To ask for advice about ringing in sick to attend a job interview

[Winterjoy]

Ok, I know its very wrong but I have to do it - environment/management at current job has driven me to the brink of a breakdown, to the point where I spent each morning having a panic attack as I walked down the road leading up to the building. I have finally got to the point where I feel mentally strong enough to apply/interview for new roles and after a number of failed applications over the last 6 or so months, have finally been invited an interview later this week.....

Unfortunately there is NO WAY to take leave on this date, and no way to change the interview date. So, I have resolved to call in sick (feel terrible about this) but am now panicking about:

1. If offered position new employer will check sick dates as part of reference and withdraw offer as a result

2. At interview I will be asked about how it is possible to attend i.e. am I on leave?

Any advice?

I can see that the contexts differ. I don't think I implied that I was morally better. I just said that I wouldn't like to work in an environment where lying was the norm. Obviously if the choice is having a job or not having one people might not be in a position to exercise the choice about where they work - I consider myself fortunate not to be in that position.

Please can everyone stop telling the OP whether it is fine or unthinkable to take a sickie, because we don't know what she does and what standards apply.

we do know she has to go to the interview though because she has to move on!

go, OP go!

Good-oh, Sooty, glad to hear it. Glad that all is well in your world and you are at peace with the moral values of your milieu. That's a weight off my mind so I now feel able to go to bed. what a relief. Good night.

It was a long time ago but I'm pretty sure someone at my old work was disciplined / dismissed for something along the lines of 'theft by deception' for throwing a sickie for an interview, on the basis that they got sick pay and weren't sick.

I think the plumbing emergency / childcare issue is the safest bet to request emergency unpaid leave at short notice.

Could you explain to the interview people that you desperately want to attend but are unable to book leave, and is there any way they'd see you at lunch/5pm? I did this for my current post - they were prepared to reschedule, liked the fact I was honest and I got the job.

I generally assume someone has taken a sickie to come to an interview but I would never ask and neither would I ever let on to anyone on their company that I had met them even if it were a competitor or someone we work closely sign. In my industry there are generally interviews on set days with little flexibity. I wouldn't retract an offer, it genuinely wouldn't bother me if someone had taken the day off sick
Yo interview for my company. If I found out that one of my employees had done similar then so long as their general sickness record was on I would generally let it pass and begin subtle succession planning

How else is it possible to attend an interview on a work day without taking sick leave/broken boiler/"emergency dental leave"?!

Honestly, stop fretting about it. Focus on giving the interview your best shot and don't worry about anything else.

Curbside - by asking for unpaid leave of absence to go to an interview. I work in a school and that is what you do in Education- whatever your job is. And you are given the loa. It is in the policy and there is not an issue.

I am amazed that it isn't how it works anywhere else from the sounds of it.

I used to work in a team in children's services and used annual leave for interviews. I suppose the problem is that you only have one week ish notice for an interview and some sectors (eg police) have rotas and holidays agreed months in advance.

But teachers, surely if you're telling them you're going for an interview it makes your commitment to your current job look very flimsy?

Not at all; teachers want to move on all the time.

In any case; I think I'd rather look uncommitted than dishonest.

Go - op
You have no choice do you?
It really doesn't help to worry about ramifications now.
Your mental health has been severely compromised. You owe it to yourself to now take a risk!

Good luck

Oh, and l think it would be very strange if they asked you how you Manaton be there.

Most workplaces have something in place for emergencies.

*managed

I think the plumbing emergency! And you will make up the hours .. If anyone sees you-plumber left early.. I really, really wouldn't pull a sickie..a lot of people would see this as fraud/theft.

It damages your integrity... -although a fake plumbing emergency is the height of integrity -

I find mumsnet really unrealistic when it comes to these things. I've worked in plenty of jobs from minimum wage to very high earning city marketing manager jobs and always taken the odd sickie here and there for interviews. They're often at really short notice and if you're desperate to leave your current job what can you do? It's never bitten me on the bum, ever, and I've never been sacked or disciplined in any role I've had.

Go for it op. You only live once!

fairy
I agree with you.
Mumsnet seems to have lots. of posters that work for MI5 !

Me too, you get an interview, you have probably decided you want to leave anyway, so take a sickie. Off MN that's what most people do. As it happens I'm PT so can usually swap days without a prob but have taken sickies in the past and would do again.

80srockheart, that's rather refreshing, not to have to do the sneaking around! I can only imagine that working in my industry if my boss knew I was in a job way below my abilities and we knew each other well enough to be frank about it.

I've always either thrown a sickie or invented a fake Dr's appointment for an interview.

I thought that's what everyone did.

What do people do instead then?

I certainly wouldn't tell them you're at an interview. That would be a very bad idea, particularly if you don't get the job.

Also I certainly wouldn't ask for unpaid leave as at short notice the answer would be no, then it would look much worse when I threw a sickie!

In my industry you would never ever ever ever tell anyone that you were looking for another job, even people you got on with. It's just not done. And you would not in a million billion years tell your manager you needed time off for an interview!

DH works for public sector and they are allowed time off for interviews in same organisation, and apply openly. Sounds similar in teaching.

Different standards apply in different industries! So, someone follows some advice on here, asks for unpaid leave to attend an interview, if they aren't in however many years it is they will be sacked. Obviously. Why would you employ someone who was not committed to the organisation and the role? Even applying internally for other jobs is very cloak and dagger.

For this reason, if someone comes in late to work in a particularly nice suit, everyone goes ha ha interview this morning was it? And if they have odd sick days, again, people think OHO we know what you're up to. But no-one would say anything about that.

You really can't apply the norms of one area to another. And you definitely can't be going accusing ALL the people in basically any private sector role and probably many public sector ones as LIARS! That really does seem a touch strong

I've done it, and I got the job.

When I resigned, my boss asked me if the sick day I took recently was to interview for my new job.

I lied, really well I feel, and said "Oh, gosh no, these things are not that quick!" (it was a big city firm) when in fact the recruitment process was incredibly quick. I'd had some holiday about a month before that and said it was during that time.

Not that there is anything he could have done, he wanted to know on a personal level I think, whether I was conniving (which I was!) but I reassured him I wasn't (which is untrue)

Its a bit dog eat dog, damned if you do damned if you don't really. You can't necessarily take a whole day off for every interview you attend if you've had a few, of random annual leave days - but you can't really say "I'm a flight risk" either, it can have bad consequences. Everyone is entitled to career progression and happiness in the workplace. You have to just get on with it without too much conscience. If they were the ideal employer you'd be staying, after all.

sooty can't you see how conventions are different in different industries? Fabbo for you that you have endless flexibility to arrange interviews. In my work place I could not take unpaid leave. It just isn't allowed. I can book a holiday - several weeks in advance which must be authorised by my direct line manager AND their line manager. If you are known to be looking elsewhere the upper management begin the process of managing you out of the business - on the sly, obviously, but it means you damn well better get that job or you'll be out on your arse soon anyway. So in much more restricted situations taking a sickie is sometimes your only choice if you want to leave.