Big fan of Manager Tools for years - but I haven't heard the answers to these questions yet.
I've been on a job for multiple years, and the position on paper is very appealing. The work however, breaks every manager tools rule in the book and it's driving me crazy. I work horrible (inefficient) hours, and have to drive my people to do the same. There's quite a bit of ego's and most of my peers are miserable in their jobs also.
Two questions:
What do I tell my boss for time off for interviews? I struggle to get any days off at all - most get rejected, as we're given very limited times that are ok for vacation. I'm also supposed to give almost 3 weeks notice to take a day off. Do I lie and say "sick" day? I know better than to say I'm looking for other opportunities.
Second - What do I tell the companies I'm interviewing with? Don't want to say I'm leaving because I work too many hours - not many companies looking for leadership who's biggest priority is time away from work. Don't want to put down the company I'm with now - the position sounds good on paper (including on my resume). How do you tell an interviewer - "I want a job that I can eat dinner with my family and see them most weekends, I agree with most of the management principals at work, and have a positive environment to work in. I'm not getting that now and that's why I'm leaving".
FYI - I have had this sort of thing in the past and I know it's out there.
Schedule your interviews early or late
Have the interview before you come in or after work. You are not an indentured slave. You are allowed to leave.
Are you also not allowed to
Are you also not allowed to attend your children's school activities, plays and such?
A healthy work-life balance is extremely important for me and fortunately, I do not have that problem (I do have others).
How about lunchtime interviews?
Good luck,
Mike
Weekends?
Weekends might be possible. Many recruiters and hiring managers are willing to have phone interviews and even in-person interviews after hours or on weekends.
John Hack
Don't tell him.
Just come in late one day, or leave early one day. If he asks, just say you had some personal stuff to take care of. This IS personal.
There's a professional saying, you're entitled to an honest answer to any question to which you're entitled an answer. What you do at night is not your boss's business, provided it's not harmful to the firm. Yes, you can get dinged for being late (or leaving early), but that's all it will be. Sounds like you've been there long enough that your reputation can handle that.
The culture your boss or the firm has created (at least so far as how you have described it, which I find hard to believe but which I tentatively won't argue with) means that you don't have to be 100% truthful with him in certain situations. Your honor cannot be used against you without an abandonment of basic norms.
This is what I would do.
Mark
Thanks for the insight
It is difficult - and I promise, Mark, it's true. Added to my difficulty is the tremendous commute that I have, so I have lost out on school activities, baseball practice, and such.
I live in a large metroplex where jobs could be scattered up to 90 miles from work. If I take off for an interview in the target geography that I want, it's not practical to just go in late (hour to get to interview, 2+hours face to face, 2 hours to get back to work). Our documented vacation policy is 3 weeks notice for a single day out - and time off is rejected regularly.
I absolutely take advantage of phone screens as much as possible. I'd love to do more face to face interviewing, just so I can practice more, but that may not be realistic. Recruiters would go out of the way to talk, but I don't think that the people that I'll end up interviewing with would be too happy to interview on the weekend.
I'll go with the "It's personal stuff" - best answer and a true answer. I can get dinged and not worry too much, but I want to be careful enough about burning any bridges, even when I leave.
Obviously - I've soured a bit on this job. Back to the second question - how do I say I want to move on for that work/life balance without sounding like I don't want to put in the work effort?
You don't
You don't say why you're leaving where you are , you say why you want to join this new firm. You don't give ALL your reasons, you give the big ones. You wouldn't work at a crappy place with crappy people and crappy products simply because work life balance was good. So, you say you're looking for a firm with high quality people doing interesting work with interesting products.
Mark
From the back of a cab