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Job ideas for 18-year-old on gap year with anxiety and ADHD

6 replies

JobHelpPleasex · 16/03/2026 13:24

I'm looking for job suggestions for DD(18, on a gap year) who wants to get a job before starting uni in September. She's had some mental health problems (anxiety) and also has a recent diagnosis of ADHD and autism. She has a psychiatrist who she sees every other month and an ADHD coach weekly. She's very intelligent, great academic grades, and can be unbelievably charming and together-seeming on the surface but struggling underneath.

She is really keen to get a part time job to save for uni, and I think it's a good idea to help her build some confidence. At the moment she's just at home doing nothing which is not great for her mental health. She had an interview for a supermarket delivery driver role but unfortunately ended up getting lost and panicking, so that obviously didn't work out and also made me think that a fast-paced delivery role might not be a great shout.

She'll be living at home while studying so we can make sure she gets the right support then .

Just wondered if anyone could suggest jobs that might be suitable? She has worked before as a hockey coach/referee for younger children. We live in London so lots of employers on the doorstep.

OP posts:
Divebar2021 · 16/03/2026 13:33

What does she actually want to do? If she’s got coaching experience is there anything she can do related to that? David Lloyd and those types of clubs employ lots of teenagers. A lots of “camps” run over the school holidays out of schools. Our local one had sports, arts and drama options which mostly seem to be staffed by older teenagers. She could also offer her services up as a babysitter if you know any parents nearby. We used a teenage girl down the road when my daughter was younger ( 10/11ish ) so it was more about being here than taking care of her. She comes now and feeds our cat for us too if we go away which for a week adds up to a decent amount of money and only takes a little time out of each day.

Needmorelego · 16/03/2026 13:34

What's her end goal for going to university?
Surely she should be looking for a job (or volunteering) in that field.

GoldDuster · 16/03/2026 13:37

I would encourage you as the person who knows her best to think about what skills she does have that an employer would benefit from. Yes she wants money and confidence, what does she have to offer in return? Head that way.

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MiddleAgedDread · 16/03/2026 13:40

what's she going to do at uni?
If she's good with kids then there's usually folk crying out for after school or wrap around childcare.

JobHelpPleasex · 16/03/2026 18:57

Thanks very much everyone. She's great with kids and enjoys their company so I'll suggest she has a think about the options here. No idea yet what she wants to do long term. Her degree subject is linguistics (actually can see her enjoying work on language acquisition, maybe speech therapy- but think I'll leave mentioning that for now given she hasn't actually started the degree yet!)

OP posts:
Needmorelego · 16/03/2026 19:33

@JobHelpPleasex surely she has chosen that subject though because she wants to work in that field.
Otherwise what's the point?

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