Career Clinic: Should I mention my depression in job applications?

If your university disregarded your second-year results when calculating your degree mark, by replacing them with the result from your third year and you went through the relevant procedures at your university relating to 'compassionate' marking, then I don't think you need to say anything more to HR than that you repeated your second year for personal reasons in accordance with university policy and with the approval of, for example, the law faculty. You will undoubtedly be asked why your three-year degree has taken four years (or people will wonder why) so I think it would be worth heading off the question. However, I don't believe you should provide full disclosure of the reasons if you don't want to.In an ideal world, disclosing information relating to your illness would not affect your application, but we do not live in an ideal world. Working in the legal profession can be very stressful and lonely and people will wonder whether you are resilient enough.If there was a particular cause of your depression e.g. death of a loved one (apologies for being so blunt), then that would be easier to explain.

Judge Judy (MC Associate) -29 Oct 2008 | 13:35

Frankly if you can fudge it on the form, I would. If you can't then you could say that your first year results and subsequent break were due to personal issues which are now fully resolved. Assuming, of course, the last bit is true. I really wouldn't put "depression" anywhere near your form.

Ex-MC, now in-house -29 Oct 2008 | 16:13

Hi there. Can't you just say your grades weren't good enough and that's why you repeated your second year and got a 2.1 as a result? Unless specifically asked the question, you have no obligation to disclose any medical issues. And I have to say that you will probably put off any employer who might think you can't take the stress of being a solicitor and it is often a stressful life. I know many holier than though types say that full disclosure is always the best policy, but you need to be thinking more about whether you are suited for a life as a solicitor. it sounds like you have managed to get over your brief episode of depression, so i wish you good luck if you are decided that this is the career for you and that you think you can handle the pressures.

May -29 Oct 2008 | 16:20

Mention depression and your application would certainly go in the bin at every firm I know, albeit on some other pretext. Unspecified illness that is now history much better. So many people have years out that taking four years to do a three year course is unremarkable - a gap in employment is much more noticeable.

Dullard -29 Oct 2008 | 16:25

Always give an explanation if something on your form isn't 'right' or 'clear' - just don't expend too many words on it. I also got a 2:2 in my first year and then had to 'repeat' my second year, given that I was in and out of hospital for about six months for similar reasons (albeit surgery included). I still secured a TC with a top five law firm. All I said on my application form in the 'Please add anything else you feel is relevant in support of your application' section [as opposed to the 'Mitigating Circumstances' section] was (and I quote):"For health-related reasons, I was unable to sit my second year exams as planned and had to defer them. After a series of treatments, those health-related issues were resolved and I eventually took my exams the following year, gaining an overall 2:1 in the process."The matter was never raised at my AC or interview. If they do raise it, simply repeat what you have put in your application form and leave it at that - do not act embarrassed or apologetic. Also, where possible, do not place details such as those in the 'mitigating circumstances' box - your health isn't really a mitigating circumstance when you have obviously met their academic requirements. Plus, if your Academic Referee does not raise any concerns about your performance overall, I really don't think you have anything to worry about. Relax, and stop stressing!

N Jones -29 Oct 2008 | 18:26

Depression destroyed my university days and had a serious effect on my grades that in turn damaged my training contract applications. Do not mention it to anyone as people largely do not want to take a punt on someone who cannot take a "little stress".On a side note, and please do consider this point, the legal profession can be pressure cooker testing the best of individuals. Ask yourself if you can cope in the future as your well being is important. Mental ill-health is the second most serious health issue facing solicitors today (I believe alcohol abuse the first!). As for me - depressed, coping well, a daily struggle but fortunately I love my job and would not have it any other way.

Anonymous -29 Oct 2008 | 23:33

Don't even go there on on your CV. Justify your actions with something else.

Toughen Up -29 Oct 2008 | 23:36

Can an employment lawyer correct me if I am wrong: I believe that you do not have to inform an employer of a mental health issue, but if you don't and you relapse or they find out some other way, it is automatic dismissal with no right to a Tribunal unless you have been with the company for one year. However, an employer does have the right to ask you on the form or at interview if you have had mental health issues. With the welfare reforms it is probable that HR and partnerships will have to pay more than lip service to people entering or returning to employability after a period of mental health disability or else be sued if someone dared to put them under the spotlight - given the statistics for the core jobless categories under the welfare reforms are high, especially concerning people who experience mental health issues - in fact, I have seen it stated you are more likely to be employed if blind rather than having mental health issues. If an employment lawyer can clarify on this one, please do.

ANON -29 Oct 2008 | 23:49

This all seems like a lot of debating over nothing. This is not a big deal in the slightest.It needs to be mentioned, failing to do so is potentially dishonest, not to mention how embarrassing it will be if they do spot an anomaly and you later need to explain yourself.A simple clarification that you repeated the year due to medical conditions is enough. No respectable law firm is going to delve into this kind of stuff.There is no embarrassment here at all that needs covering up!

US Associate -30 Oct 2008 | 08:57

Interesting question. Some law firms (I have heard!)will not consider candidates with health issues even though they claim to be progressive. I would recommend that you attend law fairs and speak to the recruiters. Make an impression, get their details and then chat to them over the phone about this issue. When asking their advice, they will see you in a completely different light than if you just sent an application through. A key skill of a lawyer is developing a rapport quickly - show you can do this with HR. In the mitigating circumstances bit in the application form, I would just put "medical reasons" as to why it took four instead of three years to complete your degree. After the initial screening process, if a law firm is interested in you they will ask what the circumstances were. By this time you're in a better situation to explain it.

Anonymous -30 Oct 2008 | 11:41

The less detail you put on your application form, the better chance you have of it not being picked up at all. Never volunteer negative info - omitting vital information is not the same as lying. A good lawyer can circumvent these situations, let's just see how good of a lawyer you are.

Investment Banker -30 Oct 2008 | 13:40

Huzzah! Investment Banker returns! I do not think it is dishonest to fail to mention an historic illness on your application form unless you are specifically asked the question (and why should you be asked about depression as opposed to any other illness? Would they ask you if you were a recovering (or not) alcoholic?). A person who has suffered from depression is likely to be vulnerable to a repeat, but as long as you are aware of that, know the warning signs and can take appropriate avoidance measures if need be, you should be all right. Good luck.

Lovesick Lawyer -30 Oct 2008 | 16:43

Just to explain the position, you are not under a legal duty to disclose a mental health problem (or any other medical condition or disability). If you had a subsequent relapse, your employer would have duties under the Disability Discrimination Act to explore reasonable adjustments that could be made to your working environment, and would have to go through quite a lengthy process (and take medical advice) if they wanted to dismiss you on medical/capability grounds. They would have to show that there were no reasonable adjustments that could be made, and that dismissal was the only real option - and this is quite a high hurdle. Otherwise they would be liable for disability discrimination. For these purposes it wouldn't matter if you had been there less than a year - you could put in a claim for discrimination anyway, and unlike standard unfair dismissal, the compensation for discrimination is not capped at £63k. Hope this helps.

Employment lawyer -30 Oct 2008 | 16:50

I started a fast-track postgraduate stream combined law degree/LPC in Australia at 23 in a haze of post-traumatic stress - just a few months after going through the sudden and horrific death of my father not long after a family breakdown. As the degree was something I chose to do to give me a reason to keep going (it had become impossible to carry on in my job as a teacher) I thought of it as a kind of therapy. I nearly bombed out in the 1st year, but the 'therapy' was working and by the end I was pulling staight distinctions. I never thought to repeat a year to improve my overall result and I never tried to justify my results to potential employers. I guess I just accepted that lots of people have to soldier on after a crisis - all kinds of distressing things can happen in life and for most of us they make us stronger in the end. I managed with what I had. I certainly assumed that any employer would see me as crippled if I mentioned what had happened and how it had affected me. Fortunately I interview well and had great references from legal work done as a student, so got a good start and found the 'therapy' continued in the enjoyment of the job and the empowerment of making a good salary. I still have the odd sleepless night, but I feel stronger for succeeding in spite of what happened. My sense is that the people around me who haven't experienced the challenge of recovering after a really bad knock-down have missed out. You may chose not to mention your depression; it may be a private matter for you and no-one else's business, but I believe that the fact you recovered and got that 2:1 is a tribute to you. If an employer really understood what it said about you, he/she might decide to select you before someone who had sailed through on the first try.

Anonymous -31 Oct 2008 | 16:58

I'd try to avoid mentioning it. If you are specifically asked about doing a four-year degree instead of a three-year degree then I would simply say you had personal problems which have been resolved and you repeated the year. Of course, you will need to fill out a medical form, and that's where the problem of disclosure could arise. Personally I wouldn't mention it, but if they then found out, it could be a problem. Depends if you want to take the risk - if it were me, I wouldn't mention it before a job offer and I'd avoid mentioning it afterwards if I could.

Helen -03 Nov 2008 | 14:40

Firstly, on your applications, keep it simple: just say it was because of illness (that's what depression is after all).Secondly, you might want to ask yourself whether this is the career for you (sorry to be blunt). Was the depression a one-off event or are you liable to depression going forward? If the latter, I would seriously think about whether a career in law is what you want - a lot of it can be stressful (sorry to be blunt). That is not to say give up the law completely if it interests you, but teaching might be the way to go rather than practice.

Cynical Cynthia -03 Nov 2008 | 16:22

Try going in-house with a public sector organisation - local council, police, NHS - on issues of employability and people with disabilities they are more on topic. I have been told of an equality policy whereby if the local population is x% mental disability then the local authority employs x% mental disability, I presume it is the same for lone parents, homeless, age 50+, ex-prisoners, physical disability. I am unsure whether that is 'positive action' as opposed to 'positive discrimination' or whether it is 'diversity' but it is equality of sorts, albeit I favour the toss-a-coin 50:50 route myself. With this kind of policy you would stand a chance of getting employed in law!!

ANON -03 Nov 2008 | 23:25

Could you not just pass it off as having too much of a good time socially? One of my friends repeated his first year and at interview explained it as having been a typical immature young boy more interested in drinking than studying. Do you think you could use that explanation?

Wharf Lawyer -04 Nov 2008 | 14:23

If you don't have to, don't mention it at all. If you have to say something, just say medical reasons.Depression can be a difficult illness to understand if you haven't suffered from it. People can think that if you have suffered from depression, you may not be able to deal with the stress of a legal job. In fact depression and ability to deal with stress are not the same.I have suffered from depression, but thrive under the stress and pressure of a legal job. Don't be put off.

Anonymous -05 Nov 2008 | 19:59

Depression

I think it might be worth explaining your reasons for your depression in the mitigating circumstances box. If it was depression itself as a medical condition, explain this to them. Firms will be sympathetic. Your good grades in later years should be sufficient to show them you have a brain.

You could explain your repeated year at the interview stage.

BalRock -26 Sep 2009 | 13:05