Cover Letter Advice?

[Reaver]

This is a very specific question, but I'm trying to decide whether it would be worth mentioning a completely clear medical history, lack of allergies, physical fitness, and a strong immune system when applying for a job that would involve frequent travel and potentially long stays in nations with a low quality of health care. It seems relevant, but don't want it to come across in a bad way if it could be misinterpreted somehow.

[Haruki-kun]

I would only mention physical fitness when applying for jobs that require it (heavy lifting, construction, etc...).

Otherwise no. A cover letter can only be so long and mentioning this kind of thing takes up precious space that would be better used to talk about what makes you the best candidate for the job.

[Reaver]

It could quite possibly require all of that, yeah.

[Anarion]

If you believe that your overall health is relevant to how good you'd be at a job, then sure, go ahead and tell them about it. You might present it, rather than merely that you're fit and not sick, as an enjoyment of working physically, exercise, and being in new climates.

[SarahV]

I've recently become the person at my company who goes through resumes/cover letters for potential hires... and I would say no. It comes across as weird in a cover letter, unless health is specifically relevant to the job (e.g. if you would be working for Doctors without Borders in field hospitals surrounded by exotic diseases).

In most situations, people who handle resumes are basically looking for an excuse to throw yours away. They don't want to spend a ton of time analyzing every word of every cover letter. They want to skim everything quickly and throw out half of them up front because of some perceived flaw, because it saves them time. So the #1 thing you need to do when applying for a job is to NOT do something wrong... and that includes saying something that might set off "this guy is weird" flags in your cover letter.

There are actually laws prohibiting employers from asking questions about your medical history, and if you offer that kind of specific information without being asked they may worry that they are not supposed to know that, or might be perceived as discriminating against other candidates if a rejected candidate with a disability or health problem found out they had your medical info, etc. Even though it is not illegal to volunteer the information it can make for a weird situation for the person making the hiring decision.

[Reaver]

I've recently become the person at my company who goes through resumes/cover letters for potential hires... and I would say no. It comes across as weird in a cover letter, unless health is specifically relevant to the job (e.g. if you would be working for Doctors without Borders in field hospitals surrounded by exotic diseases).

In most situations, people who handle resumes are basically looking for an excuse to throw yours away. They don't want to spend a ton of time analyzing every word of every cover letter. They want to skim everything quickly and throw out half of them up front because of some perceived flaw, because it saves them time. So the #1 thing you need to do when applying for a job is to NOT do something wrong... and that includes saying something that might set off "this guy is weird" flags in your cover letter.

There are actually laws prohibiting employers from asking questions about your medical history, and if you offer that kind of specific information without being asked they may worry that they are not supposed to know that, or might be perceived as discriminating against other candidates if a rejected candidate with a disability or health problem found out they had your medical info, etc. Even though it is not illegal to volunteer the information it can make for a weird situation for the person making the hiring decision.
Not quite as drastic as doctors without borders, but still involves travel and prolonged stays to many of the same areas. Africa, Middle east, southeast asia, that kind of thing. There would also probably be a significant degree of interaction with the local population, and I wouldnt be staying in the tourist areas.

[AdmiralCheez]

Honestly, I probably wouldn't bring it up at all unless they specifically ask about it or mention it in the job listing. I'm sure the hiring manager is assuming all of that anyway, so I would focus more on why you should be brought in for the interview.

[Crow]

Sounds like Dwight Shrute's online dating profile. Skip it.

[Spacewolf]

I wouldn't put it in your cover letter no, generally if they care about this sort of thing the would either give you a form to fill out before you go to your interview or make you get a medical check up once you've been hired.

Nowadays from what I understand Cover letters should try and include particular words from the job listing so that it will tick the boxes needed to get it infront of a person.

[007_ctrl_room]

My honest answer: absolutely not. Don't use your small amount of space in a cover letter to talk about deficiencies - use it to talk about your strengths, creativity, and excitement for the job!

[Bulldog Psion]

As someone who's occasionally been paid to write cover letters and resumes for other people, I'm leaning heavily towards skipping it also. I realize that it's something that will be extremely useful to you in that, but I'd still leave it out of the cover letter.

Heck, even if you were going to work at Doctors without Borders, I'd leave it out. Probably especially then. Their first thought would likely be, "This guy has never been sick, so he thinks he's invulnerable. That means there's a chance he'll disregard proper safety procedures around seriously ill people with communicable diseases, thinking that being healthy right now somehow makes him immune to getting badly ill, and he'll end up endangering himself, his colleagues, and his patients."

Though I'm not trying to give medical advice here, there's no such thing as "too healthy, robust, etc. etc. to get sick." The humble germ can fell the mightiest athlete as easily as the invalid.

So, on second thought -- I'd recommend definitely skipping it. If I shot holes in the idea right now, with no real vested interest in the outcome, there's a good chance IMO they'll do the same, and discard your application BECAUSE of the health stuff rather than in spite of it.

[Brother Oni]

I'd definitely recommend skipping mentioning it in your covering letter.

In any case, for a job where your health is of importance to your duties (or your duties can impact on your health), there's normally a compulsory medical at some point during the interview process.

[Ornithologist]

(The following is an idea that is not been proven to be a good idea, and makes no guarantee as such)

Maybe you just use lots of adjectives in your cover letter that hint at it. Like "I have a robust desire to do work in far off places. As well, I always make sure to keep my client accounts healthy."

hit their subconscious with it?

/bad idea