Typically, when you’re sick, you’d simply let your boss know you’re taking the day off, and stay within the comfy confines of your bed watching bad movies. But it may feel like a different story when you’ve got a job interview scheduled.
The reality is, it isn’t. Here’s how to handle the situation with finesse and tact:
Stay. At. Home.
Although you may be tempted to drag yourself out of bed to meet the prospective employer out of concern that it looks unprofessional to cancel at the last minute, take my word for it that you should stay at home.Pick up the phone
Since you’re likely to be within 24 hours of the scheduled interview when you realize you’re sick, call—don’t email—the person who scheduled it. Explain the situation while expressing your enthusiasm to reschedule at least one week later.If it goes to voicemail, leave a message like, “Hi Jackie, I have an interview scheduled with you tomorrow at 10 am. Unfortunately, I’m under the weather with the flu so I’m very interested in rescheduling a week or so from now when I’ll be healthier. Plus, I don’t want to get any of your interviewers sick. My number is…”
The week rule is key, according to WebMD. People can spread the flu up to a day before they start feeling sick and up to seven days after.
Move on
While it may be tempting to overanalyze your situation, there’s no need to go there. When candidates occasionally called me at the last minute because they were sick, it didn’t alter my impression of their candidacy; and it didn’t tarnish their reputation or negatively impact their job interview. If anything, it was quite the contrary! They sent a positive message by clearly putting their health (and mine) first.