[Anonymous]

hi all

can anyone give me some tips on how to take time off for job interviews. also how to get around wearing a suit to work on the day of the interview. i have a long commute via public transportation so i can’t go home and change, etc

thx

[Anonymous]

We have a super casual dress code ie it would look weird if I suddenly wore like dress shoes and pants

[Mamabear]

Is there any way you can request an interview for first thing in the morning and go back home and change before you go into work? You can tell your job you have a doctor's appointment and work a half day? I would be nervous about taking a full day off because if you're just beginning your job search you won't know how many interviews you'll need to go on before you find a job that you want to accept. Taking full days off could eat through your paid time off pretty quickly.

CPA Exam - Finally DONE (November 2014)
BEC (08/10/13) 80
AUD (08/24/13) 65 (11/13/13) 85
FAR (04/12/14) 81
REG (07/19/14) 69 (11/29/14) 87!!

[Mamabear]

Is there any way you can request an interview for first thing in the morning and go back home and change before you go into work? You can tell your job you have a doctor's appointment and work a half day? I would be nervous about taking a full day off because if you're just beginning your job search you won't know how many interviews you'll need to go on before you find a job that you want to accept. Taking full days off could eat through your paid time off pretty quickly.

CPA Exam - Finally DONE (November 2014)
BEC (08/10/13) 80
AUD (08/24/13) 65 (11/13/13) 85
FAR (04/12/14) 81
REG (07/19/14) 69 (11/29/14) 87!!

[Anonymous]

I just switched jobs. I scheduled interviews in the morning, or as late in the afternoon as I could, then took a half day. Then when each company wanted me back for 2nd interviews, I scheduled them all the same day and just took the whole day off.

I was actually able to schedule the interviews around appointments I already had scheduled so I never actually lied about having an appointment. But I did that because at my last job, people assumed your “appointment” was an interview unless you specified what kind of appointment it was. Not supposed to be that way, but when you've worked with the same people for 5 years there's not much people won't ask you.

For your situation, I would just say you have an appointment, take a half day off, and just give yourself enough time to go home and change. Yea it sucks, but if public transportation is your only option, you don't really have a choice. You can't exactly leave your suit on the bus/train and you said you can't go to work dressier than usual. The better option, if you have a car, just drive the day of your interview and keep your suit in the car. I changed in a Starbucks bathroom for one of my interviews.

[Anonymous]

I just switched jobs. I scheduled interviews in the morning, or as late in the afternoon as I could, then took a half day. Then when each company wanted me back for 2nd interviews, I scheduled them all the same day and just took the whole day off.

I was actually able to schedule the interviews around appointments I already had scheduled so I never actually lied about having an appointment. But I did that because at my last job, people assumed your “appointment” was an interview unless you specified what kind of appointment it was. Not supposed to be that way, but when you've worked with the same people for 5 years there's not much people won't ask you.

For your situation, I would just say you have an appointment, take a half day off, and just give yourself enough time to go home and change. Yea it sucks, but if public transportation is your only option, you don't really have a choice. You can't exactly leave your suit on the bus/train and you said you can't go to work dressier than usual. The better option, if you have a car, just drive the day of your interview and keep your suit in the car. I changed in a Starbucks bathroom for one of my interviews.

[How many letters do you need]

I'm a huge fan of taking the entire day off in most cases. There is much less risk of suspicion and much like exam day the last thing you want to do is go in already stressed. What happens if you have an afternoon interview and a work emergency comes up that causes you to get out late? Or a morning interview that runs late because they added a few impromptu interviews “while you are there”?

The only exception I would say is for companies (uusually big ones or government) that call you back 4 times. If your boss happens to be a micromanager, too many sick days or appointments spread out but reasonably close together will definitely get noticed. In this case I would only take the day off for the two most important interviews: hiring manager and hiring managers boss.

Good luck!

MBA,CMA,CPA, CFF?, ABV?

[How many letters do you need]

I'm a huge fan of taking the entire day off in most cases. There is much less risk of suspicion and much like exam day the last thing you want to do is go in already stressed. What happens if you have an afternoon interview and a work emergency comes up that causes you to get out late? Or a morning interview that runs late because they added a few impromptu interviews “while you are there”?

The only exception I would say is for companies (uusually big ones or government) that call you back 4 times. If your boss happens to be a micromanager, too many sick days or appointments spread out but reasonably close together will definitely get noticed. In this case I would only take the day off for the two most important interviews: hiring manager and hiring managers boss.

Good luck!

MBA,CMA,CPA, CFF?, ABV?

[Author]

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