I would be honest. There’s no better excuse for not working than you were unable to due to an illness. As mortals we all appreciate this reason. If you are interviewing with someone who doesn’t understand that, do you really want to work for them?
If it’s the nature of the illness that you are uncomfortable disclosing be aware you are entitled to medical privacy. Just tell them it was a serious illness that prevented you from working and if they ask for specifics tell them it is private. Again if they can’t respect that 1) they may be violating local or state laws if not their own policies, 2) do you want to work for them?
A corporation is not your friend. The interviewer is probably feeding you less benign little lies about the company simultaneously.
The unfortunate thing I’ve discovered about great managers in big companies is that the work (not personal) relationship is temporary. There’s a good chance they get promoted/move on before you do.
Edit: I’ve also been a manager and even with the manager cap on I stand by my advice. I would not fault an interviewee if it turned out “Taking care of family health” really meant “Taking care of my own health”.
To me it’s no different than a company telling candidates how well funded and good the future prospects are, right up until the layoffs.
Ever had a private company recruiter show you a slide deck of how many millions your options will “surely” be worth in a couple years (via their non-GAAP proprietary metrics)?
Same stuff, it’s all a game. Loyalty is owed to individuals, not corporations.
You are allowed to be ill. You don’t have to elaborate on the condition. Just emphasize it was serious enough you were unable to work. Assure them you’re recovered and hence now looking.
But I would avoid the impulse to lie. It doesn’t matter if everyone else is lying around you. Or if corporations lie. Or whatever. There’s literally nothing to be ashamed of or to hide, so why descend to a level beneath yourself to hide something that doesn’t need hiding?
Finally there seems to be a view here that all managers are out to get you or extort you and will lie and cheat to get it done. I’m a hiring manager of hundreds and I genuinely do care about my people as people. When someone is sick I appreciate what that means. You shouldn’t want to work for someone who doesn’t. If the only way to get their job is to lie about something you shouldn’t have to hide, why on earth would you want their job? There are better people out there hiring. Even if it takes a little longer find the RIGHT job not the expedient job.
> a thing having a relation to or connection with or necessary dependence on *another* thing
But, also: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/relat...
Integrity: still intact.
I hope you enjoyed this little exercise.
If they ask you to describe a a project you did, describe some long-ago project. If they press for specifics of a given timespan, say that you take your customer NDAs seriously.
If the interviewers have been trained in the law and this is for US work, they will defer questions around illness to HR just like questions around religion, home ownership, etc. See the Americans with Disabilities act if you haven't already:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Ac...
I don't see how you can talk about the gap without talking about the illness, though.
Here's a good example:
I was taking some time off for voluntary reason when I became ill. I was lucky enough to be able to afford treatment and to delay my re-entry to the workforce until I became confident that my health wouldn't be a hindrance.
Just keep it simple and be honest.
I realize that there's a stigma attached to certain types of illnesses or disabilities, and it may seem tempting to make an excuse or cover rather than being honest. However, in addition to the likely inevitability of the deception being discovered, there's a worse possibility:
One young man I know (Calling him Bob, not his name) interviewed with a friend and colleague of mine (calling her Alice), but didn't get the job. I checked in with Alice to find out what happened, thinking that at least I could get Bob some useful feedback. It turns out that Bob had rated well on skills related to the job. However, he'd been so cagey about a six-month work history gap that the interviewing committee thought it likely that he'd worked some job not on his resume and was fired for cause, perhaps for stealing or sexual harassment or "something else big".
Bob was so afraid of the company finding out that he'd been in psych care after a major trauma, that he led them to believe he was a criminal.
Honesty really is the only good policy.
Frankly I think it's unethical, and shows a lack of empathy, to punish someone for hiding an illness from an employer.
I was injured (series of small strokes) I have learned to NEVER let employer know you have an ongoing medical issue.
Once they know. You get sympathy for a bit. Then everyone keeps telling how you shouldn't work and should focus on yourself.
Which is crap. Because an invisible injury is nearly impossible to get on Disability.
So work the best you can, or become homeless and die from lack of health care.
There will always be a stigma around mental illness, it's human nature, not some social construct, and I would 100% lie to you about something like that and not feel the least bit bad about it.
Alice just jumped to the conclusion that Bob was a criminal? How is that okay? The answer to your story isn't for Bob to reveal potentially embarrassing personal information in a job interview but for Alice not to assume that everyone with a gap in their resume is a criminal.