Hi David,

Thanks for writing to us. I’m sorry to hear that you’ve been so unhappy at work, but it’s great that you’re taking time to re-evaluate and think critically about your next steps. Many cancer patients and survivors say that their experience has served as a catalyst for change in their lives and are eager to find a job that is more fulfilling personally and professionally—sounds like you were already at that point before your diagnosis.  One thing to consider is that the stability of having a job to go back to, and the ability to test out your work readiness with a role you know inside and out can be a helpful thing in the short term. It can also help you avoid any sort of gap on your resume, which can cause stress to people in the job search process. That being said, you may also choose to start the job search while you’re out on short term disability since the process can take some time (varying in length from weeks to months from initial application to starting the job). You may want to think about updating your resume, researching different career opportunities, setting up information interviews with people in positions and/or at companies that spark interest, etc. I would caution that you should be careful about how you proceed so that your current job that you are out on the short-term disability from doesn’t think you are capable of being at work and instead are using the time to heal and recover to job hunt.

In response to your question about whether companies hire newly diagnosed employees, I would like to mention that in general, you are under no legal obligation to disclose your medical condition to your prospective or current employer. That said you may have to disclose some information if you want to access a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to show you are entitled to it (more on that topic below). During the interview process, you may decide to wait until you receive an offer to disclose and/or request any reasonable accommodation, or even wait until you have started the job (in most cases you won’t really know what you need or what you need to ask for until you are actually in the role, experiencing the environment and the responsibilities of the job). CAC has a great deal of information about disclosure, and to start I recommend watching the following video: https://www.cancerandcareers.org/en/community/videos/bwc/2017-webinar-online

It's also important to note that the ADA and state fair employment laws prohibit most employers from asking a job applicant about their health status before offering the job. And, as I mentioned above, these laws also give qualified individuals the right to reasonable accommodations. A reasonable accommodation may include things like a modified work schedule such as telecommuting or flex time (working the same number of hours but distributed differently over the course of a week so that you can go to your appointments) or changes to your workspace or access to technology. One thing to note is that the ADA applies to eligible job applicants and employees of a private employer with fifteen or more employees, or a state or local government of any size, so you might want to think about the size of the company when reviewing positions.  Some states’ laws protect individuals working for employers with fewer than 15 employees. Our partner, Triage Cancer, has a Quick Guide to Cancer-Related Laws by State available at http://triagecancer.org/resources/quickguides.  

I've reached out to our career coaches for their insight as well, but in the meantime the following resources might be helpful:

• Webinar recording on career change: http://www.cancerandcareers.org/en/community/videos/bwc/career-change 


• Webinar on Working Through Treatment: https://www.cancerandcareers.org/en/community/videos/bwc/2017-webinar-treatment
  


• Article on finding meaningful work: http://www.cancerandcareers.org/en/looking-for-work/exploring-your-options/finding-meaningful-work
  


• Article on job-hunting after cancer treatment: http://www.cancerandcareers.org/en/looking-for-work/exploring-your-options/job-hunting-after-cancer-treatment 


• Free resume review service: http://www.cancerandcareers.org/resume_reviews/new 

I hope this is helpful. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us at cancerandcareers@cew.org or 646-929-8032.

A coach will be in touch soon!

Kind regards,

Nicole Franklin, MPH

Manager of Programs

Cancer and Careers 

Hi, David, 

Thanks for reaching out to us. Nicole has provided some amazing resources that will help you sort out when and how to make your move.  As a survivor myself, I can say that working a stressful job was detrimental to me, too, so I get it.  You feel you need to move on but aren't sure when or how.

The point that Nicole made regarding coming back to something familiar may resonate with you as you come off your treatment cycle and are in recovery mode. It does take a while to get one's footing again after rounds of medical treatment.  But, if you are still adamant not to return to your old job, then some self investigation is in order.

What do you love to do? What do you envision for yourself? What limitations if any might you have?  Do you want to work full time, part time or freelance? How would you spend your time if you had the luxury of getting paid for it.  This is the sort of questions I ask people to ask themselves as they begin the visioning process.

Then, start to narrow it down to your experience and skills. What do you do like breathing?  What has been your strong suit, something that others seek out in you because you are the best at it?  What gaves you satisfaction from jobs you've held in the past? What successes have you had, and what difference did those make to your team or your organizaiton?

If you think these through,you will see patterns develop in your answers. These patterns are the keys to your next role, one that will bring you satisfaction as well as success.

If you are concerned about brushing up on skills in order to land that next role, there are so many new resources available to you to do so, some free, and some very inexpensive, that your head will spin.  One of the greatest new developments is in the area of online courses and certificates. These MOOCs, Massive Open Online Courses, are such a boon to learners that I can hardly contain my excitement.  They are offered from such places as MIT, Stanford, Harvard, as well as through Google, and LinkedIn just to name a few prestigious sponsors. I will list a few for you here, so that you can explore them yourself.

http://www.lynda.com.  Lynda is sponsored by LinkedIn, and has thousands of video tutorials covering technical,creative and business skills, all taught by industry experts.

https://www.edx.org/ EdX is a collaborative project of Harvard University and MIT providing free online courses and classes from the world's best universities.

http://www.coursera.org  Coursera is a platform where anyone can take free online classes from 120-plus to Universities including Stanford, Yale, and Princeton.

https://learndigital.withgoogle.com/digitalgarage  Google Digital Garage is Google's entry into the MOOC world. It provides career and business courses designed by subject matter experts. Take one course, or sign up for a series or a certificate program in your area of interest.

There are many more, so don't limit yourself to just these.

And, David, all this is super stuff, but it matters a lot that you find something that uses your strengths in a way that is both satisfying and pays the bills.  Remember, even if it looks like tech skills are in highest demand, soft skills such as team work, collaboration, leadership, taking initiative and training others are all still very much in demand, too. You just have to be ready with short examples you can share about how you used your skills to make a difference for past employers. Your Success Stories - those are key.

Do take advantage of all CAC has to offer on the job search front, then once you are ready to launch, share your resume with us so that our professional coaches can review it. You'll be glad you did.

Blessings in your continued recovery and in your next big job adventure,

Kathy Flora, Career Coach

Thank you for the wonderful information. I will take a look at the resources provided.
Dave