To see if they can offer a different date for interview?

[Laughingllamapie]

Ive made an application for a job which sounds like something Im really interested in and very few things arise which fit my quite specific criteria. When I applied I knew that the interview date was my birthday and I knew that I had something booked in that day and paid for which I won’t be able to move without losing several hundred pounds.
I’ve been offered an interview.
Should I just accept that I’m going to have to not go on my birthday trip or should I ask politely if they could offer a different time and explain the situation. I don’t wish to appear awkward or difficult!

@Laughingllamapie I would contact them and say you’re very keen to attend but unfortunately realise you cannot make that day as you would be very much out of pocket due to a pre-booked arrangement and could you possibly attend on another date? You could also say you realise this was your error and are very sorry. Maybe they could do a phone/Zoom/Teams
call so you could do it on the same day as it wouldn’t take up too much time? If not you have a big choice to make … 🫣

Definitely ask. In our place we wouldn't rearrange as hard to get a panel together but some places may be more flexible

If you don't ask you don't get. The worst they will say is no.

Yes, I ask - I always asked to move when I was jobhunting with little kids, as certain times I just couldn't do, they'll have more than one slot available. You don't have to say why, just say you can't do that date/time.

Definitely ask! In my experience if they say no it's probably because you were filling numbers and if they are prepared to rearrange they consider you a strong candidate.

Absolutely ask. If they like you enough to offer you an interview they'll likely not mind and if they are too inflexible for that you probably don't want to work there anyway.

Of course you can ask, an employee would have to be super unreasonable to assume that interviewees don't have lives and if they do it's probably not somewhere you'd want to work

I agree with asking, but the sticking point is that you knew the interview date when you applied for the job, it's not a random date that you've just been given.

My company posts interview dates with job adverts, because they expect people to keep them free (and accordingly advise candidates whether they have been successful/unsuccessful in a timely manner). There might not be another convenient date when the interviewers are all free. We'd try to accommodate someone who was ill on the day or had a family emergency (for example), but it would have been courteous for someone who knew they weren't available at the time they applied to have let us know in advance. So you wouldn't be giving a very good impression.

Totally ask, explain the situation including that it's your birthday (with evidence of dob so it's clear it's not a line) but perhaps say it's a surprise that has been arranged for you so it doesn't look like you disregarded the date or didn't think you'd get an interview. Perhaps then when you were excited about the interview and the role your family member had to tell you...

If a company wouldn't rearrange for something like that I'd be considering whether it was the company for me to be honest. My values include flexibility and not living for work - I expect my employer to be the same. I appreciate the difficulty with a panel and availability but I'd make the effort as the recruiting manager....

Where the interview date is published in advance we wouldn't move it, unless you were our favourite candidate on paper.

Our reasoning is the date was available before you applied and if you couldn't make it you shouldn't have applied. Also would make us think wonder what other requests would come as soon as you're hired.

We over had someone who never got the interview letter, and only found out when his boss said "Hang on, I've been asked for a reference for you. Aren't you supposed to be in Britain today for the interview?" and so he had to phone up, apologise and see if they could reschedule him for another entire week as he had flights and hotel to arrange from abroad. He was a good candidate so the panel agreed, and he eventually got the job.

If they think you're a good candidate they'll do all they can.

Ps. Obviously this was where there was no interview date published in advance.

You knew the interview date when you applied and you knew you already had plans on that date.

I wouldn’t ask. It doesn’t reflect well on you. You could ask for a time slot that would allow you to still enjoy some of your birthday plans.

If you do ask, I would absolutely not mention that it’s because of your birthday. That sounds incredibly childish and unprofessional. Pre-booked commitment that would be costly to rearrange is fine.

Would you discount someone who could be the best person for the job because they had their mother's funeral or a hospital appointment they'd waited two years for for example?

Agree with this. We're a company who gives everyone their birthday off so we do value them and an employee's work-life balance but I'd also find it a pretty childish reason to want to change a pre-set interview date.

Yes when the date is published in advance as you would know when you apply you can't make the interview date.

Trying to get the panel together on another date, with a suitable room, with short notice is going to tough and not worth the hassle for 1 candidate.

Do you mind saying what kind of organization you work on, I've never come across such inflexibility, how does it work if theee might be protected characteristics involved?

Public sector, not saying anything more as it may be outing.

If the date is published in advance we don't have to offer an alternative date. Even if we offer a couple of dates and they aren't shown in advance if you can't make it that's tough.

If someone applies under an access to work scheme with a guaranteed interview it might be different. But every candidate we have offered under one of these schemes has either made the published date or has pulled out.

If the interview date is stated in the recruitment ad, you should include in your application that you are very keen, but not available on the scheduled interview date.

It's worth asking, but I agree with others that as the interview date was made clear on the application info they may well say no.

I wouldn't say its because it's my birthday, as that does sound bit childish imo. Unless you say that the pre-booked event was meant as a surprise and you didn't know at the time of applying? Or ask for an early slot if that works?

Often these pre-defined dates are exactly for the reasons people suggest above - arranging interview panel availability and appropriate room booking. It's often not as simple as just arranging another day. Having said that, if you are a strong candidate they would likely try and find a way to accomodate if they felt the request was fair.

I'd ask saying it's something non-refundable that has been pre-booked for months and apologising that you didn't let them know on your application. But if that's not possible, I'd ask if you could have a teams/zoom/phone interview (their choice of platform) maybe at the start or end of the day but that you'd also be very willing to have a pre- or post-interview visit if they want to meet you in person or show you around. But you need to do this sooner rather than later as their timetables will get finalised.

It would depend on the role and panel. I have worked in education where interviews were part of an assessment day, so we could not reschedule for one person. In another role I would be driving over 100 miles to support interviews, so it was not feasible to do one interview another day (although nowadays with Teams etc I wonder if we would have done things differently.

When I worked in a retail company head office, we could be much more flexible.