How to Mention Your Vacation Plans During an Interview

How to Mention Your Vacation Plans During an Interview How to Mention Your Vacation Plans During an Interview Obviously, the easiest way to avoid a situation in which vacation plans interfere with a job prospect is to not plan a vacation while you’re hunting. But life has a way of complicating matters- your sister’s wedding date is out of your control, you put a deposit down on a dream cruise months before even deciding to go on the market, or your spouse already secured time off the first week of August for a long-awaited family excursion to Disney. Will your candidacy be at a disadvantage? “There have been many situations where I’ve extended an offer to a candidate that was the hiring manager’s first choice, and they’ve mentioned they have a vacation coming up,” says Michelle Petrazzuolo, consultant with Petrazzuolo HR. “This is particularly true if we were hiring during peak vacation seasons (summer, the holidays).” Instead of stressing, mention your vacation plans in a thoughtful, professional manner by attending to these issues: Timing Employers use first interviews as a time to get to know candidates and evaluate whether or not they’re worth further pursuit. Thus, experts generally agree that bringing up vacation plans at this stage is unnecessary and might even be viewed as presumptuous. Second interviews convey greater interest, so come in ready to broach the subject. If a hiring manager asks when you’re available to start, treat this as a good opening. For instance, after stating that you’d need to give your current employer two weeks of notice, you might add, “While we’re on the topic of dates, I just want to mention that I already booked my flight to a family reunion in Omaha from July 1 to 7.” The absolute latest point to mention a vacation is when a job offer gets extended. Don’t start working and then dump the scenario on your new manager. Such an action disrupts office life and can come off as uncaring or manipulative. Presenting New employers basically want to know the time frame of your absence, so keep statements simple and to the point. Practice saying your plans with confidence- you needn’t feel guilty about having a life. Remember, you’re not asking for permission, just extending the professional courtesy of advance notice. And definitely tell the truth! Don’t create an elaborate story about needing to go to your brother’s destination wedding in Mexico when you’re actually traveling there for RR with your spouse. Lying to “sound better” fosters stress, especially when a new coworker innocently asks to see pictures of the happy couple. Details Finally, be ready to discuss with the employer how the situation would be handled. While some companies do offer paid time off from day one, more likely scenarios include moving your start date so as not to interrupt the onboarding process, borrowing the vacation days from what you’ll get in the future, or granting unpaid time off. In the end, you’ll likely not need to make a choice between the vacation and the position. But if you really do run up against an employer unwilling to budge, consider it insight as to how much this company actually values work-life balance. Check Out More Job Interviewing Tips