Should you ever divulge a diagnosis to a prospective employer?

Holli R. on April 20, 2015

Career Management

In the spirit of having to explain gaps on your resume, should a job candidate ever divulge that they had cancer?  I would think that health insurance rates for a particular employer would be based on healthy or unhealthy their workforce is.  Admitting to a cancer diagnosis to me would be seen as a red flag by an potential employer.  I can understand why someone would have to divulge if they are currently working; taking time off for chemo and a wig would be obvious. 


1 Comment

Image of Sarah Goodell

Sarah Goodell

Apr 20, 2015

Cancer and Careers Staff Comment:

Hi Holli,

Thanks for reaching out! This is a question that we hear a lot, so we actually have a couple of sections on our website where we discuss how to handle explaining a gap on a resume in an interview, which I have listed below. In general though, it's important to point out that deciding whether to disclose a diagnosis is a personal decision, and that you are not obligated to disclose any details about your cancer to a potential employer during the interview process.

These sections of our site will provide you with more information to help you think through this process and be prepared to answer a question about a gap on a resume if that happens to come up in an interview:

- Job Hunting After Cancer Treatment (scroll down to #3 here, this is where we discuss preparing for interviews): http://www.cancerandcareers.org/en/looking-for-work/Job-Hunting-After-Cancer-Treatment
- The Swivel (this is the technique that we recommend using to answer questions about a gap on a resume): http://www.cancerandcareers.org/en/looking-for-work/the-swivel

I hope that this is helpful!

Best,

Sarah, Manager of Programs, Cancer and Careers

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