Ask the Experts: How to Schedule Interviews When You Work Full-time During the Day
Question:
I have a full-time job that pays well but I don’t find it very satisfying. I am applying for other jobs in my area, but I’m wondering what I should do when I get an interview. I work from early in the morning until 4PM, and most businesses that I have applied to have 9 am to 4pm hours. Assuming that I can only meet a possible employer during their working hours, how can I leave my current job for an interview during the day without getting “caught?”
First Answer:
It’s very difficult to leave work to interview for a couple of reasons. Certainly getting back late from lunch could be a problem, especially if you have to travel far. Also, if you’re dressed up that day, that will call attention to your plans.
In your situation, I would probably save a few vacation days and try to put two job interviews together: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. In your case there might also be the possibility of a 5:00pm meeting after hours. A lot of employers like that especially if they are replacing someone and don’t want them to know that an interview is taking place.
Good luck with your search.
— David Gordon, Advertising/Promotions Internship Office, Columbia University in Chicago, Illinois.
Second Answer:
First, most hiring managers and human resources recruiters will interview outside normal business hours because the experienced candidates in whom they are most interested are those doing similar jobs for competing businesses and not in job search-i.e. productive, “star” employees who must be enticed to leave one employer for another. Therefore, employers have to interview working candidates at hours convenient to the working candidates, usually in the evening but sometimes at lunch and, in some environments, over breakfast. So you may be able to do most of your interviews without being absent from work.
If you do have to interview during the day, and you can’t arrange “flex time” without raising eyebrows, the only honorable and safe way to do so is to take a “personal day” if your employer offers them. If not, take a vacation day. Claiming to have a doctor’s appointment or calling in sick are not recommended options and a good way to get “caught” doing something dishonorable on time your employer is paying you to work. Personal and vacation days, on the other hand, are paid absences during which what you do is your business.
— Carol Anderson, Career Development and Placement Office, Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy at New School University in New York City.
Third Answer:
Probably one of the hardest things to do is look for a job while you are working. It is very difficult to arrange interviews without letting your current employer know that you are looking for other employment. Some things to consider when arranging interviews:
- Try to arrange interviews early in the morning, around your lunch hour or for the end of the day. It is often much easier to come in an hour later, leave an hour earlier or extend your lunch period that it is too just take off during the middle of the day.
- If you have personal business time, or flex or release time use it.
- Interview only with those jobs that you are really interested in.
But realize that after this happens several times, your employer and your co-workers will probably figure out what you are doing. Be prepared to answer their questions.
Another tip: Until you let your current employer know that you are looking for another job…ALWAYS let the company you are interviewing with know that. The worst possible scenerio would be to have a company you had interviewed with contact your current employer for a reference before you had talked to them.
— Linda Wyatt, Career Center Director, Kansas City Kansas Community College.
