Submitted by ProcReg on
in
Forums
Good afternoon. I found this cast by word of mouth a few weeks ago, and have loved them all! I want some feedback from anyone that can give legitimate help...
I have a movement disorder that gives me significant facial tics, especially under pressure...like an interview. I have medicine and the doctor is thrilled with my progress. Even then, it's a management regiment and not a cure. Focusing on it only helps for a few minutes, then the tics will burst forth and subside.
As one might imagine, the tics do not interview well. I have thought of coming out with it in the interview, but since it is medical, that puts the interviewer in an uncomfortable position. On the other hand, being up front with that information might neutralize the issue and allow me to relax.
The tics can send the wrong body language, like being frustrated or angry or confused, when I am perfectly on board. I hope to hear from you soon!
Generally, no...
The general guidance on mentioning medical issues in interviews is no, don't do it. An interviewer wants to remain impartial and mentioning medical issues only tests the interviewer's fortitude.
Your issue may be a special case because it's so easy to observe. At some point the general guidance starts to break down. I think we would all agree that conjoined twins would have to mention the other person in the room. Your issue is closer to the borderline.
I don't feel strongly about this. If you've never mentioned it in previous interviews and your ratio of offers to interviews is good, then stay the course and don't mention it. If you feel you're not getting a good percentage of offers, consider raising it as the answer to the weakness question. Be prepared to follow the standard format for this answer, most importantly what you're doing to improve.
Good luck,
--Michael
It'll be obvious either way
I encountered this once, with an interviewee that clearly had an uncontrollable facial tic. Neither of us mentioned it, and it was only mildly distracting to me until I got into the conversation.
At the post-interview briefing someone asked whether he had displayed the facial tic with the rest of us, and we had a brief conversation on this very topic. One person thought he should probably mention it, just to get it out of the way, but the rest of us felt like it was pretty obvious and we'd rather get on with the business of the interview then step into an awkward conversation.
One big exception: If the job is such that you will be in front of customers, and are likely to be displaying the same tics, then you should probably bring it up. In a positive light, if possible, such as "when I worked at <xyz> we had this big presentation, it was early in my career so I was nervous... the tics you see on my face now are nothing compared to that! But once I got into my rhythm we clinched that sale." The interviewer will be concerned about this, and even a simple comment like the above can say "he's been dealing with it and it's not a problem."
--
Chris Arguin
Thank you
THANKS! I've been dying to get this type of feedback.
All the advice out there for Generation Y is total crap. Even the WSJ has it wrong.
Interviews go better when I sit down and talk with the interviewer(s) rather than picture my body hanging by a noose. The tics can be incredibly distracting, to the annoyance of the interviewer, so I needed something different. Awesome!
Good to know about this
Good to know about this one. This site could really be helpful. These tips are really effective. Good job on this. - Mercy Ministries