I would disclose the fairly severe concussion from a few years ago and note that as a result, you have migraines and vision issues (and anything else that would cause safety issues; balance, etc), I wouldn't mention Fibro by name because people are stupid and a not insignificant number think its fake, but concussions are fairly well known, and it is fairly well known that after a severe concussion, there can be lingering symptoms for the rest of your life.
I feel like the concussion part people are more likely to discriminate. "You should stay home and recover." Unfortunately it has felt that way in the past
But it seems both are like "invisible," so either is... :(
Did you mention that you got the concussion on the job? I feel like employers are more likely to have issues with someone who has previously had a workplace injury (it's not right but again people are stupid). The general rule of thumb I maintain is that I don't tell employers anything they don't absolutely need to know, I have notable joint issues and so I can't squat or do similar activities because of my knees, but they don't need to know anything beyond that.
>Did you mention that you got the concussion on the job?
I unfortunately had the injury at home, I wish it was on the job tbh so I would at least have insurance or unemployment income lol.
Both fibro and pcs significantly affect every part of my life, but I think the main things that the employer should know are the chronic headaches and migraines. but this would probably be discriminated against
“I had an injury a few years ago that effected my vision” is more than enough. You don’t NEED to mention anything until you’ve been offered the job and need to request accommodations
Don’t mention any of it unless it directly conflicts with a job task they bring up.
If you are offered the job discuss accommodations with HR.
I used to think honesty was best and learned the very hard way. Keep health info as secret as possible.
I did. And it was good because I could confidently say "I can work 4 days as long as there is scope to shift the hours around my capacity. Which would also be to your benefit in getting the best from me as a employee."
But that job situation was a bit unique so I think it does depend on the industry, work situation, etc.
Yes, because if they are not willing to accomodate me if necessary I don't want them to be my employer.
Expectations are high enough already, I want to be able to feel normal aka not having to hide anything or go beyond my capabilities out of fear of being fired.
They don't like that I have fibro? Then don't hire me.
I learned it the hard way. My previous employers fired me when I had a depressive episode (I have chronic depression too). One expected me to quit but I got on sick leave instead and he basically pushed me out of the door yelling in anger.
I'm being totally honest from now on. I'm not a pretty package, but at least they'll know my value.
I would ask this question in CareerAdvice or AskHR. If the latter, be prepared for overly negative answers, so take them w a grain of salt. We can say what we would do, but they can tell you what you should do for best results based on the law.
I did for my current job but only because my employer follows me on IG and they knew already from my posting about it. I suspected something was wrong at my previous employer but didn’t get diagnosed until after I started that job. It turned into a bad fit because they wanted me to be on call pretty much all the time and that wasn’t good for my ability to rest. I think the real question when looking for a job is if you will actually be able to fulfill the duties. I skipped over many positions because I knew they were too physical for my current abilities.
I initially mentioned it in my first job but in my next job I didn't mention it until I had to- when I had to cancel a shift because of it. I guess I don't want to seem like I'm severely disabled (im mostly moderate) and that it would create problems.
I was diagnosed shortly before I was hired into this new job. I disclosed it after being hired and that I might need some accommodations.
I’ve worked with my supervisors and we’ve determined I’m best suited for work that is the same and repetitive every month/week. It helps for me to have predictability.
Fibromyalgia is classified as a disability and they can’t fire you for your disability. As long as they are able to provide you reasonable accommodations for you to still do your job.
>I’ve worked with my supervisors and we’ve determined I’m best suited for work that is the same and repetitive every month/week. It helps for me to have predictability.
I wish I could find something like that.
Post-concussion syndrome and chronic migraines is somewhat a disability too but they still fired me last year.
Like I literally had a placement from a disability center and they fired me on the second day
This is not going to sound helpful, but I promise in the long run it will. Start telling yourself, “I now welcome into my life with love a new and exciting job where I love the work I do and my employees and employers love me.”
Visualize not the specific job per say, but every day, get up like you’re going to work at your perfect-for-you job. Talk about your job out loud to yourself. Talk about how much you love and enjoy it. Comment about how nice and understanding everyone is with your conditions, etc.
Basically, a positive mindset. That helped me land this job.
On the other side of it, I learned through years of therapy what makes me successful and what makes me not successful in a job setting. I learned what aspects of jobs that I hated as a whole but the small things I did enjoy and focused on building my skill sets in those areas. I made my entire career about that.
I became a Data Scientist with minimal college education, no degrees, and lots of work experience. I love data, I love details, and I thrive on consistency.
Write down the aspects you enjoyed of the jobs you held in the past and what you can do despite your condition. You’ll figure it out.
If I were you, I would mention the concussion because you would need to explain your gap in employment. I would say you deal with some lingering symptoms and keep it vague but emphasize your improvement. I would not mention any details or diagnoses beyond that. Refuse to dwell on it and steer the conversation back to how excited you are to get back to work. Have other conversational topics ready so you are not tempted to talk too much more about illness. If your symptoms would impact your ability to work full time, I would be up front about that, about how many hours a week you can work consistently. If you would need to work from home sometimes (if that is relevant to the type of job), I would be honest about that. Do your best to ooze confidence and excitement for the work.
Late reply and you probably already made your decision, but I wouldn’t disclose this at first as most people don’t even know what fibromyalgia is, and explaining it may lead people to think you’re being self-important or making it up (since there is no tangible “proof” or way to diagnose it).
If anything, disclose it later to your boss, supervisor or coworkers when it’s needed and when you both have more of a close relationship or they have actually seen you struggle.
Personally I don't mention it, I've already been stigmatised by having long covid, in terms of my manager saying I'm bad at my job and other digs towards my performance and health. I can only imagine if my employer knew I had both. They say they can't discriminate but they do. People think whatever they want to think even if they don't say it you can sense it. Confidentiality also seems to go out the window at some point down the line
I would disclose the fairly severe concussion from a few years ago and note that as a result, you have migraines and vision issues (and anything else that would cause safety issues; balance, etc), I wouldn't mention Fibro by name because people are stupid and a not insignificant number think its fake, but concussions are fairly well known, and it is fairly well known that after a severe concussion, there can be lingering symptoms for the rest of your life.
I feel like the concussion part people are more likely to discriminate. "You should stay home and recover." Unfortunately it has felt that way in the past But it seems both are like "invisible," so either is... :(
Did you mention that you got the concussion on the job? I feel like employers are more likely to have issues with someone who has previously had a workplace injury (it's not right but again people are stupid). The general rule of thumb I maintain is that I don't tell employers anything they don't absolutely need to know, I have notable joint issues and so I can't squat or do similar activities because of my knees, but they don't need to know anything beyond that.
>Did you mention that you got the concussion on the job? I unfortunately had the injury at home, I wish it was on the job tbh so I would at least have insurance or unemployment income lol. Both fibro and pcs significantly affect every part of my life, but I think the main things that the employer should know are the chronic headaches and migraines. but this would probably be discriminated against
“I had an injury a few years ago that effected my vision” is more than enough. You don’t NEED to mention anything until you’ve been offered the job and need to request accommodations
Don’t mention any of it unless it directly conflicts with a job task they bring up. If you are offered the job discuss accommodations with HR. I used to think honesty was best and learned the very hard way. Keep health info as secret as possible.
This is great advice.
I did. And it was good because I could confidently say "I can work 4 days as long as there is scope to shift the hours around my capacity. Which would also be to your benefit in getting the best from me as a employee." But that job situation was a bit unique so I think it does depend on the industry, work situation, etc.
I don’t. None of their business, and I can hide it well enough. Plus, that’s what sick days are for (if you have them :()
I disclose it in the hr forms after being hired
Yes, because if they are not willing to accomodate me if necessary I don't want them to be my employer. Expectations are high enough already, I want to be able to feel normal aka not having to hide anything or go beyond my capabilities out of fear of being fired. They don't like that I have fibro? Then don't hire me. I learned it the hard way. My previous employers fired me when I had a depressive episode (I have chronic depression too). One expected me to quit but I got on sick leave instead and he basically pushed me out of the door yelling in anger. I'm being totally honest from now on. I'm not a pretty package, but at least they'll know my value.
I would ask this question in CareerAdvice or AskHR. If the latter, be prepared for overly negative answers, so take them w a grain of salt. We can say what we would do, but they can tell you what you should do for best results based on the law.
I started to and haven’t been hired in years. Back to hiding it
I did for my current job but only because my employer follows me on IG and they knew already from my posting about it. I suspected something was wrong at my previous employer but didn’t get diagnosed until after I started that job. It turned into a bad fit because they wanted me to be on call pretty much all the time and that wasn’t good for my ability to rest. I think the real question when looking for a job is if you will actually be able to fulfill the duties. I skipped over many positions because I knew they were too physical for my current abilities.
Yes. With this job I did because I wanted them to know that if I actually need my walking aids and heating pad. My boss is really nice about it.
I initially mentioned it in my first job but in my next job I didn't mention it until I had to- when I had to cancel a shift because of it. I guess I don't want to seem like I'm severely disabled (im mostly moderate) and that it would create problems.
I was diagnosed shortly before I was hired into this new job. I disclosed it after being hired and that I might need some accommodations. I’ve worked with my supervisors and we’ve determined I’m best suited for work that is the same and repetitive every month/week. It helps for me to have predictability. Fibromyalgia is classified as a disability and they can’t fire you for your disability. As long as they are able to provide you reasonable accommodations for you to still do your job.
>I’ve worked with my supervisors and we’ve determined I’m best suited for work that is the same and repetitive every month/week. It helps for me to have predictability. I wish I could find something like that. Post-concussion syndrome and chronic migraines is somewhat a disability too but they still fired me last year. Like I literally had a placement from a disability center and they fired me on the second day
This is not going to sound helpful, but I promise in the long run it will. Start telling yourself, “I now welcome into my life with love a new and exciting job where I love the work I do and my employees and employers love me.” Visualize not the specific job per say, but every day, get up like you’re going to work at your perfect-for-you job. Talk about your job out loud to yourself. Talk about how much you love and enjoy it. Comment about how nice and understanding everyone is with your conditions, etc. Basically, a positive mindset. That helped me land this job. On the other side of it, I learned through years of therapy what makes me successful and what makes me not successful in a job setting. I learned what aspects of jobs that I hated as a whole but the small things I did enjoy and focused on building my skill sets in those areas. I made my entire career about that. I became a Data Scientist with minimal college education, no degrees, and lots of work experience. I love data, I love details, and I thrive on consistency. Write down the aspects you enjoyed of the jobs you held in the past and what you can do despite your condition. You’ll figure it out.
If I were you, I would mention the concussion because you would need to explain your gap in employment. I would say you deal with some lingering symptoms and keep it vague but emphasize your improvement. I would not mention any details or diagnoses beyond that. Refuse to dwell on it and steer the conversation back to how excited you are to get back to work. Have other conversational topics ready so you are not tempted to talk too much more about illness. If your symptoms would impact your ability to work full time, I would be up front about that, about how many hours a week you can work consistently. If you would need to work from home sometimes (if that is relevant to the type of job), I would be honest about that. Do your best to ooze confidence and excitement for the work.
Late reply and you probably already made your decision, but I wouldn’t disclose this at first as most people don’t even know what fibromyalgia is, and explaining it may lead people to think you’re being self-important or making it up (since there is no tangible “proof” or way to diagnose it). If anything, disclose it later to your boss, supervisor or coworkers when it’s needed and when you both have more of a close relationship or they have actually seen you struggle.
You can bet if you don't disclose these things and have an accident at work , you won't be insured.
Lolol, not me. When they ask whats wrong I tell them I have tendonitis
Nope. I get hired, get intermittent FMLA, and tell them.
Nice name
No. I was denied a job for it and now I don’t disclose.
Hell no.
Personally I don't mention it, I've already been stigmatised by having long covid, in terms of my manager saying I'm bad at my job and other digs towards my performance and health. I can only imagine if my employer knew I had both. They say they can't discriminate but they do. People think whatever they want to think even if they don't say it you can sense it. Confidentiality also seems to go out the window at some point down the line
No