by Alison Greenon August 8, 2022
A reader writes:
I am a new grad from an MLIS degree and I am also high-risk for Covid. I am now starting the job searching process, and I just got an email asking me to come for an interview. I am still masking everywhere in my life, which is non-negotiable for me, but I’m worried about the optics of wearing a mask at the interview when the vast majority of people where I live aren’t wearing masks anywhere now.
I’m hoping for some advice about how to address this or if I even should. Should I mention it via email that I’ll be masked, as a heads up, or should I just wear it without mention? I’m comfortable just saying I’m high-risk in the interview if it comes up, but is there a better way of handling that? I also don’t want them to worry about my high risk status re: my ability to work. I’m worried it may hurt my chances, but also I will be wearing it while working anyway so I know there’s an element of screening them out if they cause a fuss. I just don’t really know how to handle this professionally!
First, I’m glad you’re not asking if it’s okay to wear the mask — because I’m getting those letters too. It is okay to wear a mask to a job interview! We are in a pandemic. And while many people have decided to lower their personal risk assessments, many people have not. It is absolutely fine to wear a mask to a job interview — whether it’s because you’re high risk, or live with people who are high-risk, or want to protect other people around you, or simply don’t want to risk getting Covid or long Covid.
It’s not something you need to give an employer an advance heads-up about. You can just show up wearing a mask. If no one else is wearing one, then at the start of the interview, you could say, “I hope you don’t mind that I’m keeping my mask on — I’m higher risk and being careful.” (Or “I live with someone high-risk” or “my mom is high-risk” or “I’m still being cautious.”)
If you go with “I’m still being cautious,” there are some people who will judge that. They aren’t the majority and they aren’t reasonable but, as we all know, they’re out there. If an employer is going to judge you for not wanting to get a deadly disease during a public health emergency, I’d argue that you’re far better off finding that out now than after you’re working for them.
Because the thing is, this is very much a screening tool for you. First, you’re planning to wear a mask every day on the job, so it makes sense to find out now if that’s going to be an issue. Second, an employer who doesn’t hire you because you’re wearing a mask is an employer who you do not want to work for. Throughout 2020 and 2021, my inbox was full of panicked letters from people whose employers weren’t taking safety precautions seriously and who felt forced to risk possibly dying or killing their loved ones in order to pay their rent.The pandemic is in a different place now, but that kind of callous disregard from an employer carries over to all sorts of things that affect what it will be like to work there. So if the mask does screen out a small number of employers, that’s a good thing. Make itpart of your own assessment of them.
