Candidate refused to take his mask off in a 90 minutes interview even when I told him twice it was ok to do that

Question

I, the hiring manager, interviewed (just two of us) a candidate for a software engineer position for about 90 minutes. During the interview I told the candidate twice that he could take his mask off. First at the beginning then at about one hour later when I started to feel it was a bit weird to talk to the candidate for 1 hour and I still didn't know his face. So during that time I said specifically that can you take your mask off because I feel weird that we have talked for an hour when you still wear your mask. But he kept saying he preferred to wearing the mask.

I was satisfied with his technical skills. But I can't figure out why he refused to take his mask off. Should that raise a red flag?

For context, this is Beijing and we basically have a zero-tolerance approach to Covid-19 so we don't need to worry about covid at all. Wearing masks are mandated only on public transport.

BTW, the zero-tolerance approach means my government tries very hard to eliminate even 1 case at any place. Refer to this "China's 'zero tolerance' COVID-19 policy to safeguard the country" or if you really have interest in that you may further check The New York times's article https://cn.nytimes.com/china/20210824/signs-bubble-up-that-a-chinese-city-is-growing-weary-of-lockdown/dual/ I posted a dual version of that article because the English version only is not free.

--- update ---

I decided to give him the offer. I just called him and he said he would join us right from tomorrow.

As I said in one comment that one of reasons I asked the question and I like to ask questions here is I will get answers and comments I do not expect at all.

This time is no difference. It is an interesting experience but I can't resist the urge to add this, as you guys can judge from my name I am a Beijing native so when I saw comments like "Beijing's air is so polluted that people should be wearing masks all the time" or "China is very high on compliance mentality." or "If you want an employee who will accept anything at face value and not think or question anything" (I am hiring a software engineer, why would I want to do that ?!) I just feel amused.

Answer 1

People have different levels of willingness to take risks. This means he is very likely somebody who likes to minimize risks. This sometimes annoys sales people, but I consider it a good trait in engineers! I would guess he is more risk averse than the average engineer.

A single mistake can sink companies. Not every mistake is the end of a company, but some software mistakes just have the potential to do that! So yeah, being a little bit more cautious is good.

Also: How are his social skills? Telling somebody it's ok to take off your mask likely was interpreted as just that: It's ok, it's not mandatory. He may have missed the cue that you want him to take off the mask. So you should have phrased it as: Please take off your mask, I'd like to see who you are (or something like that).

Of course, he might have understood completely and opted to ignore it, because your request was so weakly phrased.

Answer 2

Yes I agree with you, it is completely a red flag...for the interviewee. If it was me, in that position, I would be rejecting you as an employer for this reason alone.

I appreciate there are differences in approached to the pandemic just now between each country, however what shines through to me is that you as a prospective employer are not sympathetic to concerns about the use of masks in an unknown environment, nor are you sympathetic to someone who would prefer to remain cautious in this approach.

He did not 'refuse' which implies that your way and perspective alone is correct. He made a choice to maintain his mask and comfort when he had the option of removing it as he was a guest in your organization.

Answer 3

Should that raise a red flag?

No, it doesn't say anything negative enough about the candidate to indicate any problems with their work. It was a purely personal and harmless preference which the candidate was within their rights to express.

Answer 4

The candidate may have been going to several interviews that day. They don't want the be the person that is the cause of a super-spreader event.

My country was also adopting a zero-Covid approach. It didn't work. I'm not saying it can't work, just you can't be absolutely certain the person you're speaking with doesn't have it.

If you can't hire someone without knowing what their face looks like, then you really need to think about if you should part of the hiring process.

You "feeling weird" is not a good enough reason for asking them to remove their mask. That is a problem that you need to address, and it's not the candidates job to address it.

Answer 5

People have very differencent experiences when it comes to COVID and risk assessment.

I have a colleague who has 2 kids in school. Since kids under a certain age cannot be vaccinated yet, that means he is and was around 2 unvaccinated people that every day visit a group meeting of another 20-30 unvaccinated people and use public transport to get there and back. His family is generally healthy.

To him, sitting in a meeting with another fully vaccinated adult who came there with private transport is probably the lowest risk he will face all day.

Compare that to me:

I have a sick family member, who even fully vaccinated has a serious risk of contracting and having major medical problems with COVID. I have changed my whole life, I work from home, I order everything I possibly can, I stopped meeting friends in person and I meet close family members for Easter, Christmas and Birthdays on one-on-one's. Preferably outdoors.

To me, having a personal, physical conversation with someone in a room is the highest risk I took in months if not years.

In your case, I don't even know you. I don't know if you are vaccinated, if you meet with other people a lot, I know nothing about you. You might be one of those nutjobs who have "alternative facts" about COVID and prefer to ingest bleach or horse dewormer, or maybe you are a perfectly reasonable, sane, caring person like my colleague above, who just happens to have a higher risk of infection and spreading without any wrongdoing on their part.

Both risk assessments, "lowest all day" and "highest in years" are valid. Even wanting to see a face is a valid wish in a conversation between humans. There is an easy solution: video. It's been around for a while and especially software engineers should be able to work from home and use video conferencing without any problems.

The fact that you did not think about it from other persons perspective and still interview people by having them physically and maskless sit at a table at your mercy makes me think your competitors, who might be more emphatic towards their prospective employees might be more successful. It's a point you can and should improve on. And you don't know the guy you are interviewing either. Maybe they are the "alternative facts" nutjob. Video works both ways, it protects you, too.

Answer 6

I was satisfied with his technical skills. But I can't figure out why he refused to take his mask off. Should that raise a red flag?

In the middle of a global pandemic, it should not be too hard to figure out why the candidate did not remove their mask. You go on to mention that in your country you don't need to worry about COVID yet your country does have mask mandates in place so clearly there is a concern.

Is this a red flag? That depends on the type of candidate that you are looking for. If you want an employee who will accept anything at face value and not think or question anything then this candidate is probably not a good fit for your company.