My cat walked across the keyboard during a job interview and hit mute

I was in the middle of a video interview for a project manager role last Thursday. Everything was going fine until my orange tabby decided to stroll across my laptop and somehow hit the mute button. I didn't notice for a solid 30 seconds because I was too busy trying to shoo him away without looking unprofessional. The interviewer just sat there staring at me while I kept talking to a blank screen. When I finally figured it out and unmuted, I had to apologize and explain that my cat hijacked the call. She laughed it off but I could tell it threw off the whole vibe. Has anyone else had a pet completely tank an important video call like this?

3 comments

3 Comments

carter.casey14d ago

75% of workers having the same problem just means nobody is taking this seriously enough to put their phone away during work hours. That orange cat did you a favor honestly now the interviewer knows you're the type of person who lets distractions walk all over you.

noahmartin17d ago

Actually read a study once that said like 75% of remote workers have had a pet interrupt a video call in some way lol. Orange tabbies are notorious for being chaos demons too, my sister's cat once knocked her whole router off the desk during a final exam. The mute button is honestly a blessing compared to what could've happened, imagine if your cat had ended the call or started walking across the keyboard typing random letters. I bet that interviewer has had her own pet disaster stories, everyone with pets does, so she probably gets it more than you think.

phoenix_grant3417d ago

The whole "trying to shoo him without looking unprofessional" part really got me. I had a similar thing happen but with my dog barking at the mailman during a client presentation. I froze up trying to act like nothing was happening while my dog was going nuts in the background. It's like the universe picks the worst possible moments for our pets to be pets. Hopefully that interviewer sees the humor in it and remembers you for being able to roll with the chaos.