Auhd Job Search
Hi everyone👋 I am looking for advice on jobs that are sustainable for Auhd adults as I am at a loss.
I’m late diagnosed ADHD and I have received my Autism diagnosis this week. I have found it impossible to keep a job and get let got within 1 year. To be clear, it is not because I don’t want to work but what happens is I work myself to burnout and have never been given reasonable adjustments, when I have asked for them I have been dismissed on the spot.
I have a creative degree and need to earn a salary high enough to support myself as an individual as living with roommates is not an option for me. My background is in events and fashion however I have come to realise this is not a compatible industry for me to work in. Due to the illegal nature of my dismissals I do not have references I can provide to my next employer and my CV looks like it is all over the place.
If anyone can offer guidance or support on how to write a neurodivergent CV and what kinds of jobs you would recommend I would really appreciate it.
Hi Dee 👋
This is a question I hear quite a lot, and I think one of the most important (and sometimes frustrating) things to say is that there isn’t a single answer to it.
While ADHD and autism can share some common traits, how they show up in day-to-day life is often completely unique to each person. Because of that, there isn’t really a one-size-fits-all “best job” – even roles that seem like a good fit on paper can work really well for one person and not at all for someone else.
A starting point that some people find helpful is to break things down into:
what you naturally enjoy or feel engaged in
what plays to your strengths
what you find challenging
what working environments work best for you
what tends to drain you or lead to burnout
From there, you can start to look for patterns rather than specific job titles. Job fit for neurodivergent people often comes down more to environment, flexibility, and support than the role itself – things like autonomy, predictable structure (or the right level of variation), and whether reasonable adjustments are genuinely supported can make a huge difference.
I’ve got ADHD and I’m currently on the waiting list for an autism assessment (although I’m not sure I need a diagnosis to confirm it 😂). What I try to do is build around the strengths I feel both bring, while also being aware that those same traits can show up very differently depending on the environment. Something that feels like a strength in one setting can quickly become a challenge in another.
I’m definitely not saying I’ve cracked it – I’m a long way from even coming close – and I don’t think it’s something that can ever be fully “figured out”. Life changes, and so does how things affect you.
What I’ve found helpful is having a few core principles to come back to. It helps me adjust as things shift, rather than trying to box my day-to-day life into how society says I should function. That said, we still have to live within that society and sometimes work within those expected boundaries. When things don’t go to plan, I try to be kind to myself and remind myself that my brain just works differently – and that’s ok.
I’ve found that having a level of acceptance and a willingness to work with what my ADHD (and likely autism) means for me goes a long way.
On the CV side of things, I don’t think there’s a single “neurodivergent CV”, but a few things people can find helpful are keeping it clear and easy to scan, using bullet points, and focusing on strengths and impact rather than just listing duties.
A lot of the skills that come with ADHD and autism don’t always come across clearly in a traditional CV, so it can help to make those more explicit – things like problem-solving, creativity, attention to detail, or how you approach tasks.
Disclosure is completely personal – some people choose to include it, especially if they’re looking for roles where adjustments are important, and others don’t. There’s no right or wrong answer there.
It’s also worth being aware that employers have a legal duty to provide reasonable adjustments, although how this is applied can vary quite a bit in practice. Some organisations are much more proactive and supportive than others.
Because of that, it might be helpful to look into an organisation’s policies, values, or even how they talk about neurodiversity publicly before applying, where possible, just to get a sense of how well it’s likely to be supported in reality.
The burnout side of things is also really important, and what you’ve described is something a lot of people will recognise. Burnout risk is often higher when there’s a mismatch between demands and support – especially where adjustments aren’t in place and we keep pushing ourselves beyond our natural limits. The key can often be spotting the early signs and building ways to manage your energy before it gets to that point — which again is very individual.
There are quite a few helpful resources out there – I personally find a lot of the articles on additudemag.com useful as a starting point.
Hope some of that helps a bit 👍