Interviewing while employed

[Rage187]

Ummm...you lie. Is this question for real?

yes. I believe in career karma and lying to your (possible) future employer lacks ethics.

 

[mvbighead]

yes. I believe in career karma and lying to your (possible) future employer lacks ethics.

Truth be told, it's none of their business how you got the time off. If you are one of their better applicants, they should simply be happy that you did.

 

[Bignate603]

Truth be told, it's none of their business how you got the time off. If you are one of their better applicants, they should simply be happy that you did.

It is their business how you got the time off. If you bend the rules for your current employer you'll probably bend the rules if they hired you. It's doubtful they'll ask though.

 

[NetWareHead]

yes. I believe in career karma and lying to your (possible) future employer lacks ethics.

If I were the interviewer and some applicant told me truthfully that he took a sick day to be here, I would not ding him for that. Sick days are meant to be used as you see fit in my book. However....it still is not something to be advertised, taking a sick day for a non-medical reason. I would have to question the candidate's judgment in telling me that and would rightfully wonder, if he were hired, what else would slip out of his mouth and create a bad or embarrassing situation, possibly in front of a customer. I can understand your belief in ethics but saying something like that in an interview is just shooting yourself in the foot.

 

[Falloutboy]

ask for a first thing in the morning interview, and call into work saying you had something come up, and will be in after lunch. its really that simple I can't think of any of my past jobs that would even question that, they may not be happy but they aren't going to say no. Just make sure if you can you don't have any loose ends that morning that would cause a mess.

Only way I would see it being a problem is if your already on the outs with your current job and thats why your job hunting.

 

[Gibson486]

Wow holy shit, is that you Andrew?

OP's name is Andrew?

 

[airdata]

I check "do not contact my current employer", and then I go to random "doctors appointments" or other miscellaneous tasks.

Yeah, it's a tricky situation for most of us. You tell your current employer you're doing job interviews, and you don't get the job? You better keep looking.

When I've done this I've just said I had an appointment.

Vacation. Taking a sick day for it is a dick move. How would it look if the interviewer asked how you got the time off?

Like when my coworker calls in at 8am and says her allergies are acting up and she can't make it in...

 

[the DRIZZLE]

Sick days are meant to be used as you see fit in my book.

No.

 

[Macamus Prime]

I was wondering how people did this. Since most interview offers I've come across happen in ~1 week of the actual call how did you get out of work to hit up the interview?

You are entitled to personal days, yes? Or, just schedule to be out of the office in the morning or afternoon. Tell them you have a doctor's appointment.

Did you let your current employer know that you're doing interviews and that they should be expecting interruptions in your work schedule in the coming weeks/months?

Nope. They can then just fire you for not dedicating your time to your job.

I know a lot of places would require a decent heads up notice for using your time off unless you're calling out sick. This makes it hard to ask for time off in a timely manner when you have to go to interviews. At least that's my experience.

One week's notice for a "doctor's appointment" should be fine.

How does one go about this?

Again, just schedule a 1/2 day off of work. Make it so that you leave early.

 

[Gibson486]

It's a 2 way street. You know....the company says something like, "Well, we are trying to cut costs by slashing benefits so we do not have to lay people off". 2 weeks later, you get these cryptic emails on Monday saying it was so and so's last day on Friday so contact this person if you were working on projects with him.

I am not sure why people would judge people because they lied about a sick day. No one in their right mind would go and advertise that they were looking for another job to the current employer.

Also, if you are currently employed, I am not sure why an interviewer would ask how you were bale to get the day off. In reality, it is none of their business. It's pretty obvious that the current employer does not know...unless it is some circumstance where your employer is encouraging you to leave to take another position.

 

[NetWareHead]

No.

You dont have to be physically sick (e.g. feverish etc...) to qualify for taking a sick day. I call them "mental health days", for when you need a day to catch up, relax and not be bothered with work.

 

[airdata]

I am not sure why people would judge people because they lied about a sick day. No one in their right mind would go and advertise that they were looking for another job to the current employer.

Well, honesty is a basic quality any employer is looking for. By saying you're going to the doctor but instead going to seek employment elsewhere, you're just lying.

If I tell my boss I need to leave early to make an appointment, (notice I didn't claim I was going to a doctor because thats a lie) that's perfectly fine.

 

[Gibson486]

Well, honesty is a basic quality any employer is looking for. By saying you're going to the doctor but instead going to seek employment elsewhere, you're just lying.

If I tell my boss I need to leave early to make an appointment, (notice I didn't claim I was going to a doctor because thats a lie) that's perfectly fine.

But you still mislead them in the end....

 

[airdata]

But you still mislead them in the end....

Not if you give no details.

 

[Triumph]

If you don't have a deadline and aren't required to be there and you have vacation time, you should be able to leave and take your vacation time if you want to.

 

[steppinthrax]

I do not understand why this is so complicated. You guys act like the interviewer will spend much of his/her time interrogating you to determine if you took off for vacation and/or sick. Everybody knows you’re looking for another job and likely you are going to be off in some way. Personally if the future “potential boss” is going to call your current employer to determine if he/she is sick, I would not want to work with that person. I’ve been to several interviews and have never been asked any question around this.

 

[steppinthrax]

Well, honesty is a basic quality any employer is looking for. By saying you're going to the doctor but instead going to seek employment elsewhere, you're just lying.

If I tell my boss I need to leave early to make an appointment, (notice I didn't claim I was going to a doctor because thats a lie) that's perfectly fine.

In the working world no one is honest. If you think like this, your fooling yourself. Some people will do whatever possible to stab you in the back to get to where they are today.

 

[Gibson486]

I do not understand why this is so complicated. You guys act like the interviewer will spend much of his/her time interrogating you to determine if you took off for vacation and/or sick. Everybody knows you’re looking for another job and likely you are going to be off in some way. Personally if the future “potential boss” is going to call your current employer to determine if he/she is sick, I would not want to work with that person. I’ve been to several interviews and have never been asked any question around this.

Exactly. I am not sure where "ethics" is really coming into play. If you are employed, they pretty much know you are going there while being paid to take that day off.

 

[somethingsketchy]

a lot of places i've interviewed understood the difficulty of leaving in the middle of the work day for an interview and would schedule interviews either early morning or after business hours. when that wasn't feasible i would make up an excuse to have to step out of the office.

I don't know about you guys, but my current employer was completely understanding I was looking for work elsewhere (current contract ends end of month).

That said, a lot of my interviews were over the phone. I've had more phone interviews in the last couple of months, than actual sit-down interviews.

 

[Sukhoi]

I don't know about you guys, but my current employer was completely understanding I was looking for work elsewhere (current contract ends end of month).

That said, a lot of my interviews were over the phone. I've had more phone interviews in the last couple of months, than actual sit-down interviews.

Um, interviewing when you're at the end of a contract is a little different than if you have a full-time job.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

You dont have to be physically sick (e.g. feverish etc...) to qualify for taking a sick day. I call them "mental health days", for when you need a day to catch up, relax and not be bothered with work.

That's fine but that's not a sick day. If I need a day off and it's not something I feel comfortable telling the company about I just tell them that I have some personal stuff to take care of. People here seem to be suggesting calling or emailing your boss the day of the interview and claiming to be to sick to come in.

If you have combined sick/personal/vacation time than it's moot anyway.

 

[3chordcharlie]

You dont have to be physically sick (e.g. feverish etc...) to qualify for taking a sick day. I call them "mental health days", for when you need a day to catch up, relax and not be bothered with work.

You are the reason companies switch to 'short-term disability' and mandatory documentation of all (supposedly) involuntary time off, etc.

You call them 'mental health days'. The rest of us call that stealing time and money from your employer.

 

[MrColin]

I worked at a large university once and thier policy was that you still got paid AND you could work on your resume and make phone calls for the purpose of career development. Check your employer's policies and manager's attitudes. Don't lie unless they leave no other alternative. Also, it could work to your advantage to disclose that you are looking into other opportunities. If they like you, they might offer incentives to stay, or help you network in the field you are looking at.

 

[Veevester]

You are the reason companies switch to 'short-term disability' and mandatory documentation of all (supposedly) involuntary time off, etc.

You call them 'mental health days'. The rest of us call that stealing time and money from your employer.

I don't believe that is stealing time and money at all. Sick days are a benefit, and a portion of your overall salary and benefit package. If an employer offers sick days, you should be able to take them for whatever reason you deem appropriate. Especially if they aren't paying out for sick time that is unused.

 

[NetWareHead]

That's fine but that's not a sick day. If I need a day off and it's not something I feel comfortable telling the company about I just tell them that I have some personal stuff to take care of. People here seem to be suggesting calling or emailing your boss the day of the interview and claiming to be to sick to come in.

If you have combined sick/personal/vacation time than it's moot anyway.

I would not use vacation or sick day(s) if there was a critical obligation in the office. I would have to be very sick or have some kind of pressing emergency to not go to work under those conditions. And likewise, I have also come in sick to meet deadlines. I'm certainly not going to schedule an interview when I'm needed either.