I was a paid intern at a non profit last year – which was my first real work experience after college – and recently applied to a full time position there after working full time elsewhere (love it, it’s just not permanent!).
For background, I have struggled with my mental health basically my whole life but am pretty high functioning. This was something that I confided in my supervisor, because it does affect me in the way I work. I don’t work poorly, I just require different tactics for working efficiently because of my ADHD. Since this was my first adult job, I admit that it took me a few months to get the swing of things with my issues but once I did figure out how to manage it I was rocking it!
Fast forward to last week: I applied for the job and the interview was going great until my colleague (who would be the supervisor for the position, but wasn’t the person I confided my mental health issues in) said she wanted to “lay it all out on the table” about my mental illness and how it would affect my ability to do the job. I kept my composure and answered the questions professionally but I can’t help but feel like it was incredibly inappropriate of her.
I was excited about the job, but I think that if I get an offer I’m gonna turn it down. I don’t want to work with/for people who gossip about my disability. Any thoughts?
For context, I have severe OCD and ADHD – but I can still do great work, I just do it differently.