Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to cancel interview due to COVID?

370 replies

Sexisthairdressers · 24/04/2025 07:21

I have a job interview this morning but have COVID. Didn't sleep. Work up feeling crap and did a test. Just emailed to cancel. Feel terrible that it's last minute and really want the job. Have asked to reschedule. Did I do the right thing? AIBU? For info, it was a 4 hour interview (tests etc then face to face interview - just don't think I could have got through it - quite apart from not wanting to infect everyone).

OP posts:
MrsSkylerWhite · 24/04/2025 10:26

Lanzarotelady · 24/04/2025 10:25

Do you think people are admitted to hospital for a temperature?

Show quote history

They are if they are assessed to be on the sepsis pathway.

Lanzarotelady · 24/04/2025 10:25

feelingbleh · 24/04/2025 10:24

Are you kidding right now 😳

Show quote history

Do you think people are admitted to hospital for a temperature?

DefinitelyMaybe92 · 24/04/2025 10:24

Definitely right to cancel. You don’t know who on the interviewing panel could be immunocompromised, be pregnant/have a pregnant partner, have young children or elderly relatives they care for etc etc. I would be glad if someone I was interviewing flagged this, and I certainly wouldn’t hold it against them if they were a good candidate. Just make sure you put your very best foot forward in your rescheduled slot. Good luck!

feelingbleh · 24/04/2025 10:24

Lanzarotelady · 24/04/2025 10:20

What medical intervention will you need for a temperature?

Show quote history

Are you kidding right now 😳

Growlybear83 · 24/04/2025 10:24

Mumoftwo52 · 24/04/2025 10:04

Because we cannot always shut ourselves away from society at the smallest sign of a sniffle.

Kids have to go to school, they mix germs, they come home to parents, parents go out to work, viruses and bacteria spread. This is life. If YOU want to stay home and shut yourself away from ‘the germs’, go ahead. But you can’t seriously expect people who have to continue to earn money and go to school to stay at home because they have a runny nose.

Most people carry viruses - including Covid - and don’t show symptoms. So viruses spread even if ‘sick’ people stay home.

Show quote history

But no-one is suggesting that people should stay home if they’ve got a bit of a runny nose. When I had Covid last month I tested because I had full blown symptoms and wanted to make sure that I wasn’t going to mix with people who I might infect. My symptoms came on overnight and for the sake of a £1 test and 15 minutes of my time, I avoided potentially infecting many other people, some of whom might only have developed mild cold symptoms and not given it a second thought, and others who might have become extremely ill. Covid is still a very serious illness for a significant proportion of people and dozens still die from it every week, so why wouldn’t you do a very simple and cheap test if you think you may have Covid to avoid spreading it? I’ve got a fairly strong constitution but Covid completely floored me again, and I was unable to get out of bed for a week apart from dragging myself to the bathroom. Im still recovering from the fatigue and breathlessness a month later but am hoping that I don’t have to go back to the long Covid clinic again. I didn’t want to inflict that on anyone, let alone my husband who is vulnerable.

I meet a friend who is in her mid 80s regularly and who has a number of medical conditions and I would never dream of not doing a test before i see her, no matter how well I feel, out of common courtesy.

Lanzarotelady · 24/04/2025 10:23

feelingbleh · 24/04/2025 10:22

Exactly but I would be fit for work with a cold as its a cold. Covid is not just a cold and to knowingly spread it around isn't ok

Show quote history

But you would knowingly spread a cold around? What is the difference?

MrsSkylerWhite · 24/04/2025 10:22

bigvig · 24/04/2025 07:24

You won't get the job. I'd think you were flaky OP.

Seriously? You’d go to the interview if you had an highly transmittable illness that can make some people very ill?

If I were your prospective employer, OP, I’d appreciate your consideration and reschedule.

I would follow the e-mail up with a phone call, though, to ensure it had been read and to stress how keen I was on the role.

Lanzarotelady · 24/04/2025 10:22

fairybower · 24/04/2025 10:19

God, you don't sound like a very empathetic "nurse".

Show quote history

I don't have to be empathetic, I need to be informed and able to keep you alive.

feelingbleh · 24/04/2025 10:22

Lanzarotelady · 24/04/2025 10:20

It doesn't matter what you have, if you're not fit to work, you're not fit to work.

Show quote history

Exactly but I would be fit for work with a cold as its a cold. Covid is not just a cold and to knowingly spread it around isn't ok

Lanzarotelady · 24/04/2025 10:21

Calliopespa · 24/04/2025 10:21

Yes of course.

You don’t keep children home if they haven’t got it; but if they have, yes of course you keep them home.

Show quote history

So every cough and cold they have you keep them off? How will they build their resilience or immunity?

Calliopespa · 24/04/2025 10:21

Lanzarotelady · 24/04/2025 10:18

So what do we do if we have a virus but feel ok, do we keep children off school, do I not go into work? Do we not go to the shops?

Show quote history

Yes of course.

You don’t keep children home if they haven’t got it; but if they have, yes of course you keep them home.

Lanzarotelady · 24/04/2025 10:20

feelingbleh · 24/04/2025 10:20

It tells me to take paracetamol and to monitor it more closely to see if I need medical intervention

Show quote history

What medical intervention will you need for a temperature?

Lanzarotelady · 24/04/2025 10:20

feelingbleh · 24/04/2025 10:19

So you think this would happen with a common cold and I should just carry on as normal and go to work.

Show quote history

It doesn't matter what you have, if you're not fit to work, you're not fit to work.

feelingbleh · 24/04/2025 10:20

Lanzarotelady · 24/04/2025 10:18

What does taking your temperature tell you, does it make you feel better or worse, if it was normal, would that make you feel better?

Show quote history

It tells me to take paracetamol and to monitor it more closely to see if I need medical intervention

fairybower · 24/04/2025 10:19

Lanzarotelady · 24/04/2025 10:18

What does taking your temperature tell you, does it make you feel better or worse, if it was normal, would that make you feel better?

Show quote history

God, you don't sound like a very empathetic "nurse".

Lanzarotelady · 24/04/2025 10:19

RampantIvy · 24/04/2025 10:18

Our issue is that you are being deliberately goady and obtuse. Covid wasn't a big deal for me either, but it still is for some people. You lack the emotional intelligence to understand this.

Show quote history

I have an essay to write and a violin piece to practice, I am procrastinating if truth be told

MoominMai · 24/04/2025 10:19

bigvig · 24/04/2025 07:24

You won't get the job. I'd think you were flaky OP.

Oof! I hope you’re not a manager 😬

feelingbleh · 24/04/2025 10:19

Lanzarotelady · 24/04/2025 10:17

You have a temperature, which your bodies response to fighting infection, be that rhino virus or corona virus

Show quote history

So you think this would happen with a common cold and I should just carry on as normal and go to work.

Lanzarotelady · 24/04/2025 10:18

Calliopespa · 24/04/2025 10:14

.., hence the utility of testing.

And I don’t understand your logic about things like dengue being worse. Do you think people are delighted at the thought of contracting that?

Show quote history

So what do we do if we have a virus but feel ok, do we keep children off school, do I not go into work? Do we not go to the shops?

RampantIvy · 24/04/2025 10:18

Lanzarotelady · 24/04/2025 10:16

Yes and your issue is?

Show quote history

Our issue is that you are being deliberately goady and obtuse. Covid wasn't a big deal for me either, but it still is for some people. You lack the emotional intelligence to understand this.

Lanzarotelady · 24/04/2025 10:18

feelingbleh · 24/04/2025 10:15

I currently have covid people saying it's just a cold do you think this is just a cold and this is me having it mildly last time I was hospitalised for nearly a month

What does taking your temperature tell you, does it make you feel better or worse, if it was normal, would that make you feel better?

fairybower · 24/04/2025 10:17

Anyone with an asthmatic child or elderly family member - or who has neither but possesses basic common sense (now a rare commodity) - will be grateful you did not come in and knowingly infect the whole office or whatever.

You did the right thing by yourself, also, as showing up bleary-eyed and foggy-brained would do you no favours in showing your best self for the job.

Lanzarotelady · 24/04/2025 10:17

feelingbleh · 24/04/2025 10:15

I currently have covid people saying it's just a cold do you think this is just a cold and this is me having it mildly last time I was hospitalised for nearly a month

You have a temperature, which your bodies response to fighting infection, be that rhino virus or corona virus

Lanzarotelady · 24/04/2025 10:16

NestOfWipers · 24/04/2025 10:15

You are a nurse🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️

Show quote history

Yes and your issue is?

NestOfWipers · 24/04/2025 10:15

Lanzarotelady · 24/04/2025 08:18

Yes I have had it and I am a nurse ( worked in covid ICU ) I cannot remember the last time anyone was in ICU due to Covid - I have however recently nursed 2 people who came in with flu!

Show quote history

You are a nurse🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️