Game changer ADHD diagnosis in adulthood: reflections on subjective career success, career crafting and career outcomes

Purpose This study aims to explore how individuals diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in adulthood reflect on their career paths in terms of subjective career success, career crafting and career outcomes. Design/methodology/approach Based on a social-constructionist worldview, 14 episodic biographic interviews were conducted with employed individuals diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood. Findings were derived through template analysis. Findings The detailed reflections indicate a significant impact of undiagnosed ADHD on career success and career crafting. Before diagnosis, career decisions were impulsive or unintentional and career crafting was low, resulting in mainly negative individual career outcomes. The diagnosis is pivotal in enabling proactive career reflection and increasing the potential for career construction. Four phases of enhanced career crafting were identified: grief, acceptance, intention and action. Most participants actively engage in phase two but have difficulties entering phases three and four. Professional support is considered beneficial, but offers are scarce in the German healthcare system. Originality/value This research offers novel understanding of how adults who have received an ADHD diagnosis after adolescence retrospectively interpret the tenets of the sustainable career ecosystem theory. It highlights how personal life events influence career perception, emphasizes the role of self-knowledge in career crafting, introduces personal turning points as a catalyst for career change, identifies deficits in the German healthcare system, and informs a call for further research on additional life events and factors shaping sustainable careers in individuals with ADHD and other neurodivergent populations.