Job seeking and your health

Yes. Absolutely.

 

Good discussion. I think we need to establish that there are a lot of variables here. Is it the interview or the start date that requires an accommodation? Is it a week or month? Is it something that could be ongoing or a one-time thing?

I think it would be tough to justify interviewing for a job, accepting it for a June 1 start and then saying: "Oh, I have to be out from June 15 to July 15 for cancer treatment."

You may legally have the right to do that, but it doesn't seem right.

Frankly, this hypothetical is nothing like that. My "friend" wouldn't even be applying for jobs if he wasn't confident that this whole thing is a one-shot deal that'll be over in a month.

 

Then that's your choice. Probably not at the highest point of the ethics meter, though.

BB Bobcat sort of answered the part I would add. Say you keep the whole thing a secret and you get hired. Then the worst happens and the problem recurs. Only an asshole company would ask questions, I know.

But say it does ask questions. Are you then prepared to lie and to keep lying as long as it takes? Or are you going to tell the truth, which means admitting you didn't disclose what you knew at the start?

I know there are some people who view this employment thing as some sort of contest -- working "to rule"; lying as necessary; doing as little work as possible; playing the shell game of "Alexander in Cubicle 6 did that 3 weeks ago, so I should, too" and on and on.

 

Marty,

I don't see how you equate not disclosing personal information with lying.

 

A person has to actually get hired before worrying about how to handle any "what ifs" that may, or may not, occur after that.

And that will not happen if a company knows you have cancer and are currently undergoing treatment. If you need a later date for an interview, just say you have another commitment and cannot come out before such-and-such a date. If the company is really interested, it will accommodate you.

That said, if this really is expected to be a short-term issue, my suggestion might be simply to wait until after treatment is completed before doing any serious job-hunting.

Then, hopefully, you wouldn't have to concern yourself with any of this.

 

Who said anything about lying?

"I can't be there that date, I have a personal matter." There. Solved. No lying.

 

Getting a job, and keeping it, IS a contest, especially if you're in a corporate environment that encourages it.

Especially in the current environment, where businesses have no loyalty to their workers, they should expect the same.

Bottom line is, a worker has to look out for themself first, becauset the company sure isn't going to do so.

As far as lying to get the job goes, I realize I'm citing a movie here and I don't know if it legitimately happened, but look at "Cinderella Man". Braddock had a broken hand in a cast, but he darkened it up to make it look like a glove, and got the job.

You might say he lied to get the job. But if it was either lying and getting the job, and putting bolonga on the table to feed his kids, or telling the truth and letting them starve, oh well, I guess you feel he should have been virtuous and told the truth.

 

Reading your answers, I think one can safely assume you've never had a significant health problem, one that might interfere with your work.

This comes from experience: it is never advisable to tell them about your health.

What they don't know they cannot use against you; and what they do know, they will hold it against you. Even through that fake smile.

 

You assume incorrectly.

Based on that experience, I would agree that it's better to keep the details basic. But there is really no way, other than lying, at a certain point -- especially if anything is visible -- to explain the need to schedule appts. Specialists, especially those out of the area, do not schedule around your work life.

Based on some of the continued, repetitive one-dimensional responses here, I point out again that some here are unable to see the gray areas that come with this issue. I'll repeat the same point that some here seem unwilling or unable to grasp -- no one is stopping you from saying you can do the job or that you can start at a certain point. But if the problem recurs after you start, you will at least have to pretend you didn't know about it.

 

Regardless of how right anyone thinks they are about this, it's a highly personal, difficult choice to make, one I wouldn't assume to make for someone else.

BB, do what you think is right. You're the one who has to deal with what follows or doesn't follow. Hypothetically.

 

This.

Don't tell them anything you don't have to.

Look out for yourself.

You can play dumb later. They'll have a hard time calling you out on it and likely won't for legal reasons.

I hope you're OK.

 

Everything Ace has posted on this thread is dead on.

If you go in and tell them the truth, they're probably not going to hire you.

As long as they don't ask you directly if you have cancer, which I don't think they can legally, there's no way you can lie to them.

If you get called out on it you can always say, "I thought I was past it, but the doctor says I need more treatment."