shaking hands @ interview

[alphamale]

Also, on top of everything I "liked" so far, did you know that your mouse and keyboard has more germs than a handshake and even a toilet seat?

I was wondering what that funky stuff was on my keyboard

[jen1447]

newmoon, do you carry one of those little spray bottles of hand sanitizer in your bag? You could apply some of that after the interview without looking too weird, or just wait til you get to your car.

 

I'm concerned about the existence of this behavior to begin with tho. It doesn't sound healthy.

[Tayla]

Carry Purell. DO NOT apply it immediately in front of the person.

 

It conveys that you find them dirty or unkept. Not a good impression to start or end an interview.

 

One alternative is to carry a business card or ID card and hand it too them as they go to shake hands. It helps keep it friendly and avoids direct contact.

[anika99]

I hate to break this to you, but there likely are more germs on door handles and many other things you touch routinely than there may be on someone's hands.

 

Even so, I think you should suck it up and shake hands (and even offer to shake) if you want the job. You can always wash your hands later. You aren't going to immediately get sick from shaking someone's hand.

 

 

Yeah like those debit machines at check outs. I always cringe when I think of all the hands touching those things every day. Eww. However I do sympathize with the OP. I have claustrophobia and phobias don't tend to be logical or rational. If the she has a phobia about shaking hands then stories about how other objects are much more germ laden will do little to help.

[EgoJoe]

If you let fear run your life. You may spend your whole life running.

[lollipopspot]

do you shake hands one time only? or at start and the end?

 

If you shake hands in the beginning (which is VERY likely), it doesn't matter if you shake hands at the end. You're already contaminated.

 

You need to visualize your hands getting clean after the handshake or something, so you can let it go. This is a mental issue more than a physical one. You are not going to get sick in the span of the interview. Just don't touch your face (which you shouldn't anyway).

 

I don't love shaking hands with strangers either, and I avoid it where possible. But there's no way I'd avoid this one.

[kenmore]

When I was a kid we used to swim in raw sewage. I never get sick, you know why? Because we used to swim in raw sewage!

 

The late George Carlin.

[newmoon]

thank you to everyone. had the interview today and survived. i read online that stick deodorant can be rubbed on your hands to a) keep germs away and b) control sweaty palms, so i applied a ton of stick deodorant to my hands and when the dude extended his hand i took it fast, hard and released. he extended his hand, so i had no choice :-( but, my hand stayed nice and powdery and dry and germ-free (i think). i had two more people to meet and just shook their hands before and after. ugh. during the interview i kept my hand on my water bottle, which i made sure was a little wet, so by the end i had a bit of wetness to my hands and they were clean. the worst part - i saw one of my interviewers walk out before my appointment and he told the receptionist he was "going to use the facilities" and come right back. i was dying! and praying he washed his hands. right after i went to the bathroom and washed up. germaphobia sucks! :-)

[alphamale]

i'm glad things went well newmoon

[lollipopspot]

Good job

[kenmore]

Congrats! I don't have germaphobia at all so can't relate well, but I have given it thought to try and understand those who do have it (as I try to understand those who have other phobias) and from that I can understand how you must feel to some degree. I know I'll never understand the subtle nuances of it, but just know I have tried to relate.

 

It must be very difficult. I imagine you see germs everywhere because they are. I imagine you must feel very threatened, and I am sorry.

 

I'm glad you were able to find a way to counter your feelings on the subject and overcome! That is an important step and you took it bravely. I'm proud of you!

 

Ken

[TaraMaiden2]

The sad thing is that with the incidents of flu epidemics and MRSA and harmful germs in hospitals, we are slowly being conditioned to believe that everything is dirty and germ-laden, and they need killing and eliminating.

 

This uber-sanitised hygienic environment is actually what's killing us.

 

If we strive to eliminate germs and harmful bacteria to the extent we are, we actually leave ourselves extremely vulnerable to pathogenic invasion, because we are lowering our natural resistance and destroying our immune system.

 

Only yesterday, a report was published on how these hand sanitisers are actually doing more harm than good, by leaving us vulnerable to absorption of BPA.

 

Anti-bacterial soap is another one.

All these specially-marketed and relatively expensive anti-bacterial soaps.

 

Did you know that ALL soap is anti-bacterial?

All of them. They all do the same job.

They clean your hands.

So whether you use anti-bacterial soap, or ordinary soap, you're doing exactly the same job, either way, and just as efficiently.

The only good thing about ABsoap - is that someone, somewhere is getting rich with it.

 

Just use soap. And wash, properly.

[acrosstheuniverse]

Rather than just accepting this problem, and trying desperately to think of ways around it, have you ever considered speaking to a therapist to actually overcome it? It's one thing if it's just a quirk you don't mind, but its' quite another if it's actually negatively impacting your life to the extent that you are worrying so much before an interview it probably came across to the interviewer if you so much as flinched when the interview extended his hand, or you let it go like it was a hot coal!

 

Therapists can work with this quite easily using techniques such as exposure therapy, and flooding. Wouldn't it be nice to live your life not being encumbered by this worry?

 

Just food for thought.