Interviewing Inadequacies

Job Seeker's Story

Nancy had injured herself on a job and endured back surgery and painful rehabilitation. Determined to never again endanger her back, she heeded her doctor's warning to never do any heavy lifting and made sure prospective employers knew about her restrictions in the first interview, even though her career field was Receptionist and did not require any heavy lifting.

Larry had bad knees and had undergone surgery on his left knee. He was advised by his physician that he may, someday, require surgery on his other knee. He was applying for a position as Manager in a large insurance agency, a position that would not put stress on his knees. Yet, on every interview, he told prospective employers that he was anticipating having knee surgery in the future that would put him out of work for three to four months.

Bill had a long history of alcoholism when he finally accepted help and went into rehabilitation. He had been sober for 18 months and was so proud of his accomplishment that he shared his success with all prospective employers, believing his strength of will and personal commitment to sobriety spoke volumes about his integrity and work ethic.

Nancy, Larry, and Bill each suffered the same outcome: They did not hear back from the employers with whom they met. They felt frustrated and hurt that these employers did not respect their honesty and integrity.

Job Seeker's Stumble

Yes, each of these job seekers should be praised for their honesty. However, in each case they disclosed information about themselves that was not asked of them, was not relevant to their ability to perform the requirements of the job, and provided the employer with a potential negative concern: higher insurance expenses, extended time out of work, and potential of a relapse, which would impact job performance and attendance, respectively.

Job Seeker's New Strategy

If you have any type of a health limitation, it is important to seek out and apply only for positions that you can do successfully and that do not require you to further injure yourself. In these cases, your disabilities or injuries do not impact on your ability to perform the job and are therefore not relevant. You might think that both Larry and Bill need to disclose, but Larry does not have a set commitment or schedule for surgery, or even the certainty he will need the surgery in the next year, so he should not bring it to the forefront in a first interview. If Bill continues his sobriety, his alcoholism is also not relevant. Because he can only take it one day at a time and assume he will stay sober, it will not have bearing on his ability to perform the job.

So, do not assume the worst and feel that you have to disclose everything in a first interview! Should you learn in the interview that there are elements of the job that would be a problem (such as unexpected heavy lifting for a Receptionist position), you should wait to discuss these concerns once there is an offer on the table. Then and only then will you be in a position of being the one they know they want to hire and might make a concession to hire. However, if it is just not relevant to the job, such as the sobriety or the potential of a surgery this year or five years later, you should keep it to yourself because it will not impact the job you will perform today.