Why You Should Wear a Mask at Your Next Interview
Now that more and more states are opening up, job seekers may find themselves in a position to decide how to approach a face-to-face interview. Should you wear a mask? Should you avoid shaking hands? Should you try to stay at least six feet away from interviewers?
According to Alison Green of Ask a Manager, the answer to all of the above is yes. As Green recently explained in The Cut :
If you do make it to a face-to-face interview, wear a mask.
If you show up without a mask while your interviewer is wearing one, you will appear inattentive and out of touch with public health guidelines.
If you come with a mask and no one else is wearing it … I hope you will not take the mask off. I understand that you may feel pressure to remove it in the context of the interview, but keeping it is the right step for public health and the health of those around you, whether they realize it or not. This is especially true if you are in a confined space (which is likely if you are interviewing in the office).
There are two important reasons why public health guidelines should be followed during interviews. The first reason, of course, is to protect yourself and those around you. You don’t want to be the person who inadvertently carries the coronavirus to a new workplace, and you don’t want to be the person who gets sick after shaking hands with a group of interviewers.
The second reason to wear a mask, avoid shaking hands, and sit at the far end of the conference table is to see how your potential employers react. As Greene reminds us, a manager who speaks negatively about your mask or your polite refusal to shake hands is a huge red flag. This is the type of manager who does not value the health and well-being of employees – whether in an emergency such as a pandemic, or in something as simple as work-life balance.
If your interviewers not only speak positively about your public health measures, but also offer detailed reports on how they work to keep their teams, clients and clients safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, this is a green flag. (If they offer to conduct video interviews instead of face-to-face interviews, this flag may be even greener.) At this point in the coronavirus timeline, we are all trying to balance the different levels of risk associated with visiting friends. and family returning to work and, for many of us, protesters, so examining how a potential employer manages that balance will give you a lot of information about whether the job is right for you.
Just remember to keep the mask above your nose and below your chin so you can make the best first impression – and if you have a mask that goes well with your interview attire, that’s even better.