Recovery and Disclosure
Somebody posed a question to me that I found hard to answer.
Somebody posed a question to me that I found hard to answer.
I’m 7 years into recovery for alcohol abuse and drug addiction. Should I tell recruiters or prospective employers about this in an interview?
A lot has been written on the internet by experts in treatment and recovery, and I found some interesting ideas on the subject from a Google search. If you have access to an expert, you should ask them.
I’d like to address how I perceive this issue as a hiring manager and a sober person.
I want us all to be able to bring our whole selves to work. You can’t be successful if you don’t feel safe at work, and you won’t feel safe if you can’t be yourself.
Where stigmas and bias exist, I want to confront them and make it harder for them to persist whenever I can.
I also want us all to maximize our chances of success in an interview. And I think this is why I was asked this question: Does the fact that we’ve overcome addiction help us or hurt us as a candidate?
In a perfect world, nobody would see a past addiction as a moral failing. And in that perfect world, we’d all see recovery as a personal achievement to be respected and even celebrated.
Unfortunately, addiction and mental health are stigmatized in our culture. In the US, the Americans with Disabilities act is meant to protect recovered addicts from discrimination in the hiring process, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.
I’ve been sober for nearly five years. I’ve written about it a few times on the internet. Being open about this makes me feel stronger, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right decision for everybody.
As a general rule, I coach candidates to talk about their accomplishments at work on their resume and in an interview.
Larger companies sometimes prohibit hiring managers from considering any personal disclosures that are not relevant to the job. Inevitably hiring managers do gain personal information in the process of talking to candidates, and it’s smart to consider how that information will land.
However, you should never feel that it’s required to share details about your personal life. If you took a career break to get over an illness or injury, to care for a parent or relative, to raise a child, or to go to rehab: Good for you.
I have asked hiring managers and recruiters why they ask about career breaks and probe for other personal details, and I have only gotten very annoying answers that sound like “Just curious!”
This is irritating, and it’s not smart. It’s discourteous to use your privileged position as the interviewer to compromise someone’s privacy for anything other than a concrete business reason. I also think it’s wise to avoid giving the impression that you’re pressing for information about status that is protected by EEOC or ADA rules.
If you feel like this makes it a little harder to “get to know” a candidate during the interview process, you’re doing it right. If you think that’s bad, just think how hard it is for them to get to know you. Your legitimate mechanism for getting to know a candidate is by talking to them about work. That’s how it works.
Candidates: You should feel safe answering “I wasn’t working during that time” or “I took time away from work for personal reasons.” Hopefully they will understand the signal to move along.
Personally, I don’t share any personal information during the recruiting process that I’m not sure will benefit me.
If disclosing your recovery in an interview makes you feel more certain that you can bring your whole self to a new job, I support you 100%. If disclosing your recovery seems like a good way to confront stigma and bias, I support that too. I’m here for it, and there are plenty of other hiring managers who probably are too.
If you want to play it a little closer to the vest, maybe roll out some of the details once you’ve got the job, I support that as well! You can choose not to disclose simply because the disclosure is not required, essential, or even relevant.
You can choose not disclose because you have too much else to say. Excluding deception, you can not disclose for any reason at all. Make that choice without feeling ashamed or stigmatized.
The most annoying interview advice ever given is this: “Just be yourself!”
In this case, it applies. Your recovery belongs to you, but it’s not all you are. Who and when you tell about it is part of your recovery process. And your recovery is, of course, more important than your interview.
So that’s my suggestion: Do what feels right for your recovery, and let the rest follow. I’d like to hear if you agree.