I’ve noticed during our Internet radio interviews, people want to know our thoughts and guidelines around the issue of disclosure. This is one of the most important questions for people living with a chronic illness who want to remain employed, and the most impossible to answer directly.
The choice to disclose your illness during the interview process has to be a personal decision. There is no way we could possibly tell you what is right or wrong as there are too many variables. You’re not required to voluntarily disclose. You are required to answer interview questions as honestly as possible. Your potential employer is allowed to ask you questions to find out if there is anything that would prevent you from performing the tasks of the job for which you are applying.
“Job Relevance is the Key Factor.” From an article on monster.com: …interview questions should be designed to determine a candidate’s capability to perform the essential functions defined for the job. An interviewer is required to couch their inquiries in job-relevant language, and not to make assumptions about a candidate’s ability or disability. If you want to read more about what an employer may or may not do, read the full article, How to Interview Candidates, Part 3: Legal Interview Questions and Hiring Guidelines.
What about you, the candidate? I’m fairly certain it’s not necessary nor wise to start out your interview by introducing your illness too: “Hello, I’m Joan Friedlander and I have Crohn’s Disease?” It may be absurd to suggest you would ever do that, but the guilt and worry might make you want to just get it out of the way.
In our book, Rosalind wrote out some good ideas and guidelines about disclosure during the interview process (page 117). I think there is a lot of merit to her suggestion that if you decide it’s important to disclose that you do what you can to wait until the job offer stage, and only, again, when you have reason to know that you’ll need accommodations of some sort. If you chose not to disclose during the interview, you’ll do better if you have some plans for how you’ll handle disclosure if you’re ability to do your job changes. You can get help with that in Women, Work and Autoimmune Disease.
I confess I never disclosed on an interview because I only looked for a new position when I was well, and nothing was preventing me from doing my job at that moment. In addition, I didn’t understand what I was actually living with for some time because I went in to remission for almost 3 years after my first round of symptoms subsided. By the time another flare up came around I had 2 more jobs under my belt.
Later, when I had a clearer understanding of my situation, it was still quite likely that I could be in remission for months at a time. How could I say, “I should be ok for 10-12 months, but then I’ll probably have to go out on disability for a bit?” Do you think this was the wrong choice?
Here I am again, 3-plus years in remission. If I were to decide to go back to work for a company, do I know that I would become ill again? I don’t. I’m smarter about my situation, and I believe I’d handle disclosure differently if I felt it was important for the job ahead of me. Of course, now that we have the Internet a quick search would take a potential employer to this blog. Drat! I’d better get back to my marketing.
Joan
Having a chronic illness has made me very accountable to myself. Today, I am healthier and more energetic than many of my friends that are my age and younger.
I would never tell any employer that I had a reason for them not to hire me. I know that my chronic illness is a stupid reason to turn down a great employee, but they don’t. I would simply protect them from themselves.
Carrie, it sounds like you’ve found your way with this questions, and that you know that your illness is a factor in your life, but not the leading description of who you are and your capabilities. I can just feel the strength behind your words.
Joan
When you have a chronic illness, no matter how capable one can be, it can disrupt one’s work. However understanding that, if you know your condition very well, you can slowly make in a return in your general well-being and nurture it back to good health. Eventually you can manage your chronic illness and hold a job at the same time. One’s condition is confidential and there is no need to disclose your health problems. However, as long as you know you are capable in performing your job and you have a good relationship with your superior, you may then disclose your condition if that would bring comfort to you. Not a good idea to disclose chronic conditions up-front in an interview unless you know it will disrupt your work, which then makes it fair for your employer to know.