Can I tell a potential employer I want to drop Fridays?

[ILoveAGoodProsecco]

If I have a job interview is it okay to admit part of the reason I want to change jobs is to reduce from 37 hours per week to 32 and no longer work Fridays? Or will it put them off me straightaway and make me look lazy with no work ethic? The role isn't necessarily full time but I'm not sure how many days it's expected to be spread over. No weekends as office based.

This is nothing to do with childcare or anywhere near retirement plans. It's just something I really, really want for work life balance and I can afford the financial hit. But I'm too scared to ask!

Anyone? How do I even word it?

I would see what days they are expecting you work first and play It by ear.

There is no harm on asking if it is part-time role. The worst that can happen is that they say no.

They won't think you are lazy as they are interviewing for a part-time role do they know that you don't want to work full time

Ask an open question about expected working hours then explain you had hoped to take Friday off, although not sure how that squares with 32 hours.

*so not do

Ask them if they will consider you for part time, 4 days per week? And see what they say. Email your point of contact.

Brave !.

The role is "minimum of 22 hours and can go up to 36 hours" so I would assume they are open to suggestions depending on what the candidate wants right? Never dropped my hours before now but it's what I want.

Why?

how does that work though? Is there 22hrs work a week or 32? Are they expecting overtime to factor?

I think I would be open about wanting to work 32 hours. I think you need to be flexible about the day off being a Friday. This needs to be worked out in business need

Lots of people want Fridays off, that might not fit in with their needs, can you be flexible with the day off?

I would focus on the interview and then discuss exact hours etc at offer stage presuming they are sold on you as a candidate. The wording of the ad suggests they are open to flexible arrangements.

Yes I'll play it by ear, I'll probably not get the job anyway! Thanks

My employer often does this, they have a minimum they need, then they can carve out some generic duties and get someone else or dish out.

So the contract is whatever the best candidate wants in between the two options, subject to discussion.

I’ve just taken accepted a new job offer and I’ll be starting when I return from maternity leave. The job advert said hours of work were flexible with a minimum number up to full time. In the interview, they asked about flexibility and work life balance and I told them I didn’t want to work 5 days a week, ideally have the same day off each week. I would have brought it up under any other questions had they not asked me prior to that. They offered me the role and 30 hours but I asked for a few more hours and they agreed. When it came to the negotiations I said that Monday’s or fridays would be preferable for my non-working day and how did that fit with the business need, they agreed that Fridays work well with the business need.

I went in with the view of asking for what I wanted, everything I wanted. They might not be able to give me what I wanted, in which case it wasn’t the right job for me. There was no point trying to shoehorn myself into a job just because I wasn’t prepared to ask for what I want. I was prepared to possibly compromise on some aspects but it was OK to say no if the compromise didn’t work for me, as they were OK to say no if the compromise didn’t work for them. I had a job (I don’t know what your current job situation is) but I wasn’t made redundant and the job wasn’t toxic so I had a job I could fall back on. I set that job as my baseline, then asked for everything I wanted and was prepared to meet somewhere in the middle but they surprised me by agreeing to everything I wanted.