I am sure I will get some useless remarks to this as this may not be seen as an "appropriate" question. Anyway, I am job hunting and am hoping for an offer soon. What do you say when you have a 2 week vacation planned for August? Will it be viewed as a awful request or are most companies accomodating?

depends on how badly they want you. if it's a set thing, most companies are fine with it. just be up front - asking AFTER you get hired is not the time...

I agree, be honest and tell them before you accept the job. BUT don't tell them too soon, either. Unless the job is evidently so time-sensitive that it would be very difficult for them to hire you around it, I'd wait and include it in a salary negotiation.

Sara,<BR><BR>You can always bring it up once they have made you an offer. Just handle it as a negotiaton point like any other. They will certainly require you to take it without pay, but many companies will actually understand if it's something that has been planned a long time & is already paid for. Particularly if you are going straight from one job to theirs & they are anxious for you to start.<BR><BR>I've done this twice & it rarely hurts to ask. It's really the only way we Americans can get 3-4 week vacations!<BR><BR>Buon viaggio!

I always say -right up front- that something has been planned for some time and I would be unable to cancel.If they want you they should be able to manage.

I'm in the same situation...interview tomorrow but have BIG vacations plan first week in August. I'm going to try to get my start date at the end of August...if I get on offer. Let us know what happens.

I always say something early on, when they ask if I have any questions within the first interview.<BR>I usually ask:<BR><BR>"I have some existing holiday arrangements, will you honour them?"<BR><BR>I've never had a problem, though none of the dates have been very close the the joining date.<BR><BR>If they were that close Id try and negotiate to start after the holiday so I didnt end up using lots of my annual leave up right at the start of my time with them.<BR><BR>Kavey (UK)

top

top

Hey, I wonder if Beth Anderson's job interviews begin with, "well, you know, like i've got this vacation thing, and, like, the gap always let me take time off, but never let me come back till i saw the manager in the store room. Do you have, like, those requirements to?"

Unless you're specifically asked, just bring it up after they've made you an offer, but before you accept it. (Before you bring it up, decide whether you'll turn the job down or cancel the vacation if you have to choose.) It really depends on the level of the job, the number of other qualified candidates, the urgency of having someone in the position ... and possibly the vacation scheduling of your potential coworkers.<BR><BR>If it's a skilled/professional position and you're their top choice candidate, it probably won't be an issue - even if your vacation conflicts with someone else's, there's no guarantee that if they don't hire you, they'll have someone else in the job and trained by August anyway. If it's an entry-level job and they're filling an open position, it probably won't be negotiable as they are most likely looking for someone to replace a recent departure or cover an increase in business, and they can easily hire someone else instead of you. (Although, if they've chosen you as their top candidate and your vacation doesn't conflict with anyone else's, it might still be fine.)<BR><BR>Try to frame the request as an obligation - mention that you'd normally be willing to change your plans, but you've paid for the tickets and they're not refundable. If there's some sort of family obligation involved - sister's wedding in London, sick grandmother in Berlin - you might very briefly mention that too. What you don't want to do is give them the impression that the trip is just planned, and not finalized, and you just don't want to shift your plans, even though you could.

How they react to your vacation might be a good indication of how they will react to future vacations. If their eyes light up and say "Oh, I just got back from 2 weeks there, I can't wait to go again, but this year I'm going to such-and-such," or "You should talk to Pete in Accounting, he goes there every summer," you might be happier working there than if they say "Two whole weeks???!!! We could never let anyone take that many days off at a time."

This exact thing occured to me approx. 1 year ago this month. I was switching jobs but had planned a vacation months before and they wanted to know when I could start-normal question. <BR><BR>They wanted me to start immediately upon giving termination notice to the current employer. But I told them the truth that I had a vacation planned but I also added on an extra week so that I could just kind of relax after I returned from my trip and then get myself together to begin the new job.<BR><BR>Truly it depends on how desperate they want you. If they really value you they will understand.