What Will The Social Security Administration Want To Know About My Job History If I Apply For Social Security Disability Benefits?

Quite a lot!

The Social Security Administration’s webpage provides information about the details of work history that you will need to share when you apply for Social Security disability benefits. For example, you will need to include the titles of all of the jobs you’ve held in the last 15 years. You’ll also need to provide a description of the work you performed.

Be Prepared to Talk About the Specifics of Your Job(s)

The Social Security Administration would like to receive information about:

The main responsibilities of your job or jobs
The main tasks you performed
The dates you worked
The number of hours a day you worked per week
Your pay rate
What tools, machinery, or equipment you used
What knowledge, skills, and abilities your work required
The amount of supervision you had
The amount of independent judgment you used
Whether you had to lift and carry objects and how much they weighed
Whether you had to sit, stand, walk, climb, stoop, kneel, crouch, crawl, or balance while at work
How you used your hands, arms, and legs while at work
Speaking, hearing, and vision requirements to perform your job
Environmental conditions of your workplace

The Social Security Administration also requests information about how your disability prevented you from meeting any workplace requirements. So, for example, if your disability caused you to work fewer hours or to accept help from coworkers, the Social Security Administration would like to know that.

The Social Security Administration also needs information about timing issues. You’ll need to share details about when your medical condition started to affect your work and when you stopped working.

All of this information is required so that the Social Security Administration can determine whether you can still do your old job, whether you can do a different type of work, or whether you are totally disabled.

Learn More About Social Security Disability Eligibility Before You Apply

If you believe you qualify for Social Security disability benefits, you should learn more about what the Social Security Administration wants to know from you and about how to protect your rights. Please download a FREE copy of our book, Social Security Disability: What You Need to Know, or contact us via this website or by phone for more information so that you can submit a complete and accurate application for benefits.