Don’t ask, don’t tell: Is it prudent to disclose your legal medications to your present or prospective employer before taking a test? Absolutely not, says Lawrence Beaumont, president of Pacific Medical Co. in Tacoma, Wash. His firm conducts mobile lab unit drug screens and other testing services for employers.
“You could easily be discriminated against based upon the medications–and the suspicions of the employer about your fitness to perform the job,” he said. “Medications for cancer, AIDS, sexually-transmitted diseases and many others can cause employers to have a negative, pre-conceived profile of you, whether it’s true or not.”
Beaumont stresses that “medical information should never be disclosed to the employer. It should only be disclosed to a medical or testing service provider.”
The executive says if you have tried “to prove discrimination, you know this is a very difficult task, so the employer simply moves on to the next apparently healthy applicant–and gets away with it.”
The hospitalist: Did you ever hear that term before? It describes the work of physicians who specialize in the practice of general internal medicine for hospitalized patients.
It’s brand new to me, but according to Dr. Steven M. Belknap, a hospitalist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, it’s been around since the late 1980s. And opportunities for hospitalists are on the increase.
“The title grew out of the fact that the schedules of residents, who did this work, were reduced, which meant they were less available to do it,” said Dr. Belknap, who is board certified in internal medicine and clinical pharmacology. An assistant professor of medicine and clinical pharmacology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, he also is a researcher and works as a hospitalist only 10 weeks a year.
“I like taking care of people who are very sick but who probably are going to get better with care,” Belknap said.
But the title of “hospitalist” is a real turnoff for patients because the term is so cold and doesn’t convey the one-on-one care–or concern. Maybe a better one would be “humanist.”
Gut reaction: You may not be too surprised to learn that many hiring decisions are not scientific.
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A survey of 250 executives by The Creative Group, shows that 46 percent report they “rely very much on instinct when making hiring decisions, and 49 percent report they follow their gut at least some of the time.”
That makes getting a job more of a challenge than most job seekers ever suspected: You can have the best resume, skills and experience in the world. You can be thoroughly prepared for the job interview. But satisfying someone’s “gut”–that is not something even the most brilliant job applicant can prepare for.
“Interviewing is both an art and a science,” observed Tracey Fuller, executive director of The Creative Group, a specialized staffing service based in Menlo Park, Calif.
Leaving your job: No matter how tempting it may be to air all the dirty linen at your exit interview, it may not be a good idea. Instead, “make the best of a bad situation … and do not show anger or resort to blaming anyone,” advises Cy Charney, author of “The Instant Manager: More than 100 quick tips & techniques for great results” (Amacom, $18.95). Instead, the consultant points out that “a collaborative but firm attitude will allow you to depart gracefully, with as much dignity and cash as possible.”
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Carol Kleiman’s columns also appear in Monday’s and Tuesday’s Business sections. Hear her on WBBM-AM 780 at 6:21 p.m. and 10:22 p.m. Mondays and 11:20 a.m. Saturdays. E-mail [email protected].