What to do? tell or not tell?

Sisters, I have a question. I am scheduled for a TAH BSO on March 23. All was going well until this past Monday when I lost my job. Not only did I lose my job I was asked to train in my replacement. (I can't have the job, but I need to train my replacement? ) Not good timing, let alone not good time for stress.

My question is this...if I'm able to get an interview, do I tell them about the pending surgery right then and there, or do I wait until it's a need to. I'm thinking that I would tell them if and when I get an offer and let them decide whether the offer stands after I tell them. If I tell them before, I think I could be written off before I should be in the recruitment process. What do you all think?

Thanks for all your imput on this.

:hair:

SAndee

You are 3 weeks from surgery. Could you afford to stay off for the next 3 weeks? Honestly if I intervied with someone and they told me about the surgery I would have to pass them up. Nothing personal but that is what is best for my bussiness. If you dont tell them you will not be covered under FMLA and will start and had not made it through the first 90 days chances are they will not keep you either. I would say the best bet would be to look while you are out after surgery until you are able to work 8 hours a day.

Best wishes

That's what I was thinking. I have a doctors appt this week and I'm going to see if they can move it up some or not. Almost too late to get an earlier date now. I can at least get some unemployment for the next couple of weeks I guess. I wasn't getting paid for my leave in the first place, and at this job wasn't covered by FMLA either. I guess I'm just in the wrong place at the wrong time again. Maybe next job will be better.

I can look at this as more time to prepare for the upcoming surgery and recovery now.

Gotta go put a smile on my face and make some lemonaid!

I can only tell you what I would do if I were in the same situation as you.

When I applied for a job, and if the application asked for a "date you could begin employment" I would state May 16th. That would give you 7 weeks-plus after your surgery. I would not offer the reason unless asked. If asked in an interview, I would reply that I have a pre-scheduled surgery and leave it at that.

I always think it's wise to give as few personal details as possible when undergoing a job search. I believe that if an employer really wants to hire you, they will be reasonable in accommodating your start date.

Good Luck!

This is just my opinion but I don't think keeping it from them would be a good way to start a new job. If you spring it on them later, and they find out that in fact you knew about it ahead of time, it could cause some problems.

For one, it could cause your supervisors to mistrust you and wonder what else you weren't honest about with them.

Keep in mind also that it could potentially put your new employer in a bind if they are depending on hiring someone and putting them to work, then having it thrown at them that you need 6-8 weeks off right off the bat.

If the new job offers insurance, they could view you not telling them as an attempt to circumvent any pre-existing clause in their policies.

And last but not least, it could also be viewed as lying on your application (interview) and be grounds for dismissal.

I think I would second the advice to give them a date to start AFTER your recovery period. I'm sure people understand that things happen in life beyond our control and they would come closer to appreciating your honesty about the situation. Especially if you threw in a comment about your condition interferring with your abilities to do your previous job and how taking care of the situation now can help you be a better , more dependable employee.

There is always the chance you will run up against those that aren't willing to wait that long to hire someone , or the ones that will still consider you a risk. In the long run though, I think I would rather try and be sure I started off on the right foot with a new employer by being upfront and honest.

Put yourself in the employer's shoes for a moment. Which employee would YOU prefer to hire? One that is honest and tells you about a presecheduled surgery and offers to start afterward, or one that didn't inform you of a problem and needed that much time off just a few weeks after you spent the time training them (only to be put in a bind OR have to spend MORE time and money training someone else to take your place while you are gone) ?