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| Thread : Career Advice - Especially From Those With Advanced Degrees/Specializations | |
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| bazique |
Join Date:
Wed 16th Apr 2008
Threads: 1 Posts: 0 |
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Career Advice - Especially From Those With Advanced Degrees/Specializations
Hi All, I have read the threads with interest since my diagnosis of ADHD inattentive type several months ago. I am currently 25, male, a law student who just completed his first year. Given my poor performance, I am considering and almost certain I will opt for another career path. I have not gotten testing but I may also have a central auditory processing disorder. I did complete pre-med back in undergrad, so that is a possible field to get into. I was wondering if some of the people here have experience in the following fields, and could provide some guidance or opinion regarding these paths and my abilities: medicine, health administration/policy, environmental law. My weaknesses as shown by law school were: 1) organization, 2) writing quickly, 3) doing westlaw research without guidance, 4) shifting my attention from subject to subject. My standard test scores have always been in the top 2-3 %, but that is a product of work ethic and exam practice. For example, I took all 40 practice tests for the LSAT, but was not able to figure out a way to practice for law school essay exams. My strength, obviously, is preparing - as long as I know what it is I have to prepare for. I am also not afraid of a lot of work. I am considering medical school for psychiatry, a master's in health administration and possibly a phd, or possibly completing law school with a focus on environmental law. Given my horrible first year though, I cannot help but think document review is looming in my future should I continue because usually associates have to do whatever work they are given; they don't choose their specialization. Hence my career change. At this point, I would like to study something that will maximize my strengths. I have always been a good preparer, and I know a lot of friends and family in med school. The instructions are clear, it's a lot of work but you don't have to pull out things to study, it's right there. Health admin is less strenuous and I have little interest in it, but at this point I feel I could be interested in anything as long as it's clear and I have the opportunity to solve problems. I hope to hear from anyone who has experience in any of these fields. Thank you. |
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| Anni |
Join Date:
Thu 25th Oct 2007
Threads: 18 Posts: 416 |
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Dr. Ned Hallowell
Hello: I don't have any first-person experience to share, but I would like to turn you on to Dr. Ned Hallowell, a contributor to ADDitude who has ADD and dyslexia. He's also a wildly successful medical doctor who may have some advice to share with you... Articles by Dr. Hallowell: http://www.additudemag.com/authorID/7.html Reach out to Dr. Hallowell here: http://www.additudemag.com/resources/asktheexperts.html Hope this helps! |
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| Laura P |
Join Date:
Wed 14th May 2008
Threads: 0 Posts: 3 |
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Try a coach
Have you tried talking to a career/life coach? I'm sure you don't have a lot of extra money being in law school, but talking to a career coach that specializes in ADHD might really help you get started on the right career path for you. You may even find out that you are already on the right path, but just need some helpful tools to get you through the areas that your ADHD hold you back. I have been in a training class with a wonderful woman, Barbara Luther, who is a Master Certified Coach who specializes in ADHD clients. She is speaking at the ADDA conference in July in MN. Here is her website http://www.windbeneathyourwings.com/ If she is not the right coach for you I know she has many other ADHD coaches that she could recommend. You are right in trying to figure out your best career path now rather than constantly being frustrated and making multiple career changes that cost you money rather than make you money. Good luck! Laura Paul |
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| umnlawgrrl |
Join Date:
Thu 18th Sep 2008
Threads: 0 Posts: 2 |
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don't give up yet!
i know just how you feel. i was diagnosed with ADD when i was 18, and i am currently a 5th year attorney at a satellite office of a 500-attorney firm. i liked the idea expressed above about creating "artificial deadlines," although i have found that they really don't work that well for me. organization is something that all people with ADD have to struggle with. for me, the key has been keeping everything (to-do list, calendar, shopping lists, goals, long-term projects) in ONE PLACE. that place needs to be with you and accessible at all times, so you can consult it often when you forget things, and so that you can IMMEDIATELY add things that need to be done, as soon as you think of them and before you get a chance to forget. there should also be reminders built in. one option for those with ADD is www.rememberthemilk.com. you can keep tasks in lists according to where they're going to be done, or in any other way that makes sense (i.e., "work," "school," etc.). the site will send you text messages, IMs, e-mails, or twitter reminders at any time you specify. it integrates with google calendar and you can create a task from anywhere by simply sending an e-mail (even from your phone) with the details. my favorite (and the one i use religiously) is www.todoist.com. i like it because of its clean interface, and because it has the ability to create sub-tasks, organizing your list in an outline-like manner. then, you can display all the tasks that are due today, or in the next 4 days, or whatever, from all your various projects. you can also create items without checkboxes - i use those for my appointments. you can add links, and it also has a feature that lets you make any gmail message into a task. it will send you as many reminders as you like via e-mail or text message. it has a site specially built for mobile devices, so i just go there on my phone's browser anytime i need to add something. if you use google calendar, that also has a function that will send you any number of text messages to remind you. also, when you become a lawyer, you've got a secretary who's job it is to be organized FOR you. they can keep your calendar and task list, remind you when things are due, and generally be a pain about things like reporting your billable hours. i also understand how difficult it is to do westlaw research without getting distracted - the ways you can branch out on little tangents are endless! i'd often find myself in law school, an hour into my research, trying to remember what the heck question i was actually trying to answer. but this shouldn't dissuade you from the practice of law, for two reasons. First, you can get around that. Set one of your reminder systems (whether google calendar, outlook, or just an alarm on your phone) to go off every 20 minutes. at the end of the 20 minutes, stand up, walk away from the computer, and don't come back for 3-5 minutes. get some coffee. go to the bathroom. say hi to a friend. anything that doesn't involve a computer. the break will cause you to re-focus when you sit back down, and if you're off in tangent-land, you'll notice that right away. Second, you should know that the kind of work I do (corporate and securities transactions) involves almost no research projects or document review. i draft contracts, think of creative ways to structure transactions, and negotiate and interface with my clients and opposing counsel. very very very rarely do i do one thing all day long. true, research is tough to avoid at a very large firm, but if your office or firm is small enough (less than 100 attorneys), you're more likely to get your own deals to handle from the beginning. And, you'll notice that the more responsibility you have, the more motivated you are to complete the tasks. finally, we all have bad semesters and bad grades. i actually got 2 low C's during my first year and some low B's, but still managed to finish law school in the top half of my class. law school is tough on the ego because it takes individuals from the top 10-25% of their college classes and dumps them all together - and now somebody's got to be in the bottom 10% for the first time in their lives. it doesn't mean you'll end up doing document review. i actually think you could be quite happy (and could easily get hired) at a smaller firm, with a billable hour requirement in the 1500-1900 range. but if you're thinking about options other than law, you might consider investing in the Myers-Briggs assessment. You can take it here: https://www.mbticomplete.com. It's $60 and includes a professional analysis of the results. Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss/chat...and don't worry - you're not alone! |
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