Job Interview advice

[notsogrimreaper]

I am going on a job interview and my question is when do I let them know about my disabilities? During the interview or after I secure the job?

 

[hope23]

I am going on a job interview and my question is when do I let them know about my disabilities? During the interview or after I secure the job?

I personally feel its best to start off from a place of honesty from the start. What i found helpful when doing so was being able to show my prospective employer how much sick leave i had needed at my past jobs(which for me wasnt a lot) and assuring them that you are still competent and capable regardless of a health condition. I have approached it the other way in getting the job and then telling them and my personal experience was that it starts things off with a degree of distrust and the employer can feel as though you lied to them or purposely hid it. In my experience honesty is the best policy.

 

[sunkacola]

Always important to be honest, as hope23 says. But first, I would think about how much, realistically, my disability will affect my job performance, and have that firmly in mind. I wouldn't want to just start out saying I have a disability.

First get into the interview and then at an appropriate point mention that it's possible you may miss ____ days of work per month due to your disability. Or, that you may need a special chair, or to go home early, whatever you think you will need.

Make your emphasis on what you can do for the company in spite of your disability, and not what you expect the company to do to accomodate you, and also emphazise that you are accustomed to your fibromyalgia and know how to manage it, and will be taking the best care of yourself that you can.

Having interviewed a lot of people for jobs, I know that if someone comes in and starts by telling me what they want or need I won't listen much to anything else they say, because they are going to be a problem. I'll just move on to the next person. But if they look like a good prospect, and then tell me they have some disability but they will not expect the company to take care of them, and that they will be dedicated to doing the best job they can, then the disability won't affect my decision.

 

[johnsalmon]

fibromyalgia is not a disability it is a medical condition and as such at least down here I would not expect a person to disclose that to a future or current employer - employment laws change over countries but down here an employer would not have any rights under the law to sack an employee on the basis that he/she had fibromyalgia - it is up to you to determine if you can do the job or not

interestingly in Australia fibromyalgia is not classified by the Government as a disability thus some one suffering it cannot get NDIS benefits but funny enough some one suffering from fibromyalgia could get a disability pension if it restricts your ability to work by 60% - it just the way governments work - one goes by the medical condition the other goes by how it affects your working ability

 

[hope23]

fibromyalgia is not a disability it is a medical condition and as such at least down here I would not expect a person to disclose that to a future or current employer - employment laws change over countries but down here an employer would not have any rights under the law to sack an employee on the basis that he/she had fibromyalgia - it is up to you to determine if you can do the job or not

interestingly in Australia fibromyalgia is not classified by the Government as a disability thus some one suffering it cannot get NDIS benefits but funny enough some one suffering from fibromyalgia could get a disability pension if it restricts your ability to work by 60% - it just the way governments work - one goes by the medical condition the other goes by how it affects your working ability

I could have misread the initial question but my understanding was more along the lines of i have this 'thing' (notsogrimreaper used the word disability) do i need to disclose it and how, whether you call it a disability or a medical condition is up to you (being a medical condition does not automatically make it a disability but the symptoms of sed medical condition can lead to a certain amount of disability) and would depend on how crook you are or get in flare, for me personally in full flare i end up on crutches or in a sling for shoulders at which point that becomes a disability in that as a result i am now not able to do certain things.

So in new zealand you can be dismissed on medical grounds(under certain circumstances and as a result of a large amount of time away from work, around 6 weeks within one working year is the point at which they can dismiss you on those grounds), in new zealand it is also an issue of acting in good faith and if you have a chronic and long term illness(that could potentially affect your ability to do your job at certain times(full flare up for example depending on how bad it gets for you) you are obligated to disclose this, should you not do so this can lead to dismissal as you have effectively misrepresented yourself by not disclosing the health condition and its potential to affect your ability to do your job.
This can also become an issue of good faith in the employer employee relationship were you to not disclose and then have your employer find out(of which i have personally experienced, i did not disclose as i did not have a diagnosis but was most definitely sick, my employer then found out, the relationship was strained from that point forward and became rather toxic), i wasnt dismissed but actually due to how the relationship was because i hadnt disclosed i left, so effectively same end result


From personal experience not disclosing that information is a recipe for disaster(just
my opinion but also personal experience), and can destroy what otherwise could have been a good employer employee relationship. It does depend on where you live but in new zealand you must disclose that information (if it has the potential to affect your ability to do your job, particularly with a condition like fibro in which you have flare ups and whilst when not having a flare it wont affect your ability to work, during flare up there is the possibility that it could).

 

[johnsalmon]

as I said - 'it is up to you to determine if you can do the job or not" if you are of the opinion that you can do the job then I see no need to tell the employer - if you think you can't do the job then you should not have applied. In cases where after say some years of working for an employer you then get say fibromyalgia or essential tremor etc then yep sit down with the employer and see if arrangements can be made. Down here you can't be sacked for having the medical condition but you can be sacked for not fulfilling the employers requirements of work - in NZ you have the Medical retirement system

In Australia - Whether you tell your employer about your illness is a personal decision.
There is no law that says you have to share your diagnosis with anyone.
If you do tell your employer, you have the right to privacy.

it basically comes down to do you think you can do the job within the employers requirements or not

I have hired a lot of staff over the years and basically I never ask about their medical conditions but I do ask if they can do the job as required

 

[hope23]

as I said - 'it is up to you to determine if you can do the job or not" if you are of the opinion that you can do the job then I see no need to tell the employer - if you think you can't do the job then you should not have applied. In cases where after say some years of working for an employer you then get say fibromyalgia or essential tremor etc then yep sit down with the employer and see if arrangements can be made. Down here you can't be sacked for having the medical condition but you can be sacked for not fulfilling the employers requirements of work - in NZ you have the Medical retirement system

In Australia - Whether you tell your employer about your illness is a personal decision.
There is no law that says you have to share your diagnosis with anyone.
If you do tell your employer, you have the right to privacy.

it basically comes down to do you think you can do the job within the employers requirements or not

I have hired a lot of staff over the years and basically I never ask about their medical conditions but I do ask if they can do the job as required

From personal experience im going to respectfully disagree, i can certainly see your point of view however my opinion and experience has not lined up with your view which is fine.

I personally think disclosing is the best way to approach it but thats my opinion i dont expect others to share it.

In terms of medical retirement, thats well and good if you are close to retirement age however at 29 thats not actually an option for me so being dismissed on medical grounds is a big deal, (And medical retirement is dependent on a doctor signing off your condition on a yearly basis on the grounds that from a medical point of view you will not be able to work in the few interim year until you reach actual retirement age.) And especially if i could have approached it differently by being upfront and honest in the first instance. As someone who has done it both ways i know which way got the better outcome personally. Particularly as my experience has been that an employer you were up front and honest with is more willing to work with you and be more flexible as opposed to an employer who feels you lied by omission when they hired you(and neither experience was an issue of whether i could do the job or not)
Those are just my view so I'll leave it there

 

[sunkacola]

if you are of the opinion that you can do the job then I see no need to tell the employer - if you think you can't do the job then you should not have applied.

My opinion:

Of course, it is a person's choice whether or not they disclose a disability or other condition to the prospective employer.

Fibromyalgia may not be classified as a disability in most places. However, as Hope said above, it leads to or causes disability at least some of the time in most people who have it. If a person cannot drive, or cannot walk, or whatever, that is a disability and it would keep them from going to work that day or days. In my opinion, having a chronic pain condition is in itself a kind of disability. there are many kinds of disabilities, and not all of them mean that you cannot ever do what you want to do, just as not all of them are visible.

As for being able to do the job or not:
If what you mean by "able to do the job" is being 100% on every day and equally able to to the job every day, then no one with fibromyalgia is "able to do" any job, because there will always be times we don't function as well due to fibro. A person is fully able to do a job on the days that the flare is not so bad they cannot make it to work, and there's no reason they shouldn't apply for and get the job.

If, however, they don't disclose the fact that there will inevitably be days when they are slower at work than normal, or cannot come to work at all, they are being deceitful.
If you miss one day a month of work or have an off day now and then no one will really notice. But if it is a regular thing, as it is very likely to be with someone who has fibromyalgia (unless it is a very mild form that doesn't impede the person's activities at all), the employer and fellow workers will notive and wonder. And then it will come out that this is chronic, won't go away, and was known to the employee before they were hired.

As has been said before, this will break trust with the employer....not a good idea.

If a person has a disability that won't ever affect their job performance (such as having no sense of smell, but your job doesn't involve having to smell anything), then and only then it is OK not to mention it.

Of course medical conditions are none of the employer's business.....unless they are going to affect the job performance. And not only personal disability should be reported to the employer if it will affect being on the job, but other things as well. For instance, if you have a child with a disability or an illness that may mean you have to leave work on occasion to take the child to the hospital, you should disclose that as well.

Being upfront is always best with employers. Many are sympathetic, want to help, and are willing to make accommodations when the employee is straightforward with them, but won't like it at all if they feel something that affects the person's job performance has been hidden from them.

And even if in a particular place a person cannot be actually fired for having a disability, damaging the relationship between employee and employer is never good.

 

[hope23]

My opinion:

Of course, it is a person's choice whether or not they disclose a disability or other condition to the prospective employer.

Fibromyalgia may not be classified as a disability in most places. However, as Hope said above, it leads to or causes disability at least some of the time in most people who have it. If a person cannot drive, or cannot walk, or whatever, that is a disability and it would keep them from going to work that day or days. In my opinion, having a chronic pain condition is in itself a kind of disability. there are many kinds of disabilities, and not all of them mean that you cannot ever do what you want to do, just as not all of them are visible.

As for being able to do the job or not:
If what you mean by "able to do the job" is being 100% on every day and equally able to to the job every day, then no one with fibromyalgia is "able to do" any job, because there will always be times we don't function as well due to fibro. A person is fully able to do a job on the days that the flare is not so bad they cannot make it to work, and there's no reason they shouldn't apply for and get the job.

If, however, they don't disclose the fact that there will inevitably be days when they are slower at work than normal, or cannot come to work at all, they are being deceitful.
If you miss one day a month of work or have an off day now and then no one will really notice. But if it is a regular thing, as it is very likely to be with someone who has fibromyalgia (unless it is a very mild form that doesn't impede the person's activities at all), the employer and fellow workers will notive and wonder. And then it will come out that this is chronic, won't go away, and was known to the employee before they were hired.

As has been said before, this will break trust with the employer....not a good idea.

If a person has a disability that won't ever affect their job performance (such as having no sense of smell, but your job doesn't involve having to smell anything), then and only then it is OK not to mention it.

Of course medical conditions are none of the employer's business.....unless they are going to affect the job performance. And not only personal disability should be reported to the employer if it will affect being on the job, but other things as well. For instance, if you have a child with a disability or an illness that may mean you have to leave work on occasion to take the child to the hospital, you should disclose that as well.

Being upfront is always best with employers. Many are sympathetic, want to help, and are willing to make accommodations when the employee is straightforward with them, but won't like it at all if they feel something that affects the person's job performance has been hidden from them.

And even if in a particular place a person cannot be actually fired for having a disability, damaging the relationship between employee and employer is never good.

Well put

 

[notsogrimreaper]

thanks for the advice and reply's, not only do I have Fibro but have severe back issues having had 3 surgeries and my back is almost completely fused. but when I was granted disability it was based on both my back and fibro. I am back to work not because I want to be, I need to be to survive. I can and will do my job just needed to know when I should bring it up.

 

[hope23]

thanks for the advice and reply's, not only do I have Fibro but have severe back issues having had 3 surgeries and my back is almost completely fused. but when I was granted disability it was based on both my back and fibro. I am back to work not because I want to be, I need to be to survive. I can and will do my job just needed to know when I should bring it up.

You are not alone @notsogrimreaper i work 3 jobs not because i enjoy it or want to but because i have to to survive and as such my personal view is also that i have to work to survive and therefore regardless of how crook i am(majority of the time) i can still do my job.
Its still my experience that honesty is the best policy and most employers are compassionate