Dilemma: Taking A Day Off
So I'm going to take a Friday off end of this month to sort out my apartment, which I already told my boss, and he thinks this is legit reason. I want to take Thursday afternoon and Friday the week after off as well, as my parents are traveling to a nearby city on a business trip and I haven't seen them for 2 years.
The Problem is that I just started at this new company (approximately a month) and have already asked for a day off, and right before my parents' visit. Any suggestions what I should say to my boss and don't come across as lazy/pushy/idiotic/etc.?
Enlighten me!
Forget the parents, go to work.
Ask him if he has any idea who you are. You'll have him by the balls once he realizes you're Jesus of Nazareth. Godspeed my lord.
lol I was going to say he should just take Sunday off
Say it's a critical family emergency.
If your mother is anything like mine, then this isn't an exageration -- ditching her might even result in a citywide emergency.
You're not going to defeat 30 days of hard work by taking 1 day off. Take the day off; no one is going to think any less of you.
I had a similar situation, where I had a trip planned for 1 week about 10 days after starting a job.
I would explain to your boss that you haven't seen your parents in 2 years, and it will definitely not be a common occurrence. Then just work hard until that point (staying late if needed/possible - not sure what industry/job you're in), and come back ready to again work hard.
Not sure what industry you're in but hopefully you have a nice boss. Definitely play up the fact that you haven't seen them in 2 years and that it won't be a frequent thing.
I'd also underscore that you will stay late Monday-Wednesday and come in on Sunday when you get back to stay current on your work, and you'll have your phone on you if there are any emergencies.
"sort out my apartment" what are u a girl?
Can I get away with taking half a day off? (Originally Posted: 06/05/2007)
Hi all,
I'm new here and would like to thank everyone for the vast amount of helpful information on this forum - great stuff!
I'll be starting as a SA in FICC/Equities (i.e. S&T, not IBD) with GS in London in a few weeks. I'm all excited, but the problem is this: my family lives in France, and my sister is getting married this summer. I am obviously in the wedding, and even though the wedding ceremony itself is on a Saturday, I will need to travel back home early Friday afternoon to make it in time for a big family dinner we are having the evening before (a little bit in the style of rehearsal dinners in the US), which is hugely important to my family.
Do you think I can get away with this, or will even asking for an afternoon off significantly reduce my chances of getting a full-time offer? I also welcome any advice you may have on whom to talk to (recruiters? summer program head? people at my desk at the time?), when to tell them, and how to position this.
Thanks!
Thanks, guys. I'm a trader. My boss is very nice - I just don't want to leave bad impression since I just started. Would definitely have phone on me though.
I am not positive, but if you bring this issue up in advance with your MD/VP, they are usually pretty accomodating for SA's. Unless you are missing out on an extremely assignment, I would not think that it would negativly affect your offer.
I think, as long as you make them know it in advance, and also deliver to high standards on a regular basis, this will have no effect at all on your offer. If you underperform, though, you'd rather think twice before taking anything off.
where is the total dedication?
so as a SA you are taking half a day off for the wedding.. so if you join full time you will do it again.. no commitment
they certainly won't offer you...
If your family loves you, they will understand you not to come.. I f you decide to go to your family anayway, working at an IB might not be the place for you..
as you know you will compete with the interns in your team who makes the MD happy and who arrives earliest and leaves latest every day during the summer..
Think twice!
Honestly, if you know NOW that you have to attend a wedding and inform them at the start of your internship, it's NO BIG DEAL and certainly not as important as this guy suggests.
What is a half day off compared to 10 weeks internship anyway? During your internship, you need to miss multiple mornings/evenings of work for attending activities organised by the bank itself (admittedly, those are part of your formal internship but you still have to inform your manager about it since he/she is not up-to-date of your exact schedule for these kind of activities) and they usually don't mind.
Besides, you are leaving on a Friday afternoon..
go to the wedding!
Seriously man, don't sweat it. Just ask as far as possible in advance and you should be great--have fun
Come'on guys. He (or she)'s only a SA for God's sake. Yeah the world's gonna end if he miss a Friday afternoon. Honestly, I don't think you are that important to be solely missed by your collegues.
also regarding attitude. Yeah I do hear that GS slave its employee and you are 'sold' to the company. But stuff what the company thinks. Get real and think again:
GS is just a firm. It's JUST a firm. In your next 20-30 years, GS is just a 3-liner entry in your CV.
Wedding of your sister, is once-in-a-life event. Do you really want 25 years down the road, be asked why you weren't at wedding dinner?
Just my two cents.
your superiors wont care as long as you let them know in advance...if they do care, think twice about working there
My summer desk was awesome. I sometimes stayed until midnight to get stuff done for them, but they yelled at me for this when they saw the time on the emails, because they really wanted me to come back full time and wanted me to have fun too. Just let them know you gotta go to this wedding and say you will come in on Sunday or something if stuff needs to get done. They should be totally cool with it. If not, get the offer and find another bank for FT.
Sounds like I should go to the wedding. Thanks for all the helpful advice!
Don't even second-guess it. If it was a distant relative, then maybe, but your sister? Go to the wedding. As a VP, I would be pissed if a SA didn't tell me that their sister was getting married and all they wanted was a half-day off. It would take a cold person to tell you "no" and if they do, go anyway.
I probably wouldn't if you could avoid it. Since you're in trading, not banking, can't you see them after market close and on the weekend?
How long to wait to take a day off? (Originally Posted: 05/06/2010)
.....
I would say 3 months minimum, 5-6 to prevent creating a poor first impression.
Banker 88, have you ever even worked for more than 3 months in the industry?
Interested too.
It's not so much how long you wait, but more of a timing issue. You can definitely take a day off after 2 months on the job without a problem or after 10 months on the job with a BIG problem - it really depends on what is going on with your time in terms of active deal flow, time sensitive projects, other junior team member vacation time, etc.
Generally speaking, you should wait until the holiday season to take off several days (assuming you start in July) in a row - this is just the typical path and when most bankers take off. In terms of 1 day, a long weekend or something like that, I would say that if it is less than a month to 2 months on the job, you should let your team know ahead of time - essentially before you start (in terms of FT recruiting, not while you are interviewing, but once you know your group let your senior banker in the group know to give ample notice). Once you pass the month to 1.5 month mark, just play it by ear - if it is a wedding, it is when it is (assuming friend's wedding, etc), if it is a vacation day, then talk to your supervisor about it and suggest a few possible days then go from there based on the situation and any firedrills - be flexible.
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