career coach
I currently work from home, but I’m ready to get back in an office. I’m looking for a new job, but each time I have an interview I need to request time off, as interviewers will not schedule meetings after 6 p.m. It takes me an hour to get from my house to the city, and I am on a 9to5 schedule. What is the best way of politely telling a potential employer that you can’t make it in during business hours for an interview?
It’s not easy working from home. Besides missing the socialization, there are the potential distractions, like the urge to get caught up on your DVR and Netflix binge watching! Prospective employers respect candidates who can’t or won’t just duck out of a job during the day to interview, and often accommodate before and afterwork interviews, or during lunch. Given your commuting problem, though, explore working from your employer’s local office if they have one. Then, you can interview at reasonable times before and after work or during lunch. Alternatively, see if you can work from a friend or family member’s apartment that’s closer to your interviews. Finally, try scheduling your meetings on the same day, so if you do have to take time off, you can get more accomplished.
There’s an opening at my dream company, but I’m not sure it’s the right time for me to switch jobs. Should I hold onto my current gig or jump ship?
Every day’s a gift and you never know what tomorrow will bring — I saw a segment with Dr. Phil recently! There are no hard and fast rules in life or your career. There is no reason why you have to stay at any one job for any specific period of time. It’s only a problem if you develop a history of hopping around, constantly chasing the next great thing — that would make an employer think twice about hiring you for fear of how long you would stay. But in this case, there is no harm in exploring this opportunity. You don’t have a decision to make unless and until you are offered the job. So explore, and see where it goes. It may be your dream job, or you could discover it’s more of a nightmare, but you won’t know unless you check it out.