Politics of COVID-19

The controversy surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine has added a new level of politics to the interview minefield. I was debriefing a client, who I will call Jeanette, after her recent interviews with two companies and asked if there were any questions that she had difficulty responding to. It turned out there were a few that left her shocked and flummoxed. Some questions bordered on illegal and other questions and comments seemed to be aimed at determining her political leanings.

What is interesting is that these companies were on opposite sides of the aisle. The first company required everyone onsite to wear a mask at all times. When Jeanette was brought into the interview room, she asked where she should sit. The interviewers indicated that she should sit directly across from them. Jeanette then let them know that she had recently flown across the country and wanted to be sensitive to any concerns. The response was, “We’re both fully vaccinated.” This was followed by silence. My client felt the interviewers were looking for a response from her indicating that she was also vaccinated. She declined to respond and after few moments of silence, the interview continued.

At the second company, no one wore a mask. When she met the interviewer his first question was, “Can I shake your hand?” Jeanette was taken aback, said sure, shook his hand and was careful not to touch her face during the remainder of the interview. She felt this was a nottoo-subtle test to determine her political views. Later in the conversation, the interviewer mentioned another person in the organization and said something along the lines of “he is a lot like Donald Trump,” paused and looked directly at her. My client wisely declined to comment.

Before wrapping up their conversation, this interviewer asked her point-blank if she had chil