Hi guys, I’ve today received an email to have a virtual interview next Tuesday for a signaller position, I’m unable to get this day off from work due to a colleague going to Berlin, if I say I can’t make it and ask if they can reschedule for my rest day the following week will this go against me or will they say no that’s the date and that’s it, also worried if I postpone it then they might fill the position by the time I get my interview!
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Unable To Make Interview
- Thread starter DAZ8365
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I rescheduled mine and was fine. If you are currently working I should think they would expect and understand these requests. It shouldn’t go against you all it shows is a sense of commitment and responsibility for the job you are currently in.
JLyons
Member
If you can’t get the time off for the interview, then you can’t get the time off and that’s it, you don’t have any choice other than to say you can’t do that date and request another. It won’t go against you as this happens often, it might give someone else a better chance who takes your slot but who knows, as long as you get it rescheduled and give a good interview then I’m sure they’ll always choose the best candidate
You can only request and see what they say. But I’ve known this happen a lot with no problem. You can state you are unavailable or on annual leave or whatever it may be.
They’re not under an obligation to reschedule but ultimately they want to interview you so as long as it isn’t an extended postponement and you’re not being really difficult about it (declining a bunch of alternative dates or you want in 1 month in the future), hopefully you’ll be fine.
They’re not under an obligation to reschedule but ultimately they want to interview you so as long as it isn’t an extended postponement and you’re not being really difficult about it (declining a bunch of alternative dates or you want in 1 month in the future), hopefully you’ll be fine.
Danieldaniel
Member
It depends how much you want the job. I recently couldn’t attend an interview due to being out of the country and when I told them this they said they’d get back to me with an alternative date. A few weeks later, I chased it up and was told no alternatives were available and I’ve now lost out on any chance to go after that job for the short term. If you want the job, that’s what sick pay is for
Had an interview last year with Scotrail that I got time off from work (said I had a dentist appointment), they then cancelled the day before and rearranged it for the following week which I couldn't make due to work , they then asked me when I was available and they arranged the interview around my schedule.
That’s an unfortunate experience, but no that’s not what sick pay is for, as should be self-evident. If you choose to use it as that, those are your own decisions.
I’d ask if you can rearrange and, if not, simply go sick. We often read on here of people waiting years for these opportunities, so it seems a little odd to pass one up just for the sake of not having sick day.
Put another way, you’re presumably planning on resigning if you get an offer, so you cannot feel that much loyalty to your current employer!
That's clearly not what they meant. Taking a sick day to go job hunting is like a traffic light changing from green to amber - technically it means stop, but in the real world it means floor it through if it's safe to do so.
Except that many employers treat taking sick leave as a disciplinary offence, and it may not do references any good.
And if you've already asked for the day as holiday, or for a rest day / shift change, and this has been turned down, then reporting sick is more likely to be treated with suspicion.
It is disappointing that so many employers are so inflexible with interview dates - particularly in the transport sector where you'd have thought they would know that operational staff in particular can't just choose their days off at a moment's notice.
The system often seems to be designed with the idea that everyone seeking jobs is a recent university leaver who is treating job hunting as a full time occupation.
And if you've already asked for the day as holiday, or for a rest day / shift change, and this has been turned down, then reporting sick is more likely to be treated with suspicion.
It is disappointing that so many employers are so inflexible with interview dates - particularly in the transport sector where you'd have thought they would know that operational staff in particular can't just choose their days off at a moment's notice.
The system often seems to be designed with the idea that everyone seeking jobs is a recent university leaver who is treating job hunting as a full time occupation.
Employers will treat being caught falsely taking sick leave as a disciplinary offence, but otherwise the effect of an employee calling in sick will depend on the organisation’s attendance at work policy, and will generally be minimal, absent significant prior sickness.
Agreed, but I think the OP has suggested they know they won’t get leave as a colleague is away, rather than that they've already had leave declined. In which case it’s strategically probably better not to ask for the day off at all, and simply go sick.
Even if they go sick on a day they’ve had turned down for AL, absent being caught out lying, there’s little an employer can do other than apply their usual attendance policy.
The harsh reality is that recruitment is extremely expensive in terms of budget and manager time, and they have plenty of applicants for these roles, so don’t need to be particularly accommodating - that’s especially the case for new entrants to the industry. If they have a finite number of interview slots, and someone can’t make it/is awkward, they can simply move onto the next person on the list.
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Agreed
So your recommendation is to commit fraud. Potentially putting current and future employment at risk.
I’m not sure if this is a serious comment. Nobody in the real world worries about being prosecuted for fraud for pulling a sicky, because it never happens
. Neither will it affect either current or future employment, unless you do something very stupid.As explained, I’d try to rearrange first, but if that wasn’t possible the choice between pulling a sickie and missing out on an opportunity I might never get again would be a no brainer.
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I think this is taking the chains that exist around one’s ankles way to seriously.
7819Hinton
Member
I’d call it a ‘Slow news day’… lol
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