Going to Interview sick?

Drug up and go!

PharmOl said:

Has anyone done this? I have my interview tomorrow and today I woke up with all imaginable signs of cold. Will they understand or judge?

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I think that, if you are sick, they expect you to show good judgment and reschedule your interview.

I think you should go and bring lots of tissue.... before you get into the interview room blow out all your juices and speak confidently so hopefully they cant tell that your sick... I am jus saying this because its getting late into the interview season... So you dont want to reschedule.... Goodluck and feel better

I think if you aren't vomitting or have a horrible hacking cough you should go. Take some cold meds and go for it. People work with colds everyday. Unless you absolutely can't function I say go for it.

PharmOl said:

What if this is the last session?

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Well then going would be the only option. Also, when you say cold, what does that exactly mean? The sniffles?

You might want to mention that you're sick. In interviews, you'll be shaking hands and probably sitting closely to your interviewers. It's only considerate to warn them. You might even want to make it something you can laugh at. (when greeting interviewers: "you might not want to shake my hand, I've got the junk" *laugh*) Just making it a casual, normal situation will put you more at ease. I'm sure the interviewers will understand, who hasn't been sick before? They might even be impressed if you can shine through your sickness.

PharmOl-
I just canceled my interview at campbell and they asked me if I wanted to reschedule it or withdraw my application. So, maybe that means that they will be having more interviews since I had the option of rescheduling. If you really don't feel well, it probably wouldn't hurt to call and ask if you could reschedule. If it is the last interview date then I would suck it up, go and do my best!

Good luck! Feel better!

if you feel up for it...go!! take some cold meds and bring hand sanitizer! good luck!!

go to the drug store and get some meds for the symptoms. Try some stuff out and see if it helps, atleast for a little while. Then you take it before you go to ur interview. Heck, ask the pharmacist what he recomends

ShineBrite said:

You might want to mention that you're sick. In interviews, you'll be shaking hands and probably sitting closely to your interviewers. It's only considerate to warn them. You might even want to make it something you can laugh at. (when greeting interviewers: "you might not want to shake my hand, I've got the junk" *laugh*) Just making it a casual, normal situation will put you more at ease. I'm sure the interviewers will understand, who hasn't been sick before? They might even be impressed if you can shine through your sickness.

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I tried this once by apologizing first in case they couldn't understand me due to a cough drop in my mouth and the large amounts of Delsym I had taken. Well it wasn't received quite as I had hoped. The interviewer thought I was trying to pass on a question to the next person in the group.

PharmOl said:

Has anyone done this? I have my interview tomorrow and today I woke up with all imaginable signs of cold. Will they understand or judge?

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I had a cold during one of my interviews. The morning of the interview -a few hours beforehand- I called the admissions woman and explained my situation. She told me to come, despite my cold.

I suggest you do the same. This shows consideration.

Hopefully your interviewers will be a little sympathetic to your condition (or I should hope so if they are in the field of pharmacy) I did my interview at UT fairly sick (chest/nasal congestion, sore throat, and a cough). I felt I still did well and ended up getting accepted in the end. I had the last interview date and dared not cancel it since UT was my first choice. I made sure to only cover my mouth with my left hand when I coughed since I knew I would be shaking hands with my right. Of course, it will all depend on how your interviewer perceives your illness and how well you handle it. I'm fairly accustomed to functioning sick if I need to. If you're gonna medicate, make sure you take something that you know will not make you loopy. I'll also second pancakesteve's suggestion above.

PharmOl said:

Sounds like a good advice!

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Quite frankly, I'm surprised no one else suggested it first.

And being sick didn't hurt me in the interview, I don't think. I know it hurt my performance, but I think they understood, because I got an acceptance letter a few days later.

I was really sick (not contagious sick, but sick from some medicine I was taking) and I looked horrible, but I still went to my interview. I convinced myself in my head that I felt great and it was going to be an awesome day and I was fine. I felt horrible again about an hour after the interview was over and the initial excitement wore off, but at least the interview was fine and that's all that matters.

Do a neti pot cleanse!!!!! Boogers be gone!!!!! Seriously, no added meds or anything. Just some good ol' fashioned lukewarm saline to clear out your nasal passages. Do it in the shower so it is not as messy (novice neti-potters can have lots of spillage). Trust me...it is the best thing to do if you don't want the loopiness that sudafed gives.

EDIT: you can probably do two of these a day.

I had signs of the cold, took zinc lozenges and my cold was gone in a week. Forget Dayquil/Nyquil, forget Theraflu, forget Tylenol cold/cough. Those only masks the symptoms (reduces your ability to fight off the virus) Zinc actually weakens the virus! Try it out!

drugsRUsRUs said:

I had signs of the cold, took zinc lozenges and my cold was gone in a week. Forget Dayquil/Nyquil, forget Theraflu, forget Tylenol cold/cough. Those only masks the symptoms (reduces your ability to fight off the virus) Zinc actually weakens the virus! Try it out!

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I highly doubt your zinc lozenges had anything to do with getting better... aren't colds usually gone in a week?

There is little scientific data to support zinc doing anything for colds. There's some hypotheses on how it may work on a molecular level, but the clinical trials don't show any consistent positive results.

PharmOl said:

Thank you, everyone! I don't really take much meds and almost anything I do take in extreme circumstances has a much exaggerated effect on me than "normal" person. So dayquil is out of question or I'll be like hyperactive zombie- if that makes sense. But I suppose, being upfront and honest about the predicament will be my best bet.

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I'd call and warn them and see what they suggest you do.

I had stomach flu for my interview at UW. I called, let them know, and asked if it would be a problem if I rescheduled. I did, and everything worked out fine. Granted, stomach flu is a little worse than a cold, but your interviewers might not want to be exposed anyway.

PharmOl said:

Has anyone done this? I have my interview tomorrow and today I woke up with all imaginable signs of cold. Will they understand or judge?

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I stayed home from school last semester because I got swine flu and did the "responsible" thing and stayed home for 10 days so I didn't start a campus epidemic. I missed a lot of valuable information that caused me some pretty serious grade woes on my final exam. My new policy is that if I am sick I will go to school anyway. If you feel like you might vomit, make sure to induce it before going into your interview because it may not give them the right impression if you send projectiles onto their notes.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8sDIbRAXlg[/YOUTUBE]

Neti Pot!

(I don't think I could do this... I have a fear of suffocation) I get uncomfortable just wearing a diving mask.

Tink- the key is, you keep your mouth open and breathe through your mouth while you do it. Definitely not as bad as I feared it would be!

I got a free sinus rinse kit (squeeze bottle) from the Neil Med booth at APhA annual...supposedly it's superior to the neti pot. I'll report back.

drugsRUsRUs said:

I had signs of the cold, took zinc lozenges and my cold was gone in a week. Forget Dayquil/Nyquil, forget Theraflu, forget Tylenol cold/cough. Those only masks the symptoms (reduces your ability to fight off the virus) Zinc actually weakens the virus! Try it out!

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Care to provide some clinical evidence that Zinc actually fights the virus?

Sparda29 said:

Care to provide some clinical evidence that Zinc actually fights the virus?

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Actually, there is some evidence. One of my professors brought this up last week:

Zinc lozenges as cure for the common cold--a review and hypothesis.
Eby GA 3rd.
Med Hypotheses. 2010 Mar;74(3):482-92. Epub 2009 Nov 10.


It looks like there is some evidence to show shortening of cold symptoms, but that many OTC products do not provide enough zinc to produce these effects.

From the article:
"From the strong, multiple statistical relationships found, it is inferred that iZn is the active ingredient in zinc lozenges for colds, as it is in vitroagainst rhinoviruses, and that solution chemistry analytical techniques used at physiological pH arecorrect means for lozenge iZn analysis. Zinc lozenges slowly dissolving in the mouth over a 20–30 minperiod releasing adequate iZn (P18 mg) used each 2 h are hypothesized to shorten common colds by6–7 days, which is a cure for the common cold. Due to inadequate lozenge iZn very few of more than 40 different brands of zinc lozenges on the US market are expected to have any effect on the durationor severity of common colds."

Mona, how did your nasal rinse fare against the traditional neti pot? Inquiring minds want to know... pouring a neti pot in the shower can look rather silly.

Sick with probably my last interview tomorrow

uncbiograd said:

Sick with probably my last interview tomorrow

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It seems like a lot of people are sick this time of year... I guess they're kind of expecting some students to come in with a little cold or flu? I think you'll be fine as long as you don't sneeze on anyone. lol I have about 3 hand sanitizers in my bag, and I went to the bathroom nearly every hour when I was at my interview to wash my hands and stuff. I have issues. haha

PharmOl said:

Has anyone done this? I have my interview tomorrow and today I woke up with all imaginable signs of cold. Will they understand or judge?

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Congrats on your ACCEPTANCE..!!

ShineBrite said:

You might want to mention that you're sick. In interviews, you'll be shaking hands and probably sitting closely to your interviewers. It's only considerate to warn them. You might even want to make it something you can laugh at. (when greeting interviewers: "you might not want to shake my hand, I've got the junk" *laugh*) Just making it a casual, normal situation will put you more at ease. I'm sure the interviewers will understand, who hasn't been sick before? They might even be impressed if you can shine through your sickness.

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Got my vote for the best advice so far.

I had a fever couple days before my interview, because of my flu. It was for my Touro U interview back in Nov, my first one. I tell you what, I was so drained and felt like sh**, having to walk/wait around the airport that I was beat once I came to my hotel the night before the interview. But I told myself to use all my strength for the whole 30 min or so interview. Just do your best, and act like you feel good. That's how I approached it. You can even use your sickness to start the conversation, like "I had the choice to reschedule my interview because of my flu, but I knew I couldn't wait because this is my top choice school so I made sure I would go." I think that shows your persistence, something really good. I think it's ok to not shake hands and tell them you're sick, one of my interviewers at another school did not shake my hand one time. As for the result for Touro, I ended up being High Alternate, not that bad. Good luck, remember just fake it that you feel good, and it will come naturally.

PharmOl said:

Has anyone done this? I have my interview tomorrow and today I woke up with all imaginable signs of cold. Will they understand or judge?

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wait a minute .....

You interviewed yesterday and get acceptance today ?

What amazing !!!!

Congrats and good luck !

rxlea said:

Mona, how did your nasal rinse fare against the traditional neti pot? Inquiring minds want to know... pouring a neti pot in the shower can look rather silly.

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I have found signicant advantages to the nasal rinse system
1. It is faster...you can just squeeze half the bottle in one side, blow your nose, and repeat on the other side.
2. With the neti pot, I sometimes made a mess, or the saline rinse would come out my nose on drip off my chin. Sort of gross. Because you keep your head upright (not tilted) it seems to drip right out.
Key tip: squeeze the bottle gently. I did it a little too hard the first time and my eyes watered like crazy. Ooops.
Overall, I think my neti pot days are over.