I have been out of work for several years, due to illness.
The ‘several years’ bit has left a rather large gap in my resume, which is always a bad thing.
Would it be kosher to include mention of the illness in my cover-letter. Specifically, something like ‘After several years of being unable to work due to illness, I am eager to return to the work-force.’
Depends on whether the overall view of the illness would be viewed as a liability. Want to be a banker after beating cancer? No problem. Want to be a data entrey person after a lengthy battle with carpal tunnel syndrome? Probably a bit of a liability.
In my experience it is best to explain work absences but not in a way which is detrimental. As an example, I have listed my wife’s time off and interest in returning to work (the time off due to kids and stuff). On every resume I have written for her the average call back time is less than 24 hours.
So in conclusion, unless the illness can be considered job related, go for it.
I would mention it but only briefly and vaguely. “You may notice that there is a gap in my resume. I suffered from a serious illness that I am proud to say that I have conquered and I look forward to rejoining the work-force.”
It certainly shouldn’t be. It was a series of lung infections that have, by all appearances, finally been properly treated.
Thanks for the advice…pretty much what I expected, but the whole job-hunting thing can be pretty nutty sometimes, so I figured it’d be best to ask if that was breaking some unwritten rule.
If you apply to a big company, and the illness is not something that might recur and prevent you from doing your job it shouldn’t matter. If its a smaller company they might have an issue as health care costs are a bigger burden on them. Its completely illegal for them to discriminate, but times are hard, money is low, they might be more willing to risk a lawsuit. You are definitely gonna want to refresh your memory before any interviews, googling “myfield interview questions” should get you started.