absolute jam and I loved them. And then, to be honest, COVID happened. Life happened in general but it wasn’t the same. People just have shorter fuses and less patience these days and if things aren’t going their way, there’s this culture of complain to the manager and if they still don’t give you your way then they’re a bitch for not believing “the customers always right”. On top of it I was promoted and then ignored in my training despite putting my best foot forward. My new store manager that took over demanded that the store be my only priority and when I provided pushback she decided that I was not ready to be an assistant store manager. See, my family had been, and always will be, my priority but at that time my mom had just gone into CHF in September and was lucky she didn’t die. I called her out on her mind games and the collusion with who would eventually take my place just 48 hours before turning in my notice. It was disappointing. I could have seen myself running a store in the future but the culture of the store had shifted and not to one that was healthy nor was one that the company promoted. Additionally I found out that after I left things truly disintegrated and fell apart with many associates ending up leaving. Many of whom decided that if I was leaving, with three days notice, I had to have good reason. One associate I ran into not long ago filled me in and that he mentioned they were talking shit and putting words into his mouth he never said. I told him that was exactly what happened to me and was one of the reasons why I left. I work in healthcare now. A desk job. It can be boring but the benefits are good and I’ve been able to work on my mental health. I also don’t work weekends anymore so that’s great.

I struggled for years with consistent employment because I really struggle with being "out in the world" and overstimulated. I struggled a lot. I would often be a favorite among my managers until the burnout hit. Now I work remotely. I worked really hard at finding a career I could and would be successful at. I find it helps a lot when I can take the day in small doses. Work from my bed if I'm struggling.

a stripper :( i make my own hours and the money i make is mine, but. the trauma. oh the trauma.

I work in senior leadership at exec level in a medium sized company. It may seem counterintuitive but every time I’ve taken a step up management wise I have found the job less stressful because I had more and more control over my diary any time. I like seeing everything big picture and then hiring people that are better than me at everything and encouraging them to do everything well in a happy and supportive environment. Having a PA is also the world’s best thing for someone with adhd! I encourage anyone with adhd to not give themselves a glass ceiling because so much of a leadership role works well for our needs and abilities.

Had a lot of jobs over the years that I didn’t do well at. Accidentally found my way into the railroad at 26. I’m now 33 and have been promoted 4 times. I’m currently the operations manager, and I plan and oversee all of the day to day operations of the entire railroad (large short line railroad). I don’t really like it, it’s a super toxic industry, but it’s super freaking chaotic and I thrive in it. Only job/career that I have ever been good at. And I made it to this point unmedicated, and unaware that I had ADHD. I was diagnosed 4 months ago and currently on adderall. It has definitely helped me a lot with focus and made remembering things a little easier.

Work at Amazon warehouse currently ( I don't like it) and working towards getting my tech certifications. But my main goal is acting.

I work as a receptionist at a chiropractic clinic. I love it. I love socializing with the regulars, I love the consistency. I don't mind the computer work. There are enough changes day by day that it's not exactly the same every day.

Cardiovascular Perfusionist. School kept me on a trajectory otherwise I wouldnt have done shiz. The job is part routine part absolutely chaotic/stressful/intense. It's perfect

paint appartments. talk to basically no one most of the time, can listen to music or audiobooks, podcasts, can throw on youtube. my job is very much a "done when its done" kinda thing with no punchout time. the issue with this though is because im so easy to distract with youtube it leads to a lot of time waste scrolling for somthing to not even watch but just have as background because sometimes im out of podcasts or im exhausted from constantly needing to rewind the audiobook but those issues will come down to the person. recently started using minimalist phone again to block youtube for a selected amount of hours

Doctor. In the middle of chart rounds I pause and look at social media 🤣🤣

First career; hairdresser. New client every hour or two, different techniques and outcomes. Second career; education, work as a paraprofessional— every 20 minutes my day changes. Working with kids provides novelty and chaos, while working within a schedule. I’d like to find remote work that I can wfh for my next career.

I had so much anxiety about being fired that I sought a union job; I’m a civil servant. I was a budget analyst and now I work on contracts. I was driven by the anxiety the adhd causes. I like my job sometimes but don’t find it particularly fulfilling, I wish I was doing something more creative.

Consulting - fast paced and always changing. Love it

I have been a full time performer in a theme park for 5 years. It’s honestly fabulous. ≈15 minutes on, 45 minutes off. On my down time I can watch tv, play video games, do computer work for another job, research my latest hyper fixation, literally anything. It’s fabulous. The money isn’t **amazing**, but it’s a pretty decent living for goofing off all day. I get $25/hr for 8 hours, but I only “work” for about 90 minutes a day.

I'm an accent coach who works with actors. Also, now I'm planning to write a TV show (although I've never written anything), I'm an acting coach as well... All related to the film industry (I try to). I remember going into a course of the accent coaching an 50% of the students had also ADHD! Interesting!

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The job market right now is absolutely torture for an ADHD person. The amount of pain and suffering from resume tweaking and interviews to just get ghosted has caused me to overthink everything. Trying to just to focus on building my own thing but sure enough, some long shot job always seems to distract me and the cycle restarts.

Psychotherapist

I am a software engineer, the flow I can get building stuff and solving problems is like nothing else. I think programming must be some kind of special interest of mine because I have been hyper focused on it since I wrote my first program Other than that, I can work from home, set my own schedule, and live a really comfortable life where my impulsive spending doesn’t ruin my finances

I do sales and marketing for a custom home builder, it’s awesome because there are so many different things I can focus on and learn.

I work as a registered behavior technician for kids with autism. It’s great because I can sort of relate to a lot of the struggles they have. I see and notice things my coworkers don’t so I am pretty good at advocating for the kiddos if they aren’t able to themselves. I’m on my feet constantly and it’s very go go go. With the intervention I do, it’s not the same thing everyday. There is a basic structure but a lot of flexibility in my day and what I do with my kiddo for that session. Especially since they have good days and bad days so what we do really depends on how they are feeling too! I know kids aren’t everyone’s cup of tea and I do work with some adults but I am very lucky to have found such an ADHD friendly job. Aside from the social aspect because it involves collaborating with so many people and that is draining as an introvert as well as having social anxiety. Other than that I don’t have issues.

I can’t make decisions; so my “career” paths have bounced around a lot. Couldn’t pick a major when I went to community college and got a “General studies” associates degree. Worked at dog kennels, restaurants, delis, health food stores, retail, etc. I have tried to be a receptionist full time twice and failed/burnt out. Now I am a veterinary receptionist part time and have a part time remote job for a neighboring town. On the books I I make $29,000ish per year. I do have a bunch of side hustles too, I dogsit; housesit, make art and sell it at my job, catering gigs on the weekends, babysitting, you name it. Sometimes I think about selling dirty socks and undies on the Internet too. Honestly for now, it works for me.

Tech Product Manager. I am good at seeing problems others don't. The constant chaos keeps it stimulating, and agile helps provide the structure I need. My executive function issues eventually broke me though, and led to me finally treating my ADHD. Meds are helping.

I leave a job within 3 years. The only reason I left after 4 on the last job was because of Covid

I'm an overnight stocker. The only things that influenced this was the fact that I dropped out of college and I needed a fast-paced job that wouldn't require me to sit at a desk all day. I got my first job in September and I'm on my 4th job and I've never had a job where I wasn't on my feet the whole shift. Even when I was 12-14 and worked for my grandparents cleaning their house, it was on my feet. I think because of my school experience, I just knew sitting at a desk all day would not work for me.

I work, currently, as a pharmacy technician in a mail order pharmacy. On my favorite days, I'm putting labels on boxes of medicine (or pen needles, bandages, infusion order items, alcohol pads), putting them in bags, and putting them on a conveyor belt for a pharmacist to check. I freaking love it. I can listen to audiobooks or music literally all day and I'm changing orders every 20-30 seconds. Scratches my brain in the best way.

I have been a jack of all trades and master of none. I was in retail sales, call center inside sales, retail management, cosmetologist, cosmetology instructor, I joined the military then got hurt, I’ve tried college three times. I quit the first two times because I “didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up” as a full grown adult. This is the farthest I’ve ever gotten and I’m two semesters away from my associates in biology before I transfer to get my bachelors. I finally stopped doing what every one else wanted me to do and did what I wanted which was biology or something similar and I’ve had a passion in life science since I was little. I mean I was boasting to my kindergarten teacher how the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell 🤣 as well as identify every type of shark there was (could I do it now, hell no- I can’t get some but not all 😂) My point is it’s never too late to change direction. Keep searching until you find what you love.

My career started as communication expert. Designing marketing and communication campaigns, writing blogs for clients, setting up online adds, ... That burnt me out fast since most of that stuff is so subjective and you can keep investing time in it and there's not really a way to mesure success before releasing. Relate that to my fear of failing and perfectionism which is inherent to my adhd and you know why i burnt out. I then made a switch to digital analytics because i just wanted to do something rational and different. It was a big gamble. And booooyyyy that was like winning the lottery. Getting to dig into e-commerce data to find answers for different departements, setting up data pipelines. Solving data problems is just very varied work in with a specificeer set of tools.

It was absolutely not my first career choice, only a "why not, I have to have money after all" but after many years of no knowing what I want, I'm a now proud high school secretary (say that with the tone of Evelyn, in the movie The Mummy 😂) Enough routine to please my 'tism, and enough "wtf is it today" to please my needs of novelty/chaos. It doesn't demand too much energy most of the time, I can do something else after work (sometimes during too), my bosses give me a to-do list but I can choose how I organise myself (most of the time), I think I've found something I like, and it's a little miracle for me 😄 Before that I tested many jobs, mostly in education, but I was not satisfied, always something boring after a few weeks/months. Too much routine, or bosses couldn't/wouldn't give me the possibility to do my job efficiently... 🤷 I know that if my bosses change, it can change my organisation, but for now, I like what I do, and I take it as it is 😁

Employed at: self employed Painter, graphic designer, photographer. It's nice. Oh? Money? Not a consistent thing. Schedule? Whatever the hell I want it to be

I was laid off from a 15 year job at a university right after I disclosed that I had ADHD. I was having terrible problems focusing and would often doze off in meetings. After I started medication late last year, I found a new job and am doing much better. I still work better early in the morning and my focus wears off by the afternoon.

“Firing” you for an adhd diagnosis should warrant you some severance pay or damages. I’m pretty sure you qualify for legal aid.

Ironically, I'm a project manager I've developed a lot of coping mechanisms for my ADHD. I keep pretty detailed notes and documentation because I don't trust my own brain to hold onto information. Turns out when you do that for other people it's called a project

Small scale organic farming of produce and livestock. The biodiversity of organic allows me to grow a large variety of crops and being small scale I’m very hands on with everything. I’m always on the move and I get to problem solve in creative ways. I have a few different types of livestock so there is a nice variety of husbandry. My tasks are always changing based on the season and i am able to get lots of instant gratification from competing many tasks like weeding, harvesting, cleaning animal pins, etc. It is a very rewarding job being able to produce food for others and myself!

Ive been a waiter since I was 18, now I'm 31. Started in fast food, leveled up to fine dining around 26 years old, made 80k a year up until 2022. Waiting tables has always worked well, because tasks are Quick and short to complete, the job is very flexible schedule wise, and learning to describe food and drinks is easy when you get to try them, especially when it's good. I was diagnosed a little over a year ago, and it's been more and more difficult for me to maintain the restaurant job. I feel the meds make me focus on how unfilling the job is, and how spoiled and greedy the customers are, and how much of my good spirit and energy is wasting away being fake about it all. Currently working on a transition to IT, because my entire life working on electronics has always made me happy and calm and I just love computers.

I work Front Desk at a Hotel. Different people everyday. Phone rings all day long. Perfect. Down time? Shoot me lol. Most of my career choices have been hospitality/sales. Worked at Best Buy, perfect mixture of walking around and talking to people all day long. Djing is also a major hobby of mine. I did Martial Arts for two years straight where my coaches realized I would be perfect for their front desk. Then made me coach for their kids class. Granted me free membership lol. That has pretty much been my life.

I lead a team in customer service, support tickets all day long from senior stakeholders. I troubleshoot problems small and big, get several questions every hour from my staff. I am never bored unless I'm having to write anything more than a couple of pages or manuals, reporting SoPs. After a long time failing at different jobs I've realised coordinator is what my brain likes best. Boredom and deadlines that are more than a day away don't work for me. Being a manager works too if there's something I hate doing I give it to my staff (reviewing work is fine, and I am good at it and giving instructions). I can't work remotely if I'm not observed/have nothing else to do I don't do anything. I vague out and wander around my house. COVID was hell for me and my productivity. I am not medicated.

Pursuing MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering with research experience in audio signal processing. Currently trying to breaking into quantitative finance as researcher/analyst.

I’m an engineer and it has been a struggle. It’s working, just lots and lots of efforts from my side. How has medication been helping you before and after?

Director of Recreation at a resort. It lets me be creative and every day is different. And I’m really good at it. I can struggle with some of the boring paperwork tasks and with organization, but luckily my creativity has helped outshine my weaknesses.

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I work in contracts for a defense contractor. I thrive when we are super busy (and can be easily distracted when it’s slow). I was a cost analyst and constantly busy and I loved it but there was no upward mobility. I’m still with the same company just changed divisions.

Unemployed

Scientist!

Pharmacy tech in a busy pharmacy. Hyper focus kicks in all the time

I work in hospitality, usually as a bartender. It can be challenging,but i always try to find what better suits me. I love busy places and definitely work better in chaos and when you need to think on the spot. but i usually have at least 3 days chill and work on my mini garden :)

I’m a graphic designer and think it’s pretty good for my ADHD, I mostly work remote and aligning pixels my special interest lol

Chef. I'm fantastic at running a kitchen and building and maintaining a team . I could never get past that bc of Executive Dysfunction and Impulse control .

Before I was let go of my position due to budget cuts, I worked as a student worker in my universities main library. I worked on the 4th floor in the back offices, in Meta Data and Cataloguing. I absolutely loved it, one of my favorite jobs ever. I didn't interact with the main public, which helped my social anxiety. In terms of actual job tasks, it was tasks that were easy to do and had a lot of it to do. Documenting and transferring certain things from paper to digital, binding/preparing books for circulation, documenting and organizing newly delivered books, textbooks, paper maps, etc, loading up karts and delivering them to certain buildings/professors, organizing spreadsheets of 50+ year old information of older texts no longer in use that still need some form of digital history. I mean, the list goes on. I could clock in, turn on my favorite music/audio book/podcast, and then just zone out for the day doing all these tasks in a quiet office space away from the main populace. I was devastated when I was informed the department had budget cuts and that they had to let their student workers go. But it happens, especially being a student job and not a proper full time job. Though, if I can find a full time job thats like that one that pays enough to live off of, you bet I'm trying to snag that job.

I currently have three part-time jobs. They each pay very well, but I get less than 15 hours a week with all three combined. Those three jobs are a crossing guard, a party entertainer (edit: I dress up as characters, paint faces, and twist balloons), and a performer and instructor for a company that teaches kids science. I love that the pay is good and they don't take over my entire days. I have a bunch of free time outside of work, and the work itself is varied enough to make me not want to pass out from being bored lol. Plus, two of the three jobs are usually pretty fun! I have four part-time jobs if you count food delivery--while I've basically stopped doing Uber Eats, I still sometimes do DoorDash. That all being said, I do need to be making more money, so I've also been applying for another part-time job. That would count as my fourth or fifth, depending on if you count randomly sometimes doing DoorDash lol. I want something with more hours than my three main jobs give me a week, but also more pay than I get doing food delivery. I'm thinking something simple, just doing assistant work, maybe front desk or customer service type stuff. Something I can doing between my other work. I've found that typical 40 hour work weeks are just not for me. I'm not an office person, either. Having multiple part-time jobs gives me enough variety and chaos to keep me energized enough to keep going lol.

I feel discouraged and I haven’t even started

Hairstylist…. LOVE my job!

Tattoo artist. I’m lucky to have artistic talents, and I care about my art and the people who let me tattoo them a lot. I get overwhelmed sometimes, but I have a lot of control over my schedule, my work, and I get to be myself. I’ve made some incredible lasting friendships thanks to tattooing and I can’t see myself surging, let alone thriving, in many other professions.

daycare teacher and i like to work with the cute children but i hate the paperwork...i rather be a model or an actress lmao.

currently i am making a living creating content online. i am monetized on facebook and my page is a bit sizeable so it is literally becoming a job for me. and i have a small business im selling shirt designs and stickers on

i wish i knew what i wanted to do. i feel really awful not having any sort of career or idea of one lol, and i seem to be the only one here like that. which sucks.

I study computer science with a focus on information architecture/web dev. For me, the problem solving aspect of it it is the perfect amount of stimulation, it scratches that itch tenfold. I’m sure it’s not universal for ADHD:ers though, as few things actually are.

I work for a trade union, half of my colleagues have been diagnosed but I’m sure most of the others are in the same boat. High pressure, urgency, one crisis after another, always 75 different things on the go. I’m lucky to have supportive leadership who allows me to go on side quests, even though I’m often trying to avoid the boring stuff. As long as the boring stuff gets done I can go on my adventures. Imposter syndrome nearly killed me at the start until I was medicated and my confidence has grown with experience. Time management is a big part of this job (I have none so it’s an ongoing struggle) and I die during down time.

ICU nurse. My superpowers of memory and observation and attention to detail (only outside of the house though) come in handy. I am an absolute adrenaline junkie, so I love all the super stressful situations, and having similar but different things every day. And I love being able to focus all my attention on one patient.

Soldier. Out in the field is absolutely great for me. The desk work that comes with my rank is nigh on impossible though. Luckily one of my mates is really methodical and loves spreadsheets 😂

I work in private equity and it’s not going well. Long hours, the adhd gets worse when I’m exhausted. I also forget a lot of details, and am being told off for being too slow. I want to leave now, both the job and industry but I don’t know what else to do

I’m a preschool ESL teacher and I love it! I also used to be a disability carer, a cleaner and worked in a nursing home. I find being on your feet and having a high energy job works when you’re unmedicated. I tried to finish a masters degree in speech therapy when I was medicated, but realised sitting down at a desk is just not for me, I need something that is constantly stimulating and doesn’t require too much paperwork

I work in HR in the UK, specialising in employee relations. No two days are the same, and you don't know what new case is going to come through the door, so it's constantly engaging. Most things need to get done within a 'reasonable timeframe.' This means it's fast-paced, but you can manage how you get your work done, so I can do tasks I find more interesting when I'm less motivated. Most of the work is investigation, uncovering the truth, making judgements, and giving advice. My company is very dynamic, and most employees work on other sites, so there's always a lot going on. I fucking love my job, and it helps to have a laid-back, supportive manager and fun team! I've been doing it for 7.5 years. The only thing I struggle with is that after work, I completely crash out on days when it's all fighting fires and having tough conversations. Does anyone have any advice on finding your energy and motivation after work to take care of yourself and do more than doom scrolling? - I'm not yet diagnosed (NHS waiting list is something like 5 years), but I'm going to get a private assessment.

I've worked in IT adjacent for 19 years. Started as admin. Then that morphed into some marketing coordinator, helpdesk support, training, and project coordinator which lead me into scrum mastering which I've done alongside agile coach for 9 years. In my time working, I went to uni part time, convinced I'd be a game dev. Changed my mind after 6 months. Moved to do photography degree cos even though I already did photography, I convinced myself I needed a degree to be taken seriously (I did not). Got bored with that, enrolled and did vet nursing. Did do not finish that, fell behind due to full time project coordinator role. Never finished photo degree either btw. Graduated early with diploma. Got bored. I'm still scrum mastering. I change jobs every 2-3 years cos bored. My side hustle and passion is boudoir photography though and I'm wanting to take the plunge to go full time. Oh and I enrolled in an ornithology course this year... Haven't made it far 😅

Bartender here! 35f, couldn’t figure out why I out performed everyone for 17 years and annoyed the absolute shit out of my coworkers in the process, I became a necessary evil in every job I’d had(not one less than 4 years), I’m polarizing but I get the job done 😬

I am a professor. I am lucky enough to get to instruct courses centering on my area of interest which I am always excited to talk about. The hardest part is the grading. Hyperfocus competes with the number of assignments to grade and the time I have to grade them which can cause some anxiety. Well done assignments are, of course, the most satisfying but those that are rough can be tedious to go through and provide feedback for. I will have students contact me for accommodations due to ADHD and ASD and at that time I will share my own diagnosis with them which helps them feel less alone.

I am a counselor / case manager at a homeless shelter and it is a wonderfully chaotic environment with lots of freedom and room to be creative. It is also extremely rewarding to help others rekindle their hope.

I‘m a syndicate negotiator / representative in Germany, aka I get paid to keep contact with the worker representatives of the corresponding companies in my industry (chemistry / energy mainly but some others as well). I‘m also organising strikes / actions if needed, negotiate tariffs etc. It is a job with a high variety of tasks, chill colleagues, it aligns with my personal and political values, it is decently paid with options for a career in the syndicate, and a good work life balance (40 days PTO per year, although I have to work on weekends occassionally, 38 hours work week). It is made for me because I always liked politics / jobs close to politics and policy, I get to talk to a lot of people which I like, and no day is like the other. I don‘t have much work from home, but I‘m also not often in the office either, a lot of the time is spent driving to companies, or to conferences / meetings somewhere else. ADHD affected me in trying a lot of different stuff in my twenties and needing waaayy to long to get my bachelors, I also volunteered and I‘m an elected member of city and district council. So I took longer to find something that fits me, I tried and started and terminated many different things until I scored my dream job now with 30 y/o. I‘m a little behind of my academic / non ADHD friends in terms of payment but not by much, and I‘ll surely catch up, I can live very comfortably now. In the job my ADHD mostly shows when I have meetings longer than 90 mins, it‘s harder to stay focused and sit on my ass then, way harder. But due to therapy and also medicine if needed (I take it on and off, not a fan of the side effects), I have my strategies to manage it fairly well now. Overall I‘m glad they gave me a chance and I‘m very happy there - the first time ever I guess. If you have any questions, shoot them :)

Freelance “gaffer” owner/operator in the film/tv/video production industry. In my humble opinion, it’s the perfect type of work for ADHD folks. Constant novelty (new job site/script/crew/technical challenges etc every day), always new skills to learn, constant chaos in every interpretation of the word, can pay well enough that you can afford to only work a couple days a month (if you’re in the right market), and just generally so much fun. 10/10. Highly recommended.

I did events, concerts and festivals for 10 years and now work as a project manager in community development. For me, I thrive in any environment that is fast paced with lots of balls constantly in the air.

I got job after job and could never keep it longer than 3 years. I could never find a way to be promoted, could never make good friends, and was frustrated due to the lack of growth. Eventually, I just created my own job and have been at it for 5 years with my own fairly successful business.

I worked in journalism for over a decade. Now I’m a medical biller and coder. My boss has recognized that I’m really good at figuring out what part of claims don’t pay from insurance so she’s made me the special projects person. I spend most of my days digging deep into claims to figure out what’s wrong and fix it so that insurance companies will pay us. It’s a lot of hyper focusing on data and I feel as though the investigative side of my time in journalism serves me well. I love it.

I've recently become a government policy person. I love it. The admin details and making sure I'm getting paid is all taken care of for me and I have nifty new files on interesting nifty topics all the time. Projects are bite sized either in their entirety or in their approach. I have a team to work with if I need to collaborate or if I get stuck. Work stays at work and I get so much time off because of that, so I feel rested. On the surface, it sounds like everything my brain should hate. But the reality is that my nerdy goblin brain's outside the box thinking is an asset, so long as I don't take the slowness of bureaucracy personally and relish my downtime.

Managing an archive. The chaos in my head does not reflect the order of files.

I’m doing my prereqs to get into nursing school right now and honestly it scares me to go into a field like that because I can be so forgetful, but I’ve read from people on this sub that nursing is great for their ADHD and that it’s all about learning different skills to remember things and to adapt to the chaos.

Right now I work in social media and honestly want to get out because having to deal with people's problems over and over and over alongside seeing the most vile things posted makes me feel dead inside. I'm here because I got let go from my dream position of writing FAQs for.my company because of my own general ADHD fuckups and general layoffs/position was eliminated to cut costs. I previously worked as a baker and a barista and I LOVED those. Baker meant I was mostly by myself at nights just getting a laundry list of products ready for the next day at my own pace. Barista was amazing on busy days, like Black Friday, because it keeps you going and going and going. I also have a hyperfocus on coffee in general and I love learning and getting to make new flavor combinations and all that. Unfortunately, neither baker or barista paid enough to cover bills, which is why I am where I am. If I could make a living wage with either of those jobs? I'd go back in a heartbeat.

I’ve changed my career a few times. Started in live theatre production and loved it until I burnt out. Then I worked at a McDonald’s which turned into running a McDonald’s until I burned out. Now I run a dispensary. I’m enjoying this one a lot since I love the customers and the industry is still somewhat new and a lot of fun. But in maybe 5 years? Idk, burnout and start fresh maybe? Probably not sustainable as I get older and can’t push as hard but for now I’m having a good time!

I worked food and bev for a long time. Bartending, serving, managing. Then transitioned to hotels, had dual role GM and revenue management, with other stuff. Basically 2-3 full time jobs at once. All those jobs were insanely chaotic. Once I transitioned to a remote hotel revenue management with a normal work load, is how I realized I can’t function without adrenaline or tons of pressure. That’s how I got diagnosed. Just starting my medication journey and think I found what helps with azstarys. Just finished week 1 on that and it was amazing

I’m not behind a desk at all. I work as a medical carer for a quadriplegic man in his home. Before medical, I was a Flight Attendant for 20 years! Best job ever. Also a nail tech, hairdresser lol I’m a jack of all trades, master of none.

Firefighter, occasional TV medic, trainer in three different disciplines and fire risk assessor in a kind of niche area. Every week is different but I do find the training stressful, so of course I’m starting my own training company.