What would you do with mental problems?

Jan 26 15 Comments

The point is that in tech, you need to be productive! Once you stop being productive for +3months, you are fired!

What do you guys do when a problem hits you? Filing for disability and taking off even with 0 pay is practically not a possibility out of big tech!

Can someone become homeless in such a situation without saving in Bay area? What about the resume gap, if you have saving and can manage to survive a year for therapy?!

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TOP 15 Comments
  • Folks I have known in the past have applied for a leave of absence, especially if there are medical reasons (including mental health). If you have been at a company long enough, you are eligible for that.

    Alternatively, you can explain a resume gap with taken time off to overcome a medical situation (or you can be specific about the mental illness). Whether or not you’ll be discriminated against by individual managers, you won’t know. But if you do get discriminated, then those are probably places that wouldn’t have been healthy for you anyway (or so is my opinion).
    Jan 26 3
    • I can understand being in a bind and especially if you are dealing with mental health issues, it takes a toll on your confidence making it even harder to sell yourself well in interviews.
      There is no alternative but to go through a perspective shift if you want to be on the winning end of the job. Unfortunately fear and lack of confidence are the worst enemies of a winning job situation. Until you are able to tackle those beasts, it’ll be hard to remove that stress.
      Jan 26
    • +1, apply for disability leave. They probably can’t fire you within limits (employee in decent standing, medical documentation in order) so you’ll still technically be employed and have some income, in the meantime you can take a break and look for what’s next. It does seem like more and more have been taking extended time off between jobs for whatever reason, so I think (or hope) employers might be more understanding now… might as well just mumble something about taking care of family and health obligations due to the COVID situation and leave it at that. I don’t think anyone reasonable would hold it against a candidate.
      Jan 26
  • New
    uQPC31

    New

    uQPC31
    Get outside. Take a vacation. Travel to a less fortunate part of the world.
    Jan 26 5
    • Pandora
      gakdyr

      Go to company page Pandora

      gakdyr
      It’s completely fine to have gap between jobs I know few folks who took 4-5 months off to travel. It’s not a red flag as long as your resume is impressive and you have what HM is looking for
      Jan 26
    • New
      niPo64

      New

      niPo64
      The weird thing is that most *every* part of the world (i.e. country) has shitty areas and nice areas.

      Even Ethiopa has a nice section. There are less fortunate parts are more fortunate parts. Just like in the US
      Jan 26
  • Don't put gap in resume. Just stretch previous position
    Jan 26 3
    • New
      chiefkeefe

      New

      chiefkeefe
      Ramit Sethi talks about how to talk about a resume gap for mental health or similar issues on YouTube. You should be able to find the video.
      Jan 26
    • Background check need not be perfect
      Jan 26
  • Hey, if your company has mental health benefits that pay for therapy visits I highly encourage you to take advantage. I started seeing a therapist for the first time in my life 2 months ago through company benefits and I’ve been feeling much better and much more productive after I’ve started going. Give it a try if you can
    Jan 26 0