Or at the very least, an interview conducted outside? What would be the best way to phrase such a request? I'm gonna make a few phone calls Monday to follow up on some job applications.
I don't think you have to worry about it. You're not their only candidate and if they're not conscious of all the strangers they're seeing you shouldn't work there. I went through 280 resumes two months ago. That generated maybe 20 interviews for my wife, all of which were Zoom/phone. If that interview went well, we had an in-person interview with the whole team, or as many as were in the office and not doing telemedicine (we've had everyone in the office exactly once since February). If I recall correctly, we had three in-person interviews.
Tell me about it. I've been job hunting for so long now, just when I think I've seen every scam, I come across a new one. It's a crazy world out there right now and there are people who are definitely doing everything they can to take advantage of it.
Most of my apps are to gigs with “temporarily remote” status. All interviews I’ve done thus far are over phone or video call. Also, KB brings up a good opening point. It’s absolutely a reasonable request. Remember, you’re interviewing the employer as much as they are interviewing you. If they aren’t willing to accommodate for a global health concern, that gives pause for reconsideration. Especially if denied a remote interview after you make a direct request. A piece of advice I received recently for job negotiation is “You get what you bargain for, not what you deserve.” So, you can’t bargain for much if you don’t set a standard of what to expect. In this case, you’d be expecting an interview process that minimizes risk to your health.