Mental health and the recruitment process
Hellow fellow primates,
In my first post here I'd like to ask you how should past mental health problems be addressed in the context of the job recruitment process. During my master studies, I have been diagnosed with severe chronic depression and had to take some courses the next year. Thus, I finished my programme in 2 years instead of 1. Obviously, this 2 year period must be included in my resume.
I was wondering how much attention do employers pay to this. It's not like I can mention in my resume, cover letter or Linkedin the root cause of this issue. I'm afraid they'll automatically catalogue me as a lazy student who couldn't finish their track on time due to poor academic results, which is not the case ( my GPA converted in the American grading systme is A-).
So, any thoughts and advice on this?
My gut instinct would be that most of them aren't going to notice a 1 vs 2 year gap, nor would they really care too much. In the small instances they do ask, more likely than not, it's purely out of curiosity and not a means of "out there trying to get you". You can probably just respond along the lines of "I wanted to pursue other endeavors meanwhile like a part-time job, another side project, etc so it took a bit longer than I thought" or simply say "I had some personal matters to attend to which delayed it but I ultimately finished", and this can be a wide range which most people are simply going to take you at your word and respect your privacy.
IF somebody really hounds you and gets to the inevitable position where you're forced to specify the truth (and I reiterate I think this is a VERY unlikely scenario), I would just be forthcoming, owe up to it, and show that you even got something positive out of it. I understand there will be mixed feelings and stigma towards mental health, but I personally would think twice about a company that's going to hold it against me simply because I chose to take care of myself first over a job. Another effect this has is that it demonstrates you can stand up for your self, and that's going to incite respect whichever environment you end up finding yourself in.
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