RA & Looking for Work :(: Hiya everyone, having a down... - NRAS

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RA & Looking for Work :(

Jillybean1983 profile image
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Hiya everyone, having a down in the dumps day, applying for jobs everyday WITHOUT mentioning I have RA! Well yesterday aw the first application that asked about health/medical to which I disclosed all the relevant info. Well within 6 hours I received an email stipulating that I was unsuitable for the role (customer assistant at Boots) I was so upset as this has now not given me much hope of being offered an interview never mind a job!! Do deflated and fed up. I've just turned 30years old and I feel like I'm 60! Feet swollen today too which is a first :/

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Jillybean1983
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Don't take this to heart, it's easy for me to say it I know being at the end of working life. You will find something out there, this was obviously not meant for you.

Continue to fill out the forms as requested. When I was involved in a recruitment panel, HR kept all the relevant pages where you would have listed your RA, and I would be given only your name, address, any qualifications, and what you had written to support your application. We went on those and gave each a number out of 10, those above 6 were requested for intereview, those below we declined. At interview each person was given the same questions, and were scored again but out of 5. It was the candidate with the highest number that was given the job. It was not until after that did we learn of the illness/disability, unless of course the disability was apparent to the eyes. So some firms are doing it correctly and I hope this will happen to you. Good Luck with the searching. take care. xx

Good morning!

Very sorry to hear about the rejection :( I'd been looking for a job for the best part of a year (I returned to Switzerland from Belfast due to my RA). The way I tried to look at it was that it didn't have anything to do with RA and everything to do with the economic climate and stuff you can't influence. I'd been to a number of job interviews and I did have the feeling I got turned down for a few of the jobs because I looked ill (underweight from DMARDs side effects, long story!).

Anyway, I wanted to give you some hope as I finally managed to get a decent job and I'm starting next week :) I tried to loom at my RA as something that would benefit an employer as it's made me a tougher person. People with RA are determined, resourceful, creative (we have to be, trying to figure out how to best use our swollen hands to get things done!) also they're quick leaners (half of us could probably work in a pharmacy by now!, we are organised and have great communication skills (we have to deal with so many doctors!) and we're helpful (just look at this site!) because we know what it means to have to rely on help.

So, my advice is to tell yourself everytime you feel down that it's nothing to do with RA and everything to do with the job market. There are so many people without chronic illnesses in the exact same situation - it took my sister's boyfriend about a year too to get another job and he's really well qualified and perfectly healthy. So, I know how hard your situation is but it will just make you feel like it's not worth it if you think it's because of your RA because you obviously can't just make that go away :(

What helped me was that my rheumy wrote me a letter stating that I have RA but that it will have minimal impact on non-manual work and I also got a reference letter from my career coach, explaining a bit about my (health) situation just to make them less afraid when they realise I have RA.

I hope this is of some help and I really hope you're feeling a bit better by now!!

Love, Christine xxxxxxxxx

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