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Ask HN: How do I find a job, in this market with ADHD

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Re: Ask HN: How do I find a job, in this market with ADHD

#21

Post by phuff »

ADHD (and many other psychological struggles) can be managed with practice and good habits and time. You seem to have a desire to change (evidenced by posting here) which is a great signal you are in a place to make changes in life. If you want, you can learn now how to make changes in your life to work with your ADHD and learn to manage it's effects, thereby being more successful than you would have been leaving it undiagnosed and poorly understood. This is a great position to be in! You know are in a position to learn the skills you need to manage the ADHD.

Additionally, you seem to have diagnosed yourself as having a skill deficit with interviewing. This is also a great position to be in. If you want to work on interviewing, which based on your message it sounds like is your weak skill, then invest time (and maybe money) in practicing that skill with the added understanding you have (and skills you are building) about your managing your ADHD.

One way to think about this is to treat interviewing as a separate skill set; there really are lots of online resources that teach you to interview these days. Practice interviewing as a separate skill set.

You can invest in this skill with money; leetcode and other sites really package this as a service. The benefit to you is not that they will grant you a job offer; it's that they will grant you the opportunity to practice in low stakes environments. There are also places online that are pairing people for interview practice.

You can also reach out to people you have worked with previously and say: I want to practice interviewing; would you spend 30 minutes with me doing a mock interview? People love to help each other.

At the same time continue to invest in managing and understanding your ADHD by working with professionals to develop those skills. Combine the two and some time and you can do this.

You'll get this. Hang in there! Feel free to email me if you would like to talk more.

Re: Ask HN: How do I find a job, in this market with ADHD

#23

Post by scrappyjoe »

sillycorn wrote: post #8
pavel_lishin wrote: post #3

> I visited a psychiatrist recently and was diagnosed with ADHD. Were you prescribed any medication? Just getting a diagnosis is good, and learning some tools to help you cope is great, but honestly medication has done wonders for me when I was taking it. (I'm not going to say which specific one, because I'm not a doctor, and what worked for me may not work for you.) > And job market has not been so good unless I get…

> Were you prescribed any medication. Yes I'm hesitant to it because. Im worried about developinand addiction to it. If you wouldn't mind sharing some insight from your experience how is it. > What sort of shadiness are you talking about? Lying about my VISA status, experience etc.

It’s worth reading up on ADHD from well respected sources, you may have preconceptions that are false - especially about the typical medication prescribed to people with ADHD.

Concerta or Ritalin, for instance, are not like some other mental health drugs where you have to take them regularly without fail to benefit. You can take it one day, benefit for that day, and not take it the next.

If you are worried about dependence, remember, you have a condition, you _need_ dopamine. If you don’t get it via a prescription, you will get it elsewhere. That’s what ADHD behaviour is - you are seeking dopamine. Maybe better from a pill than from narcotics, alcohol, or other antisocial behaviour.

Re: Ask HN: How do I find a job, in this market with ADHD

#24

Post by sillycorn »

replwoacause wrote: post #15
sillycorn wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Were you prescribed any medication. Yes I'm hesitant to it because. Im worried about developinand addiction to it. If you wouldn't mind sharing some insight from your experience how is it. > What sort of shadiness are you talking about? Lying about my VISA status, experience etc.

I've been taking ADHD medications for 15 years, off and on, and have never developed any dependencies. You may have to experiment a little bit to find the right medication and dosage, but I don't think developing an "addiction" should be a big concern for you. Ask your provider for the lowest therapeutic dose and stick with that for as long as you can. For example, I take 27mg of Concerta (a low-dose of long acting R…

Thank you for your advice, I will discuss with my provider about this.

Re: Ask HN: How do I find a job, in this market with ADHD

#25

Post by BizarreByte »

jabroni_salad wrote: post #7

Realistically? 1. Find the copes that get you through the day. 2. Don't tell anyone at work. Ever. You will be seen as unreliable and employers don't need to accommodate the kinds of things adhd does to you. A byproduct of the interview process is that it weeds out people who suck at talking. I took an acting class and that helped me a lot. In the biz we call this Masking.

> Find the copes that get you through the day.

Adderall for working hours, weed to calm back and destress down after working hours. It can be really difficult to navigate and contort ourselves to a world that has little tolerance for mental differences, but alas we have no choice so copes are critical.

Re: Ask HN: How do I find a job, in this market with ADHD

#26

Post by sillycorn »

jabroni_salad wrote: post #7

Realistically? 1. Find the copes that get you through the day. 2. Don't tell anyone at work. Ever. You will be seen as unreliable and employers don't need to accommodate the kinds of things adhd does to you. A byproduct of the interview process is that it weeds out people who suck at talking. I took an acting class and that helped me a lot. In the biz we call this Masking.

Acting class, for helping with interviews is something I've never heard or read till now. This post is helping me get some diverse perspectives. :)

Re: Ask HN: How do I find a job, in this market with ADHD

#27

Post by tndibona »

gedy wrote: post #5

Look for companies that do take home coding exercise (projects, not hackerrank quizzes) instead of the leetcode whiteboard stuff. Those tend to focus on quality of work vs verbal timed quizzes, which many good engineers aren't good at. The verbal, in-person stuff tends to favor good-sounding and good-looking people, and awkward types are at a disadvantage to begin with.

This is good advice considering the author says that he tends to mess up interviews by blurting stuff. Leetcode based timed quizzes inevitably optimize for memory recollection i.e if you seen a similar problem from the pool of problems. Trying to balance a binary tree under a 15 minute timer just proves that you’re a puzzle solver and not problem solver. Take a coding exercise to solve at home. Is there a way to filter companies that choose this approach ? Seems like all the top tech jobs require the leetcode method.

Re: Ask HN: How do I find a job, in this market with ADHD

#28

Post by fsargent »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #3

> I visited a psychiatrist recently and was diagnosed with ADHD. Were you prescribed any medication? Just getting a diagnosis is good, and learning some tools to help you cope is great, but honestly medication has done wonders for me when I was taking it. (I'm not going to say which specific one, because I'm not a doctor, and what worked for me may not work for you.) > And job market has not been so good unless I get…

I can’t recommend this enough. The stigma around people with ADHD taking the medication that they are legally prescribed is toxic. And it’s not your fault.

Watch videos by “how to ADHD” Get involved in the ADHD community. Psychiatrist should also help you provide some resources. There’s a strong psychological component to dealing with a stigma around ADHD, the self loathing. ADHD often co-morbid with anxiety and depression.

Stimulant medication can help with all of these. If anything try it for a month, then stop using it, and see which world you like better.

Personally, I take stimulant medication not so I’m better at work, but so that I have the energy to be a good dad and husband after I’ve already used all of my energy, trying to be a good employee. It really helps.

Re: Ask HN: How do I find a job, in this market with ADHD

#29

Post by freedomben »

sillycorn wrote: post #10
_boffin_ wrote: post #4

Fight yourself. Fight yourself all day as the world doesn’t revolve around you. Learn how to compensate for tote issues. Do t change up everything, but learn to communicate. Carry something to fidget with that allows your hand to move as much as needed which then allows the body to be a little bit calmer and focused. I carry a satin sash everywhere that I constantly play with. Always out of sight, but I’m playing wit…

I tried using some fiddling stuff in past around people, it seems to annoy them. But yeah, having this diagnosis was a relief in a way, it answered the unknown to me. I'm still learning on how to cope with it, but definitely some helpful suggestions thanks.

Yeah, the annoyance to others is a big thing. I've had success getting stuff that is quiet and sits in my pocket. If you search on Amazon for ADHD fidget toys for adults, you'll find quite a few options. The one that works the best for me, is a little brass cube that has gears on each side. You can spin the gears easily in your pocket without looking , and it is completely noiseless. I also use it during video meetings where I can hold it off camera.

Whatever you do, when you are in front of people, don't pick something that makes noise :-) it will annoy almost everyone, but very few people are willing to tell you.

Re: Ask HN: How do I find a job, in this market with ADHD

#30

Post by pavel_lishin »

sillycorn wrote: post #8
pavel_lishin wrote: post #3

> I visited a psychiatrist recently and was diagnosed with ADHD. Were you prescribed any medication? Just getting a diagnosis is good, and learning some tools to help you cope is great, but honestly medication has done wonders for me when I was taking it. (I'm not going to say which specific one, because I'm not a doctor, and what worked for me may not work for you.) > And job market has not been so good unless I get…

> Were you prescribed any medication. Yes I'm hesitant to it because. Im worried about developinand addiction to it. If you wouldn't mind sharing some insight from your experience how is it. > What sort of shadiness are you talking about? Lying about my VISA status, experience etc.

> Yes I'm hesitant to it because. Im worried about developinand addiction to it.

Are you worried about getting addicted to Tylenol? If you broke your femur, would you avoid taking prescribed medication? If you're going to the dentist, do you eschew nitrous oxide and lidocaine?

I mean, yes, it's a concern - people do develop addictions - but with a proper doctor, and taking it as prescribed, the odds are pretty low.

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