Hi,
I finally got a job that suits me the best as an IT technician in a small shop.
It reminded me a lot of when I started working in IT. The people were nice and they gave me a real good feeling.
They've been looking for someone for 3 years and saw nearly 10 people coming in and being fired because some didn't really know the trade and others not fitting in the team.
My job was to sell IT stuff in the shop but also mainly take computers in for repair, re-install, troubleshoot and so on. You know, the kind of work that small IT businesses have.
The team really liked me since apparently I was the only guy after 3 years coming in and knowing the stuff. Management liked me too.
During the interview they told me that it was really usual to take 2 to 3 months to learn all the quirks of their business. That's true to nearly every onboarding process.
After 10 days I wanted to talk to my boss and tell them that I have ADHD and that I'm under therapy. I kindly asked if it was possible to be free for 2 hours a month to follow my therapy. In our country we have 26 days of paid leave a year. I thought 2 hours a month would possible as I proposed to make the time up here and there.
The boss told me that it was great that I was taking care of myself but I should have disclosed my “sickness” as he said, before signing the deal. He would take this request to the board and come back to me later.
At the end of the week he invited me into his office. The first thing he told me was “Hey, this is not because of your condition.”
That sounded already like it was because of my condition…
He went on and explained that I didn't know every procedure of the business and that he couldn't keep me any longer.
I got fired with a notice period of 24 days as required by law but he also gave me a letter stating that I should not come back for the 24 days. Which meant that I got paid for 24 days without having to show my face at work. Nice, but still bad.
I felt like the biggest failure because my condition was clearly the reason why they wouldn't keep me. Since then I've been working somewhere else for the last 10 months. I'm happy and management values me, even when they know that I have ADHD, which means that I have to take more breaks to be as productive as they need me.
I had the chance to open a complaint about this but I didn't since the idea that I “had to tell him before signing the contract” got stuck in my head.
My self esteem was really up since I found a nice job with nice people and then I get fired because I have ADHD.
Of course today I know that my condition doesn't define me. I'm a working member of society and I'm valued.
How would you have reacted?
🥔