Are you close to receiving or have you recently received a job offer at a new company and realized that you forgot to mention an upcoming vacation you have planned for later in the summer?
Are you thinking to yourself, should I ask for the time off or just pay the cancelation fee so that I am not making a bad impression on the Hiring Manager?
While it is recommended to let the Hiring Manager know once the organization has decided you are number one to set their expectations accordingly, sometimes a candidate will forget and find themselves in this situation where they have to go back and inform the Manager.
Here are some reasons why you should not panic and realize why having this planned time off might not be looked at a such a bad thing:
Can Show You Value Relationships
During certain times in a person’s life they could find themselves invited to 5-10 weddings per year. Commonly plans to attend these weddings are made months in advance and are not something that a friend wants to miss. Showing that you value your friendship with the person getting married enough to put yourself in a tough spot with your new employer should be seen as a positive to the Hiring Manager as it shows that you value others and you are a social person with the ability to create lasting relationships. Hiring Managers for customer facing positions should be glad to see that their new hire is a networker who is endeared by friends and colleagues rather than someone who might hide at their desk all day.
Shows You Plan Ahead
Having a well laid out plan of your trip can act as a first deliverable for a potential candidate to convey to their potential Manager about how they plan and organize themselves. Vacations can show that the candidate is a strong planner who looks into the future and understands priorities, both which can translate to the business world and future projects they could be assigned to if they join as a team member.
Bring Out Passions
While some people just want to go vacation and engage in plans that are unproductive or might not sit well with a Hiring Manager, others might be utilizing their vacation for events of personal enrichment such as hiking through a national park, visiting museums in a new city or following their favorite sports team on the road. Trips such as these allow you to show the Hiring Manager another side of you and let them understand what is important to you which could lead to a deeper personal connection if they happen to have a similar interest.
Can Uncover Potential Red Flags
While the candidate might be worried that asking for vacation from the start could be a red flag, the candidate should also carefully examine how the hiring Manager reacts for potential red flags. Inevitably when you work for a company for an extended amount of time, you want to know that you are available to take time off. If you see that the Manager is upset with your request to use your eared paid time off, this could be a red flag that PTO is something that is not looked upon in a favorable way at the company. PTO is a benefit that should be enjoyed and discussed in a positive way amongst peers and if you notice that employees are looked down upon for actually taking the time off, this is something to think carefully about so it does not lead to a frustration in the future once you join the team and find yourself in an all work and no play situation.
Another piece of advise is to tell the Manager that you will take the time unpaid, especially if the time off would be within your first 90 days of employment. This tactic shows the Manager that this time off is important to you and you are willing to make a financial sacrifice to make it work.
I have even heard of one Career Coach who has advised candidates to always mention that they have 1 day of PTO planned just to see how the Manager reacts. Candidates might later tell the Manager that plans changed and they might not actually need the day off but I am intrigued by this idea as one more way to feel out the actual PTO policies before joining the team.
While there are many different thoughts on this topic, more times than not I hear candidates worried about this issue only to let the Manager know and see that it might not be as big of a deal as they built it up in their head to be. It is important to make sure to think about it from the Manager’s side, is your request reasonable or if you were hiring a candidate and they asked you, would you consider it?
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