Brad Elson

How to approach booking time off work to attend a job interview

8 September 2020

It’s always exciting news once you land a job interview, which could lead to the next step in your career; however, balancing it with your current duties can be complicated. Despite many interviews being conducted remotely, there’s a high probability that you will still need to prepare to get this time off to attend the interview.

“It's always exciting news once you land a job interview, which could lead to the next step in your career; however, balancing it with your current duties can be complicated.“

Once you acquire the interview, the next step is to find a way to book the time off. For part-time workers or employees on flexible hours, this can be relatively straightforward. However, for full-time workers who are workplace-based, it might be more complicated to execute this without worrying about the consequences of doing so.

Feeling worried or concerned is natural; however, to alleviate this, here are a couple of pointers that could help you arrange the time you need for the interview.

Take the whole day/ half day off as annual leave

Usually, the best and most common approach is to take the day, or a half-day off as annual leave. If the time off gets authorised, your worry and concerns will be significantly reduced, as it will allow you to prepare for the big day. Nevertheless, the relief will provide you with headspace to prepare in getting in the right frame of mind, which could dramatically improve your interview performance on the day.

If you have multiple interviews, it might be best to schedule them around the whole day you have booked off, or book off another day so that you are covered; therefore, allowing you to use your time effectively.

Be honest with your manager

If you aren’t able to take the annual leave, it can be tempting to say that you have a doctor’s appointment booked. However, this is not advised as you could lose your integrity, and it could cause friction between you and your manager, which is never good.

Alternatively, state that you have a personal appointment that you must attend to; this will ultimately deter from any lying, which portrays to your manager that you are a transparent individual.

What happens if this causes friction with my manager?

Nowadays, many businesses are adopting a transparent culture; thus, the best option would be to take these values on board when discussing your reason. More managers feel content having these discussions with their employees, even if it does lead to a recognition that a member of their team could be in jeopardy of leaving for a different job.

Following this advice will put you at ease, thus placing you in a better mindset so that you can perform to your maximum ability on the day.