Possible new job vs already planned vacation

July 1, 2024 8:00 AM

This is occurring in the USA. I'm looking for a full time permanent position while working several part time jobs. In my personal life there are several extended trips planned with my partner, one being two weeks long, another being one week, each about 4 months apart. If you are a business or a hiring manager would those preplanned trips be a factor, all other things being equal, in terms of hiring a candidate?

My partner suggests postponing the first, two week long trip, as it might discourage an employer from hiring me, or at the least, I would have no income for two weeks.

This trip is mostly paid for, but we do have the option of moving it to next year, with no loss of the money we've paid for it. The other trip is a vacation with their family, around New Years, so there's a little time there, since most jobs don't seem to allow you to use PTO for six months.

I could swing the not being paid for two weeks if we go on the first trip, though it wouldn't be great. But the memories!

My impulse is to do the both trips and just make it work money wise if I don't have PTO. But the question is will those preplanned trips cause a business to not hire me, all things being equal?

posted by clocksock to Work & Money (10 answers total)

I have been in this situation once before, it was my first job out of college, and at the advice of my college advisor, I waited until I had a firm offer and negotiated the time off as part of the salary negotiations. It was not a problem at all and I even got it paid (as an advance on future PTO).

You might not even have an offer by the time of the 2 week trip, I wouldn't delay based on worries about affecting a hypothetical job.
posted by muddgirl at 8:20 AM on July 1 [12 favorites]

I am in HR and we hire people with pre planned vacations all the time. Once you're at the stage where an offer is being made, just be honest about it. "I do want to let you know that I have trips planned already for [date] and [date] so please let me know if that will cause any issue." (Side note: if it causes any issue, that's the sign of a bad employer.)

It is extremely normal and not a problem at all. People got lives. Reasonable employers know this.
posted by phunniemee at 8:23 AM on July 1 [42 favorites]

Years ago we had two people up for a job. As far as my boss was concerned, the two of them were equal and the reason she made the decision that she did was that one of them had a two week family pre-planned vacation starting a week or two into the job. So yeah, it may rule you out with some people.

Unfortunately, I think this will depend entirely on the job for you. I note I have run into the "no PTO for six months" thing in starting mine. But right now you don't have any idea if/when you'll get a permanent job. I don't think I'd pre-cancel ahead of time assuming you'll find a job, but perhaps be ready to cancel either/both if you DO get a job.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:29 AM on July 1

This sounds like a very normal thing to bring up at the time there is an offer on the table. In general, it should be absolutely fine and something a reasonable employer can work around.

It's possible that you'll find that one of your trips is timed really poorly to conflict with something that it is absolutely non-negotiable that the new hire needs to be there for, and then you'll have to decide whether you're willing to move your trip for that job. But I don't think you should pre-cancel your trip on the off chance that might happen.

But yes, there is also always the chance that your specific hiring manager will be someone who has some firm out-of-the-ordinary beliefs about how people should behave at negotiation stage. if you're not desperate for a job, any job, I would take that as a sign that said hiring manager does not have work-life balance and respect for their employees on their mind and would not be a good person to work for anyway. (Possible bias here: The worst, most toxic boss I ever worked for was also the one who had very weird beliefs about how the hiring process should go and rule people in or out of consideration for reasons that were, shall we say, quirky at best. I should have listened to my gut when he pressured me weirdly during the hiring process and just run away from that job, and now encourage other folks to do the same.)
posted by Stacey at 8:33 AM on July 1

As others have said, wait until you have a firm offer, then bring it up. And no, it normally won't be a problem. I have a coworker whom I trained, and I needed him to start to relieve my workload some. A few days in, he took a pre-planned vacation. It was slightly annoying on my side, but I still wanted to hire him and looked forward to what he would bring to the position. He's now been here about two years, takes way more vacations than I do :-) and thrives in his role. It's not a big deal.
posted by Meldanthral at 8:42 AM on July 1 [2 favorites]

As a hiring manager, I would not have a problem with it. It takes so long to get people onboarded and up to speed on my team that a 2-week vacation wouldn't even be a blip.
posted by suelac at 8:51 AM on July 1 [2 favorites]

If you were the right person for the job I wouldn’t even blink. And frankly both the fact that you plan ahead and are upfront with me would make you more valuable, not less.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:04 AM on July 1

Is end of the year a busy period? Are employees routinely allowed to take 2 wks off? For where I've hired, if you were the best candidate, my hiring team would be OK with a one-week trip shortly after hire and might just push back the start date to accommodate if the dates were close. But a two-week family trip during the end-of-year holidays would be a bargaining point as that's our busy time and other team members would already be allotted that time off plus 2 wks off in a row would actually require special permission. But an office where that's already a slow period and/or employees routinely take off 2 wks probably wouldn't care.
posted by beaning at 10:20 AM on July 1 [2 favorites]

Nthing that this should come up post-offer, not pre. And that an employer who would rescind their hiring of you because you made vacation plans without them specifically in mind before you even knew they existed is a bullet dodged. Honestly I'd hesitate even to take a job if they still hired you but acted remotely pouty about it. In my experience, any time there's anything begrudging in the initial hiring, it's poisoned the whole job, because people who would begrudge someone a later start date, a preplanned vacation, a disability accommodation...are people who absolutely never let anything go.

(For the record, I wouldn't consider, "sure but because PTO doesn't kick in/accrues/etc. it will need to be unpaid" to be pouty - that's a drag but it's how PTO often works.)
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 11:15 AM on July 1 [9 favorites]

I started a new job 3 weeks ago. I just started week 1 of a 2-week vacation. It wasn't a problem. I told them during the before the offer--but the role was created for me. In your case, I would tell the recruiter/HR screening person at the same time you are talking logistics. That might be pre- or post-offer. It depends.

I have also been a hiring manager for years and had no problem with HR/the recruiter telling me that my chosen candidate had a long-planned vacation or wedding or other family event shortly after the start date. People are people first, not workers first.

Seriously, don't sweat it. We should work to live, not live to work. Vacation is living. Take your vacation. It's a non-negotiable.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 2:55 PM on July 1