Interviewing with COVID
April 16, 2022 3:35 PM   Subscribe

I caught COVID last week. I have a job interview next week. For those who have gotten COVID recently, how long did it take you to recover?

Timing is the worst. I am excited about this job interview. But I’m in bed now with a low fever, congestion and sore throat. It’s been a few days already and I feel better today than yesterday. It’s a virtual interview so I’m hoping to be mostly better by Friday for it? Is brain fog a real thing that I might get? If I reschedule, what extension should I request and how to phrase it?
posted by inevitability to Work & Money (12 answers total)
 
It's sooooo different from person to person. I (vax, boosted) got COVID a little over a month ago, had 2-3 bad days and then was feeling mostly fine. But I had a hacking cough for a week longer and still have occasional bouts of legit fatigue and brain fog. And other days I'm perfectly fine!!! YMMV.

But I could have pulled it together for a virtual interview once I was up and out of bed. My advice is just to rest, then wait and see. You can call them even 48 hours before and request a reschedule if you really need it.

"COVID finally invaded my household. Can we please do this next week? I should be fine by then."
posted by nkknkk at 3:42 PM on April 16, 2022 [4 favorites]


I have COVID right now! I got sick on Tuesday evening, and today is the first day I think I could manage a virtual interview, though it might be pushing it a bit — tomorrow would be better. So about 4-5 days. I’ve had some brain fog but I think most of that is from the cold medicine I’ve been taking. But as nkknkk said, it varies a lot from person to person.
posted by mekily at 5:01 PM on April 16, 2022 [1 favorite]


I too am currently getting over COVID and I’d say like 5-6 days.
posted by cakelite at 5:15 PM on April 16, 2022


Mr. Blah and I are both wrapping up Covid right now. He got sick very late last Friday night, and I was about 24 hours behind him. Both of us are vaxxed + boosted. We're both clearly on the mend, and I resumed work (from home) yesterday. My work is high stakes and requires a lot of concentration, so I've been paying careful attention to feelings of brain fog, and I just haven't been experiencing it. The lethargy of the first few days of being ill is fading day by day.
posted by BlahLaLa at 5:15 PM on April 16, 2022 [1 favorite]


I (3x vax) tested positive on a Fri morning, after feeling sick-ish for a few days. I blew my nose all weekend and didn’t work on Monday, but did work the rest of the week (WFH). I was tired and a little congested but not bad. I probably could’ve done an interview BUT I think you also can totally postpone. It’s such a common thing to happen these days, they’ll absolutely understand.
posted by jdl at 5:22 PM on April 16, 2022


I have 3 vaxxes and had COVID last week.
It never got worse than a bad cold for me. Day three was the worst, and I definitely felt it on Days 2, 4, and 5, with some lingering tiredness on Day 6.

I guess I felt a bit out of it, but I wouldn’t really characterize it as brain fog except maybe a bit on my sickest day (but about as much brain fog as I’d expect from a bad cold, not worse).

Even at my worst I was able to do a reasonable amount of work every day, cook, do childcare, and pull it together for zoom meetings with the help of caffeine and concealer.

I had malaise, fatigue, stuffy/runny nose, and sore throat. I felt very lucky to be vaxxed and have a minor case that stayed in my upper respiratory tract.

Spray saline in your nose (or use a neti pot) a few times a day to keep viral load low (this is evidence-based), drink liquid, sleep lots, and eat beef or something similarly hearty; beef + sleep has always been a reliable recipe to help me feel better and it worked last week, too.

Hope yours is similarly mild and you ace the interview!
posted by nouvelle-personne at 6:03 PM on April 16, 2022 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Thank you all so much! I don't know many people who have gotten the latest variant so this is very helpful. I'm 2x vaxxed and boosted, and first time catching COVID after 2 years (sigh!).
posted by inevitability at 4:56 AM on April 17, 2022


Husband and I got it weeks ago, 2 vax + boost. Both had strong fever one day, bad cough and congestion 2-3 days more, and mostly fine since aside from some residual coughing. Was at work (WFH) on day 3, and only a few people commented about my voice sounding weird. Good luck with the interview!
posted by Freyja at 6:22 AM on April 17, 2022


I got a positive Covid test on April 4th. I did take antivirals, but I am not sure if they helped all that much. I was out of work for a full week. I still feel tired,am a little congested and have some brain fog (today I said pregnancy instead of presidency when talking about a president). I could definitely go on an interview if need be.
posted by momochan at 12:26 PM on April 17, 2022


A few weeks ago, I tested positive Monday and had two virtual interviews Wednesday and Thursday (days 3 and 4). The Wednesday one did not feel great, but I ended up getting - and ultimately accepting! - the job. My symptoms weren't fun - very stuffy, cough-y, and sniffly - but I muscled through with psuedoephedrine (the behind-the-counter good stuff) about an hour before (for the sniffles) and sipping hot tea (for the cough/throat) throughout. I didn't reschedule either because of a lot of weird interdependencies, but honestly, it was okay.

I personally felt about 75% better on day 5, and back to my normal self by day 8. I still tested positive through day 11, though. I'm vaxxed and boosted; I did not get any specific meds. I took ibuprofen for aches and fever on days 1-3. It felt like a really bad sinus infection plus fever and sore throat. No specific brain fog, though I felt sick and tired for the first few days. It got a lot better around day 5.

I think it would be totally fine to see how you're feeling next week. If you're not feeling good enough on, say, Wednesday morning, it would be totally acceptable to email, "I am unfortunately sick. I want to make sure I'm at my best for the interview on Friday. Would it be possible to reschedule?"
posted by quadrilaterals at 8:36 AM on April 18, 2022


2-vax plus boosted, caught Omicron in February. It was just a cold for me, and I actually worked remotely the whole time and never really felt like it was getting in the way. My wife had a little bit of a rougher time of it, and there were probably 2-3 days where she really wasn't up to doing much, virtually or not. If you're already starting to feel better, I think you're likely to be good to go for a virtual by Friday.
posted by Ragged Richard at 9:28 AM on April 18, 2022


Response by poster: Thank you all so much! I confirmed my Fri date but also asked if there was any flexibility since I got sick, and they just moved it to the following week, no further discussion needed! I was so worried.
posted by inevitability at 8:55 PM on April 18, 2022 [1 favorite]


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