Guest Post By Max Woolf
So you’ve punched a clock for quite a
few years now. In your career, you’ve had several promotions that made you feel
financially independent.
But—now, you’ve decided to look for greener pastures
and up your career.
The only problem is—how do you
interview for jobs discreetly, so your job search efforts won’t be outed?
Don’t stress. Today, you’ll learn how
to sneak out for a job interview without sounding a single alarm bell.
Set Your Best Foot
Forward to Avoid It Altogether
Here’s the thing:
Most recruiters are quite
understanding of busy schedules that most working professionals have and that
you might not always be able to secure time off.
So—when you arrange an in-person interview,
it’s a good idea to ask if you can plan a meeting outside of working hours.
Otherwise, you’ll have to take a day off or come up with an excuse for your
boss.
This should be fairly easy to arrange
if you encounter a flexible hiring manager or if you’re an extraordinary
candidate companies bend over backward to hire.
If the hiring manager can’t
accommodate your request, you can still be smart with your interview time.
Just ask for a slightly earlier morning interview or a slightly-late evening interview and see where it gets you.
Once you’ve agreed on the time, ask
the hiring manager to keep things on the down-low. You wouldn’t want the
company to call up for a reference, as that could put your existing job at
risk.
Take a Day off or
Half-Day off for a Job Interview
Now—if
you can’t meet the hiring manager outside working hours, the best thing you can
do is take a day off or a half-day off.
As
Maciej Duszynski, Resume Expert and Career Advice Writer at ResumeLab,
explains,
“The benefit of this
tactic is that you won’t have to worry about sneaking away from the office and
then being stressed out you won’t make it back in time.”
You’ll
also have plenty of time to prep for the interview and, for instance, do company culture research. Plus,
if you wear business casual at work, you won’t be forced to change into a suit
and out of it for the interview.
So—let
your boss know you want to take a day off or at least a half-day off as early
as you can. It’ll up your chances of success because they’ll have enough time
to cover shifts.
Best
way to break the news? Just tell your boss you need a day off or a half-day
off. If you have a good boss, they won’t ask any questions.
Then
again, if you had a good boss, you probably wouldn’t be looking for a new job
and Googling how to
pen a resume summary to make your application stand out.
If
you’re asked to elaborate, just say you want to take care of a personal matter.
If you don’t think it’ll suffice, keep reading to see some more sure-fire
excuses.
Work It In Around Your Schedule
Now—let’s say it’s not an option for you to take a day off or
a half-day off. Perhaps, you’re out of vacation days, or your boss won’t let
you go.
The
good news is, you can still interview with a new employer without raising the
red flag. All it takes is to work the upcoming interview into your work
schedule.
First
off, pick the day when you aren’t overwhelmed with work. In other words, go for
a day with slow times (e.g., fewer
meetings) vs. a day with busy times.
After
that, you’ll need to decide when you’ll have the interview. There are several
options:
●
Early in the morning. If you have a flex
schedule and you don’t have to show up at work at a set time (e.g., 8 AM), it’s
an excellent option. You could do the interview in the morning and then stay
late to finish work in the evening all while flying under the radar.
●
During lunchtime. If it’s commonplace at
your company to have extended lunches, this could be a good option too.
●
At the end of the working day. If
you have the option to come in earlier and leave earlier too, this could be
ideal. You’ll have done all the work, and you won’t have to worry about how
long the interview will take.
Best Excuses for Taking
Time off to Interview
So—you need a solid excuse for taking
time off for a job interview.
Here’s an important thing to keep in
mind: always use a plausible reason that will sound reasonable to your boss.
If your boss starts to think you’re
making things up, you might find yourself in hot water.
Also, don’t make up stories about a
sick grandfather, a death in the family, let alone a severe medical condition.
This could cause undue concern and lead to follow-up questions.
Below are some examples of solid
excuses for taking time off for job interviews:
●
I need time off for a personal matter.
●
I need to pick up a friend up from the airport.
●
I need an emergency car/home/appliance repair.
●
I’m expecting an IKEA delivery.
●
I have a vet appointment.
●
I have a dentist’s appointment.
●
I need to go to the bank to take care of some financial
matters.
So — What Do You Think?
There you have it.
A whopping three secretes for taking
time off for job interviews along with solid excuses. Use them to break away
from your job without raising a few eyebrows.
Now—did you ever interview with
companies while having a full-time job? Did anyone find out you’d been on a
top-secret mission?
Let me know on
LinkedIn!
