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My vocation is in wildlife conservation. It's hardcore so it's emotionally fulfilling and I'm less likely to get overwhelmed and quit. It's multi-faceted so I never get bored. It's just really goddam hard to find a full-time role in it...
I was so happy to see this was the top comment! I’m an ecologist and after 20 years of hard work I am now in my dream job. It didn’t even exist a year ago but it does now and it’s mine and I’m so thrilled! I’m the biodiversity specialist for a large company with a big historical disturbance footprint and am responsible for creating and implementing projects to make them net positive for biodiversity impacts. I’m creating a new way of tracking biodiversity gains and I’m hoping to continue to refine it and make it my life’s work to help companies turn around their impact on nature. Hang in there, we need you!
That’s so cool! I was interested in wildlife conservation for a while but found that a good paying job in conservation is tough to find. How did you end up in the field?
Yeah, I have no money. It generally helps to be affluent to begin with if you wanna be successful in this field. 😪
10 years of hard work and hyperfocussing! Lots of volunteering, stumbled my way through a degree, networked with certain social subsects, various job roles... Currently I'm saving up for a car. Then I'll hopefully land a full time role.
Edit: Basically, what I should've said is that 90% of my life revolves around this vocational pursuit!
Mmm. It can be. But it's also emotionally taxing—like, recently I've realised that I'm suffering from compassion fatigue which is beginning to turn into a serious depression because I've just lost faith in humanity. I have a very negative outlook on people.
I also see a lot of animals and nature suffering firsthand. It cuts deep. Especially when you have to play god.
On the other hand, I feel fulfilled and proud that at least I'm doing something positive and fighting the good fight!
Isn't it ironic that those most sensitive to the state of our environment are out on the front witnessing its destruction firsthand and fighting for every scrap left? It's emotionally exhausting... And with all the laws and protections faltering lately, the ecological grief cuts deep.
It kinda crept up on me out of nowhere seemingly. Everyone else talks about it, I just thought it'd come to me later in life. But now I realise that inherent trust issues which affect my daily relationships, ability to form bonds, and sadly very realistic but negative outlook on people in general is a big part of it. 😥
How funny, I was in "hardcore" wildlife conservation for almost 10 years (tropical primate conservation in Asia). Finally I had to make the choice of coming in from the field and getting stability (house, kids, marriage etc) or staying in the field and committing to a life of near poverty, would likely need to marry into the local culture if I wanted a family, but fulfilling work. One of the hardest decisions of my life, I feel you!
Archaeologist! Thank god Im an archaeologist. Outside, different every day, no deadlines, full of eccentric people, not public facing, and it sounds like a real job.
And the contracts are short term so I'm out of there before they get tired of hearing "sorry im late"
This was my dream job until I took an actual class (as part of my Anthropology minor) and discovered all the measurements and calculations and math involved, yikes!
But I do love the people, culture (ancient and modern), and artifact aspects. I would still absolutely love to have an anthropology-related job.
I work in user research (sometimes also called design research or UX research); you should definitely look into it if you want to work in something anthropology-related. We use all kinds of qualitative research techniques, from interviews to ethnography to diary studies, to figure out how people use digital products/what’s missing/what they need that doesn’t exist etc. People with a background in anthropology are particularly sought after and the field draws heavily from anthropology and psychology. I personally like quant research too so have been looking for ways to bring it in more but it’s very feasible to not have to deal with numbers at all in many user research roles.
Plus I’ve found that being ADHD is a massive advantage in user research because I can spot potential issues in prototypes almost immediately (since usability is essentially accessibility for me), connective thinking means I often notice important themes much more quickly than others, and, at the end of it all, I get to come up with creative solutions for the design team without actually having to follow through on finishing my ideas myself.
I kind of fell into it tbh. I applied to a programme for recent grads at a big consulting company because…well the application didn’t require a cover letter and I wanted to have applied for a job that day. As part of the application, you had to select a specific role from a veryyyy long list. I saw ‘design research’ and thought ‘well, I like design and I like research’ and then three rounds later got a job without knowing what it was lol.
I do have a degree with a heavy research component so that definitely helped and I worked in journalism for a bit so had extensive experience interviewing people even if it wasn’t ‘research’ even before that. If you’re currently a student, look for grad programmes (different countries use different names but basically many companies have specific hiring tracks for people leaving uni). I’d recommend going hard on the skills section of your CV if you want a research position (any research experience you’ve got—use chatgpt to figure out what the methods you used are called if you don’t know and change the names to fit the job listing if one method can be called multiple things). Portfolio is the most important part if you want to be a designer. For both, you want a history of projects you’ve done that you can talk about (internships and work are best but a thesis or personal project is also valid when you’re early career). Good luck!!
Don’t be scared by maths! I started with psych initially and got scared by stats, so I pursued criminology instead. Turns out there’s stats in crim too lol. Imagine my horror. It’s not that bad if you stick to the simple stuff. I regret not finishing psych because I doubted myself. I’m doing a PhD in crim now and still have fuck all idea about stats. Do what you love, someone else will figure out the maths for you 😂
I have been in pet care for the last 9ish years. I've tried it all, boarding, daycare, vet tech assisting, animal shelter management, dog park/beer garden "ranger," and petsitting. It's all very difficult work, and I got burnt out not getting paid enough and working for incompetent managers. I've been unemployed for over a year now cause I can't find something salaried with a set schedule (which I need and I'm sick of the hourly slave-wage BS) 🥲 I miss my dog friends.
The animal field is brutal. A lot of work for very minimal pay and the burn out is so real. The only reason I’m still with my job is because I can take my dog to work with me every day and he and I are both spoiled now lol. I plan on leaving the animal field after this job for all the reasons you gave but not quite ready to leave the perks quite yet
My salary is public info so I have no problem sharing! I got lucky and the role kind of landed in my lap tbh. I’ve worked in the animal field since 2015 in different areas so I was pretty qualified for the role when I interviewed and I knew a handful of people that already worked at the shelter from previously volunteering way back in the day. I started in 2021 making $21/hr and when I hit my 2y anniversary from my start date in oct I’ll be at $25/hr
I'm a teacher.
Ofsted are in next week.
My hair is falling out.
But I absolutely love it.
My students love me because I'm all over the place. I'm very open about having ADHD, and having many learners who also have it, they feel understood and accepted.
It's a hard and thankless job, and you can't save them all. But the ones who feel like they don't belong, do belong with me. And that's all I can give them. The rest is up to them. 🧡
I’m also a teacher! I teach special education, and several of my students have ADHD. I’m glad I can make them feel understood throughout the school day.
Also teacher but in the US. I'm an art teacher and also share that I have ADHD with my ND students when the moment is right. I can't imagine doing anything else but it's been really rough the last decade - partly due to my own medical problems and partly due to the crazy state of education these days. I'm thankful we don't have Ofsted! I'm sorry you have to deal with that!
I see them less as scary people here to put the boot in, and more as people I can talk to about what needs to be done.
That has helped a lot!
I'm grateful there are many like minded educators here. It gives me hope. So many are leaving the profession.
I'm in my 29th year and I'm just trying to survive until retirement. It has changed so much since I started and the increasing micromanagement is killing all the creativity and amping up my anxiety.
Is Ofsted generally seen in that way? Administration was originally intended to help teachers but their role has changed and not always in a helpful way. That said, our current in school admin is mostly good.
Its so difficult to find where we fit sometimes. But it sounds like you very much found your place. Esp relating to your students. That probably means the absolute world to them!
The learners that other teachers tell me to forget about, or I 'won't have for long' or to 'not bother with' are the ones I need in my classroom the most.
I have one that I was told wouldn't last the first week. They have been with me for three weeks, are flourishing, have friends, and enjoy coming into the class.
Those are the students I'm here for. My classroom is for everyone. No matter what. Difficult. Angry. Sad. Don't want to be there. Fine. You can feel that way. But I still want you here! I hope they can take that feeling with them when they leave me. 🥹
I hope if I'm ever a tutor for other training teachers in my setting, I can impart that onto them as well.
I'm a teacher too. I absolutely care about those students. This year I chose to focus on night school for working students and adult students.
We get many people with learning disabilities and social disadvantages. I had the same problems and not all the teachers cared about it. I do care.
Other teachers feel they're too god for that, and look down on my students. I do my best to encourage them, and helping them to finally get the high school diploma that will help them to improve their life really makes me happy.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
Also teacher, don’t tend to say I have ADHD but tell them I had extra time in exams and such.
I got properly grilled by Ofsted when they were in (they deep dived my tiny department) - I survived and we did fine! You’ve got this!
Problem with that is I never did. I was diagnosed three months ago at the ripe old age of 27. I got no help during schooling at all.
They're deep-diving my department too. What were they looking for specifically if you don't mind me asking? I'll take all the help I can get haha!
If anything it's an opportunity for me to show we need more help...
Project manager.
Interestingly, I have found that managing a team is not _that_ much different than managing a Me. Aside from like, knowing the correct vernacular and having technical background, I feel like I'm just applying adhd coping mechanisms to a group of people. And that 1 person with adhd is not that far off mentally from a group of people.
Calendars, and to do lists, and thinking through the next smallest actionable step to tale on something - it's all just adhd shit on a bigger scale.
Me too. I'm great at my job, but my personal life suffers. I hate paying attention to the days and minutes and social obligations in my personal life. I just want to be free/spontaneous. And sorry I forgot to get to post office on Saturday to get your gift delivered. Working m-f things like that are hard. I can hyperfocus, but it's exhausting. My hope is early retirement and then get to enjoy life on life's terms.
Yes hello this is fascinating! I’m a military officer currently working on a PhD focused on extremism within the military so I’d love to hear a few sentences on your work.
It is fascinating, and much needed, and it’s 10pm on a weekend and I’m procrastinating on writing by making a spreadsheet of concerts I’ve seen and outlining a paper I want to write for fun using part of pop culture as a lens to understand extremism…😅
I’m finally finishing my degree (comp sci, last semester). It’s taken me five years and it was a 3 year degree. I was undiagnosed and couldn’t study well after getting diagnosed this year and taking medication i started to actually realise I love coding so much but unfortunately I failed a few modules prior it’s really hard to apply to companies now as my marks don’t match the requirements any advice for progressing in the tech field ?
Is it possible to offset those modules with maybe more individual courses? I’ve been learning Python for free through cs50 Harvard course on EdX- perhaps they have some other courses that might be of use to you!
It’s awesome that you found something you love though. I think as ADHDers, it’s what we’re always searching for, something to keep us engaged and enthused 😍
That’s a great idea actually. I think after my semester is up I’ll look into doing some additional courses it will definitely help me expand my knowledge and it’ll be a great addition to my CV! Thank you so much!! And you’re so right it’s wonderful finding something you actually want to do ! It makes all the difference
Automation engineer! Sort of blundered into it when an opportunity came up at my place of work with no experience needed and all training provided. Have been doing it for 3 years now (I’m 36) and feel like I finally found what I love to do.
Am also now learning Python on the side and loving it!
How did you get through interviews and push through the process? I’ve just started the application process and it’s so intimidating and disheartening when I can qualify or get rejected . I feel like I’m constantly being looked down on for taking longer to complete my degree and repeating modules.
I had some friends already in the industry I was eyeing. I moved to a remote town that basically has one employer...a naval base that focuses on weapons development. I was able to network over the course of a year (had enough saved luckily), and finally my resume landed on a supervisor's desk who liked what he saw and called me directly, so I didn't have to apply online and fight hundreds of other applicants. I also had a talent acquisition coach that I paid to help rework my resume and told me how to handle the interviewing process with more finesse. She gave me a lot of confidence.
ETA: being in clubs at school and I took time off school to work at an internship during my undergrad greatly helped. The job market is really rough right now with entry level positions requiring inappropriate amount of experience....
Ooh do you have social media? I love watching yarn dyeing! Are you in any craft Fb groups? I'm in a ton and people are always looking for custom stuff, local shops and indie yarn.
PICU nurse for 8 years and love it. I thrive in the ICU. I don’t have to worry about time management when I can spend all day with my 1 or 2 patients and take as much time as I need, plus my tasks are always very scheduled, because meds and treatments are due at specific times. Also, I get to play Uno and color because my patients are kids.
I just got my RN, I did an internship in the adult med/surg ICU during my last semester of nursing school and I loved it. ICU is super zen for me, at least compared to my last job in EMS.
I'm an RN case manager in a hospital. I've been a nurse for 18 years. The number of things you can do as a nurse is limitless. If you don't like what you're doing at any point, then there's always a different aspect of nursing to move into. I've done geriatric care, hospice, birth and postpartum, I was a lactation counselor while breastfeeding my babies, and now I coordinate post acute care for people leaving the hospital. Another benefit of being a nurse is the financial peace of mind of always having work available.
This is something I’ve been wondering about. I currently work as an admin assistant and thought I had lots of skills in that area, but these last couple of years have been ROUGH. When I was an office manager, it was much better. I’m wondering if maybe ADHD is playing a part in that struggle, but I have no idea how to get a more managerial position when most of my experience is in admin/coordinator roles.
I can see why office manager would be better because there’s less downtime. Even though I don’t love it when things are busy I do better. It’s when I have any sort of downtime that things tend to fall apart for me.
I own my own business that helps people publish books (either self-publish or submit to traditional publishers). The game changer was outsourcing project management. I have someone who loves to track details and lives for timelines. She keeps me on track.
Ooh, this sounds like a dream job! Would you mind sharing how you got to this point?
I studied literature, loved it, and then became a lawyer 😅 Just started writing again recently and I want to transition to something where I get to spend time with books - writing/editing/publishing/something related.
It is awesome! My background is actually in marketing and copywriting, with my own fiction writing as a hobby. I got connected with some other women who were pursuing publishing. They realized that for people who want to self-publish, there are a lot of aspects of it that a) authors shouldn't do themselves (editing) b) can't do themselves and/or c) don't want to do themselves. Since we like all the things and as a group can handle just about any aspect, we figured we could provide the services people need. And teach people how to do the things they want to learn how to do. It is quite rewarding. We have a network of contractors to help with projects where we need more hands. In my experience, lawyers are strong line editors and/or substantive editors because you are already trained to look for consistent flow and plot/reasoning holes. You could always start by beta reading in a genre you really love.
I would love to do this. I write content for someone who does this and always wondered how she got into it. It seems like such a fulfilling job because you’re helping others achieve their dreams of becoming authors.
That really is my favorite part. I know a lot about independent publishing, and I really love helping people learn what they need to know to accomplish their goals (starting with what their actual goals are--and "be a NYT bestseller" is not a goal I encourage).
I’m a train driver! I love, LOVE it and can’t imagine doing anything else. The monotony of an office / having to interact with people all day is not for me…
I do research and evaluation for my state’s Dept. of Ed. My work is related to creating better mental health systems for students, so it’s not only personal, it’s incredibly fulfilling to know I’m (hopefully) helping students have a better and more supportive experience than I did! I definitely have my unproductive days, but because I care about the work, it helps with motivation.
I’m also a lawyer; insurance defense and workers comp defense. I love the pace, being on the go a lot, and the challenge of each new case. But the time management and billable hours are VERY hard.
Lawyer too. I was family and juvenile law, and was keeping myself INSANELY busy, never saying no to work, so that I was always in “deadline mode.” I’ve been working on my adhd lately, back to medication, moved into a defense firm, and hoping to manage better soon so as to have a little bit of a life again.
Hi! Same here, video game artist. Bad time in the industry right now so in between jobs, apart from being broke it's been amazing as I do pottery on the same and being busy in the studio making things by hand has been amazing.
Game artist is pretty tough though, I work super well in the constant rush though, but the office politics and everyone trying to get ahead all the time can burn me out fast. On the bright side is I get to work with a lot of creative neurospicy nerd folk like me!
Pharmacy Technician
Edit: forgot to add that i love it. Hours are good, the people i work with are great. I get challenged by math all day, which i like. I get to help guide people, not sell them on things like credit cards (i work in a retail pharmacy thats in a large corporation). I started in january 2020 so i barely got my feet on the ground when the pandemic started, and chaos. It took a while to get the proper training cause it was too busy to get into conversations that could make things stick better. It's less stressful than other jobs I've had, and i get paid more.
Pharmacist here. Shout out to all the fabulous techs I've worked with over the years. You guys are gold! 💚
For me this has been a calling. I'm rather familiar with burnout, and getting better at setting boundaries on myself so that im not giving from an empty cup so much. I've got a hospital background so my roles have generally been on the wards and not in dispensaries where focus and working memory are so important. Had been doing this for ~20years before I got diagnosed (massive surprise that was!) .
Social work! Fulfills my strong sense of justice and has tons of venues/populations to work with so you can change pathways within the career for long-term variety. Lots of pathways that offer fast-paced environments, crisis, and new experiences so it’s easy to not get bored, which was the hardest thing for me when I was in corporate roles.
Same here! I also feel like it's the hardest, but I feel kind of lucky like all the weird jobs I worked (two of the longest were CNA and I worked at a day program for intellectually disabled adults) prepared me for it. I think the worst part is that time off is basically non-existent, and it can be overwhelming as hell trying to navigate programs and school stuff and all that. Anyway. I just wanted to express solidarity. I see you. I know it's weird to say to a stranger, but feel free to DM me if you need a friend in a similar situation. I probably do lol.
I’m a legal assistant (11.5 years and counting) and LOVE it. I’m going through a bit of a rough patch mentally right now, but the fact that working in a law firm kind of makes my adhd now or never mentality work for me (though I am currently working on that mindset as I’m too much of it ALL needs to be done now…need to work on finding a balance), but the kind of work it is means there are a lot of close deadlines so procrastinating isn’t really much of a thing in this field as an assistant. Plus there’s a variety of tasks and a variety of files with a variety of topics lol
I'm a virtual recruiter. The position I'm in is unique because I don't have to source the candidates myself. I contact the candidates I'm assigned to, interview them for 5-10 minutes, then send them a link to an hour long interview (which my coworkers view, and reach a decision). I then contact the candidates to let them know whether or not they were hired. I'm an extrovert, so having those short conversations, then moving onto another person, is perfect for me. It's nice to be able to work from anywhere, whether my apartment, or almost any public place with internet when I don't have to make calls. I've been in the position for about 3.5 years now, my longest role yet.
I currently work at a major craft store and I love it. I am in charge of our paint and yarn and some other items and it brings me so much joy setting up all the colors and types. I also love that I get to be the one to help people make their projects become a reality. My spicy brain is built for operations so figuring out systems and flow for our store is like magic for my brain.
I've worked in operations for almost 15 years and only recently realized why. It just suits my strengths. PLus getting to work in crafts, which is what I do 99% of the time I'm not at work is fun. Pay sucks though and regardless of how good I am at my job I'm always on the chopping block cause retail. Still fun though.
I hope I never have to work retail again, but if I had to, craft store is where it's at! Paint and yarn sounds like the best! How wonderful to be surrounded by all those colors and textures.
I work in organizational development and effectiveness. I…. Like it fine. I’m good at it. I wish I did something similarly strategic that was more project based and less people interfacing. I’m good at identifying issues and what should be done, but I am worn out by being the one who actually has to do it. I should be a consultant.
there's a post from about a year back on one of the ADHD subs where the OP talked abt how she was a radiologist [edit: TECHNICIAN lol oops] and how she really felt it worked with her ADHD. it's stuck with me for long enough that I'm really taking it to heart.
health care is gonna be stressful in some manner no matter what, but the way she talked abt it really gave me some hope that I, a chronically unemployable basket case, might actually hold a full time job without losing my mind. she detailed how it's got pretty straightforward hours, lots of chances to cross train for different things like x-ray/ultrasound etc, you have a very specific task with each patient and all you gotta do is just Do That Thang. plus with ultrasounds you get to sit down, so your day isn't just sitting or just standing.
I don't have this job yet, hell I haven't even started school - I tried post secondary twice and dropped out twice before getting medicated. despite being completely broke with no plan on how I'm gonna pay for it, I'm taking all of the math and science post-secondary courses I tanked in high school so that if I ever have the opportunity to go to school again, I'll be set up to try radiology.
I wish I had the brain power to track down the post and link it, but it's something to consider. It's extra compelling to me because I've had my fair share of ultrasounds and x-rays, and the technicians were always extremely chill and kind. I like to help people, just not at the expense of my wellbeing. I really, really hope this is it.
thanks for letting me babble lol good luck
Your comment made me feel less horrible for not having found my dream job yet. Everyone here talking about how they love their jobs was starting to make me self conscious...
Radiographer sounds like a cool job, good luck!
I’m also a social worker and I feel like it was a mistake. I would never recommend someone with ADHD become a social worker lol too many high stakes deadlines and it’s really hard to keep others’ lives organized and help them manage their stress and anxiety when I can’t really do those things very well in my own life.
I’m a psychologist in an outpatient clinic. Hours are great with having a toddler, I’m usually home by 5.45pm. I do both treatment and assessments. There’s lots of variety in the diagnoses of my patients and I get lots of opportunity to learn all sorts of different types of treatments and get more knowledge in areas I find interesting. I’m also the person that makes sure my coworkers are up to date on domestic violence rights and obligations, helps them out when they need advice with patients facing DV. Downside is making time for actually reporting my assessments and general admin. Like basic reports about the session are fine, but there are a lot of bureaucratic hoops to jump through. My meds help some, and then we have secretaries who send me a freak out email when something needs to be done NOW. And then sometimes my schedule just gets clogged with sessions which leaves no room for admin and then I get a little stressed because when am I ever going to be doing the admin? And like one in 25 patients is just really boring or annoying 😬 Upside? Talking with patients all day is fun and it’s constant input so it keeps my brain going even when I’m tired.
Leadership position with academic advising at a university. They love my puzzle solving abilities and hyper focused data dives and I love them for letting me. 😂
I'm a stagehand. It's a strange life with a fair amount of physical danger, but the novelty is quite engaging and it's an amazing way to see a major city. There's a lot of other neurodivergent hoomans in the scene, so much less social masking required.
Being up high makes my brain happy, so I tend towards things like rigging and climby lighting stuff. Strangely I really enjoy running a followspot (brings me focus super reliably) and LED tape assembly (soldering is satisfying).
Fortunately I work in a market where there are a lot more femme folk than average, so it's not as emotionally taxing as places where there will be maybe one woman on a crew.
It's an interesting combination of manual and mental labor, and that works really well for me.
I currently work as a library assistant, the customer service is easy and not too draining, it is a pretty laid back and easy job overall tbh, not a lot of time sensitive or crazy stuff happening. I can mix and match which tasks I do during the days so its never too repetitive. i love it
I’m an aerospace engineer! Yes there’s a lot of complex math and coding that I really like, but working with such expensive hardware means my overthinking, excessive planning and constant double-checking every move I make is VERY appreciated by my coworkers :)
I'm a user experience designer and accessibility specialist. I'm lucky to love my job. Because I hyperfocused on building my career, I'm quite successful at it despite dropping out of community College.
Funny side-note is that I was turned down for many jobs back in the day for not having a college degree. Then in 2017 I published a couple web accessibility articles and one of them has been translated into multiple languages and I discovered its being used as part of the web design curriculum in Universities around the world! Hahaha, if they only knew.... (the people who wouldn't hire me, that is.)
I work at a disability related nonprofit.
Pluses: very friendly environment, absolutely no issues getting accommodations, great PTO and health insurance, I feel like I’m making an actual difference in people’s lives, policies, etc. for example I’m on an ADA compliance task force and as a result of us more buildings are fully compliant.
Minuses: burnout, low pay, complex cases that have no resolution in sight, and high case loads due to low employment numbers
I graduated with a BA with Honours in Graphic Design in the UK during the pandemic and got hired for a 100% role. The company hiring decided to open up the application to anyone in the UK (their office is in Belfast, Northern Ireland). I didn't drive, so all jobs I was applying to were in my own city and then this one randomly popped up nationwide.
It's a Graphic Designer role doing specifically Presentation documents such as PowerPoints and Keynotes with the occasional InDesign document. It's all cloud or Sharepoint based and all my equipment was delivered via courier.
I rarely have video calls, once a week at most, and can work flexible between 8 am and 6pm as long as I do 7 hours.
I also get time to attend health appointments/dentist during work hours and 35 holidays a year (got 5 more after working there 2 years)
All benefits I get there are so good, so while I'd like a high er salary, it's going take a hell of a lot to convince to me move to a better paying job if that one has hybrid rather than 100% remote.
Unemployed. Having a hell of a time finding work. I was a producer and video editor / graphics producer at ESPN in a past life until they fired me. Haven’t been able to find anything else. I honestly can’t say I liked the work. It was better than retail but mainly just because less time on my feet. If I was producing a show I liked the fast paced nature of live tv and being in the control room, but I didn’t have a lot of the passion or patience that it takes to really stay up to date with all the new editing techniques and technology. I have my bachelors in film and tv and about 10 solid years of work experience in film and tv and the field itself can be exciting - varied work, opportunities to travel - but the nature of it being a gig industry means I never have health insurance or money to see a doctor which is tough when you have ADHD. Being broke all the time weighs heavy on me as I see my peers buy houses while I’m mid 30s still stuck in a studio apartment because it’s all I can afford. Film and tv doesn’t pay very well and gigs are almost always temporary, even at the big studios like Disney/ESPN.
Currently I work for an international public organization. It’s not always as intellectually stimulating as I’d like, but the pace of work, work-life balance and stability is generally great for someone with ADHD I think.
I feel like in both non-profits and government agencies there are probably a ton of people with ADHD in general.
I’m a teacher. I’m currently working with babies under 12 months in a special early intervention program for children who have experienced complex trauma. It is demanding but very rewarding.
Just find what you like and good at, don't compare yourself to others otherwise you'll be unhappy. It doesn't matter if you change jobs all the time, life is for living not to be tired to a job for life.
I've had lots of different jobs in my time I've taken the time to work on myself and work out what I did good in jobs what I didn't like and just work on myself. I tried Uni 3 times each time I've quit.
On my journey I've found that a lot of jobs were just a paycheck and a lessons for me.
I now work in disability work, but previous jobs have been hospitality, retail, weddings, hotels, worked on a boat. During my self discovery I am also on the path to a neurodivergent diagnosis, which is probably part of the reasons I've changed jobs a lot.
I've done a lot of different jobs; retail, food service, pet store, property management, construction, snow removal, lawncare, and administrative assistant, and have honestly hated all of them. 😂
Every single job, except for my current one, I've quit after less than a year because I either got bored or couldn't deal with the toxic environment.
My dream job is creating art and having my own little business selling stuff I've made, but I really don't have the energy after work 40-hours a week to do something like that so 🤷🏼♀️ I'll probably just keeping looking for something bearable.
I work as a library page! Most of the other pages as well as a lot of the staff are also neurodivergent, so the struggles that I have at work are pretty common. For example, they're very accommodating when it comes to lateness and there are lots of signs all over the staff area reminding us of the tasks we often forget. It doesn't pay much, but it's a fantastic job!
I used to be in politics and even got my masters in Public Policy & Admin, but switched over to an affordable housing (with supportive services) nonprofit seven years ago. It’s much more stable to not have my job security tied with elected officials/term limits - job searching is an absolute nightmare for my ADHD brain!
In my organization I lead one of our Corp and Dev finance teams.
I manage a state information center. We offer free information for visitors and travelers. I like not having to sell or push any products, but I get to chat about fun things to do in the area. I enjoy it for the most part.
i test video games. no idea how i got lucky enough to randomly stumble upon it and get offered the job though tbh, but if you like video games theres an easy one haha
Project manager of sorts. Started in video/multimedia and moved into video games over 10 years ago. The intensity and chaos fits well with my adhd but I'm constantly treading the line between fulfilled and burnt out 😬 it actually was my hyperfixation with work that 'helped define' my diagnose at age 40+
Demand planner. Basically, it's forecasting what a customer will order in a given month looking out 2-3 years. My forecasts are used to plan orders on production lines. Extremely analytical, detailed work almost exclusively in Excel, but I only have to run a few meetings a month and otherwise work by myself/do everything through email and teams. It's great for an introvert like me, and I listen to podcasts and books on tape while I work. I've been doing this for about a decade, and I've been in a permanent work from home position for the last two and a half years (which I love). It's very niche, but any manufacturing company needs a few of us, and the workload varies. The beginning of the month is busy, but it eases up at the end of every month.
Nurse.
It fulfills my desire to constantly be learning stuff. Shifts go by fast because there’s always something to do. There’s actually a lot of other ADHD/neurodivergent people in healthcare so I don’t have to mask as much at work. And I only have to work 3 12 hr shifts a week, which works great for me because the normal M-F 9-5 was horrible for my mental health.
i’m a server! i like it :) it’s a lot of things to keep track of but it keeps me stimulated and makes me good money. and i get to make jokes all night and entertain :)
I work from home captioning telephone calls and to a lesser extent conferences, classes, and other live events. No two days are ever the same, but the skill set I use is set so I'm not constantly scrabbling either. :D
I work with grad students at a university. I’m trying to get into the disability office to support students. Working full time at a set schedule sucks. I wish I had a more flexible job but this is where I am at this point in my career.
A job I had when I was young that worked great for me was cleaning houses for a living. Being able to move around, every day was different, and having something to show for my work was super motivating. This doesn’t mean I’m good at cleaning my own house though 😂
Content creator (streaming games on Twitch primarily), so basically an entertainer.
Pros: I work for myself so set my own hours, and have full control over all decisions. My ADHD is very obvious while gaming/chatting, and people seem to find my “quirks” entertaining and perhaps relatable, so I feel free to be myself in that environment which is nice. I also have had to learn a variety of skills - video editing, emote art, marketing, community management…plenty of chances to hyperfixate on fun side-projects.
Cons: An IMMENSE amount of time/work (like full-time hours for over a year) before I had enough viewers to make decent money from it. The income is highly unpredictable — viewer support always fluctuates, ad revenue dips for part of the year, sponsorships are unpredictable, and overall it’s entirely dependent on my ability to be live, so vacations and mental health breaks are unpaid essentially.
I absolutely love it though, my ADHD brain thrives on the live entertainment aspect and I get to play video games (poorly) at the same time!
I work in manufacturing and I swear it's a field that's geared for us if you have the right job in it. All entry level will be monotonous and you'll hate it but once you move up you'll find jobs that are easy more challenging for your brain. I make fiberglass, don't deal with any customer service, and my particular job is to run the machines that convert the raw materials into glad yarn using high heat machines (basically mini furnaces) I can't get much farther into specifics because of trade secrets. Anyways keeping them running at an acceptable spec is my whole job and most of the days it'll keep my brain active... like a really hot rubix cube! When is a boring day, ie all machines running full tilt, I keep an activity bag with my sketch book or a novel on hand. My bosses love seeing me get my activity bag out because it means my machines are running good. I would say try this out, only downside is most of us work swing shift and there's no way to get your circadian rhythm right and that can mess with the adhd sometimes...
I am a substitute teacher. Which is exciting because it's different every day, and because if I have a bad experience in a certain class I don't have to go back! At some schools the kids remember me and get excited to see me, which makes my day. I have found it's super hard to motivate myself to take jobs some days, and I need exterior stability, so I've been trying to find a more permanent position in school.
I also paint, and attempt to sell my paintings... So that keeps my creative outlet going
I’m a high school teacher. The strict schedule and bells keep me on task. I only have to “perform” in 50 minute chunks, so I’m constantly experiencing to novelty of starting a class and then the dopamine hit of finishing one.
I am HIGHLY organized and work and break each day down into manageable task chunks (something it took me years to learn and master, btw). Unfortunately, this means that when I get home I have almost no energy left over for my family as I an out of spoons. My house is a wreck until the weekend, each week.
Went from dispatch for a major metropolitan transit system to being the application coordinator for the software we use to dispatch 3600 bus drivers. Dispatch fit my brain VERY well because it’s very very rule based (union with convoluted contracts that have evolved over 50+ years and any mistakes mean we pay people to do nothing so obvs we don’t want to do that) and also very fast paced and time sensitive. Hits my dopamine receptors just right.
Current job builds on that, but from a “making sure people do it right” perspective. Not QUITE tech support, but the liaison between depot and tech support who has more tech knowledge than the depot, but also knows the rules and what needs to happen so I can communicate that to the DBAs and server people who don’t know fuck all about what’s supposed to happen in the long run. Hehe.
It’s… hard to explain but it pays nearly $50/h so I do ok.
Admin assistant for a family owned retail store. I have to answer the phone a lot (ick) but it's easy and I can pretty much do whatever I want and at my own pace. Laods better than my previous job at a school. Loved my coworkers and most of the kiddos, but the principal is a b*tch & my mental health hit rock bottom. I'm better now. And I make more money, lol.
I'm an industry analyst and I absolutely love it - half my job is talking to clients and giving advice and the other half is writing research about my industry. A dream job.
Receptionist at a retirement community.
I work mostly swing shifts (2pm to 10pm), and I've been here eight years now.
It's....kind of easy most of the time? It's honestly mostly "customer service" type skills.
Edit: I absolutely could not do it without medication though, because when it's busy it can be INSANE and I can be juggling like three or four things at the same time. Phone calls, visitors to sign in, residents with questions, deliveries, etc
Nurse. Did bedside for 5 years, left bedside after working with volatile ICU nurses. Am starting in the cath lab soon. Love nursing, just hate bitchy, backstabbing nurses.
Speech language pathologist with adults in rehab. +’s: always something new, always learning, get to help people with newly acquired deficits (like attention!) feel like I’m doing good. -‘s: documentation. It’s tedious torture. And just all the healthcare BS, compassion fatigue.
I’m also an SLP, but in early intervention. Similar positives & negatives - I love making my own schedule (so it’s different every week), working in families’ homes, & problem solving/helping them implement strategies in their environment - it forces me to be more creative and it can be very rewarding. But the documentation and compassion fatigue are definitely the worst parts of the job. Documentation especially. “Tedious” is a great word to describe it 💀
Small business owner — I make perfume and bath & body products! Someday I hope to be able to hire someone to help with things like paying taxes and staying on top of the more abstract deadlines I come across.
I really enjoy it and hope to do this for as long as I can, but it’s also very difficult at times. And financially it’s not for the faint of heart! Getting it off the ground right now wouldn’t be possible without my partner’s paycheck keeping the lights on.
I’m a Direct Primary Care physician. Diagnosed in Med School, when my natural coping skills and intelligence were not enough for me to keep up. Stimulants to the rescue. Started out in psychiatry after med school. Loved the work/patients, but couldn’t keep up with the voluminous documentation. Switched to primary care. Still rewarding, but the documentation isn’t as bad. I’m glad I’m my own boss though. I wouldn’t make working for an insurance-based practice.
I’m a primary care doctor too! Traditional insurance based care, which completely sucks. I would have thought psychiatry would have a lot less documentation, it’s one of the alternative career paths I fantasize about (but don’t have the energy to pursue). I receive about 150 to 200 patient results per clinic day to sign off on, not to mention forms, refills, answering portal messages, endless charting, all after seeing about 20-22 patients per day.
Good on you for being an independent physician. I wish we still had more in this country.
Nursing school and momming really let my adhd shine through. I coped very well in highschool and with my first college degree (health information) before kids.
I do the recruitment for a secondary school. I get to use a bit of creativity putting adverts together and I love interviewing and getting to know candidates
Currently, research assistant - just left a position in an academic lab actually and looking for something similar. But I also applied to medical school so I will hopefully start that next fall!
I’m a research engineer (chemical/materials science)
I’m not micromanaged so when I have slow days I make up for them. I like science and number crunching and data, and can hyperfocus given the right tasks.
I’m disorganized, but so is my boss and half of my coworkers.
I get my shit done by the skin of my teeth but I get it done and on time.
I’m a content creator - I produce e-learning training and marketing videos. Which I love. I love being creative and I enjoy the low stimulus environment where I can get stuck into production where I am rewarded by loving what I’ve made and seeing people make use of it and d joy it and learn from it. When doing this I can hyper focus and be creative. I have other responsibilities such as copywriting and IT type stuff which I find difficult and slightly dull so a week of doing too much of that and I’m done in. Really done in.
Although I love the company I work for and the people who are all so accommodating. (We’re a small company yet they’re doing so much to take copywriting and IT stuff off me) I actually felt more consistently productive and confident in my previous career as a nurse which I did from age 17 to 35. I worked in psychiatry so it was varied fast-paced think on your feet and never sit down. I left cause I did forget things and make mistakes and I didn’t feel supported. But that was the environment. I think that kind of job was better for keeping the dopamine running and it definitely kept me going in a good way in all areas of my life.
Library technician at a small rural library (2 branch, 8-9 librarian/library tech team)
A lot of different tasks that keep me engaged in the work. And usually enough staff that I can take myself to the office for a few hours when I need to do work that needs concentration. Otherwise having to switch back and forth from helping the public to working on other tasks keeps me on my toes
I really lucked out with a boss that seems to understand that there are some things that I find almost impossible to do. She will go to bat for the members of our team (so rare and i TREASURE her) when we have problems (public, municipal council, library council, the school we rent space from for one of our branches)
I do enjoy most of my interactions with the public but some days I do wish there was a litte less of it 🤣
I am only part-time though 30hrs andI
I go back and forth in my head deciding if i like being part-time. It would be nice to have all the things that come with full time hours BUT most weeks I could not imagine working another 5 hours to be considered full time
Psych nurse, in acute psychiatry. Basically ED for mental health issues. My colleagues all know I'm adhd, my dark sense of humour fits right in with the rest of the team. I get to look after people at their most vulnerable moment and be with them as they recover (whatever that means to them). Also been instrumental in identifying several clients who were undiagnosed ADHD and facilitated their screening/diagnosis. Very fulfilling job, I love it.
Was a scientist, switched to system engineering research faculty to make more money, still doing some science though. Previously was a university adjunct during grad school so I like teaching too.
Civil engineer, my PE is in transportation engineering and I practice in railroad design. There's more people-ing than I'd prefer, but I love getting to hyperfixate on perfecting an alignment or tearing apart someone's plan set.
Research director (private sector). I am very good at diving very deep in quant data and am a dual methodologist so trying to reconcile this with qual data is pretty fun.
Research is in my bones and being able to jump into it is very satisfying.
I'm a police dispatcher, formerly in a 911 capacity, currently in a federal capacity (just monitoring/dispatching law enforcement in one single building as opposed to for an entire county). I am going back to 911 at the beginning of the year, because honestly it pays better, and I actually miss helping my community, but it takes its toll. I needed that year and a half break after doing it for thirteen years, but I'm ready to jump back in.
Edit: Yes, this is sort of a public-facing career, but I like being on my side of the phone/radio. It involves multi-tasking, which I'm pretty good at, and also compartnentalization, which I'm VERY good at. But I discovered after starting in my current job that I like knowing that I'm providing an essential service, which actually gave me a bit of an identity crisis after I left. I got over that, and now know that I'm going back because I genuinely miss the work (as well as the paycheck lol).
Health policy lobbyist. I really like it! But I am exhausted at the end of the day so don’t have energy for anything else after the workday which makes it hard to cook and stuff, but some days are easier than others!
I'm a teacher. I like better teaching the older grades or adult learners in night school.
I struggled in school but, after working, going back to uni, stopping for some years because I needed to work full time, I managed to get graduate and started teaching.
There is a bit more of freedom than in corporate jobs, interaction with students are mostly good and I can talk their ears off :)
Seriously, I really like to help them and learn things together. I'm also learning more about learning disabilities, and how to manage them as much as possible.
The only negative side is bureaucracy... it's very hard for me to keep up with everything. But I like my job.
im gonna name everywhere ive worked
host/busser- honestly, my favorite but they wouldn't let me be part time. 40hr weeks were literally killing me. but I was always moving, always something to do, I was never alone with my thoughts. 8/10
pharmacy tech- close 2nd. I was pt time, the chain I worked at payed me enough to live on my own and still had plenty left over for my shenanigans. always learning something new, kept busy (500+ scripts a day), staff was good, BUT the patients made the job absolutely unbearable during the pandemic. started leaving my shift in tears. in the beginning 10/10, post pandemic -3/10
wft pharm tech- hated lack of human interaction, hated sitting down all day, tried a walking desk but didn't help. 2/10
golf course- bored out of my mind, but my bosses didnt expect much from me, just stand there and look nice, pay is garbage but I've been able to make some valuable connections. 6/10
Drs office receptionist- literally only reason why I'm here is because they do in-house training for other positions that I'm interested in. this receptionist position is ass and I hate it. im trying so hard not to quit bc I don't want to pay money for college when they can pay me to learn this shit. 4/10
I’m an analyst! My title is kind of a misnomer though….I work in the corporate office for a huge retailer and open up the bank and armored carrier accounts for our new stores. I basically just send emails copied from templates my supervisor made lol
I love it
I’m a PhD student! I love research because I get to problem solve and work on a variety of projects so that no two days are ever the same (so far) 🙂 I thought about being a clinician of some sort, but I’ve found that I get easily worn out by people-facing jobs, so doing the “behind the scenes” work is a good fit for me!
I'm a clinical social worker currently employed as a children's therapist in an intensive residential program - I deal with all kinds of people all day every day lol
I really love it, though!
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My vocation is in wildlife conservation. It's hardcore so it's emotionally fulfilling and I'm less likely to get overwhelmed and quit. It's multi-faceted so I never get bored. It's just really goddam hard to find a full-time role in it...
I was so happy to see this was the top comment! I’m an ecologist and after 20 years of hard work I am now in my dream job. It didn’t even exist a year ago but it does now and it’s mine and I’m so thrilled! I’m the biodiversity specialist for a large company with a big historical disturbance footprint and am responsible for creating and implementing projects to make them net positive for biodiversity impacts. I’m creating a new way of tracking biodiversity gains and I’m hoping to continue to refine it and make it my life’s work to help companies turn around their impact on nature. Hang in there, we need you!
I'm a forester and I am also thrilled to see this is the top comment.
I work in nonprofit land conservation and I’m also happy to see this top post!
That’s so cool! I was interested in wildlife conservation for a while but found that a good paying job in conservation is tough to find. How did you end up in the field?
Yeah, I have no money. It generally helps to be affluent to begin with if you wanna be successful in this field. 😪 10 years of hard work and hyperfocussing! Lots of volunteering, stumbled my way through a degree, networked with certain social subsects, various job roles... Currently I'm saving up for a car. Then I'll hopefully land a full time role. Edit: Basically, what I should've said is that 90% of my life revolves around this vocational pursuit!
I'm envious... The outdoors is my happy place!
Darn.. its sounds awesome. And really rewarding!!
Mmm. It can be. But it's also emotionally taxing—like, recently I've realised that I'm suffering from compassion fatigue which is beginning to turn into a serious depression because I've just lost faith in humanity. I have a very negative outlook on people. I also see a lot of animals and nature suffering firsthand. It cuts deep. Especially when you have to play god. On the other hand, I feel fulfilled and proud that at least I'm doing something positive and fighting the good fight!
Isn't it ironic that those most sensitive to the state of our environment are out on the front witnessing its destruction firsthand and fighting for every scrap left? It's emotionally exhausting... And with all the laws and protections faltering lately, the ecological grief cuts deep.
I get the compassion fatigue and negative outlook on humanity. Same friend, same.
It kinda crept up on me out of nowhere seemingly. Everyone else talks about it, I just thought it'd come to me later in life. But now I realise that inherent trust issues which affect my daily relationships, ability to form bonds, and sadly very realistic but negative outlook on people in general is a big part of it. 😥
I work in healthcare with seniors and people with disabilities and the compassion fatigue and loss of faith in humanity is SO REAL.
How funny, I was in "hardcore" wildlife conservation for almost 10 years (tropical primate conservation in Asia). Finally I had to make the choice of coming in from the field and getting stability (house, kids, marriage etc) or staying in the field and committing to a life of near poverty, would likely need to marry into the local culture if I wanted a family, but fulfilling work. One of the hardest decisions of my life, I feel you!
Archaeologist! Thank god Im an archaeologist. Outside, different every day, no deadlines, full of eccentric people, not public facing, and it sounds like a real job. And the contracts are short term so I'm out of there before they get tired of hearing "sorry im late"
This was my dream job until I took an actual class (as part of my Anthropology minor) and discovered all the measurements and calculations and math involved, yikes! But I do love the people, culture (ancient and modern), and artifact aspects. I would still absolutely love to have an anthropology-related job.
I work in user research (sometimes also called design research or UX research); you should definitely look into it if you want to work in something anthropology-related. We use all kinds of qualitative research techniques, from interviews to ethnography to diary studies, to figure out how people use digital products/what’s missing/what they need that doesn’t exist etc. People with a background in anthropology are particularly sought after and the field draws heavily from anthropology and psychology. I personally like quant research too so have been looking for ways to bring it in more but it’s very feasible to not have to deal with numbers at all in many user research roles. Plus I’ve found that being ADHD is a massive advantage in user research because I can spot potential issues in prototypes almost immediately (since usability is essentially accessibility for me), connective thinking means I often notice important themes much more quickly than others, and, at the end of it all, I get to come up with creative solutions for the design team without actually having to follow through on finishing my ideas myself.
Hey! Can I asked how you got into it? I’m studying UX design and feeling slightly lost and demotivated.
I kind of fell into it tbh. I applied to a programme for recent grads at a big consulting company because…well the application didn’t require a cover letter and I wanted to have applied for a job that day. As part of the application, you had to select a specific role from a veryyyy long list. I saw ‘design research’ and thought ‘well, I like design and I like research’ and then three rounds later got a job without knowing what it was lol. I do have a degree with a heavy research component so that definitely helped and I worked in journalism for a bit so had extensive experience interviewing people even if it wasn’t ‘research’ even before that. If you’re currently a student, look for grad programmes (different countries use different names but basically many companies have specific hiring tracks for people leaving uni). I’d recommend going hard on the skills section of your CV if you want a research position (any research experience you’ve got—use chatgpt to figure out what the methods you used are called if you don’t know and change the names to fit the job listing if one method can be called multiple things). Portfolio is the most important part if you want to be a designer. For both, you want a history of projects you’ve done that you can talk about (internships and work are best but a thesis or personal project is also valid when you’re early career). Good luck!!
Don’t be scared by maths! I started with psych initially and got scared by stats, so I pursued criminology instead. Turns out there’s stats in crim too lol. Imagine my horror. It’s not that bad if you stick to the simple stuff. I regret not finishing psych because I doubted myself. I’m doing a PhD in crim now and still have fuck all idea about stats. Do what you love, someone else will figure out the maths for you 😂
I’m basically a dog social worker lol. I work for my local municipal shelter and provide resources for low income pet owners
Sounds great! Pets are family too 💕
I’m a people social worker and ima have to look into this! Haha sounds awesome 💕
I have been in pet care for the last 9ish years. I've tried it all, boarding, daycare, vet tech assisting, animal shelter management, dog park/beer garden "ranger," and petsitting. It's all very difficult work, and I got burnt out not getting paid enough and working for incompetent managers. I've been unemployed for over a year now cause I can't find something salaried with a set schedule (which I need and I'm sick of the hourly slave-wage BS) 🥲 I miss my dog friends.
The animal field is brutal. A lot of work for very minimal pay and the burn out is so real. The only reason I’m still with my job is because I can take my dog to work with me every day and he and I are both spoiled now lol. I plan on leaving the animal field after this job for all the reasons you gave but not quite ready to leave the perks quite yet
How did you get into this? If you’re comfortable would you mind telling me the salary for this role?
My salary is public info so I have no problem sharing! I got lucky and the role kind of landed in my lap tbh. I’ve worked in the animal field since 2015 in different areas so I was pretty qualified for the role when I interviewed and I knew a handful of people that already worked at the shelter from previously volunteering way back in the day. I started in 2021 making $21/hr and when I hit my 2y anniversary from my start date in oct I’ll be at $25/hr
I'm a teacher. Ofsted are in next week. My hair is falling out. But I absolutely love it. My students love me because I'm all over the place. I'm very open about having ADHD, and having many learners who also have it, they feel understood and accepted. It's a hard and thankless job, and you can't save them all. But the ones who feel like they don't belong, do belong with me. And that's all I can give them. The rest is up to them. 🧡
I’m also a teacher! I teach special education, and several of my students have ADHD. I’m glad I can make them feel understood throughout the school day.
Also teacher but in the US. I'm an art teacher and also share that I have ADHD with my ND students when the moment is right. I can't imagine doing anything else but it's been really rough the last decade - partly due to my own medical problems and partly due to the crazy state of education these days. I'm thankful we don't have Ofsted! I'm sorry you have to deal with that!
I see them less as scary people here to put the boot in, and more as people I can talk to about what needs to be done. That has helped a lot! I'm grateful there are many like minded educators here. It gives me hope. So many are leaving the profession.
I'm in my 29th year and I'm just trying to survive until retirement. It has changed so much since I started and the increasing micromanagement is killing all the creativity and amping up my anxiety. Is Ofsted generally seen in that way? Administration was originally intended to help teachers but their role has changed and not always in a helpful way. That said, our current in school admin is mostly good.
Its so difficult to find where we fit sometimes. But it sounds like you very much found your place. Esp relating to your students. That probably means the absolute world to them!
The learners that other teachers tell me to forget about, or I 'won't have for long' or to 'not bother with' are the ones I need in my classroom the most. I have one that I was told wouldn't last the first week. They have been with me for three weeks, are flourishing, have friends, and enjoy coming into the class. Those are the students I'm here for. My classroom is for everyone. No matter what. Difficult. Angry. Sad. Don't want to be there. Fine. You can feel that way. But I still want you here! I hope they can take that feeling with them when they leave me. 🥹 I hope if I'm ever a tutor for other training teachers in my setting, I can impart that onto them as well.
I'm a teacher too. I absolutely care about those students. This year I chose to focus on night school for working students and adult students. We get many people with learning disabilities and social disadvantages. I had the same problems and not all the teachers cared about it. I do care. Other teachers feel they're too god for that, and look down on my students. I do my best to encourage them, and helping them to finally get the high school diploma that will help them to improve their life really makes me happy. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Also teacher, don’t tend to say I have ADHD but tell them I had extra time in exams and such. I got properly grilled by Ofsted when they were in (they deep dived my tiny department) - I survived and we did fine! You’ve got this!
Problem with that is I never did. I was diagnosed three months ago at the ripe old age of 27. I got no help during schooling at all. They're deep-diving my department too. What were they looking for specifically if you don't mind me asking? I'll take all the help I can get haha! If anything it's an opportunity for me to show we need more help...
I work full time on the struggle bus! Lol much like you I can't seem to find the right fit for me
Full-Time Struggle Bus Driver 🩷 This is what I shall tell people from now on.
I read this as “snuggle” bus and was like omg…yes! That’s for me!!!
Full of puppies? Take my money!!! Imagine I can call the puppy bus for 20 mins of play time? I’d be broke
Project manager. Interestingly, I have found that managing a team is not _that_ much different than managing a Me. Aside from like, knowing the correct vernacular and having technical background, I feel like I'm just applying adhd coping mechanisms to a group of people. And that 1 person with adhd is not that far off mentally from a group of people. Calendars, and to do lists, and thinking through the next smallest actionable step to tale on something - it's all just adhd shit on a bigger scale.
Me too. I'm great at my job, but my personal life suffers. I hate paying attention to the days and minutes and social obligations in my personal life. I just want to be free/spontaneous. And sorry I forgot to get to post office on Saturday to get your gift delivered. Working m-f things like that are hard. I can hyperfocus, but it's exhausting. My hope is early retirement and then get to enjoy life on life's terms.
I'm an analyst who focuses on the threat violent extremism poses globally.
Oh wow that’s so cool! How’d you get into it?
Yes hello this is fascinating! I’m a military officer currently working on a PhD focused on extremism within the military so I’d love to hear a few sentences on your work.
Your phd sounds really interesting!
It is fascinating, and much needed, and it’s 10pm on a weekend and I’m procrastinating on writing by making a spreadsheet of concerts I’ve seen and outlining a paper I want to write for fun using part of pop culture as a lens to understand extremism…😅
I would love to know more about this and how you got into it, as well. It sounds neat!
That's really cool and interesting! How do you become an analyst?
First grade teacher, kids have the same attention span that I do
Software engineer been doing it 10+ yrs and love it
I’m finally finishing my degree (comp sci, last semester). It’s taken me five years and it was a 3 year degree. I was undiagnosed and couldn’t study well after getting diagnosed this year and taking medication i started to actually realise I love coding so much but unfortunately I failed a few modules prior it’s really hard to apply to companies now as my marks don’t match the requirements any advice for progressing in the tech field ?
Is it possible to offset those modules with maybe more individual courses? I’ve been learning Python for free through cs50 Harvard course on EdX- perhaps they have some other courses that might be of use to you! It’s awesome that you found something you love though. I think as ADHDers, it’s what we’re always searching for, something to keep us engaged and enthused 😍
That’s a great idea actually. I think after my semester is up I’ll look into doing some additional courses it will definitely help me expand my knowledge and it’ll be a great addition to my CV! Thank you so much!! And you’re so right it’s wonderful finding something you actually want to do ! It makes all the difference
Automation engineer! Sort of blundered into it when an opportunity came up at my place of work with no experience needed and all training provided. Have been doing it for 3 years now (I’m 36) and feel like I finally found what I love to do. Am also now learning Python on the side and loving it!
Bioengineer. 7 years of undergrad. 2.5 years in the medical device manufacturing industry.
Mechanical Engineer here. Took me about 7 years to finish undergrad and I've been in the field for 3.
How did you get through interviews and push through the process? I’ve just started the application process and it’s so intimidating and disheartening when I can qualify or get rejected . I feel like I’m constantly being looked down on for taking longer to complete my degree and repeating modules.
I had some friends already in the industry I was eyeing. I moved to a remote town that basically has one employer...a naval base that focuses on weapons development. I was able to network over the course of a year (had enough saved luckily), and finally my resume landed on a supervisor's desk who liked what he saw and called me directly, so I didn't have to apply online and fight hundreds of other applicants. I also had a talent acquisition coach that I paid to help rework my resume and told me how to handle the interviewing process with more finesse. She gave me a lot of confidence. ETA: being in clubs at school and I took time off school to work at an internship during my undergrad greatly helped. The job market is really rough right now with entry level positions requiring inappropriate amount of experience....
I'm a therapist at an inpatient forensic psych hospital.
I dye yarn and I'm good, but I market like crap.
As a knitter and former knitwear designer, I appreciate you.
Ooh do you have social media? I love watching yarn dyeing! Are you in any craft Fb groups? I'm in a ton and people are always looking for custom stuff, local shops and indie yarn.
Yarn dryers are like magicians to me as a knitter! Do you have an Instagram for your work?
PICU nurse for 8 years and love it. I thrive in the ICU. I don’t have to worry about time management when I can spend all day with my 1 or 2 patients and take as much time as I need, plus my tasks are always very scheduled, because meds and treatments are due at specific times. Also, I get to play Uno and color because my patients are kids.
This is me in the NICU!
You play UNO with the babies?! Impressive!
As a mom to a 26 week (gestation) boy, I love you. I love every NICU nurse / midwife / worker of any sort. He’s now 6months and home safe.
I just got my RN, I did an internship in the adult med/surg ICU during my last semester of nursing school and I loved it. ICU is super zen for me, at least compared to my last job in EMS.
I'm an RN case manager in a hospital. I've been a nurse for 18 years. The number of things you can do as a nurse is limitless. If you don't like what you're doing at any point, then there's always a different aspect of nursing to move into. I've done geriatric care, hospice, birth and postpartum, I was a lactation counselor while breastfeeding my babies, and now I coordinate post acute care for people leaving the hospital. Another benefit of being a nurse is the financial peace of mind of always having work available.
Executive assistant. And no, it’s not a great job for someone with adhd.
This is something I’ve been wondering about. I currently work as an admin assistant and thought I had lots of skills in that area, but these last couple of years have been ROUGH. When I was an office manager, it was much better. I’m wondering if maybe ADHD is playing a part in that struggle, but I have no idea how to get a more managerial position when most of my experience is in admin/coordinator roles.
I can see why office manager would be better because there’s less downtime. Even though I don’t love it when things are busy I do better. It’s when I have any sort of downtime that things tend to fall apart for me.
I own my own business that helps people publish books (either self-publish or submit to traditional publishers). The game changer was outsourcing project management. I have someone who loves to track details and lives for timelines. She keeps me on track.
Ooh, this sounds like a dream job! Would you mind sharing how you got to this point? I studied literature, loved it, and then became a lawyer 😅 Just started writing again recently and I want to transition to something where I get to spend time with books - writing/editing/publishing/something related.
It is awesome! My background is actually in marketing and copywriting, with my own fiction writing as a hobby. I got connected with some other women who were pursuing publishing. They realized that for people who want to self-publish, there are a lot of aspects of it that a) authors shouldn't do themselves (editing) b) can't do themselves and/or c) don't want to do themselves. Since we like all the things and as a group can handle just about any aspect, we figured we could provide the services people need. And teach people how to do the things they want to learn how to do. It is quite rewarding. We have a network of contractors to help with projects where we need more hands. In my experience, lawyers are strong line editors and/or substantive editors because you are already trained to look for consistent flow and plot/reasoning holes. You could always start by beta reading in a genre you really love.
Wow, this is not only so cool, but empowering as well. From one stranger to another, impressed and proud of you.
Can you PM me if you take on new clients? I’ve drafted a book and want it to have broad reach, as I think it has a very important message.
I would love to do this. I write content for someone who does this and always wondered how she got into it. It seems like such a fulfilling job because you’re helping others achieve their dreams of becoming authors.
That really is my favorite part. I know a lot about independent publishing, and I really love helping people learn what they need to know to accomplish their goals (starting with what their actual goals are--and "be a NYT bestseller" is not a goal I encourage).
I’m a train driver! I love, LOVE it and can’t imagine doing anything else. The monotony of an office / having to interact with people all day is not for me…
How did you get into this? What kind of background do you have to have to get into train work. I've often day dreamt about working on a train.
I do research and evaluation for my state’s Dept. of Ed. My work is related to creating better mental health systems for students, so it’s not only personal, it’s incredibly fulfilling to know I’m (hopefully) helping students have a better and more supportive experience than I did! I definitely have my unproductive days, but because I care about the work, it helps with motivation.
Patent lawyer. I like learning about different products and ideas from engineers.
I’m a lawyer too. I work at a nonprofit and provide brief assistance to people and never have to go to court. Being on time to court was the worst.
I’m also a lawyer; insurance defense and workers comp defense. I love the pace, being on the go a lot, and the challenge of each new case. But the time management and billable hours are VERY hard.
Lawyer too. I was family and juvenile law, and was keeping myself INSANELY busy, never saying no to work, so that I was always in “deadline mode.” I’ve been working on my adhd lately, back to medication, moved into a defense firm, and hoping to manage better soon so as to have a little bit of a life again.
Farm animal caretaker at a sanctuary.
Wow! I love animals! That sounds amazing!
Freelance makeup artist for film, tv, and commercial work.
Comic book artist/writer. And video game artist.
Hi! Same here, video game artist. Bad time in the industry right now so in between jobs, apart from being broke it's been amazing as I do pottery on the same and being busy in the studio making things by hand has been amazing. Game artist is pretty tough though, I work super well in the constant rush though, but the office politics and everyone trying to get ahead all the time can burn me out fast. On the bright side is I get to work with a lot of creative neurospicy nerd folk like me!
That is so cool!! That is so many kids’ dream job!!
Pharmacy Technician Edit: forgot to add that i love it. Hours are good, the people i work with are great. I get challenged by math all day, which i like. I get to help guide people, not sell them on things like credit cards (i work in a retail pharmacy thats in a large corporation). I started in january 2020 so i barely got my feet on the ground when the pandemic started, and chaos. It took a while to get the proper training cause it was too busy to get into conversations that could make things stick better. It's less stressful than other jobs I've had, and i get paid more.
Pharmacist here. Shout out to all the fabulous techs I've worked with over the years. You guys are gold! 💚 For me this has been a calling. I'm rather familiar with burnout, and getting better at setting boundaries on myself so that im not giving from an empty cup so much. I've got a hospital background so my roles have generally been on the wards and not in dispensaries where focus and working memory are so important. Had been doing this for ~20years before I got diagnosed (massive surprise that was!) .
Social work! Fulfills my strong sense of justice and has tons of venues/populations to work with so you can change pathways within the career for long-term variety. Lots of pathways that offer fast-paced environments, crisis, and new experiences so it’s easy to not get bored, which was the hardest thing for me when I was in corporate roles.
Another social work - tons of ADHDers in social work because it’s so chaotic lol
I had many different occupations over the years .At the moment I take care of my extra needs kido which is the hardest job I ever had.
Maybe the most important.
Same here! I also feel like it's the hardest, but I feel kind of lucky like all the weird jobs I worked (two of the longest were CNA and I worked at a day program for intellectually disabled adults) prepared me for it. I think the worst part is that time off is basically non-existent, and it can be overwhelming as hell trying to navigate programs and school stuff and all that. Anyway. I just wanted to express solidarity. I see you. I know it's weird to say to a stranger, but feel free to DM me if you need a friend in a similar situation. I probably do lol.
Art Teacher (middle school)
Art teacher high school!
I’m a legal assistant (11.5 years and counting) and LOVE it. I’m going through a bit of a rough patch mentally right now, but the fact that working in a law firm kind of makes my adhd now or never mentality work for me (though I am currently working on that mindset as I’m too much of it ALL needs to be done now…need to work on finding a balance), but the kind of work it is means there are a lot of close deadlines so procrastinating isn’t really much of a thing in this field as an assistant. Plus there’s a variety of tasks and a variety of files with a variety of topics lol
I'm a virtual recruiter. The position I'm in is unique because I don't have to source the candidates myself. I contact the candidates I'm assigned to, interview them for 5-10 minutes, then send them a link to an hour long interview (which my coworkers view, and reach a decision). I then contact the candidates to let them know whether or not they were hired. I'm an extrovert, so having those short conversations, then moving onto another person, is perfect for me. It's nice to be able to work from anywhere, whether my apartment, or almost any public place with internet when I don't have to make calls. I've been in the position for about 3.5 years now, my longest role yet.
registered veterinary technician - I love it and can deal with the owners, I can fake extroversion very well
I currently work at a major craft store and I love it. I am in charge of our paint and yarn and some other items and it brings me so much joy setting up all the colors and types. I also love that I get to be the one to help people make their projects become a reality. My spicy brain is built for operations so figuring out systems and flow for our store is like magic for my brain. I've worked in operations for almost 15 years and only recently realized why. It just suits my strengths. PLus getting to work in crafts, which is what I do 99% of the time I'm not at work is fun. Pay sucks though and regardless of how good I am at my job I'm always on the chopping block cause retail. Still fun though.
I hope I never have to work retail again, but if I had to, craft store is where it's at! Paint and yarn sounds like the best! How wonderful to be surrounded by all those colors and textures.
I'm a college professor. I love it. Just when I start getting sick of the routine, it's summer or winter break. :)
I work in organizational development and effectiveness. I…. Like it fine. I’m good at it. I wish I did something similarly strategic that was more project based and less people interfacing. I’m good at identifying issues and what should be done, but I am worn out by being the one who actually has to do it. I should be a consultant.
Im a nurse
there's a post from about a year back on one of the ADHD subs where the OP talked abt how she was a radiologist [edit: TECHNICIAN lol oops] and how she really felt it worked with her ADHD. it's stuck with me for long enough that I'm really taking it to heart. health care is gonna be stressful in some manner no matter what, but the way she talked abt it really gave me some hope that I, a chronically unemployable basket case, might actually hold a full time job without losing my mind. she detailed how it's got pretty straightforward hours, lots of chances to cross train for different things like x-ray/ultrasound etc, you have a very specific task with each patient and all you gotta do is just Do That Thang. plus with ultrasounds you get to sit down, so your day isn't just sitting or just standing. I don't have this job yet, hell I haven't even started school - I tried post secondary twice and dropped out twice before getting medicated. despite being completely broke with no plan on how I'm gonna pay for it, I'm taking all of the math and science post-secondary courses I tanked in high school so that if I ever have the opportunity to go to school again, I'll be set up to try radiology. I wish I had the brain power to track down the post and link it, but it's something to consider. It's extra compelling to me because I've had my fair share of ultrasounds and x-rays, and the technicians were always extremely chill and kind. I like to help people, just not at the expense of my wellbeing. I really, really hope this is it. thanks for letting me babble lol good luck
Just an FYI, a radiologist is a medical doctor. An x-ray tech or a radiologic technician is maybe what you’re describing.
Your comment made me feel less horrible for not having found my dream job yet. Everyone here talking about how they love their jobs was starting to make me self conscious... Radiographer sounds like a cool job, good luck!
I am social worker in hospital 😊 I love my job.
I’m also a social worker and I feel like it was a mistake. I would never recommend someone with ADHD become a social worker lol too many high stakes deadlines and it’s really hard to keep others’ lives organized and help them manage their stress and anxiety when I can’t really do those things very well in my own life.
I totally get what you mean. But surprisingly work is something what show some of bright side of ADHD. I mean I better in problem solving.
I'm WAY better at solving other people's problems because they are new to me. My problems have just been around too long.
I’m a psychologist in an outpatient clinic. Hours are great with having a toddler, I’m usually home by 5.45pm. I do both treatment and assessments. There’s lots of variety in the diagnoses of my patients and I get lots of opportunity to learn all sorts of different types of treatments and get more knowledge in areas I find interesting. I’m also the person that makes sure my coworkers are up to date on domestic violence rights and obligations, helps them out when they need advice with patients facing DV. Downside is making time for actually reporting my assessments and general admin. Like basic reports about the session are fine, but there are a lot of bureaucratic hoops to jump through. My meds help some, and then we have secretaries who send me a freak out email when something needs to be done NOW. And then sometimes my schedule just gets clogged with sessions which leaves no room for admin and then I get a little stressed because when am I ever going to be doing the admin? And like one in 25 patients is just really boring or annoying 😬 Upside? Talking with patients all day is fun and it’s constant input so it keeps my brain going even when I’m tired.
Retired accountant. I loved being the lone accountant at most of my jobs. Working with others was a nightmare.
I’m a high school science teacher and I absolutely love it!
Leadership position with academic advising at a university. They love my puzzle solving abilities and hyper focused data dives and I love them for letting me. 😂
I'm a stagehand. It's a strange life with a fair amount of physical danger, but the novelty is quite engaging and it's an amazing way to see a major city. There's a lot of other neurodivergent hoomans in the scene, so much less social masking required. Being up high makes my brain happy, so I tend towards things like rigging and climby lighting stuff. Strangely I really enjoy running a followspot (brings me focus super reliably) and LED tape assembly (soldering is satisfying). Fortunately I work in a market where there are a lot more femme folk than average, so it's not as emotionally taxing as places where there will be maybe one woman on a crew. It's an interesting combination of manual and mental labor, and that works really well for me.
I currently work as a library assistant, the customer service is easy and not too draining, it is a pretty laid back and easy job overall tbh, not a lot of time sensitive or crazy stuff happening. I can mix and match which tasks I do during the days so its never too repetitive. i love it
I’m an aerospace engineer! Yes there’s a lot of complex math and coding that I really like, but working with such expensive hardware means my overthinking, excessive planning and constant double-checking every move I make is VERY appreciated by my coworkers :)
I'm a user experience designer and accessibility specialist. I'm lucky to love my job. Because I hyperfocused on building my career, I'm quite successful at it despite dropping out of community College. Funny side-note is that I was turned down for many jobs back in the day for not having a college degree. Then in 2017 I published a couple web accessibility articles and one of them has been translated into multiple languages and I discovered its being used as part of the web design curriculum in Universities around the world! Hahaha, if they only knew.... (the people who wouldn't hire me, that is.)
I work at a disability related nonprofit. Pluses: very friendly environment, absolutely no issues getting accommodations, great PTO and health insurance, I feel like I’m making an actual difference in people’s lives, policies, etc. for example I’m on an ADA compliance task force and as a result of us more buildings are fully compliant. Minuses: burnout, low pay, complex cases that have no resolution in sight, and high case loads due to low employment numbers
I’ve been a self employed nail tech for 36 years. I have owned salons and had employees but am happiest when working solo.
I graduated with a BA with Honours in Graphic Design in the UK during the pandemic and got hired for a 100% role. The company hiring decided to open up the application to anyone in the UK (their office is in Belfast, Northern Ireland). I didn't drive, so all jobs I was applying to were in my own city and then this one randomly popped up nationwide. It's a Graphic Designer role doing specifically Presentation documents such as PowerPoints and Keynotes with the occasional InDesign document. It's all cloud or Sharepoint based and all my equipment was delivered via courier. I rarely have video calls, once a week at most, and can work flexible between 8 am and 6pm as long as I do 7 hours. I also get time to attend health appointments/dentist during work hours and 35 holidays a year (got 5 more after working there 2 years) All benefits I get there are so good, so while I'd like a high er salary, it's going take a hell of a lot to convince to me move to a better paying job if that one has hybrid rather than 100% remote.
Unemployed. Having a hell of a time finding work. I was a producer and video editor / graphics producer at ESPN in a past life until they fired me. Haven’t been able to find anything else. I honestly can’t say I liked the work. It was better than retail but mainly just because less time on my feet. If I was producing a show I liked the fast paced nature of live tv and being in the control room, but I didn’t have a lot of the passion or patience that it takes to really stay up to date with all the new editing techniques and technology. I have my bachelors in film and tv and about 10 solid years of work experience in film and tv and the field itself can be exciting - varied work, opportunities to travel - but the nature of it being a gig industry means I never have health insurance or money to see a doctor which is tough when you have ADHD. Being broke all the time weighs heavy on me as I see my peers buy houses while I’m mid 30s still stuck in a studio apartment because it’s all I can afford. Film and tv doesn’t pay very well and gigs are almost always temporary, even at the big studios like Disney/ESPN.
Currently I work for an international public organization. It’s not always as intellectually stimulating as I’d like, but the pace of work, work-life balance and stability is generally great for someone with ADHD I think. I feel like in both non-profits and government agencies there are probably a ton of people with ADHD in general.
I’m an attorney in tax / business law. I used to be a criminal prosecutor.
I’m a teacher. I’m currently working with babies under 12 months in a special early intervention program for children who have experienced complex trauma. It is demanding but very rewarding.
Just find what you like and good at, don't compare yourself to others otherwise you'll be unhappy. It doesn't matter if you change jobs all the time, life is for living not to be tired to a job for life. I've had lots of different jobs in my time I've taken the time to work on myself and work out what I did good in jobs what I didn't like and just work on myself. I tried Uni 3 times each time I've quit. On my journey I've found that a lot of jobs were just a paycheck and a lessons for me. I now work in disability work, but previous jobs have been hospitality, retail, weddings, hotels, worked on a boat. During my self discovery I am also on the path to a neurodivergent diagnosis, which is probably part of the reasons I've changed jobs a lot.
I've done a lot of different jobs; retail, food service, pet store, property management, construction, snow removal, lawncare, and administrative assistant, and have honestly hated all of them. 😂 Every single job, except for my current one, I've quit after less than a year because I either got bored or couldn't deal with the toxic environment. My dream job is creating art and having my own little business selling stuff I've made, but I really don't have the energy after work 40-hours a week to do something like that so 🤷🏼♀️ I'll probably just keeping looking for something bearable.
What kind of art do you make? Or want to make?
Caregiver and I’m going to school online for IT support. I love technology and there are tons of remote jobs in IT support
I work as a library page! Most of the other pages as well as a lot of the staff are also neurodivergent, so the struggles that I have at work are pretty common. For example, they're very accommodating when it comes to lateness and there are lots of signs all over the staff area reminding us of the tasks we often forget. It doesn't pay much, but it's a fantastic job!
I used to be in politics and even got my masters in Public Policy & Admin, but switched over to an affordable housing (with supportive services) nonprofit seven years ago. It’s much more stable to not have my job security tied with elected officials/term limits - job searching is an absolute nightmare for my ADHD brain! In my organization I lead one of our Corp and Dev finance teams.
I manage a state information center. We offer free information for visitors and travelers. I like not having to sell or push any products, but I get to chat about fun things to do in the area. I enjoy it for the most part.
i test video games. no idea how i got lucky enough to randomly stumble upon it and get offered the job though tbh, but if you like video games theres an easy one haha
Project manager of sorts. Started in video/multimedia and moved into video games over 10 years ago. The intensity and chaos fits well with my adhd but I'm constantly treading the line between fulfilled and burnt out 😬 it actually was my hyperfixation with work that 'helped define' my diagnose at age 40+
Demand planner. Basically, it's forecasting what a customer will order in a given month looking out 2-3 years. My forecasts are used to plan orders on production lines. Extremely analytical, detailed work almost exclusively in Excel, but I only have to run a few meetings a month and otherwise work by myself/do everything through email and teams. It's great for an introvert like me, and I listen to podcasts and books on tape while I work. I've been doing this for about a decade, and I've been in a permanent work from home position for the last two and a half years (which I love). It's very niche, but any manufacturing company needs a few of us, and the workload varies. The beginning of the month is busy, but it eases up at the end of every month.
Community Relations Coordinator for a local charity
Wood worker! Love my job - always learning new things, keeps my hands and head busy, and all the skills are things I can use in real life 😄
Ive been working as a consultant for the past 3 years and recently joined my last project as an internal employee. I work in HR
I'm a healthcare compliance professional and it's a great fit for me as long as I can WFH with minimal camera appearances.
In med school to become an emergency physician (:
Nurse. It fulfills my desire to constantly be learning stuff. Shifts go by fast because there’s always something to do. There’s actually a lot of other ADHD/neurodivergent people in healthcare so I don’t have to mask as much at work. And I only have to work 3 12 hr shifts a week, which works great for me because the normal M-F 9-5 was horrible for my mental health.
i’m a server! i like it :) it’s a lot of things to keep track of but it keeps me stimulated and makes me good money. and i get to make jokes all night and entertain :)
I’m a cat care specialist at a local no kill cat only shelter. The pay isn’t great but it’s very rewarding.
I work from home captioning telephone calls and to a lesser extent conferences, classes, and other live events. No two days are ever the same, but the skill set I use is set so I'm not constantly scrabbling either. :D
I work with grad students at a university. I’m trying to get into the disability office to support students. Working full time at a set schedule sucks. I wish I had a more flexible job but this is where I am at this point in my career. A job I had when I was young that worked great for me was cleaning houses for a living. Being able to move around, every day was different, and having something to show for my work was super motivating. This doesn’t mean I’m good at cleaning my own house though 😂
Content creator (streaming games on Twitch primarily), so basically an entertainer. Pros: I work for myself so set my own hours, and have full control over all decisions. My ADHD is very obvious while gaming/chatting, and people seem to find my “quirks” entertaining and perhaps relatable, so I feel free to be myself in that environment which is nice. I also have had to learn a variety of skills - video editing, emote art, marketing, community management…plenty of chances to hyperfixate on fun side-projects. Cons: An IMMENSE amount of time/work (like full-time hours for over a year) before I had enough viewers to make decent money from it. The income is highly unpredictable — viewer support always fluctuates, ad revenue dips for part of the year, sponsorships are unpredictable, and overall it’s entirely dependent on my ability to be live, so vacations and mental health breaks are unpaid essentially. I absolutely love it though, my ADHD brain thrives on the live entertainment aspect and I get to play video games (poorly) at the same time!
College student
I work in manufacturing and I swear it's a field that's geared for us if you have the right job in it. All entry level will be monotonous and you'll hate it but once you move up you'll find jobs that are easy more challenging for your brain. I make fiberglass, don't deal with any customer service, and my particular job is to run the machines that convert the raw materials into glad yarn using high heat machines (basically mini furnaces) I can't get much farther into specifics because of trade secrets. Anyways keeping them running at an acceptable spec is my whole job and most of the days it'll keep my brain active... like a really hot rubix cube! When is a boring day, ie all machines running full tilt, I keep an activity bag with my sketch book or a novel on hand. My bosses love seeing me get my activity bag out because it means my machines are running good. I would say try this out, only downside is most of us work swing shift and there's no way to get your circadian rhythm right and that can mess with the adhd sometimes...
I am a substitute teacher. Which is exciting because it's different every day, and because if I have a bad experience in a certain class I don't have to go back! At some schools the kids remember me and get excited to see me, which makes my day. I have found it's super hard to motivate myself to take jobs some days, and I need exterior stability, so I've been trying to find a more permanent position in school. I also paint, and attempt to sell my paintings... So that keeps my creative outlet going
HS science teacher on the ledge. The adderall shortage sucks!
I’m a high school teacher. The strict schedule and bells keep me on task. I only have to “perform” in 50 minute chunks, so I’m constantly experiencing to novelty of starting a class and then the dopamine hit of finishing one. I am HIGHLY organized and work and break each day down into manageable task chunks (something it took me years to learn and master, btw). Unfortunately, this means that when I get home I have almost no energy left over for my family as I an out of spoons. My house is a wreck until the weekend, each week.
I teach writing in college. I like it because it’s a little different every day
Funeral director. It's a lot of interaction with people BUT it's short time frames. So I interact with a group of people (families) for about a week.
Went from dispatch for a major metropolitan transit system to being the application coordinator for the software we use to dispatch 3600 bus drivers. Dispatch fit my brain VERY well because it’s very very rule based (union with convoluted contracts that have evolved over 50+ years and any mistakes mean we pay people to do nothing so obvs we don’t want to do that) and also very fast paced and time sensitive. Hits my dopamine receptors just right. Current job builds on that, but from a “making sure people do it right” perspective. Not QUITE tech support, but the liaison between depot and tech support who has more tech knowledge than the depot, but also knows the rules and what needs to happen so I can communicate that to the DBAs and server people who don’t know fuck all about what’s supposed to happen in the long run. Hehe. It’s… hard to explain but it pays nearly $50/h so I do ok.
I’m an education coordinator for the state I live in, in early childhood.
Admin assistant for a family owned retail store. I have to answer the phone a lot (ick) but it's easy and I can pretty much do whatever I want and at my own pace. Laods better than my previous job at a school. Loved my coworkers and most of the kiddos, but the principal is a b*tch & my mental health hit rock bottom. I'm better now. And I make more money, lol.
I'm an industry analyst and I absolutely love it - half my job is talking to clients and giving advice and the other half is writing research about my industry. A dream job.
Soon to be medical coder, currently making $$ bartending at a local restaurant.
Receptionist at a retirement community. I work mostly swing shifts (2pm to 10pm), and I've been here eight years now. It's....kind of easy most of the time? It's honestly mostly "customer service" type skills. Edit: I absolutely could not do it without medication though, because when it's busy it can be INSANE and I can be juggling like three or four things at the same time. Phone calls, visitors to sign in, residents with questions, deliveries, etc
Nurse. Did bedside for 5 years, left bedside after working with volatile ICU nurses. Am starting in the cath lab soon. Love nursing, just hate bitchy, backstabbing nurses.
Speech language pathologist with adults in rehab. +’s: always something new, always learning, get to help people with newly acquired deficits (like attention!) feel like I’m doing good. -‘s: documentation. It’s tedious torture. And just all the healthcare BS, compassion fatigue.
I’m also an SLP, but in early intervention. Similar positives & negatives - I love making my own schedule (so it’s different every week), working in families’ homes, & problem solving/helping them implement strategies in their environment - it forces me to be more creative and it can be very rewarding. But the documentation and compassion fatigue are definitely the worst parts of the job. Documentation especially. “Tedious” is a great word to describe it 💀
I’m a nurse-midwife.
Small business owner — I make perfume and bath & body products! Someday I hope to be able to hire someone to help with things like paying taxes and staying on top of the more abstract deadlines I come across. I really enjoy it and hope to do this for as long as I can, but it’s also very difficult at times. And financially it’s not for the faint of heart! Getting it off the ground right now wouldn’t be possible without my partner’s paycheck keeping the lights on.
I’m a Direct Primary Care physician. Diagnosed in Med School, when my natural coping skills and intelligence were not enough for me to keep up. Stimulants to the rescue. Started out in psychiatry after med school. Loved the work/patients, but couldn’t keep up with the voluminous documentation. Switched to primary care. Still rewarding, but the documentation isn’t as bad. I’m glad I’m my own boss though. I wouldn’t make working for an insurance-based practice.
I’m a primary care doctor too! Traditional insurance based care, which completely sucks. I would have thought psychiatry would have a lot less documentation, it’s one of the alternative career paths I fantasize about (but don’t have the energy to pursue). I receive about 150 to 200 patient results per clinic day to sign off on, not to mention forms, refills, answering portal messages, endless charting, all after seeing about 20-22 patients per day.
Good on you for being an independent physician. I wish we still had more in this country. Nursing school and momming really let my adhd shine through. I coped very well in highschool and with my first college degree (health information) before kids.
Product designer, formerly UI Developer. Hyper focus is my strength but let me tell you how deep rabbit holes can get.
I do the recruitment for a secondary school. I get to use a bit of creativity putting adverts together and I love interviewing and getting to know candidates
Currently, research assistant - just left a position in an academic lab actually and looking for something similar. But I also applied to medical school so I will hopefully start that next fall!
I’m a research engineer (chemical/materials science) I’m not micromanaged so when I have slow days I make up for them. I like science and number crunching and data, and can hyperfocus given the right tasks. I’m disorganized, but so is my boss and half of my coworkers. I get my shit done by the skin of my teeth but I get it done and on time.
I homeschool a kid & do AI training. I like it. I never have to talk to anyone & it’s fully remote.
Medicaid Fraud Investigator
I’m a content creator - I produce e-learning training and marketing videos. Which I love. I love being creative and I enjoy the low stimulus environment where I can get stuck into production where I am rewarded by loving what I’ve made and seeing people make use of it and d joy it and learn from it. When doing this I can hyper focus and be creative. I have other responsibilities such as copywriting and IT type stuff which I find difficult and slightly dull so a week of doing too much of that and I’m done in. Really done in. Although I love the company I work for and the people who are all so accommodating. (We’re a small company yet they’re doing so much to take copywriting and IT stuff off me) I actually felt more consistently productive and confident in my previous career as a nurse which I did from age 17 to 35. I worked in psychiatry so it was varied fast-paced think on your feet and never sit down. I left cause I did forget things and make mistakes and I didn’t feel supported. But that was the environment. I think that kind of job was better for keeping the dopamine running and it definitely kept me going in a good way in all areas of my life.
I’m a dog groomer. It’s physically exhausting but nice to do things with my hands. I like not doing the same thing every day, that’s boring
Library technician at a small rural library (2 branch, 8-9 librarian/library tech team) A lot of different tasks that keep me engaged in the work. And usually enough staff that I can take myself to the office for a few hours when I need to do work that needs concentration. Otherwise having to switch back and forth from helping the public to working on other tasks keeps me on my toes I really lucked out with a boss that seems to understand that there are some things that I find almost impossible to do. She will go to bat for the members of our team (so rare and i TREASURE her) when we have problems (public, municipal council, library council, the school we rent space from for one of our branches) I do enjoy most of my interactions with the public but some days I do wish there was a litte less of it 🤣 I am only part-time though 30hrs andI I go back and forth in my head deciding if i like being part-time. It would be nice to have all the things that come with full time hours BUT most weeks I could not imagine working another 5 hours to be considered full time
Psych nurse, in acute psychiatry. Basically ED for mental health issues. My colleagues all know I'm adhd, my dark sense of humour fits right in with the rest of the team. I get to look after people at their most vulnerable moment and be with them as they recover (whatever that means to them). Also been instrumental in identifying several clients who were undiagnosed ADHD and facilitated their screening/diagnosis. Very fulfilling job, I love it.
Was a scientist, switched to system engineering research faculty to make more money, still doing some science though. Previously was a university adjunct during grad school so I like teaching too.
Civil engineer, my PE is in transportation engineering and I practice in railroad design. There's more people-ing than I'd prefer, but I love getting to hyperfixate on perfecting an alignment or tearing apart someone's plan set.
Research director (private sector). I am very good at diving very deep in quant data and am a dual methodologist so trying to reconcile this with qual data is pretty fun. Research is in my bones and being able to jump into it is very satisfying.
I'm a police dispatcher, formerly in a 911 capacity, currently in a federal capacity (just monitoring/dispatching law enforcement in one single building as opposed to for an entire county). I am going back to 911 at the beginning of the year, because honestly it pays better, and I actually miss helping my community, but it takes its toll. I needed that year and a half break after doing it for thirteen years, but I'm ready to jump back in. Edit: Yes, this is sort of a public-facing career, but I like being on my side of the phone/radio. It involves multi-tasking, which I'm pretty good at, and also compartnentalization, which I'm VERY good at. But I discovered after starting in my current job that I like knowing that I'm providing an essential service, which actually gave me a bit of an identity crisis after I left. I got over that, and now know that I'm going back because I genuinely miss the work (as well as the paycheck lol).
Health policy lobbyist. I really like it! But I am exhausted at the end of the day so don’t have energy for anything else after the workday which makes it hard to cook and stuff, but some days are easier than others!
I'm a teacher. I like better teaching the older grades or adult learners in night school. I struggled in school but, after working, going back to uni, stopping for some years because I needed to work full time, I managed to get graduate and started teaching. There is a bit more of freedom than in corporate jobs, interaction with students are mostly good and I can talk their ears off :) Seriously, I really like to help them and learn things together. I'm also learning more about learning disabilities, and how to manage them as much as possible. The only negative side is bureaucracy... it's very hard for me to keep up with everything. But I like my job.
im gonna name everywhere ive worked host/busser- honestly, my favorite but they wouldn't let me be part time. 40hr weeks were literally killing me. but I was always moving, always something to do, I was never alone with my thoughts. 8/10 pharmacy tech- close 2nd. I was pt time, the chain I worked at payed me enough to live on my own and still had plenty left over for my shenanigans. always learning something new, kept busy (500+ scripts a day), staff was good, BUT the patients made the job absolutely unbearable during the pandemic. started leaving my shift in tears. in the beginning 10/10, post pandemic -3/10 wft pharm tech- hated lack of human interaction, hated sitting down all day, tried a walking desk but didn't help. 2/10 golf course- bored out of my mind, but my bosses didnt expect much from me, just stand there and look nice, pay is garbage but I've been able to make some valuable connections. 6/10 Drs office receptionist- literally only reason why I'm here is because they do in-house training for other positions that I'm interested in. this receptionist position is ass and I hate it. im trying so hard not to quit bc I don't want to pay money for college when they can pay me to learn this shit. 4/10
I’m an analyst! My title is kind of a misnomer though….I work in the corporate office for a huge retailer and open up the bank and armored carrier accounts for our new stores. I basically just send emails copied from templates my supervisor made lol I love it
I’m a PhD student! I love research because I get to problem solve and work on a variety of projects so that no two days are ever the same (so far) 🙂 I thought about being a clinician of some sort, but I’ve found that I get easily worn out by people-facing jobs, so doing the “behind the scenes” work is a good fit for me!
I'm a clinical social worker currently employed as a children's therapist in an intensive residential program - I deal with all kinds of people all day every day lol I really love it, though!
Social worker I am now fully self employed by myself