AIBU or is this a reasonable question on a job application?

[NomDePrune]

Please give any experiences of any major losses in the last two years (i.e. bereavement, divorce, illness etc.)
The job is manager of a charity shop, the charity is a hospice.

I dont think it is as clearcut as that Jamie. I think it is more about finding the attitude to bereavement, than actually if they have or have not suffered a loss.

I think it is fine for the question to be on there but I think they should explain why they ask.

To add, I never thought the question was intended for anything other than to find out what, if any, bereavements a candidate has experienced -- in other words, to establish whether they have had a loss and, if so, the degree of loss. I don't think that not having been bereaved is taken into consideration.

From a psychological perspective (I'm a psychotherapist), some people who haven't grieved unconsciously seek out a way of 'grieving by proxy' - and a small percentage of volunteers at a hospice will be in this group. Those are the ones that the hospice needs to know about, because the experience for them could be damaging, and it could be damaging to those who are grieving who come into contact with them.

I volunteered in a hospice shop in my teens and you definitely get more people in who are bereaved, most of the volunteers had a personal reason for volunteering. Perhaps they have a standard form for their charity. They need to check out motivations for volunteering in particular, often after a big loss or whatever people decide to 'help' or 'do' but they aren't really in the best place to. Or if they are doing it to get over something then the charity can support them more.

After my son was very ill I had a strong urge to do something. I can really understand why I was questioned very thoroughly when I became a helpline volunteer, last thing some poor caller needed would be me breaking down in tears on them!

Conflugen, Which I suppose is why one of the major phone help lines wont accept volunteers who have suffered bereavement, mental health problems, domestic abuse, etc....

Yes, Quintessential, that's almost certainly why ...