Will telling the truth hurt me in finding a job?

[bodybuilder1958]

Hi All,

I've been home almost 4 years now not working. I'm pretty certain that I will be released to work on Thursday. I don't want to hide what's happened the 4 yrs. Willing telling the truth hurt me in finding a job? Most of my friends in my profession tell me that it will. That being out for so long will hurt almost anyone in any profession. But I have a hard time lying. The truth is that I was hurt, took me 10 months to walk reasonably well once I was home. Then a surgery that didn't go well, 9 months of physical therapy after that and then just a downward spiral. That's the truth, I won't tell them all of it, what just that I was hurt, had two surgeries and extensive therapy but I'm nearly 100%. My knee literally feels better than it has since the original injury. I can do the job I seek, I just want a chance.

Bodybuilder1958

[bronco54501]

I have always believed telling the truth, it could bite ta anyways if they find out.. But that does not mean they need every detail....

BB, if thats what you seek then give it 100% in tryiing.. I hope it all works out for ya...........bronco

[1171]

they don't need more details then necessary.
taking time out to become healthier may be an adequate explanation for gaps in your employment history.
if they want details or a medical clearance have them set up a pre-employment exam.

[Manley2]

You should tell the truth. They are going to wonder why the gap in working and I think being hurt and the recovery is a good reason for it. No they don't need too much info. If you try and hide this it will hurt you even more at some point. The employer you want to work for will like your honesty

[Bummer Knees]

My sister was injured on the job working in the aircraft industry. Her's was a shoulder injury, she was off work for 3 years for surgery and recovery. She was released from the doctor witrh few restrictions and started job hunting.

She returned to the aircraft industry looking for a job, when the first company who interviewed her asked why the gap in working, she mentioned being injured. That is all it took for the HR department to start digging into her past employment record and contacting the department of labor to check on prior work comp claims.

My sister called the company she interviewed with and spoke with the HR personal she worked with, this person refused to talk to my sister. A few days later my sister received a letter in the mail informing her she does not meet the requirements of the job due to her medical restrictions. My sister claims she meets the requirements of the job and gave HR a copy of the evaluation physical therapy gave her clearing her for the job along with a letter from the doctor.

My sister has applied with several other companies in the air craft industry, all with the same results. A insider told my sister she would never work in the air craft industry again as her name is on a black list.

Last year my sister started a cleaning business, hiring out the work that is outside her restrictions. Her business is doing well with contracts with state agencies, and large corporations to clean their offices.

[Manley2]

I read the question again as I was clicking on it and realized I didn't answer the question. He asked if it would hurt him and from the above rely I guess I should have said yes it could. I think we want to tell the truth because I feel if we get a job but lied doing it then it could come back and bite us. I'm sure there are companies out there that don't want to hire people that have had WC claims in the past. If we looked at it as the owner of the company I'm sure we could sort of understand why. It's not right but what are they suppose to do? They worry that if they hire us then somewhere down the road we are going to get hurt again and blame them, costing them allot of money. We all know this is not right but how do we fix it? With all that I still feel we need to tell the truth but that doesn't mean telling them about things they don't ask about

[freebird]

I would NEVER offer any information not ask for. You have privacy rights also.

Why would you even think of offering them a complete time line of you past problems? If they are a reputable employer, They will never ask these questions. They might dig up the truth before they hire you but I would not offer anything besides what I am asked,

[Manley2]

The trouble is most employers do check on gaps in employment and that is where the problem comes up. I've had jobs where they had to know about any gap over just a few weeks.
Then you can get into the problem of they can't ask but when you bring that up they know something is not right