> I have been diagnosed with ADHD this year. How do I best tell prospective employers I might need some accommodation in this process?
You don't. In my experience, any mention of anything resembling mental illness will result in rejection (but obviously they'll cite some other reason to avoid a lawsuit).
As a general life advice (this may sound harsh (but thats life)) ... never admit weakness or flaw to anyone that you're selling yourself to. They will immediately ignore your 99 other good qualities and only focus on the flaw you mention.
Selling yourself is a game, and the ones "buying" you dont have the cognitive head space to make difficult decisions across many candidates. They will always choose the mentally easier option.
The "game" is that you have to as quickly as possible figure out exactly the mental model of what it is they want, and frame yourself as that. All the parts of whether you or they actually fit each others needs must be done within that dynamic. You cannot explicitly mention negative qualities, you have to infer whether they will be accommodating.
As somebody who has been diagnosed with ADHD (and struggled mightily at times) ...yes. This.
Once you get the job, most workplaces simply just want you to get the job done and are fairly flexible.
Need to wear noise canceling headphones or hole up in a conference room to write some code in a distraction-free environment, etc.? Been in the industry for 25 years and that's never been an issue.
Mentioning a label like ADHD to an employer is IMO useless at best and career suicide at worst. Most commonly it sounds like you're making excuses. Best case scenario is that they're sympathetic, but, the label "ADHD" still does not tell them what you actually need. Even if your manager has diagnosed ADHD as well that doesn't mean her needs are the same as yours. So why even mention the label? Tell them what you need -- or better yet, when it's feasible, just do it the way you need to do it.
For example, working on a teeny tiny laptop monitor exacerbates my ADHD. Shuffling windows around really breaks my flow. So I like big and/or multiple monitors. If I have a workplace tech budget I use it on big-ass monitors or I simply bring my own. There are cheap, lightweight, portable 1080p USB-C monitors now and I can fit two of them in my laptop bag alongside my laptop. So by buying $200 worth of USB-C monitors on Amazon I have solved this particular hurdle for myself.
There are physical and mental health diagnoses for which I wouldn't give this sort of advice. And yeah, the world should be different.
Well, I have seen folks have a wide range of reactions. Everything from "I have ADHD too!" to "ADHD is a fake disease and just a way for lazy people to make excuses."
ADHD needs to be understood and destigmatized and I do talk openly about ADHD (like now) but it's just something I don't volunteer about myself in my professional life.
n.b. when I say "career suicide" I could have used a better choice of words. I wouldn't ever say that mentioning would torpedo your entire career. But it might be bad for your career at a given company IMO/IME. Depending on who reads it and how neanderthal their views are.
You don't. In my experience, any mention of anything resembling mental illness will result in rejection (but obviously they'll cite some other reason to avoid a lawsuit).