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Two chronic issues for people with chronic illness who are job interviewing are: disclosure and employment gaps.
In this post, I’ll discuss disclosure. I’ll cover employment gaps next time.
Disclosure centers on 3 big questions:
- Should I say it?
- What should I say?
- What is the right time?
Recently while discussing what he’d say in his upcoming job interview, my client said that I seemed to have shifted my position on whether to disclose or not. He was referring to Managing Your Career in The Wall Street Journal (“Should Job Hunters Reveal Their Illness” — scroll down to the article on my web page), in which I seem to make a case solely for pre-employment disclosure. The article makes some good points and is worth reading.
But that article was written over 5 years ago, in a very different job market when jobs were plentiful. And the reporter only captured part of what I said.
For the record, I’m not a believer in rampant disclosure. I haven’t heard a good reason yet to disclose a chronic illness if you can do the job as it’s expected. This is your health history and there’s no reason you have to share it if it’s not relevant to the discussion. “Leave This Info Out Of Your Interview”, offers good tips and puts your health history in the red light, tmi zone.
But what if you live with symptoms that affect your performance? Or maybe you’re “fine” at this moment but frequently have symptoms that make work difficult? In that case, disclosure might be a good idea.
Yes, there’s stiff competition for this job and you don’t want to create “red flags” unless it seems necessary. On the other hand, if you ask for a flexible schedule in the first of work because of illness that you never brought up, you could make people pretty angry with you. Tred lightly and carefully.
If you decide to disclose during the interview stage, wait until you’ve created a positive impression. Don’t bring it up in the first interview when they’re getting to know you. Keep your explanation simple, to the point and focus on how the symptoms affect how your work.
Now — use this to your advantage. Demonstrate that you’re a proactive employee by offering a few suggestions for what can be done relatively easily to accommodate your needs. Show that you’ve done your homework and found that their employee benefits policy allows for the flex scheduling you need. You might even suggest that illness has to you how to think on your feet, problem solve and be resilient. Just don’t go overboard with the sob story 🙂
Looking for more info and ideas? I discuss this in detail in my booklet (Are You Talking? – part of the Career Thrive Series).
What have you found works — or backfired — for you?
Christina Gombar says
There’s another angle to this — you can actually get fired or excluded from medical coverage if you don’t disclose an illness in advance, according to the fine print of my employer’s insurance policy.
It’s a great idea to keep mum and hope for the best, but I think it’s better for everyone to have their cards on the table.
Rosalind says
Great point, Christina. Although it is important to know that insurance policies can no longer exclude you if you have a pre-existing condition. I’m always a believer in cards on the table but any good card player knows, that you don’t want to tip your hand until you stack it in your favor. (couldn’t help but keep the metaphor going 🙂 )
Christina Gombar says
Actually, a disability policy can exclude you for anything they want. This means that, while the health care provider may cover your treatments for whatever your chronic illness is, the disability insurance provider can decide that — while your illness is a real, disabling disease, it is not one they cover in case of major disability, no matter how demonstrable. This is true even in a group policy. A policy might cover MS, in case of major disability, but not fibromyalgia.
I think the best advice for anyone with a chronic illness is to consult a lawyer with expertise in this area. What he or she has to say may not make you happy, but it’s important to get that clarity going in.
Rosalind says
Yes a disability policy can have exculsions. But what about health insurance? I was under the impression that at least in MA, insurers cannot exclude due to pre existing conditions. Is that true? And isn’t that one of the issues on the proposed bill?
Kathy says
hi my country has a public health so I dont need to worry about telling work.
What would you recmomend telling at a job interview if you get sacked due to poor performance due to illness?
Rosalind says
Kathy- Sorry I didn’t reply earlier but I’ve been on vacation and “off-line”. It’s hard to answer your question because there are so many variables. In general, I wouldn’t every tell an interviewer you got sacked for poor performance due to illness because you won’t get the job. So the thing to figure out is, what’s different this time that makes you think you won’t lose the job? Rosalind
Alan says
I have found that employers will not hire epileptics due to increased insurance costs if one discloses, and will fire you innediately for failure to disclose if it becomes apparant that you have the condition.
In an “at will” state, there are always to get around health regularions.
Rosalind says
Too true. There are always stories like this. Has this happened to you or someone you know?
Alan says
Several times.
I’ve given up disclosing, and my doctors agree with my decision. It’s just not worthwhile to be at the mercy of a profit-making entity.
By the way, I recently quit smoking in order to get a reduction on my insurance. Now, the insurance company wants to take random blood tests on former smokers to see if they are cheating. Fine, I can live with that. I’m worried about what else they might find in my blood and whether they can turn it over to my employer in order to ger me fired. That’s something I can’t have.
Rosalind says
I couldn’t agree more with your reasons not to disclose. It should only be if it’s in your best interest over the short and long run. It sounds as if you’re either working for some nasty employers or in a field in which blood testing is the norm. How is that going for you?
Alan says
No, the insurance company wants to do random testing in order to see if I have started smoking again. If so, I can be discharged. I wondered if my medication might not be discovered and reported to the employer.