Apply, Cry, Repeat
The ADHD Job Search & Burnout Survival Book
Tired brain. Big skills. No tolerance for roles that slowly drain you.
This is not a mindset book.
It’s not a “how to get the job” manual.
Apply, Cry, Repeat is for individuals who repeatedly find themselves in roles that appear ideal on paper but ultimately lead to exhaustion, disengagement and burnout in practice.
If you live with ADHD (diagnosed or suspected), struggle with job-hopping, or feel trapped in cycles of hope → over-effort → burnout, this book helps explain why that keeps happening and how to stop repeating it.
Why this book exists
Much career advice assumes that all brains work the same way.
Many ADHD books stop at coping strategies.
Meanwhile, burnout resources rarely explain why people keep choosing roles that lead to repeated exhaustion.
For this reason, the book brings together the neurobiology of ADHD, recruitment systems, and burnout mechanisms in a single conversation.
In practice, it highlights where recruitment processes and role expectations unintentionally create risk, not through lack of effort, but through misalignment between system design and how people function.
Rather than focusing on fixing people, the work draws on lived experience of ADHD, repeated burnout and years inside recruitment to examine patterns more clearly.
What this book helps you do
This is not about pushing harder or “selling yourself better”, it’s about understanding how you work so you can make decisions that are realistic, sustainable and informed.
You’ll learn how to:
- recognise your working style and early burnout patterns
- identify red flags hidden in job descriptions and interviews
- navigate recruitment without masking yourself in exhaustion
- manage time blindness, hyperfocus, rejection sensitivity and overwhelm in a work context
- make job decisions based on capacity, not panic or pressure
- understand why people with ADHD often reach burnout sooner and find it harder to recover
- choose roles based on how you function, not how you’ve been told you should
If you’ve ever wondered why you “can’t cope like everyone else”, this book explains what’s actually happening.
Why Apply, Cry, Repeat is different
- One of the few resources combining ADHD, burnout prevention and recruitment insight.
- Grounded in real-world experience across multiple industries and repeated burnout cycles.
- Addresses systems and expectations, not just self-care.
- Practical enough for individuals and useful for professionals supporting them.
Who this book is for
Neurodivergent job seekers (ADHD or suspected ADHD)
If job searching leaves you overwhelmed, exhausted or doubting yourself, this book helps you understand how recruitment processes interact with ADHD and how to engage with them without burning out.
Recruiters, hiring managers and HR professionals
Gain insight into how ADHD candidates experience your processes, where pressure begins to accumulate before offers are made and what small changes improve retention and accessibility.
Coaches, therapists and support professionals
Use the frameworks, examples and exercises to support clients who are stuck in job-hopping, burnout loops, or chronic misfit with traditional career paths.
Real situations this book addresses
- Why you keep applying for roles you’re overqualified for.
- Why “dream jobs” still lead to burnout.
- Why recruiters disappear and how to respond without spiralling.
- How rejection sensitivity affects follow-up and decision-making.
- What pre-burnout looks like in ADHD brains before and after accepting a role.
- How to use exercises as prep tools, reflection prompts or professional handouts.
A more realistic way forward
If you’re tired of adapting yourself to systems that don’t fit, or advice that tells you to try harder without changing anything meaningful, Apply, Cry, Repeat offers a clearer, more grounded alternative, not to push you into another role but to help you choose differently.
If you prefer a physical copy, the paperback edition is available on Amazon.
