Interview Preparation

A reader writes:

I am currently interviewing for a new position and have passed the first two rounds of interviews (yes me!). Those two interviews were done online and I was able to manage my workday around them easily.

However, the next round of interviews is an all-day meeting on site, and that would require a couple hours of travel for me (nothing to undo, but I definitely won’t be able to fix this).

How can I request time off without looking like I’m taking it for an interview? I’m not trying to get away from my current job in any way, and I’d like to keep it low-key.

I have the day in the bank, but I usually never take a day off at short notice, or outside of Mondays or Fridays when I do, and I’m not sure what to say when my manager asks me what I would do on that day.

First, don’t assume you need to give a reason at all! With many managers, it’s enough to say that you need that day off.

But if your manager is known to be nosy, or if the last-minute nature means you really need to offer some sort of explanation, it’s okay to simply say, “I have a personal matter that came up that I need to take care of.” If you’re better off acknowledging that you realize it’s last minute, you can add, “Sorry, it’s so last minute, it just came up and I can’t easily change the date.”

If your manager asks you for details (which they shouldn’t, but then again, nosy managers might), it’s completely fine to say, “Oh, nothing I want to get into at work, just something I need to get out of.”

If your manager is so nosy and intrusive that you know that won’t cut it, then simply a sick day might be your best bet. Yeah, that’s not ideal, but it’s up to your boss – managers lose the right to expect people not to do that when they cross boundaries and demand information they’re not entitled to.