To not say I'm part time?!

[smudgedlipstick]

Help!

Hugely nervous about a job interview, it's would be a transfer through civil service and the job advertised was for full time but due to fair and sustainability they have to also say they offer flexible working, part time and compressed time. I am technically part time. At what point do I mention this? Do I tell them in the interview before they have made any decisions or should I not say unless asked then once I have been offered a job detail my working hours? I don't want then to fee like I have wasted there time but I also don't want to lose the job just down to my hours 😰 what's right here!

Will they necessarily offer those hours if you do get offered the job?

If they offer you the job then you ask to do it as a job share or whatever it is you can accommodate...

I don't understand. If a job is advertised at eg 35 hours per week, that means there is 35 hours work to be done. How can you apply when you are on a p/t contract? You can't fulfil the job function - unless you have a colleague who can job share? (I'm genuinely confused)

In civil service, don't they also have to say in the job advert if it can only be done on a full time basis? Pretty sure I've seen it before. If they haven't specified, it should be ok. Might piss them off though...

You wouldn't necessarly transfer on your current hours though. You'd need to negotiate with them your hours/days etc depending on the needs in your new job.

I think you should phone the hiring manager and ask before the interview to see if your hours are compatible. If not, they may then wish to offer the interview slot to someone else. If you go ahead and interview and they can't accommodate you, it will have been a waste of time for all involved.

Apply. Wow them. Get the job. Then discuss the hours.

Alternatively look at the civil service job share site, find a partner that you could potentially job share with, and apply for it together.

If can't be done as job share etc. it wouldn't be advertised as such, I have certainly seen jobs reflecting that they must be worked over 5 days, not suitable for job-share within the civil service.

Can you not increase your own hours?

Apply, get offered the job, then discuss hours. With civil service posts, If they really need a full time person they have to say in the ad, otherwise all posts are open to part timers. Good luck!

As its civil service, I would wait until, hopefully, you are offered the job. Then I would say 'in my current position, I work x hours, if I was to accept the job, my preferred option would be to work xyz hours, please can you confirm if that is acceptable? Be prepared to address it in interview though, although I think they are unlikely to ask directly. (If you wait til offered, they have to justify not accomodating you to HR, which is fine if they have a good reason, but makes the process less likely to discriminate against you.) I would always ask for my preferred hours, but have a 'second offer', of slightly more hours or different pattern.

Cannot increase my hours. Civil service cannot discriminate against my current working hours, so if they offered me the job they would have to find someone or some way of making up the additional hours, but if I say in the interview they are likely just to offer it to someone else I would imagine. It's not unheard of just feels super shady. I need this to work out, everything else is falling apart so I need this win.

I don't think they need to know you currently only work part time.

As long as you convince them that you want their job and are keen to work their hours it should be fine.

Lots of people move from part time to full time work at some point, surely?

I could get away with moving to full time in about 18 months

OP I have done this, went through interview got offered job then asked about doing 30 hours instead of 37. Manager said no and explained why (also said she wasn't really supposed to say no but nature of job was that I could not have done it)

Absolutely gutted at time but several months later went for diff job - got offered and discussed hours - they said fine and I'm very happy 2 years on. I did up my hours from previous contract but it was my decision. Good luck!

Oh and also civil service

Aquasport, so you waited till you were offered the position before saying anything?

That's so underhand. Surely you have to say at the beginning, not get the job then force their hand. In the private sector if I'm advertising for staff I would say p/t or f/t. If the job is a full time role it can't be done part time if it could I would advertise at that. I would be annoyed if I interviewed a good candidate and then found out they couldn't put the hours in

They can't discriminate against your hours, in that if you work 25 hours they can't not give you the job if they've not specified that it can only be done full time.

You do realise that that doesn't mean your exact daily hours need to stand though, don't you?

Unless you have a full flex contract then they can still have a say in when your hours are done. For example if you do a 9 hour day for compressed hours, but their department is only open 9-5 then you'd have to do your hours over more days etc.

It works both ways - you can't apply for part time and insist on full time!

They should be asking you if the hours suit - but then again if you can't do the hours they want - you can't accept the job.

It is not underhand at all, it is the way the process is set up in the public sector. The point is to recruit on merit rather than presenteeism. If the job genuinely can't work with a part time post then that is stated. However it is considered that is the exception rather than the rule.

I would include the details on my CV under Present Post, i.e. Present Post - Chief Piss Artist (0.8FTE)

That way they know from the start that your current post is part-time and can raise it as a question at interview if relevant. Would you be able/prepared to go full-time do you think?

wait, I'm confused.

You're applying for this job now but you don't want to work full time for another 18 months?

That makes no sense. You can't apply for a full time job if you can't do the job!

Most people I work with have kept their working pattern for every civil service job they've got. Unless it specifically says it has to be full time I wouldn't even mention it until you've got the job.

Having recently been through the process of applying for the job, I would say honesty is the best policy. If your skills are what they are looking for and you are the best candidate, any decent employer will be happy to work with you to offer flexibility. If they aren't, then you don't want to force them in to it. Bear in mine, your right is to apply for flexible working, they don't have to agree to it. And if they are the kind of employer who don't want to offer it, they will find a way to knock it back and it could lead to resentment - on both sides.

I applied for full time work, but needed flexible working. The company I now work for were more than happy to find a solution. I did interview with some who were initially keen but funnily enough went with other candidates after they discovered I needed flexible hours (two of whom I know had a weaker CV than I did). I wasn't bothered though because, if that's their attitude, it's not the kind of company for me.

You absolutely can apply for a full time job if you want flexibility. A job interview is a two way process. There are a huge number of jobs which don't need to be 9-5 and an increasing number of employers who are happy with that, but don't necessarily advertise it in a job ad. It's all about the package you offer.