Interview Advice Please

Germeze

I am having real problems with interviews at the moment so I would really appreciate any helpful advice on my problem.

Basically I was with the same company for five years and I was a model employee. I won awards, my appraisals were all positive and I was a productive worker. Then I hit a real problem which for a year prevented me from doing my job. I went through all the correct channels but my manager still insisted that I hit my targets even though the equipment used to meet these targets ceased to work. After a year I went throught the formal written grievance proceedure which went in my favour. Unfortunately, the department responsible for maintaining equipment decided it would no longer assist me and when I hit techinical problems again they went out of their way not to help. Having almost suffered a break down the first time I had run out of fight and opted to take two months sickleave and then resigned.

My ultimate problem is at interview I am asked to disclose the amount of sick leave over a two year period. Obviously two months is a long time so I say I was off sick due to a problem at work. However, I know people aren't supposed to mention anything negative during interviews and upon being rejected the issue of mentioning something negative is stated as a reason for rejection.

I have no idea if my former employers are going to give me a favouable reference but I am almost certain the grievance will be mentioned which is why I feel it is better to be honest and upfront.

Prior to the problems is my last job I had only one day off sick so I feel as if there is no point applying for anything as I am in a no win situation.

Can any one please advise me on the best way to explain the sick leave without mentioning anything negative as I am stuck

Savvy_Sue

If asked about sick leave, you could say "I was on sick leave with problems which have now been fully resolved. In my previous work I only ever took one day's sick leave." Or something like that.

C_Ronaldo

re the reference Germeze arent they required to give a positive reference, i only ask as I was informed that one of my previous employers was required to give me a positive reference

Astaroth

No, a company can give any reference they want but given you could sue them for liable if they gave a negative reference which they couldnt substanciate & giving another company "a warning" doesnt give them any benefit (if you are applying to work for a competitor it is arguably in their interest for their competitor to hire someone who they consider a poor employee) then most companies will simply not take the risk of giving a bad reference but instead will refuse to give a reference (which in the HR world is often taken as a code word for the fact it would have been bad)

As to your sickness.... ultimately sickness is a measure of both the number of times you have taken time off and the number of days you have had off. There are formulas that some companies use but generally the number of occasions you have had off sick is a much greater concern than the number of days... for example if you had 4 weeks off because you broke your leg but that was your only sickness then it would be "bad luck". If you had 20 days off, all of them 1 days for "headache", "upset stomach" etc then it is either you are very prone to sickness, you are taking sickies or are going out and getting drunk on a "school night". As others have said... if you can honestly state that your sickness has recovered then this will also be a point in your favour.

You also have an honest case of saying you have an illness/ disability which required their occupational therapist to provide specialist equipment which whilst they originally did this wasnt replaced when it malfunctioned/ broke from natural wear and tear which made performing your role impossible forcing you to take the time off sick.

Germeze

Thank you for the advice, I think I have just got myself a fixed term temporary job :j

Astaroth

Congratulations Germeze

Savvy_Sue

Great news!