ADHD: Consider Unconventional Careers - Don’t Feel Bound by Others’ or Society’s Expectations

One of the great tragedies of ADHD is the number of people who have plugged themselves into a Farmer’s job when they’re ideally suited for Hunter work.

Image by Richard Duijnstee from Pixabay

One of the great tragedies of ADHD is the number of people who have plugged themselves into a Farmer’s job when they’re ideally suited for Hunter work.

Paul discovered this mistake after reading a book about ADHD, and made some changes in his life:

I’m a CPA. My father was a CPA, and since I’m the oldest boy in the family he always wanted me to follow in his footsteps, so I did. I went to college to study accounting, got my degree, got my CPA and then went to work for a large accounting firm in San Diego.

My father was proud of me, but for seven years my life was hell. I hate accounting! It’s not the numbers that I dislike. I’m pretty good with those. I even get a buzz off working things out, particularly if I can save a client some money or if I discover something that others overlooked.

But that’s a very small part of accounting. Most of it is drudge work. Filling out forms (mostly mandated by the government), double-check­ing other people’s work, and keeping things organized. This is boring!

When I read Lynn Weiss’s book about adult ADHD, I realized that I’m not my father. He’s not at all ADHD: in fact he’s the exact opposite. But my mother, I now see, is ADHD, and I must have gotten it from her. So it makes no sense to be an accountant like my father, when I’m ADHD like my mother who, before becoming a housewife, was an actress in local theater.

However, there was this small matter of my having invested my entire life into becoming a CPA I couldn’t just chuck all that.

So I went to the head of our branch of the firm and told her I’d like a position that involved more variety. I didn’t dare tell her that I had ADHD, but did say that I was bored with what I was doing, and that I was ready to consider something different, even if it meant a pay cut.

She moved me into an account representative position, which is sales. I now go out to visit prospective clients and pitch our firm’s services. Instead of being a Farmer, working day after day with boring numbers, now I’m a Hunter, on the search every day for a new client for the firm.

I’m having a great time in sales! And, even though the base pay is almost half of what I used to make, with commissions — because I’m such a good Hunter — I’m now earning more than I was before.