To go for a second interview when they said their is no flex working in the first interview?

[Thisismynewname123]

I'm looking for a new job due to upcoming redundancy. I work in an industry that I have never seen a job advertised as part time. However, in my current position I have good flexible working arrangements - my hours are shifted to start early and finish early, and I work from home whenever I want (officially a couple of days a week).

I have been advised to not mention flexibility until the offer stage, at which point the company are invested in you. If I tell them early on, they are unlikely to bother interviewing, if there are other candidates that don't need flexibility. I've had a couple of first interviews. This particular one is a role that I am interested in, however, the interviewer ended the interview by saying that the job is office based. You are expected to be in the office 9-6 every day. Working from home only in exceptional circumstances on occasional days. He hinted at a second interview, and I'm waiting to hear back. I didn't comment when he made the point about lack of flexibility.

So, would it be unreasonably in this case to go for a second interview and potentially waste everyone's time as he has been clear it's onsite? Or go to the interview and if they make an offer, tell them then that I need flexibility? On the one hand, I see it as good interview practice as I've been in my current job for many years so I need to build up my confidence for interviews. I was interested in the job until he spoke about flexibility. On the other hand, I can't do 9-6 in an office 5 days, no matter how good the job offer. It just won't work around child care responsibilities.
What should I do?

If it makes any difference, I'm going through a recruitment agency. I haven't told them either that ideally I want part time, or at the very least flexible hours with some work from home. However, I have told them about my current arrangements and they haven't specifically followed up and asked me if I'm looking for flexibility going forward.

If all the roles in your industry are office based, 5 days a week, 9-6 are you confident you will eventually secure one with some flex, even if you have to wait a bit longer for one to come? What will you do if that simply never materialises?

Go to the interview.

In my experience this is a waste of everyone's time

If it's a deal breaker, tell them up front. Also check with the line manager, because HR will say "oh we have flex working generally" and then you find out the people hiring don't like it etc etc.

May as well continue through the process.

What kind of hours in the office would you do?

(I very much sympathise, i recently job hunted and agencies would call me with 8-5, 9-6 job roles and I had to say no. I can work in the evenings as I do now, but I cannot physically be in the office until 6pm. Agencies dont give a damn they just want their commission.)

@edwinbear, I'm hoping one will come along. At the very least, I expect there to be a role where I can shift my hours to start early and finish early. I think the absolute lack of flexibility surprised me (as I work in IT, I expect there to be remote working options). After being in my current job for so long, I'm worried about not being able to find something else, which could mean I jump into something that's not necessarily the right thing. Being out of work worries me (although it is a redundancy, so I have a good buffer financially).
If I absolutely can't find something with flexibility, then I'm more likely to look for a lower paid job, than to give into the full time, onsite position

Definitely go to the interview - you don’t know that they won’t make an exception for you, and if they don’t at least you’ve had valuable practice. You’ve only wasted a few hours of their time and to be honest they should probably just accept that if they’re going to be so backwards about flexible working.

@Rosawaiting, the interview was with the line manager, so he was the one who said that you are expected to be in the office full time.

@OnlyFoolsnMothers - I would do an early start, early finish in the office - start at 8, finish at 4/4.30. And preferably one day working from home (ideally, work 4 days, with one of those from home, but I think that might be fantasyland)

Probably just a waste of everyone’s time (including your own). Perhaps if they make contact regarding a second interview you could have the conversation then, call them and frame it as “wanting to be transparent, these are my needs, is there likely to be any flexibility, etc” if it turns out that they can’t accommodate then you won’t have completely messed them about by getting to the offer stage, having allowed them to formally disregard all the other applicants and then left them in the lurch, when you’d known from the first interview that it would never work.

You are really going to piss off your recruitment agent if you haven’t let them know about this in advance, as you could damage their client relationship. They might refuse to help you any further.

@VivienneHolt - Thank you. That's what I was wondering. It really actually surprised me, for this particular company. I'm not going to name the company, but they're a growing company, in a growing sector. I would expect them to be more forward thinking than they are.

@QueenofPain, I am concerned about pissing off the recruitment agency, but I get the feel that agencies just won't put candidates forward for jobs unless it's a very easy sell. In my conversations I've had about the flex stuff, I've been told it's best to get to an offer stage at which point they hopefully want you enough to negotiate. I have been upfront with the agency about my current flexible working arrangements, but there was no specific conversation about hours that I want going forward.

Usually I'd say go for it and see if they'll make an exception but as it was the actual line manager and as he made a point of it not being flexible in the first interview, I'm guessing they've been asked about this before and he was making it clear that it's a no go.

If full time is definitely not an option for you, I think you'd maybe burn bridges and waste everyone's time, but if you want the practice then go ahead. You could also potentially mention it when they call to arrange another interview, and see how it goes down?

@AnchorDownDeepBreath Thanks. This is what I'm thinking. If there was no mention of it, then I would have gone to a second interview and taken it from there. The fact that he made a point of saying it, I feel like I would need to be transparent now or it really won't look good (thinking more about my future relationship with the agency at this point as well)

the interviewer ended the interview by saying that the job is office based. You are expected to be in the office 9-6 every day. Working from home only in exceptional circumstances on occasional days.

I can't do 9-6 in an office 5 days, no matter how good the job offer. It just won't work around child care responsibilities.

I presume they are going to tell other applicants they have been unsuccessful in their application if they're offering you a second interview. On that basis YABU and should be upfront. You know the ts & cs of the job and it doesn't suit you. The employer will be less than impressed with you for wasting their time.

It's unusual for them to mention in the interview that they don't offer any flexibility? If it's the line manager and that's their stance then even if you did get offered the job, and even if by some way central HR agree it, would you be happy working with someone who doesn't agree, for whatever reason, the role should be flexible? It may be an indication of the culture in that team, if not the whole company, and so could make for an uncomfortable relationship from the start?

I'm also thinking given they said it upfront they have had it asked before. I would ask if they call you for second interview. You don't have to say you would only be interested if it is flexible at that stage, plus going for interview practice isn't a bad thing.

I've been told it's best to get to an offer stage at which point they hopefully want you enough to negotiate

It's true this can work where some flexibility's been indicated by the employer, but here it's absolutely not the case - so ask by all means if you contact you again, but I wouldn't waste everyone's time attending an interview if the answer's no

And if you want the agency to do their best for you, you'll definitely need to be straight about what you want. Knowing exactly what the client's seeking, it's true there may be some jobs they won't put you forward for, but if you annoy those clients they won't send you for any

@HandsUpHere I thnk that's a bit harsh! For an amazing opportunity, I would do the full time hours, if I could at the very least shift the hours to start and finish early, and work from home once a week. I don't think that in this day and age, that is an unreasonable working request, especially working in a tech company.

Sorry just read your OP again and see you're being made redundant, sorry to hear that, if you're lacking time and choice and need this job then I wouldn't say or ask anything at this stage if you need to find something urgently you may have to risk it for now?

@WishIwas19again, yes it's redundancy, but I'm not desperate at this stage. I will get a good enough pay off that I could have a few months to find the right job, but the sooner I find something, the more of that money I'll have to spend on other stuff!

No flexibility in an IT role is probably an outlier rather than the norm.

I personally would (and have) walk away between first and second stage based on zero flexibility being stated. However in your specific circumstances I’d go along and see what happens and also as someone else suggested check with HR not just hiring manager re flexible working.

At least theyve been honest from the outset-my dsis went for an interview got the job then they started saying she wuld start earlier than what was said in interview-she carried on anyway (no childcare issues) but would rather have known up front

Personally, I would speak with the agency and explain your concern and what was said by the line manager. And be explicit about what flexibility you're looking for - a lot of people get nervous when "flexible working" is bandied about as for some people that might mean compressed hours/part time etc etc.Your request is actually relatively minor with just a very minor shift in working hours for your days in the office. The work from home thing might be trickier.

Having said that, as a PP said, I'd be concerned about the culture in this firm. The line manager is saying it explicitly in interview when it hasn't even come up. Why? Is it because he sees you're a woman "of a certain age" and is already assuming you want "special treatment" as a woman/mother? Perhaps he says this in all interviews. Or perhaps only in interviews with women and possibly younger candidates who are seen as millennial "flighty"? Cynically, that points to a culture. or, it's a personal bug bear and he is trying to weed out people who want flexible working because the company policy is to give it but he doesn't want to (I had a boss like this).

Something to consider and another reason to be sure you speak with the agency upfront.

Go to the interview, all interview practice is useful. Even if you get offered a job and can't negotiate what you want its practice at negotiations. Good luck, job hunting is soul destroying

if you're getting good redundancy I'm guessing that you have been in your current job a while? In that case all interviews are good practice. If they've invited you for a 2nd interview it means they're really interested, but I don't think they've yet discarded anyone they might really want.

I'm interviewing at the moment and tbh I'd be a bit annoyed if someone came in for a 2nd interview knowing they didn't really want the job as it is currently offered I'd probably be a bit miffed but if i didn't know, I'd not be hurt, would i?

You never know, maybe they might like you so much they would be flexible for you, or maybe they have another role in the company which would suit your requirements for flexibility better?

@BlingLoving I have also had this previously in my current job, but with a previous manager who wouldn't make any flexible working allowances, even though every other team in the same department allowed work from home, etc. Luckily, my manager later changed to the most absolutely amazing manager that I know is highly unlikely to be replicated elsewhere (she is a mother herself, in a very senior position, who likes to say why waste time on a long commute when you can use that time productively if you stay at home).