How would you view a candidate who has to reschedule an interview due to illness?

[SaltandPepper22]

Just that really - DH and I have been debating it.

Would you show compassion and think these things happen, treat them the same as as the other candidates and still consider them a potential option, or would you hold a bias against them and expect them to blow you away to get the job, or not want to hire them in case they are unreliable when actually hired.

Not a situation that directly affects either of us, but inspired by a conversation I overheard at work today.

As everyone knows, the Black Death, COVID, Ebola, Monkey Pox are all just the result of a lack of mental resilience among the general population. The world would be a better place if the infected all turned up to job interviews and coughed in the faces of the panel.

Oh, didn't you know? It's lazy, weak and downright sloppy to allow oneself to become ill. These feckless people should toughen up, buck their ideas up, haul themselves up by the bootstraps and be grateful to have a chance of a job at all. They probably don't really want to work anyway. 🙄

Whatever. I answered truthfully what I would think from my experience and context.

If you work in a hospital it makes sense that the staff are sick a lot, surely? They must get exposed to all sorts.

Yep! I caught the flu I interviewed for my current job with (on Teams!) when I worked in an acute hospital.

Have barely been unwell since I left that job! Whilst in that job, I caught Covid x3, flu x2, norovirus x1 and….NITS! 🫣

Yes we do get sick from exposure to stuff eg I have had Covid more times than I can count.

If you are vomiting or have diarrhoea obviously don't come in.

If you feel a bit off, think you might have a UTI or a cold or just need a duvet day then we can't accommodate that. I need staff that have a high threshold for calling in sick and are team players who don't let the side down.

I don't hold anyone to any different rules than I have for myself.

Wow…have you ever actually had a UTI? I don’t think I would feel safe caring for 12 acutely unwell people if I had a UTI with malaise and rigors (and most of those people were probably in BECAUSE of a UTI), also wouldn’t fancy killing an immunocompromised person with what might just be a heavy cold for me. Can’t imagine anyone would like to be looked after by a nurse who is obviously unwell.

That to me would be ‘letting the side down’, not calling in sick because I am genuinely unfit for work. Do you usually blame your staff for your own inability to organise contingency plans?

assume that if you’re considering canceling then it’s more than a regular cold. I’d be annoyed a little but if the candidate was amazing in the interview and otherwise reliable and responsive in communication, I wouldn’t think twice about hiring them.

Obviously I've had a UTI FFS
I'm a doctor not a nurse if that makes any difference to you and the culture of acute medicine is that you suck it up and work through because there is no one waiting in the wings. I do not cancel whole clinics or operating lists of patients who have been waiting for ages because I feel a bit unwell
I would get myself some antibiotics and painkillers and go in. I would wear a mask and wash hands more often.
If I did cancel that would doubtless provoke another NHS bashing thread about waiting lists.
I cannot employ junior Drs who will go off sick at the drop of a hat. It's not a kind culture. Never had been never will be and that isn't me personally it's everywhere I've ever worked in my whole career. It's reality. We are not resourced to afford kindness to staff. As for 'blame staff for my own inability to organise contingency plans' the contingency plan is a hugely expensive and likely incapable agency locum or nothing. We do not have spare Drs.

actually come to think of it it really depends on the job. I get it if you need someone very resilient for a hospital role. If you were interviewing for secret agent or got a one time shot at starring in a Hollywood movie did also pop some pills and go for the interview unless I was vomiting constantly or just been in a serious accident or similar.
If you’re interviewing for a more regular office job where very reliable attendance is less crucial and your other skills like communication or whatever specialist skill set or network you bring is more important, I wouldn’t think twice to reschedule.

In some roles being that physical body that’s filing the role and doing it’s duty IS the most important thing!

In other roles, others skills are more important. It all depends. Don’t give @ThePure shit for being honest about the requirements of their type of job.

In my job for example network and specialist knowledge is everything and we’d rather hire someone who took a sick day once a month but aced those two criteria than someone with a perfect attendance record who didn’t. Ticking both boxes would be ideal, but in my experience, many people who are very creative or unique thinkers don’t have perfect attendance records and in my industry that doesn’t matter so much.

In my place we'd usually try and accommodate them. We've had people on holiday who we've waited until they're back but it was only 2/3 working days later.

Thanks for understanding
Resilience is a key attribute for an acute medical Dr. Creative or unique thinking quite honestly might be dangerous.

I don’t get this attitude.

Surely if someone is ill for their actual interview date, it’s clear it’s genuine.

Do people with this attitude think it is simply not possible to be ill? Do they reject illness as a concept? Very odd.

My work would reschedule. They're constantly telling us to stay home and take sick leave rather than come in and I know they'd extend it to recruitment.

It really depends on if the other candidates are strong and if from that group you have a clear favourite. If I did then I wouldn't bother interviewing the one who could t make it for whatever reason.

Haha exactly! You are looking for very different competencies and attributes in, say, a paramedic or a nurse than in, say, an art director or a political analyst. Totally context dependent

Ugh people who go in to work sick and infect everyone else (usually while expecting a round of applause for what a trooper they must be) are the worst. It’s the opposite of being a team player, it’s all about them and how they want to be perceived.

You are not going to infect anyone else with a UTI
And no it's not about me it's about the patients whose op or clinic slot would get cancelled.
Showing up is important. No-one else will be available to do the job.
I guess I should not have posted because I think my situation is a bit niche and people are not getting that it's not the same as an office job
I just posted my genuine knee jerk response to what I would think/ do if someone calls in sick to an interview and that is I would not rearrange I'd just move on down the list.

Well, just so long as you don't complain if you can't fill the positions. We're always hearing about the recruitment crisis in the NHS, I wouldn't have thought you'd have that much leeway to write off potentially competent and dedicated staff because of a perceived lack of Dunkirk spirit...

But if they are frequently off sick that's worse that no-one quite honestly
Dunkirk spirit is basically an essential criterion

I think some people just don’t get it. In hospitals people are exposed to virus and bacteria all the time. Have you ever asked a doctors kid how their parents tested when they were ill? It’s quite nice. and rescheduling an operation is a big thing also for the patient! In some roles you can work from home quite easily so if you’re more likely to take sick days it’s less of an issue.

*quite niche, not nice!

This would be the case for us as well - we interview face to face and getting both a reasonable room and everyone free at the same time (plus time after to deliberate) makes rescheduling really unlikely for us.

I might not infect anyone else with a UTI, but could I fuck up with meds if I felt as unwell as I do when I have a UTI? Yes, I could! If you made a prescribing error due to feeling unwell, there is room for correction because I would pick up on it before the meds made their way to the patient. If you prescribed something correctly, but I administered it incorrectly because I was unwell, that’s on me, and could easily prove fatal.

A drug error would also cost me my hard-earned PIN if serious enough. I wouldn’t have a leg to stand on in front of the NMC because I would have knowingly been unfit for work.

Nobody's life is worth coming to work if you are not well enough to do your job properly. That’s nothing to do with a ‘kind’ culture.

@ThePure this all sounds really unheathy for you, mentally and physically. I appreciate that's the culture you're in, but it genuinely sounds concerning.

I hope you don't end making yourself really poorly one day. I'm no medic, but not ever resting when you're ill sounds like a bad idea.