Interview Advice
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From 1999 to 2004 I was unemployed due to health reasons. However, I have recovered and since 2005 have been working as a consultant. Now I have been offered an interview for a more permanent position. What is the best way to handle the issue of my interruption in employment?
New Guy Windows Vista wrote:
What is the best way to handle the issue of my interruption in employment?
Be upfront about being out due to health reasons. It really isn't anyone's business to ask what it was.
"The clue train passed his station without stopping." - John Simmons / outlaw programmer "Real programmers just throw a bunch of 1s and 0s at the computer to see what sticks" - Pete O'Hanlon "Not only do you continue to babble nonsense, you can't even correctly remember the nonsense you babbled just minutes ago." - Rob Graham
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New Guy Windows Vista wrote:
What is the best way to handle the issue of my interruption in employment?
Be upfront about being out due to health reasons. It really isn't anyone's business to ask what it was.
"The clue train passed his station without stopping." - John Simmons / outlaw programmer "Real programmers just throw a bunch of 1s and 0s at the computer to see what sticks" - Pete O'Hanlon "Not only do you continue to babble nonsense, you can't even correctly remember the nonsense you babbled just minutes ago." - Rob Graham
IT may not be their business, but if another person with no history of health issues interviews as well, do you really think it wouldn't become a factor ?
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "Iam doing the browsing center project in vb.net using c# coding" - this is why I don't answer questions much anymore. Oh, and Microsoft doesn't want me to.
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From 1999 to 2004 I was unemployed due to health reasons. However, I have recovered and since 2005 have been working as a consultant. Now I have been offered an interview for a more permanent position. What is the best way to handle the issue of my interruption in employment?
Don't advertise it (in other words, don't make it prominent that you were unemployed), but if specifically asked what you were doing during that period, do NOT lie.
Cheers, Vıkram.
"You idiot British surprise me that your generators which grew up after Mid 50s had no brain at all." - Adnan Siddiqi.
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Ennis Ray Lynch, Jr. wrote:
they cannot legally inquire the specifics
AFAIK there's no such thing as an illegal interview question (at least not in Canada or the USA). It is, however, illegal to exclude someone from employment because of health issues, religion, marital status etc. That makes it a bad idea for a company to ask questions related to those things since it puts them at the mercy of a disgruntled job applicant. Doesn't mean they can't ask, though, so it's still important to have a good answer prepared even if it's "I'm not willing to discuss that." Cheers, Drew.
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Yup, there are thousands of sites like that, all saying basically the same thing. They really should be saying "Inappropriate" rather than "Illegal". In most cases, the questions aren't illegal at all. Basing an employment decision on the information those questions may provide is illegal. Big difference, and a lot harder to prove in court. I did find, however, that the Americans with Disabilities Act limits questions that can be asked about disabilities prior to a job offer, so that's one area where the question really may be illegal. There may be others as well, but I can't find them - just lots of references to "can't discriminate based on...". Cheers, Drew.
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From 1999 to 2004 I was unemployed due to health reasons. However, I have recovered and since 2005 have been working as a consultant. Now I have been offered an interview for a more permanent position. What is the best way to handle the issue of my interruption in employment?
AD&D
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Yup, there are thousands of sites like that, all saying basically the same thing. They really should be saying "Inappropriate" rather than "Illegal". In most cases, the questions aren't illegal at all. Basing an employment decision on the information those questions may provide is illegal. Big difference, and a lot harder to prove in court. I did find, however, that the Americans with Disabilities Act limits questions that can be asked about disabilities prior to a job offer, so that's one area where the question really may be illegal. There may be others as well, but I can't find them - just lots of references to "can't discriminate based on...". Cheers, Drew.
The questions themselves may not be illegal, but you should not ask them because it *does* open up the company to the possibility of discrimination lawsuits. Courts are pretty sensitive to discrimination cases, so if there's even the hint of a pattern that could suggest discrimination it's likely the case will end up both messy and expensive, and produce bad PR for the company regardless of the final outcome. If you have an HR department and/or a legal department and you're in the US, they will almost certainly have a policy that those particular sorts of questions are not permitted. So, legal or not, just don't go there. You can't make use of the answers legally as part of your decision-making process anyhow, and therefore they're nothing but useless smalltalk at best, a risk to the company at the worst.
Caffeine - it's what's for breakfast! (and lunch, and dinner, and...)
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Christian Graus wrote:
something that would scare them if they knew about it ?
I suffered from depression, so it was a mental health issue. Unfortunately, there is still a large stigma attached to mental health issues. This is a real worry for me.
Sabatical is a wonderful word
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
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I can definitely understand not wanting to hire someone who was violent. But I can also proudly say that was not my problem, fortunately.
If I was interviewing I would ask about a gap in employment. For me it would be best to be honest, say no more than you had to about it and show you had been doing fine since starting as a consultant. The main thing is to focus on the positive part of your career.
Visit http://www.notreadytogiveup.com/[^] and do something special today.
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Christian Graus wrote:
something that would scare them if they knew about it ?
I suffered from depression, so it was a mental health issue. Unfortunately, there is still a large stigma attached to mental health issues. This is a real worry for me.
I'm in the same boat, and I'm as worried about stigma as you are. Plus I've got the added burden of having no commercial experience. The economic meltdown won't help my chances either.
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From 1999 to 2004 I was unemployed due to health reasons. However, I have recovered and since 2005 have been working as a consultant. Now I have been offered an interview for a more permanent position. What is the best way to handle the issue of my interruption in employment?
You did NOT suffer from any health problems! You took some time off to "take care of some family matters" and that's that. It's not a lie, just not very discriptive of what you were actually going thru. I believe an employer can ask you about the break in work history, but not the reasons for it, so keep it short and non-discriptive. You can even say you used the "time off" to do some additional studying abroad, or research some technical related studies that would apply to the position you currently hold/interviewing for. Use it as a positive, but don't linger on it.
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From 1999 to 2004 I was unemployed due to health reasons. However, I have recovered and since 2005 have been working as a consultant. Now I have been offered an interview for a more permanent position. What is the best way to handle the issue of my interruption in employment?
By Federal law (HIPAA law - http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa ) an inteviewer, or anybody else for that matter, has no right to your private health information without your written consent. Even your insurance provider must have your written consent to access your health care records and cannot share that information. Your health care is considered one of the most private of matters. The "ocr" in the above URL stands for Office of Civil Rights. J
2MileHill Everything is temporary...
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From 1999 to 2004 I was unemployed due to health reasons. However, I have recovered and since 2005 have been working as a consultant. Now I have been offered an interview for a more permanent position. What is the best way to handle the issue of my interruption in employment?
I would simply mention that it was an acute health issue which will not re-occur. If they push it further then that, then it starts to wander into a legal area, as a company cant discriminate against a person on health issues, and if they require further information then that, then its obvious that they require the information to factor it into their decision.
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IT may not be their business, but if another person with no history of health issues interviews as well, do you really think it wouldn't become a factor ?
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "Iam doing the browsing center project in vb.net using c# coding" - this is why I don't answer questions much anymore. Oh, and Microsoft doesn't want me to.
Christian Graus wrote:
do you really think it wouldn't become a factor ?
It may. But I did work once with a guy who did have a health issue due, and when he had to go in for surgery every so often, he had us prepared so we could keep up on the projects he was working on so it could continue while he was out for 6 weeks at a time.
"The clue train passed his station without stopping." - John Simmons / outlaw programmer "Real programmers just throw a bunch of 1s and 0s at the computer to see what sticks" - Pete O'Hanlon "Not only do you continue to babble nonsense, you can't even correctly remember the nonsense you babbled just minutes ago." - Rob Graham
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You say there is some legal reason that he cannot ask more details about the time off?
New Guy Windows Vista wrote:
You say there is some legal reason that he cannot ask more details about the time off?
HIPAA, which ensures your insurability, also includes a privacy clause which prevents an employer from disclosing or requiring private health related information.
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I would simply mention that it was an acute health issue which will not re-occur. If they push it further then that, then it starts to wander into a legal area, as a company cant discriminate against a person on health issues, and if they require further information then that, then its obvious that they require the information to factor it into their decision.
I agree with this approach which is both honest and not overly revealing. Be aware that larger companies may have a pre employment physical requirement. During the physical, the doctor can ask you about any health issues. The doctor can not share your specific answers with the employer, but he can tell them if your health issues are likely to cause a problem performing the work or significantly impact thier insurance rates. So you may want to target small to mid sized companies for a few years.
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From 1999 to 2004 I was unemployed due to health reasons. However, I have recovered and since 2005 have been working as a consultant. Now I have been offered an interview for a more permanent position. What is the best way to handle the issue of my interruption in employment?
It would not surprise me if they are more concerned about you going permanent after being a consultant (since many consultants tend to stay independent). Also keep in mind that most interviewers will see your resume for the first time when you are sitting in-front of them, so an interesting story or friendly banter can go a long way in establishing a good rapport and using up interview time, leaving them just enough time to focus more on questions about your experience. If it does come up, be vague enough for your answer to be forthcoming yet not revealing, and answer the question like any other (so that you don't draw any more attention to that answer as compared to the other answers).
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From 1999 to 2004 I was unemployed due to health reasons. However, I have recovered and since 2005 have been working as a consultant. Now I have been offered an interview for a more permanent position. What is the best way to handle the issue of my interruption in employment?
Maybe tell them you were a man of leisure for a few years? Extended vacation? Oh, oh, I got it! You were living off your investments for five years. None of those are false, but they don't go into the specifics of what your illness was. If you don't want to talk about it, I wouldn't even mention a medical reason.
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From 1999 to 2004 I was unemployed due to health reasons. However, I have recovered and since 2005 have been working as a consultant. Now I have been offered an interview for a more permanent position. What is the best way to handle the issue of my interruption in employment?
The only exception to what others are saying... If interview is with USA DOD or one of thier contractors, all bets are off, they will find out whether they ask you directly or not.
MrPlankton
(bad guy)"Fear is a hammer, and when the people are beaten finally to the conviction that their existence hangs by a frayed thread, they will be led where they need to go."
(good guy)"Which is where?"
(bad guy)"To a responsible future in a properly managed world."
Dean Koontz, The Good Guy -
The only exception to what others are saying... If interview is with USA DOD or one of thier contractors, all bets are off, they will find out whether they ask you directly or not.
MrPlankton
(bad guy)"Fear is a hammer, and when the people are beaten finally to the conviction that their existence hangs by a frayed thread, they will be led where they need to go."
(good guy)"Which is where?"
(bad guy)"To a responsible future in a properly managed world."
Dean Koontz, The Good Guydepends what the job is. AFAIK for uncleared positions they can't do any more than any other employer. If you're in for a clearance *everything*, including theoretically sealed thinks like a juvie record are on play.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall