Sure they will, at least some people. I might if I was directly lied to. I’m definately in the “don’t lie” camp, fewer bridges burned, fewer stories to keep straight. Say it’s for personal reasons, and if pressed, just repeat that.
Why not? After all, I expect my employer to trust that I will continue to be committed to my job, regardless if I am looking to leave. I might expect them to ask why (money, location, career prospects). I certainly wouldn’t expect adverse treatment if I didn’t get it and stayed for a bit - in fact, I suspect that they’d be breaking the law if they did.
In other words, it comes down to an attitude issue: I’m not necessarily leaving because I hate the job, it’s just that there might be a better one out there!
J - who is, as it happens, entitled to attend job interviews on full pay as part of his terms and conditions (i just looked it up)!
Another one for the “don’t lie” suggestion.
It’s never really a good idea to lie - if they find out, you look bad and may have burned some useful bridges, and if they don’t find out, you might as well have told the truth.
I interviewed in May for jobs and my employer already knew I was leaving, but was fine giving me time off. Then I interviewed again in October, and this time my employer (a different one) did not know I was leaving. I just told my boss I needed a personal day and that was it. No details given, and if she had asked, I would have said that it was personal and I couldn’t talk about it.
Another agreement - lying is not the way.
Be it a doctor’s appointment or anything, I’ve taken to just saying “I have an appointment”. If pressed (which I haven’t been), I would say “personal business”. There are all manner of “appointments” - meeting the cable guy at your house, needing to meet with your stock broker as well as needing to take your ill sibling to the doctor. So you don’t need to lie by merely saying you have “an appointment”, or that it’s for “personal business”. If they really press you, then you can decide just how much you are willing to tell them. But I doubt if it will come to that.
I second the “I have an appointment idea”. It could be anything, and your boss knows it’s none of his/her business.
Oh, and of course…
afterwards, (or maybe before) do anything that you can to make up the time you took. ESPECIALLY if you found out you didn’t get the new job.
Remember though, most bosses aren’t stupid. Even “personal business” is usually a red flag. Why? First of all the boss probably knows that you’re stuck with a lousy job and are probably looking for a way out. If you were recently hired, they probably will figure that you took their job because you really needed the money but wanted to keep looking.
I’ve been there before. It does suck. You’re in a tough situation. The problem is, when you have to take time off for interviews and you don’t get the job, then you have to lie again to take more time off for the next interview.
One thing you might want to consider is asking the prospective interviewer how their interview process is handled. Find out if you have to come in for one interview with HR (where they screen out 90% of the candidates), then come back for a second interview. Heck, I’ve been in places where I’ve had to come back for a third.
In the end, “personal business” will probably work…once
[QUOTE=Martiju]
Why not? After all, I expect my employer to trust that I will continue to be committed to my job, regardless if I am looking to leave. I might expect them to ask why (money, location, career prospects). I certainly wouldn’t expect adverse treatment if I didn’t get it and stayed for a bit - in fact, I suspect that they’d be breaking the law if they did.
QUOTE]
It would be very unusual in the U.S. for someone to feel completely comfortable with telling his current employer he was planning to quit, or might quit if the interviews he was going on turned out well. Not impossible, but unusual. Many employers would change their view of such an employee after hearing that; and it would not be illegal to fire them for it, at least in employment-at-will states. Might be different in the U.K.
The employer could also refuse to allow the employee to take any vacation time (paid or not) upon learning that he’s using his time off to go on interviews.
I left early today for an interview. I had a first round two weeks ago a noon, and just took the day off. Today, second round and shorter notice, so I said my wife’s got an appointment with the doctor, and I’ve got to mind the kids due to no babysitter. A bit elaborate, but I had to leave at 3 yesterday for class, then again today at 3 for this - I figured I needed to cite a pressing reason. Usually I’d just invoke “personal” or “family”. Good luck.
At my last job, I took a personal day for a “doctor’s appointment” (which was, as per many of the responses in this thread, really an excuse to go for a job interview), and my employer met me at the front door the next day and refused to let me inside the building without a note from my doctor stating that my absence was not for a work-related injury.
The saga of that particular job is a long and mind-boggling one, but after seven years of absolute insanity, that was the clincher. I’m now happily employed in a job where people do not come to work the day after their facelifts (leaky Frankenstein staples) and/or dental bridge implantations (rotting bandages in the lunchroom trashcan), leave poisonous / explosive chemicals in the employee refrigerator / next to the heat gun, doctor the fire extinguisher inspection logs, or store Uzis in the upstairs warehouse.
More on topic, I second the posters who suggest you ask for an interview outside normal work hours, or if that’s not possible simply request personal time for a generic “appointment,” without specifics.
Or, as in my case, they schedule the meeting 35 miles from my office at 6 pm. I get there only to find out that the guy forgot and went home. :rolleyes:
Yeah, that really motivated me to work there.
Lots of good advice, I thank you all.
hey, ever wondered why you are still commercial trainee at age 49?
j/k
