What excuses do you guys use to take time off for interviews?

In my experience, interviews are scheduled just 2-3 days in advance. This is extremely short notice to take a half day or so off work (depending on anticipated interview time, and location). I'm sure a lot of you work long hours, in a somewhat fast-paced professional environment, how do you take time off to interview?

Asking...for a friend...

 

" Hi X, I've been feeling pretty under the weather and was able to get in short notice at the walk in clinic. Is it alright on your end if I take the morning off to go get checked out? I'll be available by email if anything urgent comes up"

Just had my trade dispute rejected by Schwab for a loss of 35k. This single issue alone should be a gigantic red flag to anyone who trades on their platform. If they have a system error, and you do not video record your trading (they actually said this), they will not honour their fuck up. Switching everything away from them. Fuck this company.
 
kinghongkong:

I would strongly urge you to check your firm's policy on whether you have to proof that you actually went to the doctor. My firm will only allow a sick day/to come in late when you are sick, if you provide them with proof that you actually saw a doctor

Let me guess, you also have to clear every single PTO day you take and they check to make sure you aren't taking too many?

MM IB -> Corporate Development -> Strategic Finance
 

'Proof' meaning a note detailing your ailment? That's a blatant violation of HIPAA, sue the pants off them if you're terminated for not forking over your private medical info upon calling out sick.

On top of that, as was mentioned, who goes to the doctor for diarrhea? Your firm treats its employees like children cutting class...

 
Xiiixiii:

'Proof' meaning a note detailing your ailment? That's a blatant violation of HIPAA, sue the pants off them if you're terminated for not forking over your private medical info upon calling out sick.

On top of that, as was mentioned, who goes to the doctor for diarrhea? Your firm treats its employees like children cutting class...

They can ask for a doctor's note that just states you had an ailment on a specified date that prevented you from being at work. That's legally allowed and not a HIPAA violation.

That said, I've never heard of this outside blue collar jobs and if a bank/fund ever did try to do this his to me, I'd immediately find a new job. Seriously, that's a shitty employer.

 

" I woke up puking everywhere, gonna go get it checked out". I joke, but not entirely. My favorite excuse when it comes to giving short notice on taking a day of is a stomach bug/food poisoning. That's because they're completely unpredictable, normally only take a day to get over and honestly most people just take your word for it since they dont want the details of why you cant come to work b/c you're spewing liquids out of both ends.

 

"My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw OP pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious." - theofficeguy's Day Off

Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes.
 

Food poisoning has worked the best for me. You don't really need a doctors note for that and usually you're better the next day. lol usually I just text/email my boss at 4:00am and say something like "I have had terrible food poisoning all night and was wondering if I can take the day off"

 

Depends on how much time you have to create an excuse and what you have going on in your life. -I have a series of medical tests next Wednesday, I will be out. -So we are going to do a taste test with a different vendor next Tuesday - only time we could get in so I am going to be taking it off. -My parents are out of town in Pittsburg and the floor people are coming in to take measurements. Unfortunately, the appointment falls between 730-1300 this Thursday. -I have an interview, I will not be in.

Assuming you need coverage be sure to purchase that person a case of beer.

Only two sources I trust, Glenn Beck and singing woodland creatures.
 

Getting sick is an easy one but if you are in it for the long haul, i.e. you know that there will be multiple interviews coming up within the next few months, blame your utilities. "My pipes broke last night so my entire apartment is flooded" is one I use quite often since it actually takes a couple of months to fix something like that so you can always use it as a follow-up excuse for your next interview.

 

1st round phone interview: Gotta go to the doctors, I'm taking an early lunch break ... 1 hour later: I'm so angry, the appointment is NEXT tuesday not today. Next Tuesday: Second round phone interview.

3rd round in person: Things aren't looking good for my aunt Betsy. Gotta go visit her.

Final round interview: Aunt Betsy finally died, gotta go pay my respects.

Get the job offer, Wait a week for all background checks to clear.

One week later. Take your one week vacation to Turks and Caicos.

The next Monday: "Boss, I've accepted an offer at Goldman Stanley."

We're not lawyers. We're investment bankers. We didn't go to Harvard. We Went to Wharton!
 

Not sure what kinds of places are making you commit to superdays with only 2 day notice, but assuming you're not dealing with ridiculous clowns...

Just take a vacation day. No reasons needed, no hassle. If the interview is an hour or less, then just step out of the office. If someone asks say you went to grab coffee or food, or even dentist appointment. This isn't complicated folks

I'm an idealist and don't like making excuses or telling lies

Absolute worst case if you have to ditch work due to last minute notice for the interview, then just email the morning of and say you're not feeling well, will try to work from home, blah blah blah. This is technically not lying...you're not feeling well due to your job, and you're trying to get better by finding a new one

 
<span class=keyword_link><a href=/resources/skills/finance/going-concern>Going Concern</a></span>:

Absolute worst case if you have to ditch work due to last minute notice for the interview, then just email the morning of and say you're not feeling well, will try to work from home, blah blah blah. This is technically not lying...you're not feeling well due to your job, and you're trying to get better by finding a new one

Always the diplomat. +SB'ed
GoldenCinderblock: "I keep spending all my money on exotic fish so my armor sucks. Is it possible to romance multiple females? I got with the blue chick so far but I am also interested in the electronic chick and the face mask chick."
 

Well, to address your intial assumption: this is not a "superday" at a BB, believe it or not there are a lot of reputable firms out there that are regional or local, and do not have a "Superday" scheduled weeks in advanced. I wouldn't call these firms "clowns".

And it can be complicated, folks. Let's say you apply for a job, you get an email for an initial phone screening. That's great, step out of the office and take the call. At the end of the call you inquire about timing/next steps, and they say "I will have to review your information with the VP of Acquisitions, then we will contact you to schedule a time for you to come in an interview next week". Ok, great, but what does that mean? When next week? I can't request next Thursday off and HOPE they propose an interview on that thursday. No, in the real world, you have wait to see IF they want to bring you in, and see what times they propose. At that point, it can very well be 2-3 days from the correspondence.

When you throw in travel time, getting there 15 minutes ealy, etc. Interviews are seldom under 1 hour. So you need an excuse.

 

Bad mustache day Burglar alarm in my house goes off

GoldenCinderblock: "I keep spending all my money on exotic fish so my armor sucks. Is it possible to romance multiple females? I got with the blue chick so far but I am also interested in the electronic chick and the face mask chick."
 

Depends on how many shits you give about your current job. I once told that I need a day off because my father is in town and have not seen him for a while, got called on that one by my manager, but since I have zero shit about my job I didn't care.

You killed the Greece spread goes up, spread goes down, from Wall Street they all play like a freak, Goldman Sachs 'o beat.
 

I typically request early AM (like really early) interviews, and I've even pushed for Saturday interviews, they need to know that you're busy and maybe don't have the ability to get out. If they only want people that are free all the time, enjoy hiring the unemployed.

I cancelled an interview with the same shop on twice. First time I had to fly for a meeting, called the recruiter the day before, everyone was understanding. Second time I called about an hour before the meeting, had to push it off because we got a load of analysis dumped on us, the recruiter freaked out, asked if I was taking this seriously, etc... I told him to calm down, if the shop didn't want to interview me because I was busy, then I didn't want to work there. Arranged a new interview a week later, got the offer eventually.

 

I stopped making up excuses a while ago. It's no one's business why you are using a personal day.

I recommend: 1) seeing if you can interview on the weekend 2) Just saying 'I need to take a personal day'. I would prefer not to discuss 3) if your employer puts up a fight just say something really important has come up. it's personal related to you or your family and you can't discuss. end of story

I was in a 24/7 on call job for a while and decided to take a week off straight (my first and only vacation) to study GMAT. I said I have an incredibly important personal commitment this week. I will be out of pocket and unreachable, and that's that. I appreciate your understanding. My team was incredibly supportive. They moved mountains to make it happen and never even asked why.

 

Coming from a very small firm/team, I find this hard to put into practice. Everyone knows everyone's schedule, since we work so closely with one another, and taking off with short notice might look suspicious or worry the team (hoping everything is alright). I guess you have to reach a point where you stop overthinking and just be firm about needing the time off. Have you experienced this kind of challenge?

 

just tell them you call girl died from an overdose and you are waiting for the coroner. easy.

"I'm talking about liquid. Rich enough to have your own jet. Rich enough not to waste time. Fifty, a hundred million dollars, buddy. A player. Or nothing. " -GG
 

I'm not sure what the office culture is in EU but at my bank/group, if I was ever in your situation, my group would encourage me to interview.

From a US perspective, I would be honest and direct and tell your boss you love working where you are now and would 100% sign an offer to work there but given the turmoil in the industry, you would like to take a day to interview with another bank. After all, an offer in the industry is better than no offer at all.

 
Whiskey5:
I'm not sure what the office culture is in EU but at my bank/group, if I was ever in your situation, my group would encourage me to interview.

From a US perspective, I would be honest and direct and tell your boss you love working where you are now and would 100% sign an offer to work there but given the turmoil in the industry, you would like to take a day to interview with another bank. After all, an offer in the industry is better than no offer at all.

I like this. Make sure they know they are number one in your eyes.
 

Thanks for the responses so far. The odds of getting a FT? Well, I think its more yes than no atm cuz I'm quite good with one of the MDs but far away from any certainty.

Personally, I like the approach of being honest even if it's risky. But isn't it an issue if I end up not getting an offer at the other BB, with my team knowing about the interviews? They might think if these guys are not giving him an offer why should we then?

 

Talked to a guy at Lazard and every time the year was coming to an end, he would conveniently have a ton of dentist appointments. First was a check up, then it turns out he had a cavity, and then had to come back for more serious work. By the time reviews came around, he went in with 2-3 offers from other firms to leverage his bonus. Hope this helps

 

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“Sounds good, doesn’t work”
 

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