Do I ask about flexibility at my interview?

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Applying for a new role. Interview coming up. I need flexibility to be able to pick my kids up from school 1 day per week. Is this something you would raise at interview? Or would it be best to wait until a potential offer and negotiate on it at that stage? I’ve had some bad experiences with recruitment consultants over this. When I’ve mentioned flexibility to them I never hear from them again. At currently company i negotiated at offer stage, but I feel like the flex working world may have moved on a lot with the pandemic and it would be much easier to have a proper discussion with the hiring manager on a call (at offer stage it tends to be a discussion with Hr who have to liaise with hiring manager). Does anyone have any recent experiences? Or anyone in HR/recruitment who can advise on how to handle it? TIA

Absolutely NOT! They might mention the option or say they’re work/life balance friendly or whatever but the time to ask is AFTER you have an offer when you’re negotiating pay and T&Cs.
They way things are these days I can’t imagine it would be an issue as long as you made up the time.

You’ll also get a sense of the company and how they are from the interview anyway - depends on the job but hybrid working is the new norm which gives you tons of flex to do this without it being a formal Arrangement.

Get the job on merit then negotiate the package.

I asked about wfh- but in the context of how they were arranging it under current circumstances- more of a what are you doing at the moment, will we be expected to wfh or come into the, office, and is that likely to change once the pandemic has abated a bit.

That gave me an idea of flexibility- the reply was very much what works best for you, some come in, some don’t, and it’s likely it will stay this way.

I’d leave specific times for when/if you’re offered the job. Then you can ask about flexibility and decide whether it will work for you if they aren’t.

I interview, I would have no problem with this.

What did the job description say ? I would make sure you’ve got solid childcare arrangements in place just in case they say no.

I mentioned it at 2nd interview stage… I had already discussed it with the recruitment consultant though, and she said they would probably be fine with it. PS I got the job ;-)

Wouldn’t mention before having been offered the job.

I interview, I would have no problem with this.

That's great, but lots of employers might, unconsciously or otherwise, factor this into their decision-making as to which candidates to shortlist/make an offer to.

And OP has no way of knowing how the employer will react until after they've asked the question, so it's not worth the risk at this stage.

Thanks everyone. Having read the comments no one seems to think doing it at offer stage is a bad idea, whereas doing it at interview stage does seem to carry some risks. So I’m thinking I’ll leave it until offer stage. Now fingers crossed I get to offer stage! 🤞🏻🤞🏻

The thing is, by the offer stage you know they want you. If you then raise a relatively small point, such as the minor flexibility you need, the company are already sold on you and they are not going to want to go back to the drawing board or go for a candidate who was a second/third choice in other ways. On the other hand, at interview stage, they may weigh up the flexibility request when deciding who to go with.

Only ever mention this stuff when you’ve been offered the job, obvs! In an ideal world it shouldn't be an issue, but in reality a lot of recruiters are still living in the dark ages when it comes to flexible working and who would therefore quite possibly use this as a reason not to hire you

Not until u get the offer.

It’s hard - I had this same problem recently and mentioned it at interview stage and got offered the job still. We then tried to negotiate and they changed their mind and withdrew the offer 🙄

It totally depends.

You could make a general enquiry about flexible working hours, WFH and what they're working like in the pandemic. Then depending on how they answer that, ask the more specific questions.

Our company is flexible, but the flexibility works both ways. They would be OK with WFH when we wanted, flexing start/end times, going out for appointments etc. They wouldnt be as happy with a fixed 1 day a week where you have to leave early as that can cause problems when there are projects/workshops, deadlines etc, especially different time zones.

I guess it depends on the role and the company.