New Job Vs. Dream Vacation

I used to work as a recruiter and never held it against someone if they had a trip planned. They often had to take the time unpaid, as company policy didn't allow vacation in the first six months, but they were still allowed to go away. My advice would be to mention the trip late in the interview process, once they've already had a chance to get to know her.

She can also mention it when they make the offer. She can say "I would absolutely love this position. I do have a vacation planned for (date). Is that going to be a problem?"

Definitely don't cancel the trip. You can't pass up chances like that.

If employed right now, wait to job search until after the vacation. If not employed, take temp positions, then do job search after the vacation.
Or answer C.
I think it is unfair to the employer to accept the position then ask for 3 weeks time off - most jobs don't even offer that many vacay days to new hires in the first year.
JMHO

I've taught a "negotiating" class for an outplacement company. This very scenario was included in the role play that the class did each time!

My advice (as a former recruiter) to share with your friend is to get the job offer in hand, in writing. THEN, before officially accepting the offer, let them know about the trip. Be open to negotiation. Be ready with some suggestions as to how you could help alleviate the pain of you being gone. Be willing to take some of the time unpaid, for example. Or to work some overtime before you leave. Again, this is a negotiation, so come to the table with some ideas and be willing to give and take.

Be sure of your "walk away" point. How valuable is this job compared to the trip. What are you willing to give up, what are you not willing to give up?

This is a different situation than a maternity leave. Those are protected medical leaves, that the employer has to allow to happen. A planned vacation is optional. But with an open negotiation, an agreement is a possiblity. It comes down to what is most important for your friend, what financial impact the trip/job could have, and how open the new employer is to negotiation.

Absolutely positively not the first choice. There is nothing to be gained from telling a potential employer your schedule for a job that hasn't yet been offered.

In an ideal world, I would say B - accept the job and tell the employer. But your friend might have to go with C if the new employer isn't willing to give the time off. So start with B, and move to C if needed.

I'd wait until she has the offer and then mention the trip and negotiate the time off before accepting. The good thing is that if the job is in jeopardy because of the trip, she can still take the job and get the full refund on the trip. Even though it's a dream vacation, she can rebook the trip sometime in the future if she has to. If the company wants her, hopefully they will work with her to allow her to take the time.

B. That is the same 'expert' advice given to pregnant women as well concerning maternity leave, obviously a different type of scenario, but the same theoretically in asking for planned future off time.

I had this same situation about a year ago when I accepted my current position. They made the offer, and as part of my negotiation, I told them I would need 2 weeks off about a month after I started. "No problem!", they said, but what I didn't know was that they would debit my vacation account those 2 weeks, so I'm now stuck in a situation where I essentially took my whole first year's vacation right after I started, and had to wait an entire year to get another day off.

Make sure your friend negotiates her vacation as additional time off, over ane above her regular vacation days.

When she receives an offer, she should let them know of her planned vacation. Most employers honor previosly planned vacations. Although 3wks might be tough to pull off. Will that leave her without vacation time after? Does she have kids? She might have to negociate extra vacation incase the kids are sick. So, i'd say after an offer, during negociation of benifits is when she should talk about it.

Either A or B. I started this job and had a week planned to Disney 3 weeks later, that had been planned for a year. We had to end up cancelling that trip because my husband's job wouldn't forward him leave or allow him to take leave without pay, but I told my job and we worked around it. Your friend has to want the job and the company too. So if they can't understand her situation, maybe it's not as ideal as she thinks. Good luck to her and I hope she gets the vacation!!!

This has come up several times in my husband interviewing, not dream vacations but weddings, planned surgeries, tour dates, etc.

Part of him interviewing isn't just trying to get A job, but a job that he wants. AKA he's not just BEING interviewed, but also interviewing the company. Part of that process is finding out how they deal with planned absences, and certain things are non-starters. As in, he'll turn a job down if they aren't willing to work with him on future dates.

As yet, he's only had one company every get miffed about him asking during the interview process. The rest are collectively "Oh sure, we can work with that, you just ____insert procedure with HR____, may or may not have enough vacation time by said date, etc."

Then, in the negotiation phase, he gets it written into his contract if it's a big deal.

Option A - You negotiate the leave ahead of time at time of hire.
Not 'I hope I can have this time off' but 'I have this travel booked way in advance and I will need to be off this time (unpaid if necessary) but will return to work'.

I worked with someone who was hired on and was out for a week just 2 months into their employment when normally no leave is granted during the first 6 months of your probationary period.
His toddler daughter was scheduled for open heart surgery and he was up front about what he needed leave time wise around that event at hiring time.
The company was ok with it and it did not prevent them from making the job offer.

B. Interview, get the job offer, accept it, then tell them about the trip you have planned and negotiate details at that time. She should be prepared to offer what the company needs and understand that this time will in all likelihood be unpaid, and considered her vacation for the first year with this company.

Most employers will tell you right off the bat if and when you can take a vacation, and for how long. Most companies ask that you wait until 6 months on the job. But it's really up to the employer in the end.

IF for *her* this is a hard to find, once in a lifetime job opportunity, with a lot of competition for the spot, she might want to just cancel the trip. However, if *she's* in high demand in her field, she might just have the leverage to tell the employer that she had this trip already planned and would like to keep the date. If she's *their* once in a lifetime opportunity, they might cut her a break. But she should realize, she probably won't be able to take any holidays for a while if this trip will require her to be out of the office for a significant amount of time.

Definitely not A. As soon as she mentions it during an interview, it's a factor. If she doesn't mention it, then her credentials get her hired or not hired.

Is this a complete hypothetical or does she have an interview scheduled? If there's no interview, then don't cancel something "just in case" just yet.

My bigger question is, what is your friend's financial stability? If she really needs the job, then postpone the trip. Pay the fees and reschedule. If she doesn't then less of an issue.

Most companies do not give you your "vacation time" at the start. You accrue that over time at certain increments. If she gets 3 weeks of vacation per year, then she could likely "bank" her days (meaning she doesn't take a single day off for any reason between now and the vacation) and work something out with her employer to "borrow against" the balance of her time.

The "OK" thing to do is to accept the offer and then tell her boss that she will need to take 3 weeks off. She should tell her employer immediately and then make whatever arrangements that he/she suggests. Being upfront and honest will always make a better impression than not.

On a much smaller scale, this happened to me. I started my current job last August and then had to take 5 days for an out-of-state wedding that I was in. I told my supervisor immediately upon accepting the offer. I let her know that I could cut-down on the days, but that I couldn't cancel the trip entirely. She was fine with it as long as I met my deadlines when I returned.

She should be prepared to take her laptop and get some work finished on her trip. Also be prepared to respond to emails at least twice a week while she's away and call-in if absolutely necessary.

If I was offered the job I would tell them that I would like to discuss something with them. I have some reservations that are for XXXX and if needed I can get a refund but what do they think, would it be possible to still do it? They can always say it would not be a good time. But I would not let it influence them in the actual selection unless it was a specific question during the interview. No reason to have them select someone else before even giving her a chance to be the person they select.

I think a 3 week vacation is a lot to ask for when starting a new job. I also think if youve been unemployed you shouldnt be paying into a big vacation. When you work at a job for long term you build up and earn a vacation. If you cant afford it, then you dont get one. It took my husband a lot of years at his job to earn 3 weeks vacation, and he would have never expected it sooner. We have had vacations planned but then the work load got high and he had to cancel our plans to be a decent loyal employee. (38 years now) It can happen. "Dream" vacations can come around later. If an employer hires you its because they need you and expect you to work. Not take 3 weeks off and go have fun. Id bet there is some other person waiting to interview who wont want to take any days off because they need the money more than some trip. Cant wait to hear what your friend decides to do.

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I would definitely wait to tell the prospective employer about the trip. Once offered the job she should tell the employer that she has a trip scheduled and would need an extended vacation. She should ask if it will be a problem. If she is still willing (and able) to cancel the trip she could let the employer know that the job is important to her and that if it is a problem she will cancel the trip.

If she accepts and then tells them she has the trip planned they could still not give her the time off. If she mentions it during "negotiations" then she is being upfront about it and if she is willing to still cancel she is showing compromise as well. Good luck!!