Lying On Resume To Cover Up Mental Disability

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SaintHenry:
As far as I can see, this Plan will work. But if anyone sees any fatal flaws with this Plan, I would be grateful to learn of them. Thank you very much.
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For someone who regards the saints as examples and is trying to lead a holy life - this plan has a fatal flaw - you are still lying.

DON’T DO IT.

Do not assume every employer you ever encounter will respond the same as the one who rejected you.

With God in your life you have to trust that He will guide you to the right place at the right time to meet the right employer for YOU, mental illness history and all!

You can only control your behaviors, your integrity, not others’.
YOU know the 10 commandments.
You KNOW there is no such thing as a ‘harmless’ lie, as any lie you intentionally tell spoils your soul, and how can you go to confession when you aren’t really sorry about telling the lie and you intend to tell it again next time?

With this plan you are knowingly distancing your soul from God and when that happens you become more vulnerable to the manipulations and deceptions of Satan.
 
Lady Cygnus:
Ugh, that does make it difficult. How about a “non-communicable, hereditary cancer-like disease” (a sort of “cancer of the brain” :ehh: ?)
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On the resume there does not need to be any mention of illness at all.

What will be on the resume is a gap of employment history.

This will lead the interviewer to ask about that gap.

At that point the interviewee is only obliged to say he was under doctor’s care and unable to work at that time, but that he has the doctor’s clearance to return to the work force.

The interviewee might ask for the nature of the illness - but it would be illegal for him to do so. That’s to your advantage.

Assuming the interviewee has been properly trained in human resource management he won’t ask. What he might do is talk about a relative of his who was unable to work for some time because of XYZ condition — this would be his attempt to get the interviewee to divulge information about his own illness. Don’t get sucked into that. Just tell the person you’re glad things worked out for that relative and suggest to the person that like his/her relative you, too, will make a great long-term employee for his company. That puts the interviewee in the position of not being able to discriminate against you because it would be like discriminating against his relative.

If the interviewee has not been trained then he may just flat out ask you what condition you had. Again, you do not have to tell him. You say, I don’t believe you’re entitled to that information and I’d rather not say at this point, seeing as I’ve only just met you.

The only thing I can think of which may force the revelation of the nature of your condition is if an employer offers you a job contingent upon your providing a doctor’s clean bill of health or something along the lines that says, “Yes, soandso has been my patient since xx/xx/xx and has full clearance to return to the workforce”. If you accept the offer and provide the note, then it will be obvious your condition was mental not physical, but that’s all it will show.
 
Can’t you ask your doctor how other patients go about keeping their conditions confidential with their employers???

Maybe he’d have some advice for you.

Another source is a career counselor at the governmental employment office…my mind’s drawing a blank but EED comes to mind…but I hope you know what I’m thinking about…the office in your town that posts employment opportunities. Surely one of those advisors can tell you how to handle interviews in your situation.

If not there, then go to a community college career placement office to see if they’d help.

I found these links through Google…they may help:

bu.edu/cpr/jobschool/disclosing.htm

vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/disability/mentalillness.html
 
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SaintHenry:
As far as I can see, this Plan will work. But if anyone sees any fatal flaws with this Plan, I would be grateful to learn of them. Thank you very much.
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I’m sorry, but it doesn’t matter if your plan will work or not. What does matter is that you still think that you can justify committing a sin.

I doubt you will find anyone here who will support such a plan.

If you have been praying for an answer to this situation I think God may be speaking through the people who have so far responded to you. It has been a resounding “DON"T DO IT!”. How much clearer would you like it to be?

I beg of you, take the great advice that has been given to you so far. Explore your options and find a “plan” that does not include jeopardizing your soul.

I will pray that you are able to find clarity in this situation and that God grants you wisdom in coming up with a plan for your employment future.

:blessyou: Malia
 
Lying for any reason is a sin. Or let me qualify that before I get people telling me I am wrong. Almost any sin. The Catechism specifies when it might be acceptible to lie.
 
Again, unless you are very young most employers do not want to know what you have been doing beyond about 5-7 years…

Avoid lying… I used such euphamisms as I was careing for a sick family member (me!). Things like saying you were travelling can become fraught if asked “oh were did you go…” I am a terrible liar and lies have a habit of becoming more complicated…

After having knotted yourself up over all this the boss probably will not even ask!!!
 
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SaintHenry:
Yes, I will have to research details about whatever physical disease I pick to use instead of mental illness, so that I can talk a little bit about it in the workplace. But I think I can handle that.

As far as I can see, this Plan will work. But if anyone sees any fatal flaws with this Plan, I would be grateful to learn of them. Thank you very much.
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How about the fact that your entire presence, persona and relationship with all the people you interact with will be built on lies. When you inevitably slip up, and you will, no one will believe or trust anything you say–professionally or personally.

Just out of curiosity, for what type of job are you applying?
 
Island Oak:
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Just out of curiosity, for what type of job are you applying?
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In the first post he said he will be applying for bookkeeping jobs.

Malia
 
Do you have to tell your employer you have AIDS or any other disease? My wife has experience in the mental health field and says there is no requirement to divulge any information about your mental health condition.

As an employer I can tell you that I am only allowed to ask people if they have physical issues that will impede them from doing the job. For a book keeping job there is no reason to think you cant perform while properly medicated etc.

The Lord said give unto Ceasar that which is Ceasar’s and unto God that which is Gods. In this case you can tell Ceaser it is none of his business. If they ask why you have been out for so long just give a general reply and know your rights are perfectly moral to exercise. Check out the laws in your State I think you will find you and your privacy are protected from discriminatory action. This is not 1922 and many people work who have mental conditions that are very treatable.

-D
 
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YinYangMom:
On the resume there does not need to be any mention of illness at all.

What will be on the resume is a gap of employment history.

This will lead the interviewer to ask about that gap.

At that point the interviewee is only obliged to say he was under doctor’s care and unable to work at that time, but that he has the doctor’s clearance to return to the work force.

The interviewee might ask for the nature of the illness - but it would be illegal for him to do so. That’s to your advantage.

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Hello, it me again, the person who started this topic. I’m the guy who has been unable to work for 6-7 years due schizoprehia, but who now is able to go back to work.

The above idea from YinYangMom was very helpful to me. I might try this approach.

I am also considering saying that I had a STROKE and it took all this time to recover and be rehabilitated.

A stroke makes sense, I think, because the period of recovery and rehabilitation can take many years, even up to 7 years. If I used cancer, that might not make sense, because it usually doesn’t take 7 years to be treated for cancer, or to die from it.

I’ve already begun my research into the medical and health and treatment information concerning strokes.

It feels so much better to me to be saying that I had a stroke. No one hates you or fears you for having had a stroke. In an ideal world I could tell the truth. But this world is not an ideal world.

Any thoughts on this plan? Any practical problems that you see with it?

P.S. Note about “lying”:

This falsehood [saying its a stroke] seems morally justifiable because I am telling the BASIC truth that I did not work for 7 years due to an illness.

The exact name and nature of the illness is none of the business of potential employers anway.

And I am not falsely claiming to have been self-employed or anything like that, during the last 7 years when I couldn’t work due to my disability.

Some of you seem to think that ALL misrepresentations of fact are mortal sins. I don’t think Pope Benedict would agree with that if he were here. Some misrepresentations of fact, ones that don’t harm other people, are not mortal sins. One must be very careful about this and get the opinion of mature people before doing making a major misrepresentation of fact – that’s what I believe. I left a mesage with another priest yesterday, asking for an appointment to discuss this matter. Maybe I’ll get lucky and the priest will be a faithful, mature, wise priest.
 
If you’re gonna lie then why not make it a doozy? Tell them you were busy advising the President. Creating a cure for cancer. On a mission deep in African wilderness. On the Russian space station?

I’m not trying to make light of your situation but trying to point out that a lie is a lie. And since you are asking, on a Catholic forum, you already know it is wrong.

Please, listen to Yingyangmom. Just state you were unable to work as you were under medical care. No one’s business why.

Years ago I called in sick. I was a technician and I had to call the dispatcher to call in sick. She asked me what was wrong with me. I told her I thought I had leprosy. She never asked again.
 
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SaintHenry:
. I left a mesage with another priest yesterday, asking for an appointment to discuss this matter. Maybe I’ll get lucky and the priest will be a faithful, mature, wise priest.
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I will pray that he is a faithful, mature and wise priest. I just hope that you do not ignore his faithful, wise, and mature advice if it does not agree with your notion that lying is justifiable.

Not that it matters to you, but I think telling them that you had a stroke is a terrible idea for all of the reasons that have already been discussed on this thread.

If I were your potential employer I would not hire you because you seem to think that honesty is negotiable. I would not want that in an employee.

I have compassion for your situation (having a health problem myself that is widely misunderstood by the general population) but just cannot understand why you think lying is a good idea.

You have been given many good suggestions on this thread…I am starting to wonder if you are ready for the workforce.

Malia
 
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SaintHenry:
Any thoughts on this plan? Any practical problems that you see with it?

P.S. Note about “lying”:

This falsehood [saying its a stroke] seems morally justifiable because I am telling the BASIC truth that I did not work for 7 years due to an illness.

Some of you seem to think that ALL misrepresentations of fact are mortal sins. I don’t think Pope Benedict would agree with that if he were here. Some misrepresentations of fact, ones that don’t harm other people, are not mortal sins. One must be very careful about this and get the opinion of mature people before doing making a major misrepresentation of fact – that’s what I believe. I left a mesage with another priest yesterday, asking for an appointment to discuss this matter. Maybe I’ll get lucky and the priest will be a faithful, mature, wise priest.
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I pray he’s a good priest.

I don’t understand why you still feel you need to ‘come up with’ a ‘fake’ disability. That is still a bold faced lie and that is not morally justifiable.

When it comes to God’s laws it does not matter how we ‘feel’ about them. They just are.

You are rationalizing lying.

Let’s look at what the church says:

2483 Lying is the most direct offense against the truth. To lie is to speak or act against the truth in order to lead into error someone who has the right to know the truth.

2485 By its very nature, lying is to be condemned. It is a profanation of speech, whereas the purpose of speech is to communicate known truth to others. The deliberate intention of leading a neighbor into error by saying things contrary to the truth constitutes a failure in justice and charity.

In 2485 you would be deliberately intending to lead your employer into error with your lie.

But in 2483 the key phrase “someone who has the right to know the truth” makes me recall that the employer does **not **have the right to know the nature of your illness, just that you had one and it is not going to interfere with your ability to do the work.

So I go over to the next section of the CCC “Respect for Truth” to see if there’s something in there to support your thinking that sometimes it’s OK to lie and I find this:

2489 Charity and respect for the truth should dictate the response to every request for information or communication. The good and safety of others,** respect for privacy**, and the common good are sufficient reasons for being silent about what ought not be known or for making use of a discreet language. The duty to avoid scandal often commands strict discretion. No one is bound to reveal the truth to someone who does not have the right to know it.

IMPORTANT DISTINCTION: The church is confirming what we’ve already advised - you do not have to tell your employer the details of your illness. “Being silent” is ok.
LYING to hide your illness is not.
 
I really don’t think you should lie. A lie will come back to haunt you. Just keep in mind that there are certain things that a prospective employer doesn’t have the right to ask. Don’t volunteer any information. I have a feeling that with all of the records that are computerized these days, your employer can easily find out the truth, even though it may be illegal to do so.

Think about this: Many employers will do a background check to see if you have commited a crime. Many people will leave graduation dates off their resume so the employer can’t guess how old they are. Do you really think that an employer doing a background check wouldn’t know the date of birth of the person they’re checking? Another example is life insurance. If you apply for life insurance, the insurance company can just order a medical report on you to see if you have ever had high blood pressure, etc.

I think maybe your answer is to stop being ashamed of your mental disability. How did you pay your bills when you weren’t working? If you were on disability, I suppose you could say that, and then state that it was temporary, and that you are now able to work. If asked more details, you could state that this is a private matter.

Remember the following quote: “Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.”
 
Henry,

Maybe you can just interview at several places and tell them you have had mental health problems (or personal health problems). Some may not be comfortable with it but when you find the employer who is mature and compassionate enough to hire you, then you know you have found the right employer!

I wouldn’t worry about rejection. All job seekers accept rejection as part of the process. I have been turned down many times but then I have found that I am able to find work by simply moving to the next potential employer. Let the process flow. Have no fear. It’s a free country. If one place turns you down, just move on to the next.

When interviewing, keep the focus on what you offer the employer.

I admire your courage. I will pray for your situation and I’m sure others here will also.
 
I knew a fellow who did just that – lie about his mental condition. He enlisted for Officer Candidate School and lied about his mental history.

The American tradition in training offciers is to put them under prolonged stress – and Officer Candidate School in the early '60s was one of the most stressful schools we’ve ever had.

That young man simply disintegrated under stress – to attempt to conceal his problem was not a wise move on his part.
 
I just wanted to say, SaintHenry, that I’ve struggled with paranoid delusions and hallucinations at various points in my life. I, for one, have no irrational fear or hatred of people who have mental disabilities/illnesses. It’s not their (or our, whatever) fault, you know? But it does seem like so many people are illogically repulsed by individuals who are “crazy,” or whatever you want to call it.

Just wanted to mention that. I don’t mean to sound callous or rude, either, because … like I said … I’ve had my fair share of mental problems, too. =)
 
I would hire you, but I am not the norm. People in general judge others. I wouldn’t lie exactly. I would tell them something else you were doing during those times of unemployment. For example: was your family close and supportive to you during your recovery? if so you could say that you were having family problems that you had to deal with, which have now been resolved.
 
I would hire someone in your situation (with your disability)- I would also likely fire them on the spot if I found out they had lied to me about it (and it was something I had any business asking them about in the first place). If you keep looking, you’ll find an employer who will work with you and be compassionate in regards to your disability. Furthermore, it is against the law NOT to hire you solely because of your disability. Earn your job honorably- please be honest. Pray- things will work out for you if you keep faith.
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SaintHenry:
Would it be morally/ethically permissible for me to deceive potential employers in the following circumstances:

I am preparing to start my job search. I need employment to support myself now, so as to avoid homelessness. I will run out of money in a month or two.

For the last 6 years I was unemployed and did no work because of a serious mental disability (schizophrenia). I am on medication now, and am functioning normally again.

I believe that if I tell potential employers the truth they will quickly eliminate me from consideration. Almost everyone is terrified by and repulsed by mental illness, by “crazy” people.

Admit it: you wouldn’t hire me either if you knew I had been declared mentally disabled for the last 6 years (until just recently).

So here’s my Plan: I have considered claiming that I was self-employed during the last 6 years.

I would claim to have been self-employed in an occupation different from the jobs I will be applying for now. E.g., I will be applying for bookkeeping jobs. But I will claim to have been self-employed as web site designer.

I thought this Plan might be morally/ethically justifiable because:
  1. It is not my fault Society is so prejudiced against persons with a history of mental illness.
  2. I need to avoid homelessness. I could die if I become homeless.
  3. Since I would be claiming to have been self-employed in an occupation different from the jobs I will be applying for now, I will not be falsely claiming to possess skills or experience that are relevant to the jobs I will be applying for.
I realize that there are practical risks involved in lying in this way. But I do not wish to discuss those here. I rather am seeking comments on the MORAL/ETHICAL dimensions of this Plan. I.e., is it wrong to do what I am planning?

Thank you.
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You have a medical condition. You do not have to disclose any medical conditions on your resume. You can disclose them AFTER you’re hired. Disclosing any medical conditions beforehand would probably cause you loss of the job, in theory employers can’t do that but in practice employers do discriminate. Most of us are walking around with something or another, like arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, depression, etc., You don’t divulge that kind of information at an interview. . Maybe you do after you’re hired so that the employer can accomodate you. That is…let you have a special chair or break for your insulin shot, etc., The same with mental disorders, scizophrenia (sp?) is still a medical condition.
 
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