Job Interview Tomorrow

[SGWhiskers]

I have a professional job interview tomorrow. I'm still not recovered from Celiac enough to do the job with as much energy as I would like. I think I have the energy to do the job sufficiently though. I have a history of taking time off for doctor's appts and migraines or cramps. I certainly have felt poorly through the past several years. I never went more than one day over my allowed sick leave, but supervisors never liked the time off. My celiac symptoms did have something to do with me leaving my last job. I would be going back to work part time, but DH will be laid off any day now, and we won't make morgage if I don't go back full time.

So as I'm prepping for my interview, the audiobook I'm listening to says questions about my health are acceptable in an interview. This is seperate from the questions about ability to perform the job with or without accomodations. Any good ideas of how to phrase my recovery from Celiac if I can't avoid the topic entirely? Or what if I slip and it comes out? I've been off work for 1.5 years and expect that I will need to have appts with my doctors trying to clear up some of the residual problems I still have.

Even if this does not come up in the interview, I'm wondering how to address this if I do get the job. Every month, I need to take off a day of work because of menstural cramps. Either I can't stand, or I'm drugged or both. I face this issue every time I get a new boss. Some are great about it, and some say they understand, but are judgemental. My coworkers (whom I was not close with) have always thought I was just playing hookie. I would like to get an idea of how receptive they might be with health needs.

How would you deal with health questions if they came up in an interview? How about at a new job?

[Jestgar]

Skip the cramps thing. Deal with that as it comes.

As for the Celiac, if they ask (don't volunteer it) say that you have an autoimmune disease that caused you to miss a lot of work before it was diagnosed. Now you are maintaining your health through diet (no medication necessary) and you don't anticipate any interference with your work.

Everyone has doctors appointments, they just might need to know that you (a.) won't be draining their health care fund and (b.) won't be out for weeks at a time.

[wschmucks]

I have a professional job interview tomorrow. I'm still not recovered from Celiac enough to do the job with as much energy as I would like. I think I have the energy to do the job sufficiently though. I have a history of taking time off for doctor's appts and migraines or cramps. I certainly have felt poorly through the past several years. I never went more than one day over my allowed sick leave, but supervisors never liked the time off. My celiac symptoms did have something to do with me leaving my last job. I would be going back to work part time, but DH will be laid off any day now, and we won't make morgage if I don't go back full time.

So as I'm prepping for my interview, the audiobook I'm listening to says questions about my health are acceptable in an interview. This is seperate from the questions about ability to perform the job with or without accomodations. Any good ideas of how to phrase my recovery from Celiac if I can't avoid the topic entirely? Or what if I slip and it comes out? I've been off work for 1.5 years and expect that I will need to have appts with my doctors trying to clear up some of the residual problems I still have.

Even if this does not come up in the interview, I'm wondering how to address this if I do get the job. Every month, I need to take off a day of work because of menstural cramps. Either I can't stand, or I'm drugged or both. I face this issue every time I get a new boss. Some are great about it, and some say they understand, but are judgemental. My coworkers (whom I was not close with) have always thought I was just playing hookie. I would like to get an idea of how receptive they might be with health needs.

How would you deal with health questions if they came up in an interview? How about at a new job?

Hi there!

This is an interesting question. I actually DONT think those types of questions can be asked. They can ask if you are able to complete the tasks required for a job (which if you cant, then lets look for a different job), but they cannot ask you about your health in detail. You could sue them if they did not hire you based on the fact that you have Celiac under employment discrimination. Federal Law states:

Before making an offer of employment, an employer may not ask job applicants about the existence, nature, or severity of a disability. Applicants may be asked about their ability to perform job functions. A job offer may be conditioned on the results of a medical examination, but only if the examination is required for all entering employees in the same job category. Medical examinations of employees must be job-related and consistent with business necessity.

An employer is required to make a reasonable accommodation to a qualified individual with a disability unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the employer's business. Undue hardship means an action that requires significant difficulty or expense when considered in relation to factors such as a business' size, financial resources, and the nature and structure of its operation.

Check out this website: Open Original Shared Link

It goes into how something like Celiac can fall under the definition of disability-- if it does become a problem.

But I have NEVER had a possible employer ask about my health, once youre hired, explain the sitation to HR have them talk to your boss and offer any medical records to support your claims.

Good luck!

[JNBunnie1]

Skip the cramps thing. Deal with that as it comes.

As for the Celiac, if they ask (don't volunteer it) say that you have an autoimmune disease that caused you to miss a lot of work before it was diagnosed. Now you are maintaining your health through diet (no medication necessary) and you don't anticipate any interference with your work.

Everyone has doctors appointments, they just might need to know that you (a.) won't be draining their health care fund and (b.) won't be out for weeks at a time.

There's another way to look at it. Your 1.5 yrs out of work is going to be the elephant in the room. In my experience, bringing such things up BEFORE the interviewer is able to always scores you points. I'm guessing you were out of work because of Celiac? Either way, a simple statement of 'As to my health, I have been recently diagnosed with an autoimmune disease (elaborate or not, your call). I am now controlling it through diet, no meds necessary, and as a result, I have reached a level of health and energy I've not experienced in some time and feel more than ready for the task at hand'. I know nobody talks like that, but they are gonna wanna know why you were out of work so long, unless it was a maternity thing.

I agree with skip the cramps thing. Speaking of which, how long have you been gluten-free? Has it helped any?

[JNBunnie1]

Hi there!

This is an interesting question. I actually DONT think those types of questions can be asked. They can ask if you are able to complete the tasks required for a job (which if you cant, then lets look for a different job), but they cannot ask you about your health in detail. You could sue them if they did not hire you based on the fact that you have Celiac under employment discrimination. Federal Law states:

Before making an offer of employment, an employer may not ask job applicants about the existence, nature, or severity of a disability. Applicants may be asked about their ability to perform job functions. A job offer may be conditioned on the results of a medical examination, but only if the examination is required for all entering employees in the same job category. Medical examinations of employees must be job-related and consistent with business necessity.

An employer is required to make a reasonable accommodation to a qualified individual with a disability unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the employer's business. Undue hardship means an action that requires significant difficulty or expense when considered in relation to factors such as a business' size, financial resources, and the nature and structure of its operation.

Check out this website: Open Original Shared Link

It goes into how something like Celiac can fall under the definition of disability-- if it does become a problem.

But I have NEVER had a possible employer ask about my health, once youre hired, explain the sitation to HR have them talk to your boss and offer any medical records to support your claims.

Good luck!

This also sounds pretty good to me.

[Jestgar]

The whole point of any interview, really, is to point out that your potential negatives aren't.

I like the increased energy thing.

[celiac-mommy]

Unfortunately just because a topic is supposed to be off limits, doesn't mean the interviewer is tactful enough not to bring stuff up. You're also not supposed to ask a woman her plans to get pregnant/have a family because that might interfere with the job/hiring, but my boss did I was honest and got the job-I think that's an important thing for whatever is asked-be honest but you don't have to give all the info (i.e cramps) but to talk about the issues you've had in the past with Celiac disease and it's effect on your job, but the fact that you are now in recovery, it shouldn't be near the issue it was and turn it back around to focus on all the positive attributes you will bring to the job-if they try to bring up a negative, figure out a way to spin it into a positive.

[*lee-lee*]

i agree with others who suggest you put a positive spin on your situation. show your interviewer how your health has taken a turn for the better and how it was due to a "simple" change in your diet. no meds required!

i also think that Celiac awareness is on the rise and you'd be surprised how many people know someone with it. i went on a job interview a few months ago and they provided lunch for me. i mentioned i had "food allergies" and they immediately responded with "oh, is it gluten-free?" it's entirely possible that once you mention your Celiac is under control, they won't give it another thought.

good luck with the interview!!

[SGWhiskers]

OK, I wasn't going to bring up the cramps thing in the interview. I was trying to let you know how much time off work I'm likely to need in the future.

Thanks for finding the disability statement. It is reassuring. There will be someone from HR there, so with that statement in mind, I don't think they will ask about my health. I like the ideas you have suggested. It helps to think this through ahead of time and do some mental rehearsals. I'm getting nervous about explaining the time off and the less than desirable way that came to be. It took too long for me to get certified and I'm sure the exhaustion from Celiac had something to do with that. There were lots of factors, mostly anxiety on my part, but aside from that I was a great employee. Ugh. I hate interviewing. Thanks for the reassurance. I'm going to get back to the interview prepping. Turn those negatives into positives! Healthy me!

[lizard00]

Yeah, just wanted to add what everyone else said: those questions are legally off limits. If you are handicapped, you may ask about accomodations, that's it. My last job I hired people, and you cannot ask health realted questions, it's a HIPA thing.

Just like if someone calls in sick, you cannot ask them what specifically is wrong with them.

They will probably ask why you were out of work for that amount of time, though.

[kbtoyssni]

When I was interviewing, I planned to explain the gap in my resume as "I had some medical issues that have since been resolved." You do not need to go into detail. Again, they can legally only ask about gaps in the resume or ask if you are physically able to perform the tasks the job requires. If someone wants more detail you can go with the general "resolved medical issues" or just comment that you prefer not to answer health-related questions. Good luck tomorrow!!!

[*lee-lee*]

so how did the interview go??

[SGWhiskers]

Thank you everyone! The interview went very well. I was pretty up front when it came time to review my resume, and told them I was off for resolved medical reasons, and moved on. Thanks for helping me get up my confidence

[debmidge]

Before making an offer of employment, an employer may not ask job applicants about the existence, nature, or severity of a disability. Applicants may be asked about their ability to perform job functions. A job offer may be conditioned on the results of a medical examination, but only if the examination is required for all entering employees in the same job category. Medical examinations of employees must be job-related and consistent with business necessity.

This makes me think that there's no way the employers are going to do a test which

will reveal Celiac when even doctors don't know the tests to perform to find it.

One of the benefits of being a female/or/mother is that you can sometimes leave work

for a short period to be with your children. I have known some women who explain that

as to why they've been unemployed, when really they were not unemployed. They just

wanted to leave a place off their resume. That was primarily before the "information" age -

I don't know if it'll fly now.