It’s been awhile since we’ve had a Monday Morning Thoughts…. such is life. Welcome back to my stream of consciousness!
I was updating my résumé over the weekend, something I like to do periodically, because YOU NEVER KNOW, and while I was doing it, I sort of had an existential moment.
Why do we encourage people to hide their illness from employers or applications?
The obvious answer is because genetic discrimination exists in our world. It’s a sad truth.
I think we can agree that most employers, or even coaches offering athletic scholarships (for sake of another example), would likely select an otherwise healthy candidate when choosing between two equally qualified people, the only difference being that one of them has a chronic illness.
If you don’t think situations like this exists, just ask someone who has been on the receiving end of such a selection.
This is a cultural thing, something that I think we need to work to change.
What if we marketed illness in a positive way, and got people to listen?
I laid my thoughts out in a bit of a spur of the moment tweet storm…
It's disappointing that many of us with chronic illnesses are generally advised to hide our conditions from potential employers or even high education applications.
What if we could turn that around and market our illnesses in a positive way?
1/— Gunnar Esiason (@G17Esiason) October 28, 2018
We can all agree the biggest (and probably most important) section of a résumé is the "experience" part.
Isn't living with a chronic illness viable **experience**?
2/— Gunnar Esiason (@G17Esiason) October 28, 2018
We have to be disciplined and adaptive.
We have to be able to think both quickly and critically.
We have to be able to absorb horrendous news (feedback and then be prepared to ask both objective and subjective questions.
3/— Gunnar Esiason (@G17Esiason) October 28, 2018
We have to understand complex ideas and science.
We have to be able to be strong negotiators and believers in our cause
…and ultimately we have to be able to speak up for whatever it is we need.
Are those not skills potential employers want in their employees?
END/— Gunnar Esiason (@G17Esiason) October 28, 2018
I know there are people living with chronic illness out there WILLING to do this. I know I consider some of the things having to do with my CF battle very serious strengths. Are people willing to listen to us, though? Not yet, I think.
Let some of the respondents think for themselves:
They don’t care we become a liability. One of my past employers literally said “I would have never hired you if i knew you were this sick” it sucks.
— cotton (@a_k_martin) October 29, 2018
I tried this when I was 17 and trying to get a part time job. Employers do not give a shit about the skills we have so long as we remain a potential liability. Why hire a sick person when a healthy person can have all of those skills in different ways, without the sick part?
— Chlo🌙 (@chlo_davy) October 29, 2018
/2 I was turned down by everywhere I applied to because 'I wasn't fit for the role' despite me having above average qualifications and everyone else around me having a job. I disclosed my illness on every application. Go figure
— Chlo🌙 (@chlo_davy) October 29, 2018
The simple fact is that people have very negative experiences when disclosing cystic fibrosis in a place where we can be judged for living with it. Illness is often seen as a serious negative in the job market or anywhere someone may be at a disadvantage for having a chronically ill person as a teammate.
It’s the simple truth.
It’s time for that to change…. And so I ask how? How can we change this culture? How can we prove to employers, etc. that our illnesses have positively shaped our personalities in remarkably productive ways?
I’ll leave that you as I ponder the same question…
…and that’s what I’m thinking about this morning.
