AIBU to cancel interview due to COVID?

[Sexisthairdressers]

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).

If you weren’t feeling well it makes sense to cancel, but I doubt you will be called again to interview for this job especially as it sounds like they had an assessment and interview planned for the day, highly unlikey they will re-organise for one person unless all the other candidates today are crap!

Exactly. Or the interviewer could be vulnerable themselves. I don’t look or appear vulnerable I work as normal, nobody knows my health condition unless I tell them.

😆😆. You would seriously think that someone who did a Covid test if they had symptoms had health anxiety rather than just having a bit of decency and consideration for others and not being a selfish twat? Covid tests are very cheap and widely available, whereas flu tests are much harder to find. Because the flu vaccination gives a fairly high level of protection, if I was feeling unwell and had flu or covid type symptoms, I would always assume that it was likely to be covid rather than flu, and would test for Covid so that I could avoid spreading it and potentially making someone really ill. I would also test for norovirus if tests were available and I had relevant symptoms.

The human body carries an average of 5 viruses at any given time; including herpes which can be very dangerous to babies and those with weakened immune systems. Do you worry about that?

We are all hotbeds for viruses and bacteria, because we are in constant contact with each other.

Kids get ill, adults get ill. It’s a fact of life, and it is very bizarre to me that people are still frankly obsessed about Covid.

Why on earth are people still testing? I mean fair enough not to go if you feel unwell but I’m surprised anyone is buying and bothering with tests now. It’s a severe as a cold for most people.

Some people like to know what kind of lurgy they've got. It's got bugger all to do with nobody else if they test or not

People don't test for flu because tests aren't readily available. Covid tests are. Checking what you have actually got doesn't mean you have health anxiety.

If this is a genuine question, here's the answer. It's still here, doing untold damage. The 'let 'er rip' approach is an uncontrolled experiment that is going about as well as anticipated.
www.panaccindex.info/p/what-covid-19-does-to-the-body-seventh

It's odd that, for some people, there's still something political about Covid. The chances are that they were in denial in 2020 and they are still in denial. If you are able to do a Covid test when you are ill, it does no harm to do one if only to rule it out. I was convinced a few months ago I had covid, the test said no. When my symptoms continued, I investigated further and found I had shingles. It was just as well, since if I had carried on assuming it was covid or flu I wouldn't have had vitally necessary treatment that effectively saved my eyesight.

Exactly.

If I’m completely honest, a lot of the non testers and “ who carez?” people I know are, when you scratch the surface, actually the ones who really have the health anxiety.

It’s all “out of sight, out of mind” as a coping mechanism,

Why else would they get so wound up about someone else testing themselves with their own kit that they bought themselves?

I think you're being very fair and sensible.

Covid isn't just a cold for some people.

In any case some workplaces, particularly where wfh is allowed, still have a policy that you shouldn't go into offices with covid. So if its one of those types of places, they may have been not happy if you'd gone in with covid

As someone who has been the interviewer in the past, I fully understand someone cancelling due to illness, especially if they seem sincere and are keen/active about rescheduling!

I'd also much rather someone give a heads up rather than no-show and try to reschedule after (had this happen a lot, people would just say they "forgot" the interview was on this day, or didn't realise how long it would take to get there etc!).

I still test, I take medication that could make make me very unwell with covid. As does my mum.

One of my colleague's parents has cancer, I'd test for that reason too. It's basic courtesy as far as I'm concerned.

I test if I have symptoms, not routinely.

Yes, you 100 percent did the right thing. Hopefully they will reschedule. Hope you are feeling better soon.

And this. We cross posted.

Obviously the lockdowns impacted many people negatively, either emotionally or financially. So there is still a vestige of distress around that - as well as just general feeling on restriction of freedom of movement at a political level.

Those scars do run deep for some.

But you have to be logical about sorting out the different strands of emotion and fact. Someone testing for covid isn’t the reason your business went bust in the lockdown, or you couldn’t go to your sister’s wedding etc.

But there is a lot of tangled emotions.

The truth is that the hiring company almost certainly won't hold it against you but at the same time, if it causes them much hassle to reschedule and they find someone suitable in the meantime, they probably won't bother. Not because they have anything against you but just because why would they? I'm sure a lot of people will say "well if they wanted the best person for the job they would!" but hirers know the chances of them finding "the best person for the job" are infinitesimally small and all they want is someone who will do a good job, and once they find them, there's little incentive to keep looking.

I disagree, if I was interviewing her I’d be grateful she didn’t infect me with covid and I understand that stuff like this happens.
You should have probably cancelled yesterday though OP so people could rearrange their calendars

Btw I recently had COVID. Most of the people I was with at the time also got it. I had a heavy cold for a week but someone younger than me became ill for a couple of weeks. It's not nothing.

That's just stupid
Whether you like it or not, covid remains far more serious thatn a cold or influenza.

They're often people who have dodgy ethics about quite a lot of things in my experience.

This
You're sick. I wouldn't want it, had enough crap going on lately with picking up all sorts health wise.
Of course you did the right thing.
If they're decent employers, they'll reschedule.
If they're arsey about it, you wouldn't have wanted to work in a place like that anyway.

And I thought the self-centred ableists too thick & selfish to grasp how deadly Covid can still be for some people would be long gone or at least educated by decency if not by intelligence. Evidently not.

Yep we’re all dropping dead in the street!

Honestly, if I were the interviewer I would think you were lying. Mainly because you said about the test. Who has Covid tests at home anymore. Plus given the symptoms you described I think most people would assume just a cold in the first few days.

I might reschedule the interview, but just so I didn’t get any flack from HR, I’d have no intention of giving you the job.