I just have a question, would you ever for any reason tell your potential boss in an interview that you have add, does it work to your advantage to be up front like that, and especially if you are on meds for it? Just wondering if I go to an interview to be a special ed teacher if that would be a plus thing or not? thanks LORI

Dear Lori:

I can appreciate your question. Unfortunately, if I were to go on an interview I would not tell the interviewer about my ADHD. My perception of the work world is that it is cutthroat no matter the profession. Any weaknesses are marks against you and alter the perceptions of others of you and your abilities. But, this is just my opinion based on my experiences.

Ann

does it work to your advantage
Sorry, can't think of even one example. Have you had experiences in the school system that would encourage you to disclose your ADHD and medications to a prospective employer?

Employers are usually insecure when they hire someone. I played the honesty card sometimes during interview and never got a job that way. You don't have to prove to your future boss that you are honest, they assume that you are. If you put any of your "weakness" in front, they may think that you feel insecure about the job.

Ask yourself why you would like to tell that you have ADD. If you cope very well with ADD you may think of it as an advantage, but does the employer can understand that? We can’t say something like “My ADD cortex is much more creative than your mere neuro-typical brain”. :D

<O:pIt’s just my own opinion. It sad that we have to sell ourselves like a used-car dealer would do, but it seems to be the cruel reality. <O:p

I hate trying to sell myself for a job interview, but its one of those necessary evils, I think.

I guess it wouldn’t be me if I went along with the masses. Personally Lori, I don’t see it as being a detriment by any means. ADD = instant personality. Some job places need a fresh jolt of enthusiasm. Ultimately it depends on what type of job it is. Definite in food industry work. Perhaps no if you are applying to be a monk (that whole vow of silence thing... though my father did it for 3 years. So some ADDers can do it.)

But I won’t leave it there for you Lori. I think it would be unfair of me to do so. What I will do is offer you a real life interview that I had with the local library for research some years back. As a preface, I didn’t get the job but for an honest reason.... someone with their doctorate had applied as well as me, a college drop out. Credentials, superfluous as they might be, does win out. Though days later, as I retrieved the daily mail, I got the rejection note but with a penned in comment “We really loved you and your interview. If another candidate with greater credentials hadn’t applied, you would have had the job. Try again when another position opens up -- PLEASE!”

Interviewer: So why do you want this job?
Sexy Man (Me): Honestly, I love learning. Always have. I worked at another library in my youth as a volunteer shelving books. That job opened me up to a world I never knew.
I have questions on top of more questions about life, about others, about everything. I’m a hyperactive and my mind spins as it starves for information to process these questions into answers, or answers that apply to my life.
So being a hyperactive, to take the time to sit down and read a book was challenging at times. But I didn’t give up. I took to checking out as many books on tape as I could carry out of work every couple days, typically 12 to 15 books at a time. I would listen to them as I worked around the house, painted, or did whatever.
Interviewer: Okay, sounds good. Name someone in literature that inspires you.
Sexy Man (Me): Jack London was the first author that inspired me to seek out life beyond the context that I had of it. The stories of traveling the world, meeting new people and new cultures, impressed upon me at a young age that A. I knew nothing, and B. I had a world to explore and a lifetime to do it in. So if I couldn’t travel to do it, I could seek it out through autobiographies, fiction and non, the Discover channel which I absolutely am addicted to, and even the History channel.
Interviewer: Great! So if you are hired, when can you work? Days or evenings? We can use both so your answer won’t eliminate you from the hiring process.
Me: Honestly, whenever. I am a night owl but as a hyperactive, I go days without sleep. I try to get out of being a night owl but the damn Discover Channel only puts on the best shows late at night so that does tend to alter my sleeping habits. Again, I love learning. I love to watch things on history, on cultures, on people, on science... anything and everything that might one day lead me to a “Eureka!” moment where I have answered one of my many questions.
Interviewer: Okay, you have me curious. What questions?
Me: Everything! Life, Religion, what makes one person different from another. Along the line of religion, I fear Christianity in that there is an inherent belief that once you die and go to heaven you know everything. Maybe I’m wrong but I don’t want that. I want to discover the answer rather than have it handed to me. I like the challenge of learning new things. Some might think it makes them dumb or less than another person having stumbled onto something after someone else. I don’t. Just the fact that I came to understand and appreciate what I stumbled onto through my scope of reason makes me blessed.

I didn’t get the job but I developed an open, an honest, relationship with the two ladies that interviewed me. I educated them that ADDers aren’t mental malcontents. I left that interview having won more than what I could have through a paycheck. Lori, its up to you but whatever you do, ADD isn’t a hindrance and shouldn’t be deemed as such. Its a blessing that provides creativity, honesty -- with others and with yourself, as it equally provides a changing of perspective as no two days are ever the same. Each one is different. Some good, some not so good.

Ultimately though, you live, you learn, and you learn how to laugh as you live with being ADD. Humility, Honesty, and Harmony with others and with yourself is the only way to live and to sell ADD. Its a blessing above all things, and a chance to stand out and be heard.

Why do u say discolse in the food industry? I have and do work in a kitchen at present and I have never disclosed.

From now on my plan for software and other office jobs is to not disclose in an interview (although I might hint at it -- it's obvious that I've now "gotten bored" with software jobs at a faster-than-average-pace), but to disclose in negotiation sessions before starting a job. This is because I don't think I can be satisfied in a work situation that isn't willing to work with me. Ideally I'd like them to not only accomodate my ADD, but even take advantage of it! Maybe that's not realistic for 99% of all employers, but I'm either going to find that 1% or keep looking for that career that so engages me that the issue never comes up.

I don't really see another option -- medicate myself into oblivion until I've ruined some of my best characteristics? Keep getting my performance impugned by managers who judge by process, not productivity? Why bother?


BTW, this thread about disclosure has some similiar themes: http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16618

Thanks you all,

I am like really naiive I guess, cause I thought to be honest is something that should be valued and appreciated, especially teaching these little guys who are going through much of what I have and am still going through, I think for them, survival is the issue-in a world that does not understand or cater to them-who look at them as lost, misunderstood, challenged and yes, weak- I am not hyperactive-I wish I were, my problems go the other way, falling asleep is what I try to avoid, but the point is, what, if it is so much of who I am and how I go about doing a job like that, does it profit me to NOT say anything and then try to double time everything to catch up. I hopefully will be on meds by then to help me focus and follow through-anyway you have all helped me to see the "real" picture.....................LORI

I am like really naiive I guess, cause I thought to be honest is something that should be valued and appreciated, especially teaching these little guys who are going through much of what I have and am still going through... I don't think you're naive, but I also think these replies are realistic for the context on which they're based. This is a huge generalization, but I'm guessing that many of the stories of people disclosing and getting burned by it are from Corporate America. In fields such as education or social services, while there may be individuals who still harbor prejudice, I feel confident making an educated guess that there will be more acceptance of any sort of disability than a private sector employer would be. (Of course I could be wrong about that -- I'd be very interested in hearing if the warnings on this thread are from private-sector careers or not.)

Ultimately (so I've read) with ADD comes a good intuition and ability to "read" people. You should carefully consider the upside and downside, but if you feel it's the right place to disclose your ADD then you should trust your gut. If it does come back to hurt you, then in my book that's a sign that it wouldn't have been a good fit.

(Maybe I'm the naive one now.)

Thanks, this just strikes a nerve with me, now the issue seems to be WHY is it so cutthroat in jobs like that? What do they hope to gain-in this fast paced world, and with all the modern technology, why are we still in a hurry to get there before the other guy, or in a hurry at all? Where does this impatience come from, and once you have achieved it, then what, a plaque for your wall? I just don't get it, if I can't be open, forthright and true to what and who I am-then what am I? Just wondering.......LORI

Just one more thought that I have in regard to teaching, yes I believe it is a lot about intuition, and about foresight, you already know what these kids are up against, what future they have, where they will end up-don't I want to have a say or to divinely intercede with and for them, don't I, maybe more than someone else have an insight to why they struggle so-they fight to stay alive, because they don't know any other way,nobody taught them or showed them or even maybe believed enough in them they are screaming for someone to listen,,,,,now I will go away quietly, thanks....once again..............LORI

What you're saying applies to all kids, not just ADDers.

I just have a question, would you ever for any reason tell your potential boss in an interview that you have add, does it work to your advantage to be up front like that, and especially if you are on meds for it? Just wondering if I go to an interview to be a special ed teacher if that would be a plus thing or not? thanks LORI
It's all about how you do it. Only do it if you have good chemistry with the interviewee and you're just rambling on. Say it in kind of a joking manner. Ie: "My friends often say I have ADD because I just jump from task to task."

Don't just be flat out: "I was diagnosed with ADD and am taking medication for it."

You should probably just avoid the ADD topic all together.

these little guys who are going through much of what I have and am still going through
Therein lies the rub. Do you agree that people with ADHD are in various stages of being ADHD? You have told a prospective employer that you have ADHD. Now, the employer might have to ascertain that, yes, you have ADHD and you're doing o.k. or . . . ?

Wouldn't it be easier to perform well at a job and then disclose your ADHD?

yeah,
thanks that's why I asked the question, I knew I didn't know or understand why I should or shouldn't-I plan to get meds if I am ever in that situation, but here is something else, do you have to go through therapy as well as meds, or can't they throw them at ya, and say "have a nice life" I would prefer that, I think, thanks,

takemeaway,
You do not need to go through therapy unless you need to go through therapy.

I would never admit and quite honestly if I was hiring would at least think twice before hiring someone that felt the need to point out something like ADD.

My thinking is usually people that feel the need to tell everyone about there problems are looking for short cuts and an easy ride. If they come into the job interview saying I have this problem a red flag goes up immediatly. What kinds of problems will this person cause and what jobs will they refuse to do blaming their disability.

If they will preform the job well they will talk about they're strengths in the interview. After all the interview is where you sell yourself. You point out your best qualities and make yourself sound better then the hundreds of other candidate for the position.

Remember ADD people are not the only people with flaws or problems. The woman with the terrible memory doesn't make a point of mentioning that in the interview. My advice leave out anything bad and focus on the good.

Admit? (that makes it sound like a crime).

Disclose it? No way.

why not?

Because Society does not understand that there are 100 different types of ADDers.


The news mostly covers the Criminals who have _Conduct Disorder_ (or, Anti-Social/criminality traits) in addition to ADD features.

Most people do not understand that ADD always co-occurs with some other diagnosis -- not all of them being "bad".

Some of us have Anxiety or Depression with our ADD. :)

But -- since you cannot EDUCATE THE WORLD on those of us who follow rules and try to be "good" -- i think it best to avoid the Topic altogether.

I refuse to disclose at school, too.

It would be career suicide.

No, definately not. It's a medical condition, and as such is deeply personal. You wouldn't offer any other medical info that could potentially be used against you at an interview - and it wouldn't benefit you in any way, so don't mention it.
If asked about your personality, you might describe yourself as "high energy" if you are always moving - you should give the interviewer an idea of your personality, as they are going to be looking for a good fit in the corporate culture which is in everyone's benefit - A fast thinking, high energy risk taker might be just what they are looking for at a stock trader's office, but not at an accountancy firm, and the ideal employee with thier dream job at one office would likely hate working at the other.
It's important to never say anything negative in a job interview - not about yourself, or previous employers, or anybody - no matter how correct you might be in your opinion, negative comments will always create a negative association with you in the interviewer's mind, even if it's ever so slight an association, it could result in someone else just edging you out for the job.

I absolutely would not disclose ADD/ADHD during a job interview!

Especially after the article that MSN had posted on the home page this morning prior to Bush nominating the new Supreme Court Justice.

Can't find the article now of course, but basically it made us all out to be EXTREMELY costly in terms of missed work and insurance premiums and focussed on all of the negatives only. We truly do not need that kind of negative press.:(

Did anyone else see the article?........I"ll try to find it.

Do you mean this one?
http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19526

...[Disclosure] wouldn't benefit you in any way....
Alhtough I agree that an interview is generally not the right place to disclose, I disagree that there are no benefits. Where an open-minded employer is involved, understanding how a prospective employee would process information should help immensely to both parties in assessing whether a person's a good fit for the role or not. My baseline assumption is that the candidate's purpose in an interview is not only to get the job at all costs, but also to assess whether the job is worth accepting!

Now, that said, I wouldn't ever recommend disclosure in an interview, because odds are your interviewer[s] won't be so understanding about ADD. If you have an extremely good "read" on your interviewer[s] and can tell they're open minded enough to work with different learning styles, disclosure might not be bad. I think in more cases it may be appropriate to disclose during negotiations, i.e. after an offer is made but before you've accepted it, or early in your tenure on the job when setting out work plans (a good underutilized idea, btw). The reason I take this position is that I've been in a situation where I was doing my job adequately to excellently, but was perceived as "goofing off" or not working hard enough. If I had known more about ADD, I could have laid the groundwork for my performance to be fairly assessed. That doesn't mean it would have been! But at least I could have done my part in setting expectations and let the chips fall where they may.

IMNAPL-

That wasn't the same article, but the gist was the same....couldn't locate the other one.

Cynical...

I guess that because of the various types of ADD/ADHD, I personally would never disclose during an interview or ever for that matter unless I should find myself in another inappropriate workplace. My job performance tends to be extremely successful after I once pick up on the job skills (I receive no complaints from anyone during the "honeymoon period"). My problems never start until I step on someone's toes that isn't doing a wonderful job. Many employers in this area refuse to deal with bullying in the workplace and this is what causes my trouble...the resulting anxiety. This would be the only time I would disclose... should be interesting to see what happens then.