Best jobs for ADHD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With ADHD, being The Boss is the best thing. Let other people remember what day the trash goes out and suffer the consequences if it is not done.
Those ADHD evaluations are modulated for gender. Your DD is going to be light years better at organizing than if she were a different gender. Good at math? Great with people?
Project manager at a tech company. Major in STEM.

Are you kidding? The project managers I know are some of the most detail oriented, timely and reliable people I know. I have mild ADHD and could tell you this type of job would be absolute torture.

Yes - project manager is about the worse job I can imagine for someone with ADHD. In fact, I’ve had to fire one for this reason and am currently working through a PIP for another tech guy with ADHD who can’t handle the project management aspects of his role.

[Anonymous]

Security guard

[Anonymous]

Uber driver

[Anonymous]

Steer her away from anything in the hospitality industry, which can be incredibly attractive for extroverts with ADHD but drug and alcohol abuse is prevalent.

Natural sciences - geology, soil science, environmental science? I’ve worked with a lot of people who spend the majority of their time “in the field” in any number of jobs largely research or permitting/enforcement related, but there’s a lot there. There’s always some desk work, and some involve more writing that others, but easily more than 50% of time outside.

Kind of an out of the box idea - safety inspector. Safety inspectors exist in just about every regulated industry, public and private sector, various levels, and compensation can wildly. Active work with lots of interpersonal interaction. Can be very detail oriented and a lot of learning rules/regulations, but it’s all very applied. Perfect for ADHD if a subject area of interest. One path for that:
https://www.bcsp.org/certified-safety-professional-csp

Another idea is to focus on an industry where there is a lot of opportunity to advance. Example: https://www.aar.org/issue/railroad-jobs/ Some work is and stays blue collar but there are many career paths.

Real estate

[Anonymous]

Emergency room doctor or nurse. Paramedic.

[Anonymous]

I was a nurse in my previous career. In some ways it is good for ADHD as things can keep you on your toes and no day is ever really the same. However managing the needs of different patients in a timely fashion can require a lot of executive function so it might be difficult for someone with severe adhd.

[Anonymous]

I'd start first to figure out:

what she is good at--not just math (but that does count)
what she enjoys
what does keep her attention

and go from there

There are tons of occupations that we never know exist.

When I was in college, I had friends that changed majors more than once.

Is she imaginative?
Does she enjoy planning future events or more an "in the moment" type?

Computers?

[Anonymous]

Lawyer with a secretary, CEO with a personal assistant. That’s our family anyway.

[Anonymous]

My son is younger but these are the things we've thought of:
Construction management. I think he could do the manual labor at first but I then think he would be excellent at sales and crew leadership. He would have an admin for scheduling and paying the bills. It would be time outside, new projects, movement, and people.

Sports management. He loves sports. He's not talented enough to be a professional player but he could be a coach, or a journalist, or a team manager of some sort. PE teacher is also an option.

Music teacher. Or rock star. He is quite talented and loves music. I can see him teaching at a school and playing in a band.

If he manages to handle the schooling I think he would be a good veterinarian or even a nurse. Jobs like that involve lots of energy, problem solving, and moving around, using your hands.

Depending on your daughters interests look at what there is outside of office work. Really the only thing I will steer my son away from is an office job. I think about how much he would annoy me as a coworker, boss, or direct report and just do not wish that on him at all! Luckily there are a lot of other ways to be successful.

[Anonymous]

Call Center Floater Coach. Not a manager. Not QA. Not a formal trainer. Just floats around helping people.

[Anonymous]

For me, a chief of staff type role works well. I go from one Fire to another and I can do that. I cannot do long deadlines with lots of time to strategize. I can’t do that. But I’m quick on my feet and can get a lot done when needed.

[Anonymous]

Chef

[Anonymous]

Just look around at the ADHD people in their current jobs: lawyers, certain medical specialties, sales (duh), tech, and finance. Basically anything where you can be an odd-ball with skills or that involves being under constant deadlines/pressure. There's a reason ADHD still exists and hasn't been eliminated from the gene pool.

[Anonymous]

Do really well as a SWE with ADHD. School was hell though.

[Anonymous]

Find something she loves and/or where she just handles emergencies so the urgency is always there.