Following a perfectly innocent fall this morning, the person (female, if that makes any kind of difference) is going for two NHS management level interviews on Tuesday and Friday of this coming week. Two separate jobs. High enough up to warrant presentations to three senior mangers followed by a standard 30 minute interview.

The injuries consist of a very black and swollen eye and a great deal of swelling to the same side of the face with grazing. It looks awful. The timing could not be worse.

My question is, is the situation retrievable or a right off? Any tips on how to play it? Would an email in advance to give a heads up and an explanation be a good idea? The person in question has never had so much as a broken nail before now and is distraught.

We’d really appreciate any experiences, if any, of interviewing and of being interviewed in this kind of situation.

in a bit of a panic at the moment….

If you are going for a position that is high up then you probably need to be able to deal with this sort of thing in your stride unfortunately so dealing with it well is a good interview test and coming out of it well could be a good thing. Depending on the person and how they normally are you could go with humour – you should see what I did to the floor or with a straight bat kicking off with what happened and go from there.

I can’t imagine any reasonable interviewer holding that against her, but understand it’s probably not helping her confidence going into interviews.

I think the best approach would be to mention it after making introductions – “Sorry about my face, I had a fall the other day” but don’t make a big deal out of it. Maybe it would be better not to say anything about it unless they bring it up?

Would you think less of someone because they were injured the first time you met them?

tell the truth, but don’t whinge about how long you waited for triage in A&E

30 mins is quite short for an NHS interview so not that high up.

Anyhow that’s irrelevant.

Get there and just explained what happened. ie like to keep fit & healthy, first accident in x years.  It’s the NHS, they are suppose to encourage people to keep fit and healthy

Sounds like a job for medicinal leeches. Probably worth taking them off for the actual job interview otherwise, stricktly speaking , if she’s offered the job it’s technically a job share.

If the interviewee is a humorous and light-hearted use that. If they’re more serious be a bit more serious about it. It’s actually a good opportunity to get across who they are and a bit of what their personality is and how they deal with difficult shit

As long as it doesn’t come across as bothering them or that it’s a regular thing, then it’s a thing that the interviewers will remember. If she boshes the rest of the interview she’ll then stick out in their minds.

Maybe it would be better not to say anything about it unless they bring it up?

If I was on the interview panel I wouldn’t want an elephant in the room like that. Get ahead of it, but get passed it quickly and into the meat of the interview.

Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.

Worst case scenario here is really that she lets it knock her confidence and doesn’t interview as well as she would otherwise. Would be surprised if the panel hold it against her, especially something like the NHS where interviews probably have a fairly rigid marking system?

Thanks for the laughs and advice. I’m laughing, the other person less so.

It’s a Band 7 or 8 level position.

Any merit in emailing in advance to advise? Her first impression is going to be poor. VERY poor. It is a proper shiner and graze. Slipped on loose sand on the concrete boat jetty. Unconscious for a few seconds as well.

I’d like to say I’m non judgemental but I was dragged up in a household of 7 children where domestic violence, child physical, mental and sexual abuse was rampant. My compass in these things is set firmly in one direction. I’m not a great help to my wife at the moment although I’m trying my best.

Thanks again for the different perspectives. It’s all helping. Nobody has said  “cancel the interview(s)” yet so that’s good.

Just threaten to punch the interviewers as hard as she punched that dude last night. “You think I look bad? You should see the other guy!”

Any merit in emailing in advance to advise? Her first impression is going to be poor. VERY poor. It is a proper shiner and graze. Slipped on loose sand on the concrete boat jetty. Unconscious for a few seconds as well.

Her first impression is how she deals with it not how she looks. Being somebody like the NHS looks etc. are not part of the selection criteria and HR should be on the ball on that sort of stuff. The biggest issue here is getting fixated on this and forgetting the actual important stuff.

No don’t email in advance makes it look like you want favours because your a bit poorly.

Just get on with it.

Do get an NHS interview at B7/8 normally means hours of BS !

As above apologies move on

I’d advise her to be as honest as possible, at the start. Explain the fall, mention any positives about the situation (eg, out doing active stuff with family?) and say she’s come for the interview anyway because the job is important to her. Be human and trust them to be human too – they might give her some leeway for being less than 100% fit.

“sorry about my appearance I

Slipped on loose sand on the concrete boat jetty

yesterday.”

Blether blether blether

“What would you say is your biggest weakness?”

“An in ability to maintain traction during a task”

Honestly all i want to know is what boat. Why would they think differently?

I still want to kniw what boat it was btw.

I would send an email to whoever is coordinating the interview – just to warn them so they are not too shocked.  I would say better that they are expecting it than are distracted by it throughout the interview.

I think it might actually work in her favour – good ice breaker, and she’ll certainly be memorable!

Just to let you know, the git who turned me down after my last interview came off a lot worse than this.

A way to judge people is by how they handle a problem. She clearly has a problem and she can demonstrate how she handles it.

I’m not saying everybody should go into an interview with a black eye but it can be turned to advantage.

Email, explain it and ask for the interview to be rearranged.

Email, explain it and just go ahead with the interview as planned.

Just turn up and explain it.

You take her to the interview and as you leave her in reception, shout menacingly through the door “and if you don’t get this job we’ll be having another little chat!”

😉

As above though, I reckon it’ll be a good icebreaker, a talking point and then move on, try and be as normal as possible about it. The interviewer will probably feel as awkward as your friend initially!

As above use it as an icebreaker and it’s then an advantage not a disadvantage. Doubt anyone else will be sporting a keeker so get everything else right and she will at least be memorable. Get it over with within the first exchange of small talk after intros, and don’t make a big deal about it – keep it light, something about chasing after a kid on the jetty with sea legs still on or something.

And don’t let them know anything before hand, that would be odd.

Just tell them that she was doing some market research in full devotion to research for the role.

email ahead explaining she is broken and looks a bit of a sight. But say that you are keen to do the interview anyway. I don’t think that looks like you are asking for special favours and prepares the interviewers for they can expect to walk in the door. As the interviewer I know, even with a plausible excuse, I would be:-

listen to ‘bla bla bla’

internal conversation ‘what the hell!!!’

listen to ‘bla bla bla’

internal conversation ‘what the hell!!!’

listen to ‘bla bla bla’

internal conversation ‘what the hell!!!’

listen to ‘bla bla bla’

internal conversation ‘what the hell!!!’

Pre-warn and it gives them time to get their head around it. It might even work in your favour a little bit – shows you are as hard as nails.

internal conversation ‘what the hell!!!’

Yeah but in a big organisation they will have to do interviewing properly and have at least a decent case to explain the decisions.

OPen the door to the interview room whilst yelling over your shoulder, “Now get back to the convent!” Sit down muttering something about a feisty Mother Superior…

Oops.

(so I assume same for NHS)

Depends on the organisation but at our place you would have to have a pretty dam good excuse not to turn up, and if I job that has plenty of good quality candidates it’s unlikely they would let you choose another day.

Has she got time to get to Boots for some thick concealer? Won’t cover it completely but might make it less distracting. And some glasses with clear lenses if she doesn’t normally need glasses.

Explanation goes like this:

Husband got a bit lairy after a couple of halfs, so had to be brought back down to earth with a bump, if you know what I mean 😉 He’s always giving it the large after a few, you know……….should see the state of him.

Potential perfect ice breaker. How many other candidates will have recently been to a&e possibly in the region?

start with I fell off a boat but the guys at a&e were fantastic.

She should open with “ADRIANNE!”

You have to address it first thing as you go in, immediately after introductions. Emailing ahead may not be a bad idea, just to say “just to let you know… realise it may be a bit disconcerting, but I’m fine”. And as above, either treat it humorously (“I was playing rugby and their flanker got a bit lary…”) or just play it straight. Don’t make a joke about domestic violence or fighting, because there’ll be someone thinking “….maybe…??”.

The wife and I were at a cottage one weekend a couple of years ago and she was bitten on her face by mozzies. Her face swelled up – swollen lip, swollen eyelid – and she was distraught as she looked like the Elephant Man. We had to go for dinner that evening and I was never so eager to be over-chatty with our server as I was that night, wanting to tell them our lifestory so they didn’t think I’d thumped her… 🙁

“sorry about my appearance

…my parachute didn’t open”

im sure it’s an anxiety she could do without prior to an interview… but objectively how would this be an issue in a job interview it it was a permanent disfigurement or abnormality – it’s not going to be a factor in the interviewers scoring of candidates.

i wasn’t entirely joking about the leeches by the way – not an uncommon treatnent for brides who come a cropper on their hen night and end up with shiner for their wedding day.

“My husband came home drunk after the England game and knocked me about a bit. But he’s a nice guy really. ”

That should cover it.

“ I’ve no idea how it happened. Every time I open a rejection letter after a job interview the red mist descends and I wake up a few days later in a police cell”

Definitely email ahead to warn them and then go along to prove dedication and committment.

well, having (sort of) been on the other side of the table, I can’t recommend my tactic for the small talk bit as you’re meeting them for the first time.

‘Oh, what a bummer, having to turn up to an interview with a black eye’

‘It’s a birthmark’

‘Ah.’

He got the job, became a good friend as well as a co-worker, and on the day he left his closing comment was something along the lines of the black eye that never faded.

‘Oh, what a bummer, having to turn up to an interview with a black eye’

‘It’s a birthmark’

‘Ah.’

That’s almost as bad as the ‘when are you due’ faux pas to a ‘plump’ lady.

Not convinced about the comedy reason approach – it’s clearly a lie so what are you trying to cover up. Never under estimate the interviewers potential lack of humour.

A quick email ahead, no jokes or sillyness, might well be appreciated by the interviewer.

Something that opens positively maybe along the lines of…

I am looking forward to meeting with you/the panel next week. I thought you might benefit from me warning you in advance that I sustained some facial injuries, including a black eye, in a fall a few days ago.

Easiest interview ever

“Oh, how did this happen? Don’t you remember sweetie? You did after I turned you down when you told me I’d get the job if I slept with you”

*blows a kiss*