Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Illness and an Interview

Tongues of nausea curled in my stomach and cold sweat slid down my back as I smiled thinly at the senior partner sitting across the table from me, trying to give the impression of a cool, confident attorney, rather than the impression of someone who desperately needed to find a bathroom to throw up in.

I had thought it was a stroke of luck that I called in sick to work on the very day the partner requested an interview.

It was a week before that she called me at my office. The trusts & estates group I had interned with during my third year of law school was losing their associate, and she tracked me down to ask if I was interested in returning to the firm. I had just started to consider changing jobs, so I was intrigued, and sent along the resume and writing sample that she requested. She told me that I would be a bit of a non-traditional hire, since I was coming from the world of private wealth management rather than a law firm, and it might take her a couple of days to get approval to bring me in for an interview.

When six days passed without word, I figured she had moved on to candidates with shinier pedigrees than I possessed, and I decided to move on to other things in my head, starting with a most delicious business lunch with some colleagues at the stately Four Seasons Hotel restaurant in Midtown Manhattan.

The seventh day after her call was a Friday. I had woken up at four in the morning with an upset stomach and a low fever, and decided not to go to work.

I got her e-mail at eight that morning telling me that she would like to interview me and since time was of the essence, could I please come in at four that very afternoon. I responded that of course I could, and mentally patted myself on the back for calling in sick, thereby avoiding the need for an awkward excuse to leave work early to go interview for another job. Maybe I was a tiny bit pale and nauseous from whatever virus was making its way through my system, but I could power through it.

Or maybe not.

I got sicker with every hour that passed. My fever crept higher, and my trips to the bathroom got more frequent. All the water that I drank first thing in the morning in an effort to flush out the virus came back up, unpleasantly, and I couldn't keep anything down. By two thirty I was curled in a fetal position on the bathroom floor thinking that I would rather be dead than move a single muscle.

But with one hour before I had to leave for the interview that I certainly couldn't cancel only six hours after I scheduled it, I didn't have much of a choice.

Sitting on the floor of the shower, I washed my hair and did my best to stay upright as I got out the blow dryer. I dug a suit out of my closet and put on a loose blouse that covered the back of the skirt that I only zipped up halfway to avoid further aggravating my increasingly unpredictable stomach. Against my better judgment, I dry swallowed two Tylenol in an attempt to bring my fever down, and crept out of my apartment and into a cab.

By the time I got to the firm a mere twenty blocks from my apartment I was exhausted from the effort it took to just keep my head up. I checked in at reception and headed straight to the bathroom to try and put myself back together. I mopped up the mascara that had pooled under my eyes, wiped the sweat off the back of my neck, rolled some gloss on my dry, cracked lips, and prayed to whatever god would listen to just help me through the next hour.

By the time the partner picked me up at reception and led me into a conference room, the Tylenol I had taken was threatening to come back up, and I realized that applying flavored lip gloss when I was in such a delicate state was a huge mistake. I did my best to answer her questions while staying as still as possible, and  smiling through clenched teeth to keep from throwing up all over the table.

When the interview was over I ran straight to the bathroom and then home where I got into bed and didn't get out again for three days. When, by day three, my symptoms showed no signs of improvement I went to the doctor who did a whole battery of tests to figure out what was wrong with me.

A week later and still sick, I got two calls on the very same day.

I had Salmonella, courtesy of that lunch at the Four Seasons.

And I got the job.


31 comments:

  1. Ugh... Food poisoning is the worst. Seriously -- I've never felt more ill than when I had food poisoning.

    And I'm impressed that you powered through that -- good job, lady!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! Food poisoning is the worst. And it took me a month to recover completely.

      Delete
  2. That is a great story. I am sure it wasn't any fun at the time, but I like the "happy ending."

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. So...I merely removed my comment because it had a typo...let me try again. Go you! (both for getting the job and making me feel like I might lose my own lunch.) Great story, as usual :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Well, I guess that would be a classic win/lose situation, huh? Congrats on the job. Ugh! on the Salmonella. . .I've had that. . .not fun at all!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Um, congrats? Are you better??? Was this from a long time ago? Awful. I was in court once in a similar state - mainlining immodium and praying for a continuance...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! It was about two years ago, in the interview for the job I have now. It's the worst to have any kind of stomach problem and be anywhere except home and in bed.

      Delete
  7. Salmonella? Yikes! I'm so glad you got that job. You certainly worked for it hard enough!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Two reactions: YAY CONGRATS! And OMG ewwww awww sorry you got so sick that suuuucks! Heheh.

    ReplyDelete
  9. WOW! I admire your dedication to seeing your interview through, no matter what. Too bad about the salmonella, but glad that you got the job AND a pretty cool story to help you remember how much you went through to get it. Sometimes that's important too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. That is amazing. That you made it through the interview and that you got the job.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Congratulations! And ugh...salmonella! You are a trooper for showing up and keeping it together.
    Just don't have your celebratory meal at the Four Seasons! (But I don't have to tell you that, right?) ;)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Holy crap, how did you do that? And what kind of writing sample did you have coming from private wealth management? Just curious. And salmonella lasts that long? THis is so great. You know I love every word!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No idea. It was awful. Believe it or not I ended up using a writing sample from law school since I hadn't drafted anything at work. And it turns out salmonella lasts far longer than a week. I wasn't totally back to normal for almost a month.

      Delete
  13. Holy smokes. You definitely deserved the job if you made it through an interview in that condition.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Nerves of steel to get through that interview and get the job, nice! This post made me a little queasy reading it though, as I just got over a bout of food poisoning a couple days ago myself- not fun!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I'm glad you made it--congratulations. You deserve the job--you are one tough cookie to suffer through that. I had the stomach bug last year, and I felt like I'd been run over by a truck!

    ReplyDelete
  16. You are rock star for making it to the interview! Congrats on getting the job!

    ReplyDelete
  17. That sounds like it would have been the worst interview ever, but you must have made a good impression even though you were sick! Good for you!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Very impressive! You have some serious willpower.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Oh my gosh. What a tale. I loved the way you wrote it - as you experienced it. That drew me in. You must be a good poker player if you can hold it together in a situation like that.

    ReplyDelete
  20. What a story! Your detailed description of your physical appearance after you arrived for your interview was wonderful. I actually felt ill. haha. Great job, congratulations on toughing it out. Although I hope Four Seasons doesn't see this post. :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thank goodness for great news to ease the blow of the bad news! Great telling of what must have been a hellish experience.

    ReplyDelete
  22. If you had canceled, they would have thought you were a fruitcake, but it's sad that they had no idea the heroic measures you took to get to that interview and perform well! Pretty awesome story :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. I can't believe you made it through that! Congrats. Surprised about the Four Seasons - a Central Park cart, I could see!

    ReplyDelete
  24. That is amazing! I've never made even a remotely good impression while trying not to vomit. Bravo for even getting through the interview, not to mention getting the job!

    ReplyDelete
  25. And here I thought you were going to be pregnant! You deserved that job. Good for you!

    ReplyDelete
  26. I can't believe you had salmonella!! (One of those things that sounds better than it is)You must have been amazing in that interview!

    ReplyDelete