AIBU to ask this at an interview?

[FriendshipsAreHardForMe]

I have an interview coming up for a full time position (37hrs).

I'd ideally like to work part-time but was finding the right opportunity hard to come by so decided to apply to some full-time positions in hopes to negotiate down.

Anyway.... In terms of asking them if they'd consider me working part time...

Am I being unreasonable to not say anything about hours until I receive a job offer (if I do of course)? So as not to put them off too quickly. But maybe they'd be annoyed I've potentially wasted their time.

YANBU - wait until job offer to ask for P/T
YABU - mention P/T hours at the interview

Thanks 😊

I asked before applying, it was an internal role and I kind of knew the recruiting manager, her response was I'd prefer to have someone doing something rather than no one doing anything, it was the 3rd time the post had been advertised though!

What sort of role/sector are you looking for?

In my industry they realise the value of flexibility and have specific programs for women who are returning to work after years with their children. Surprised by the responses on this thread as so many organisations are embracing flex working.

It’s not wasting time to ask the question or go through the interview and ask at the end. Ultimately, there is a talent war going on with many employees having a good pick of roles in corporate business. To attract and retain good employees there needs to be give and take, and their stance on flex working made crystal clear in the advert.

Companies who fail to adapt to the market will be the companies who fail to attract top talent and negatively impact on their profits.

Me wasting their time is annoying but at the end of the day, they're still all getting paid. Most companies can afford the odd wasted interview (after all, there are other candidates, no one's forcing them to take me PT) Them wasting candidates time is expensive. Costs to prepare for interview (maybe clothes, travel costs etc). Then using annual leave to attend. Even costing childcare to cover. So it's not tit for tat in my eyes, it's much worse employers wasting individuals time and money (and often multiple people's when they're interviewing for a job that in reality isn't actually available) than one candidate asking for flexible hours 🤷🏻

You do realise hiring managers are individuals too? The lunch hours I’ve worked through; the times I’ve had to work late to make up for the time I’ve spent on interviews; then the train journeys home I’ve spent reviewing CVs - that’s all meaningless? And no, I didn’t get paid any extra.

The little shrug says it all.

@FriendshipsAreHardForMe

I'm surprised so many people appear to be almost insulted by someone asking to negotiate.

People negotiate all the time. Salary, location, even job title. So why not hours?

I know so many men who have asked for a higher salary and no one blinks.

A woman who wants to work 0.8 is chastised for "wasting time".

Employers waste candidates time all the time. I've known LOADS of occasions where people have gone out to interview when they have someone internal lined up but they do it because of HR process.

I don't feel guilty for applying for full time jobs. It's my only way in (well, apart from maybe 1 PT job every few months) so I'll take it. I have mouths to feed and as others have said, luckily some employers are wise enough to at least consider it, even if it's not possible for all roles.

I suspect they need someone full-time given the role and organisation. That's ok, I may well still accept it. I'd just prefer part time and wanted some advice on how to go about asking.

Thanks all, think I will hold fire, do as well as I can at interview and if offered the job, will request then. Who knows!

This isn't the same as asking for a higher salary at all. Often when employers post job advertisements (and I have in my previous role) they post a lower salary, which is open to negotiating. Hours are usually non negotiable.

I’ve raised it at interview before. In the interview for my current job (advertised as full time) I was pleasantly surprised. I mentioned I was currently working 0.8 and ideally would like to continue this if possible. I assumed this was something they would take away and think about (and yep possibly discriminate against me for) but the hiring manager immediately said “that would be fine, we have a range of ft and pt people in the team at the moment”. Which really impressed me and strengthened my view that they were a good fit for me.

This was for a charity sector role in a firm that explicitly stated they were open to flexible working though. I doubt I’d have been so confident doing this with a company that didn’t have the same messaging.

@WomanStanleyWoman

Me wasting their time is annoying but at the end of the day, they're still all getting paid. Most companies can afford the odd wasted interview (after all, there are other candidates, no one's forcing them to take me PT) Them wasting candidates time is expensive. Costs to prepare for interview (maybe clothes, travel costs etc). Then using annual leave to attend. Even costing childcare to cover. So it's not tit for tat in my eyes, it's much worse employers wasting individuals time and money (and often multiple people's when they're interviewing for a job that in reality isn't actually available) than one candidate asking for flexible hours 🤷🏻

You do realise hiring managers are individuals too? The lunch hours I’ve worked through; the times I’ve had to work late to make up for the time I’ve spent on interviews; then the train journeys home I’ve spent reviewing CVs - that’s all meaningless? And no, I didn’t get paid any extra.

The little shrug says it all.

Absolutely agree with you, the work doesn't just disappear because we're interviewing!

And OP I completely agree with you. If people (men…) can negotiate on pay then people (women…) can negotiate on hours!

@Graphista

I've been on hiring side of things - I'd be annoyed you'd wasted my time to be honest. If you want part time apply for part time roles!

I agree with this too I'm afraid. If you want to be considered for the role but on reduced or alternative hours you should mention that at application stage so that the employer can consider whether it's possible to reduce the hours or not before deciding to interview you. There may have been someone else apply asking the same who they could have considered as a job share, for example. If you wait until the interview you've done someone else out of the opportunity when you are not able to do the job as required.

@FriendshipsAreHardForMe

I'm surprised so many people appear to be almost insulted by someone asking to negotiate.

People negotiate all the time. Salary, location, even job title. So why not hours?

I know so many men who have asked for a higher salary and no one blinks.

A woman who wants to work 0.8 is chastised for "wasting time".

Employers waste candidates time all the time. I've known LOADS of occasions where people have gone out to interview when they have someone internal lined up but they do it because of HR process.

I don't feel guilty for applying for full time jobs. It's my only way in (well, apart from maybe 1 PT job every few months) so I'll take it. I have mouths to feed and as others have said, luckily some employers are wise enough to at least consider it, even if it's not possible for all roles.

I suspect they need someone full-time given the role and organisation. That's ok, I may well still accept it. I'd just prefer part time and wanted some advice on how to go about asking.

Thanks all, think I will hold fire, do as well as I can at interview and if offered the job, will request then. Who knows!

You asked the question. People answered. Don't get offended because it wasn't the answer you wanted.

Job description, person spec and hours are generally worked out before a job is advertised. Employers have a hole that they need to fill. Salaries in private sector seem to cover a range that employers rarely disclose these days. Unless you are exceptional or there are more jobs than candidates then you'll be pretty limited as to what you can negotiate on the salary front. In a similar vein, if you were told the job was paying £50k and you went through the interview process and then asked for £80k you'd piss them off.

I always negotiate upwards on salary because there really is nothing to lose. Most companies will cough up a few more grand if they want you. I know this is acceptable having seen it from the other side. Asking for shorter hours without flagging it up either before or during the interview generally WILL piss people

DH on the other hand is in the very lucky position of being in a role that is in high demand. I sometimes wonder if he asked for 5 hours a week and the moon on a stick he would get it.....

With all due respect, this is not an employers issue, especially if they have other applicants. I am inundated with applicants, after being offered a position, who are shocked that asking to work less than the position they applied for ls a no go.

@WomanStanleyWoman
@LondonQueen

I've also been a recruiting manager. I've also worked over time, that's just a normal part of being a manager. I've never been paid overtime, it was in my contract as a manager that a reasonable amount of unpaid overtime was expected.

Me "wasting" their time = 5 mins reviewing my CV. 3 minutes adding my name to the list for HR. 1 hour interviewing. 20 mins contemplating. 3 minutes letting HR know.

You can't attribute overtime to one candidate who wants to negotiate hours. And if they didn't interview me in the first place, they'd interview someone else and still use that time.

Tbh I think your thinking is quite outdated - the world has moved on and flexibility is a massive thing now. If you don't move with the times you won't get the best out of your staff.

It is perfectly possible that they may offer part time/flexible/shared work but you won't know that unless you ask. But please don't wait for the interview, call them now. I would be livid if I spent time and money on a candidate who doesn't want to work full time if the role had been been advertised as that. If someone told me at interview without any pre-warning that you want to work part time, you would be out of the door pretty quickly for wasting my time.

I would raise it in interview but be clear as to what you want - is it part time or compressed hours? For many roles this will impact whether you are a good fit. In my team I would certainly support compressed hours or flexible working but part time does impact the workload you are able to take on and therefore may not be an adjustment that could be made while maintaining the productivity of the team.

Bit surprised how many YABU you’re getting. As a senior manager who has done lots of recruitment, if you’re the best candidate and want to discuss how we could make that work for you then I’d be very open to it. I certainly would think it a waste of time and just part of the dance of recruitment. After all I’m making you an offer because O rate you.

It’s premature at interview and it may play into unconscious biases, so I wouldn’t do that.

Op, what sort of jobs are you going for?

It is very naive to assume that recruiting/interviewing is at no cost to the company. Assuming this is a semi-professional job/company then they will have to put in effort reviewing and selecting your application, setting up the interview plus potentially two or more interviews, discussing the applicants, making a decision, etc. How many people have been involved in that process? A recruiter, HR person, a manager, a director, a PA trying to get everyone together? How many hours do you think they will have spent on your application? What do you think their cumulative hourly rate is costing the company?

If you are looking for part-time be clear up front. Do your homework and apply for jobs/approach companies that are either advertising part-time or flexible jobs. You will find some private companies doing this but you will generally have more success with NHS, public sector and charities or not-for-profit.

If you're not clear from the start they will wonder what else you are planning to spring on them.

To clarify, I'm flexible with how it looks. 0.6 would be ideal but probably not realistic. 0.8 would be great. Condensed hours would be better than FT.

Full Time would probably still be an option. I just need to think about it a bit and the logistics.

So I don't want to tell them in advance and put them off. As I may still want it even FT.

I think I'm decided. Unless I feel it's explicitly asked in the interview, I will hold back and ask if offered. I'd also like to know if I would have been offered without considering the hours.

It's so annoying I've interviewed for full time positions and had candidates turn up and propose their part time hours.

It's a full time role, otherwise I'd advertise film time with potential to reduce hours or a part time job.

Please don't waste their time.

I do a lot of recruitment. Hours are just like everything else - they can form part of the negotiation.

If the employer is any good they should have made clear flexibility in the job description, but I fully expect for successful candidates to negotiate on salary, hours, working pattern. Often that’s good for me as I may not have the budget to have huge flexibility on salary but can secure a good candidate by being able to offer eg a compressed week.

It’s a candidate’s market right now and I’ve noticed a lot of employers really struggling to get their heads around the idea that they aren’t in a position to call all the shots any more, and that they aren’t doing someone a favour by offering them a job. People can and will negotiate, and are more interested in working conditions and culture than ever.

typo I wouldn’t* think it a waste of time not I that I would.

Good luck!

[quote FriendshipsAreHardForMe]@WomanStanleyWoman
@LondonQueen

I've also been a recruiting manager. I've also worked over time, that's just a normal part of being a manager. I've never been paid overtime, it was in my contract as a manager that a reasonable amount of unpaid overtime was expected.

Me "wasting" their time = 5 mins reviewing my CV. 3 minutes adding my name to the list for HR. 1 hour interviewing. 20 mins contemplating. 3 minutes letting HR know.

You can't attribute overtime to one candidate who wants to negotiate hours. And if they didn't interview me in the first place, they'd interview someone else and still use that time.

Tbh I think your thinking is quite outdated - the world has moved on and flexibility is a massive thing now. If you don't move with the times you won't get the best out of your staff.[/quote]
Well crack on then if your CV only takes five minutes to review for this high powered management job.

Apply with someone else on job share maybe

@BlinkingBananas

Why the shitty attitude?

It isn't a management job, I'm pursuing something different to what I did before.

And my CV is 2 pages. It wouldn't take longer than 5 mins to read and see my experience is relevant. Do you think people spend longer on CVs?

@Veryverycalmnow

Apply with someone else on job share maybe

A job share would be my absolute ideal.

How do people go about doing this? I assumed (maybe wrongly) that the employer would consider this rather the applicant?

@applecrumbleforteaagain

It's so annoying I've interviewed for full time positions and had candidates turn up and propose their part time hours.

It's a full time role, otherwise I'd advertise film time with potential to reduce hours or a part time job.

Please don't waste their time.

What's film time? I'd love a job where they allowed a little break to watch the latest Pixar film. I'm in. What job is this please?

[quote FriendshipsAreHardForMe]@BlinkingBananas

Why the shitty attitude?

It isn't a management job, I'm pursuing something different to what I did before.

And my CV is 2 pages. It wouldn't take longer than 5 mins to read and see my experience is relevant. Do you think people spend longer on CVs?[/quote]
Something different to what you did before? So potentially you are up against experienced candidates which potentially puts you on a back foot before you've even started. Unless it's an unskilled job where you don't actually need any experience and you're a suitable candidate if you have a head and four limbs.

Yes, five minutes for an initial sift if there are hundreds of applicants for an entry level admin job. I'd hope they would spend a bit longer if they intended to interview you/offer the job. Multiply that time by the number of people involved in the interviewing process and it's not 'just 5 minutes'.

You have asked people if this is a good approach and the majority of people are telling you no. Don't get upset if this isn't the answer you want.