Today’s job scenario calls for working hard to reach the corporate ladder. You work hard and in the process you ignore your health and you suffer from stress and anxiety. In due course it affects you and you become sick seeking medical attention. If the condition worsens you think of quitting the job and do something to regain your health. This will entail you to take a long break. You think of choosing a less stressful job.
You search for many jobs and attend interviews. You disclose about the illness at some interviews and it backfires on you. You are a potential candidate and somehow you seem to not get the job. You think about the situation and decide that hence forth you will not disclose your illness in interviews as it is affecting your job prospects.
Never Disclose When It Is Not Required
Some illness do not require frequent visits to the hospital and they could be managed easily. If the illness does not affect the job in any way then, you need not disclose the disease. You need not mention about the illness in your resume as you are confident of meeting deadlines and this might not affect your productivity in any way. You could just mention that you took a break to do your own projects or you were learning.
If the illness requires constant monitoring or if you suffer from low sugar, you need to tell at the final interview. Some employers are happy that they are taken into confidence and give you the job. But most of the times the scenario is different and you end up not getting the job. Observe how the situation is and only then reveal. Most of the offices may have refrigerators for storing insulin and you can just use them in case of your low sugar. You can also take breaks in between for snacks and insulin.
If your illness does not affect your work in any way then, it is better to avoid it in the resume or talk about it during the interview. It is always better to avoid it rather than inform the employers as you can get a job and you will perform well. You need to disclose only when the illness is very critical and the symptoms become visible once you join the organization. In that case if you inform some employers will not hire you for your skills sets and they will not cite any reason.
How To Disclose
If you need to talk about your illness you can do so by following these
- Never become emotional when disclosing your illness.
- Demonstrate your will power and how you deal with the illness. This makes the employer confident about you.
- Keep it simple never divulge more than what is required.
- You must be well aware of your illness.
- Never crave for sympathy as it will affect your job prospects.
So you can elaborate on your strengths and how you were good at your previous job. You can stress that you were able to meet your deadlines and you are better equipped to take care of yourselves.
Legal Angle
Legally it is not necessary to disclose your illness. So if you do not disclose your illness it will in no way affect your job. Some employers do not ask for previous references but some employers do want reference from previous employers. In such cases, if your reference is good then there is nothing like it.
In case after landing in the job you lose the job citing medical reasons you can contact the labour department which will pursue your case. So you need not worry as legally not disclosing your chronic illness is not at all a crime.
Be Confident!
You can land in some jobs only when a satisfactory medical check-up is done. In such cases you need to disclose your illness only in the final interview. You can also emphasise to your prospective employer that your illness does not affect your performance and you can also show that your health condition has improved and you are fit to handle any type of work pressure. It all depends on the confidence level you show. If you become emotional and stress more about the illness then, you lose out on your confidence and lose the job ultimately.