Accepting a new job, especially the first one out of high school or college, is often a time when just about everyone develops feelings of uncertainty. But for someone with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, that feeling may be magnified, compounding anxieties.
People with ADHD often have executive functioning challenges, explains Stephen P. Hinshaw, professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. The planning and organizing necessary in the workplace may mean that the person with ADHD — who struggles with those very abilities — has to start over with a project or assignment or check work more frequently to avoid errors, he says. According to Hinshaw, a large factor behind navigating the work environment for the first time when you have ADHD involves proper planning before starting a new job. “Anyone with ADHD should care less about what the particular tasks are and more about how the job specifications fit with your skills and style,” he says. Determining a specific niche is important; someone who is at their best working in the outdoors should think twice about a job requiring employees to punch the clock. “Look at job postings carefully,” he says, cautioning against acting in haste.
[See: 10 Concerns Parents Have About Their Kids’ Health.]
Peter Shankman, an entrepreneur with ADHD and author of the book, “Faster Than Normal: Turbocharge Your Focus, Productivity, and Success with the Secrets of the ADHD Brain” agrees. “Not every job is going to be for you. Quite frankly, a lot of them won’t be,” he says. Shankman emphasizes the importance of not settling for a job for the sake of building a resume or making quick money. Being able to recognize what is and isn’t truly for you is essential, he explains, urging young people with ADHD to give careful consideration to their innermost desires versus simply “paying your dues.”
Hinshaw also encourages people to get someone else’s perspective, including feedback on resumes. “Assess your own strengths and weaknesses compared to the job specs,” Hinshaw says, “and be prepared to talk with others who have been in the line of work you think you’re interested in.”
Success Is Entirely Possible
One person who knows about the importance of sharing work perspectives based on experience is Daniel Curtis, who has ADHD. He’s involved with Alumn’Eye through Eye to Eye, a national mentoring and advocacy organization run by and for people with learning differences who help others build social-emotional skills, including self-esteem and self-advocacy. Eye to Eye is also one of the 15 founding nonprofit partners of Understood.org, a free resource and community supporting parents of the 1 in 5 kids with learning and attention issues.
Curtis, a San Francisco resident, currently works at Postmates, a tech company connecting people with local couriers who deliver items from restaurants and stores. In his Alumn’Eye role, he encourages others with ADHD and learning disorders to embrace their strengths and look at their forthcoming careers optimistically. “There are other people out there with the same struggles I have who go on to become successful employees,” he tells teens and young adults.
Marcus Soutra, Eye to Eye president and a man with ADHD, adds that many of the skills that made someone with ADHD successful in college are the same skills that can be applied at work. “There’s a certain resilience these people have,” he explains, which is likely gained from overcoming the struggles experienced in school. “That helps in the workplace.”
[See: Hoarding, ADHD, Narcissism: Inside the Minds of History’s Great Personalities.]
Apps, Job Assessment, Staying Organized
Still, he’s not saying the transition will be entirely easy. He explains that in college, there’s more independence compared to the workforce where people may have to work in groups. People aren’t necessarily going to notice or care if you’re fidgeting in the library or using a noise-canceling headset on campus, but that can change in the work environment. Soutra cites the example of a company he once worked for, where wearing such headsets created tension between employees.
“I think we’re becoming better in this realm,” he says, noting work options such as working from home and assistance from technology, including Eye to Eye’s EMPOWER Different Learners app. It’s a free mobile app based on the organization’s in-person curriculum for students with ADHD and learning disabilities designed to help students develop increased levels of self-awareness and confidence so they can better navigate academic and life success. He is also a fan of Wunderlist, a to-do app he personally uses. Soutra adds that many people sing the praises of Grammarly, a writing app to assist with proper spelling and grammar.
Like Hinshaw, Soutra’s an advocate of assessing a potential job before accepting it too quickly. It’s helpful to ask employers what type of organizing system is used to keep teams productive. This way, he says, interviewees can decide if they want to learn about the particular method before starting.
“It’s all about finding what works for you,” Curtis explains, suggesting people clearly communicate personal success strategies and preferred accommodations with higher-ups and other colleagues. “It’s important to let them know what you might struggle with,” he says, and to make them aware of the strategies that work best for the job’s various responsibilities. To help him “stay on top of things,” he’s a fan of using a color-coded system to break down action items in order of importance — red for urgent and blue for later in the day, for example. Additionally, he writes information down as soon as he receives a task and also puts reminders on a physical and phone calendar. “I set reminders and calendar events to make sure it’s in my brain and everywhere else it needs to be,” he explains. “Creating a system that helps you succeed helps.”
[See: 8 Things You Didn’t Know About Counseling.]
Disclosing ADHD in the Workplace
While Curtis says sharing ADHD struggles with colleagues can be helpful, it’s important to be tuned into the intricacies behind doing so. Soutra suggests becoming established at a company before approaching human resources about a disorder, adding that they should “be welcoming to it.” Until then, he says there are other ways to touch on the fact that you work differently without specifically addressing ADHD, such as perhaps mentioning that you like to have walking meetings once in a while or that you work in ways that can bring value to everyone in the company. “In the work world, people are always looking for unique, diverse teams with different perspectives,” Soutra says.
Hinshaw says that in the past the stigma about mental differences often prevented people from offering such disclosures. It still exists to a degree today; “sometimes people are too ashamed.” However, he says that as awareness and advocacy grow, disclosure is becoming more common. “It should be allowable,” he says, adding that the Americans with Disabilities Act “makes it illegal to discriminate.” At the same time, he makes it clear that he’s not suggesting people with ADHD and other challenges “be a walking sandwich board,” announcing their challenges in the workplace immediately and frequently. He says that a person may risk not getting a job if they disclose ADHD during an interview — a time in which the potential employee isn’t yet protected by the ADA. Timing is important he says, noting that each person’s disorder and involvement in a company works differently; “it’s not a once-size-fits-all” matter.
Curtis stands by the adage that with age comes experience. “As you get older and have different responsibilities and jobs, work becomes easier,” he says. “You start to learn about yourself and the strategies that work best for you. It can be taxing initially, but it’s all about finding what works for you and knowing that people with learning differences can — and do — experience career success.”
More from U.S. News
Hoarding, ADHD, Narcissism: Inside the Minds of History’s Great Personalities
10 Concerns Parents Have About Their Kids’ Health
8 Things You Didn’t Know About Counseling
Tips for Young Adults With ADHD Entering the Workforce for the First Time originally appeared on usnews.com
