Updated June 13, 2014.
Work and Adult ADD - Career Paths
An About.com user posted a question in the ADD/ADHD Forum about the best jobs for those with ADD/ADHD. In response, I wrote the following two articles:
Best Jobs For ADD or ADHD Individuals
Should I tell people at work that I have ADD?
Since then, I ran across an interesting article on the topic of best jobs. The article was written by Michelle Haimoff and published on MainStreet.com.
Ten Good Professions For People With ADD [Full Article]
This article by Haimoff presents several careers in which the best way to be successful is to not sit still. If you have the predominately hyperactive-impulsive type or combined type of ADHD, this article is certainly one I'd recommend reading.
It may be useful to read up on the symptoms and types of ADD/ADHD, as well.
The section below lists several of those careers in which movement and high activity is in abundance. It is reprinted directly from Haimoff's article.
Traders make decisions about the market in real time while they ‘watch two or three screens, talk on the phone and still stay aware of any conversations happening nearby that they might need to participate in,’ says former Wall Street trader David Neubert. Therefore it’s imperative for them not to concentrate too much on any one thing for too long.
The point of improvisational comedy is to adjust to the whims of the other actors and the audience instantaneously.
‘If I decide I'm queen of Arabia and my partner says that we're pumping gas in Houston, the first line wins,’ comedy veteran Lauren Schnipper says. ‘You have to think on your feet and change your mind at the last second depending on your scene partner.’
Natalie Walsh from the New York City bar The Scratcher says that bartending involves keeping track of ‘a whole lot of things at once and keeping the thread going.’ Attention needs to be split between the customers at the bar and the wait staff, and ‘you don’t need a long memory for it.’
‘You’re making a new instantaneous decision every time you press the button,’ says Christopher Smith, who often shoots for The New York Times (NYT). Smith adds photography can be ‘an incredibly improvisational medium and you have to be hyperaware of everything around you.’
Josh Jones, the Sous Chef of Chicago’s Spring Restaurant , is always on his feet and he loves it. Growing up he had a hunch that he had ADD because he felt anxious sitting in classrooms, but he only got diagnosed in culinary school. His kitchen is ideal because it involves ‘running around instead being restless in a seat.’
Emily Heyward, who co-founded the creative consulting firm Red Antler, says ‘the jobs where you're working for multiple clients’ are best for ADD types because ‘every hour you could be dealing with a completely different industry. Within one day I might be working in beauty products, vitamins, an Internet company and sports.’
Brooke Heiser, a middle school teacher, explains that in the field of education ‘you are on all day’ and ‘you have to know what’s going on with all of [the students] all the time.’ The kids are continually asking questions and the teacher has to ‘constantly meet their needs in many different ways.’
During Metermaids DJ Mills’ gigs, he never plays an entire song because he and the crowd ‘don't have the patience to listen to it.’ He adds that DJ’s also usually ‘try to alter songs because they get bored with the original versions.’ The more impulsive and creative a DJ is, the more likely the audience is to stick around to groove.
Real estate agents are pulled in a number of different directions every day, often concurrently. Corcoran broker Nicole Goldberg sums it up best: ‘Right now for example, I am typing this with one hand, on the phone with a seller regarding a price reduction, and mentally developing our next quarterly newsletter.’
Source:
Michelle Haimoff. Ten Good Professions For People With ADD. MainStreet.com. 23 April, 2008.
Work and Adult ADD - Career Paths
An About.com user posted a question in the ADD/ADHD Forum about the best jobs for those with ADD/ADHD. In response, I wrote the following two articles:
Best Jobs For ADD or ADHD Individuals
Should I tell people at work that I have ADD?
Since then, I ran across an interesting article on the topic of best jobs. The article was written by Michelle Haimoff and published on MainStreet.com.
Ten Good Professions For People With ADD [Full Article]
This article by Haimoff presents several careers in which the best way to be successful is to not sit still. If you have the predominately hyperactive-impulsive type or combined type of ADHD, this article is certainly one I'd recommend reading.
It may be useful to read up on the symptoms and types of ADD/ADHD, as well.
The section below lists several of those careers in which movement and high activity is in abundance. It is reprinted directly from Haimoff's article.
Wall Street Trader
Traders make decisions about the market in real time while they ‘watch two or three screens, talk on the phone and still stay aware of any conversations happening nearby that they might need to participate in,’ says former Wall Street trader David Neubert. Therefore it’s imperative for them not to concentrate too much on any one thing for too long.
Improv Comedian
The point of improvisational comedy is to adjust to the whims of the other actors and the audience instantaneously.
‘If I decide I'm queen of Arabia and my partner says that we're pumping gas in Houston, the first line wins,’ comedy veteran Lauren Schnipper says. ‘You have to think on your feet and change your mind at the last second depending on your scene partner.’
Bartender
Natalie Walsh from the New York City bar The Scratcher says that bartending involves keeping track of ‘a whole lot of things at once and keeping the thread going.’ Attention needs to be split between the customers at the bar and the wait staff, and ‘you don’t need a long memory for it.’
Photojournalist
‘You’re making a new instantaneous decision every time you press the button,’ says Christopher Smith, who often shoots for The New York Times (NYT). Smith adds photography can be ‘an incredibly improvisational medium and you have to be hyperaware of everything around you.’
Sous Chef
Josh Jones, the Sous Chef of Chicago’s Spring Restaurant , is always on his feet and he loves it. Growing up he had a hunch that he had ADD because he felt anxious sitting in classrooms, but he only got diagnosed in culinary school. His kitchen is ideal because it involves ‘running around instead being restless in a seat.’
Public Relations Executive
Emily Heyward, who co-founded the creative consulting firm Red Antler, says ‘the jobs where you're working for multiple clients’ are best for ADD types because ‘every hour you could be dealing with a completely different industry. Within one day I might be working in beauty products, vitamins, an Internet company and sports.’
Teacher
Brooke Heiser, a middle school teacher, explains that in the field of education ‘you are on all day’ and ‘you have to know what’s going on with all of [the students] all the time.’ The kids are continually asking questions and the teacher has to ‘constantly meet their needs in many different ways.’
DJ
During Metermaids DJ Mills’ gigs, he never plays an entire song because he and the crowd ‘don't have the patience to listen to it.’ He adds that DJ’s also usually ‘try to alter songs because they get bored with the original versions.’ The more impulsive and creative a DJ is, the more likely the audience is to stick around to groove.
Real Estate Agent
Real estate agents are pulled in a number of different directions every day, often concurrently. Corcoran broker Nicole Goldberg sums it up best: ‘Right now for example, I am typing this with one hand, on the phone with a seller regarding a price reduction, and mentally developing our next quarterly newsletter.’
Source:
Michelle Haimoff. Ten Good Professions For People With ADD. MainStreet.com. 23 April, 2008.
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