Would you ask this question at interview?

[katedan]

I have an interview for a role which is 20 hours a week. The hours of employment were in the job advert and suit me in term time but during the school holidays I would like to do the 20 hours over 2 or 3 days as the job will not pay enough to pay for 3 children in holiday childcare for 5 days a week. Do you think it is acceptable to ask if there is any flexabilty during the Q&A part of the interview or wait untill I am/if I am offered the post?

It may not be politically correct to say it, but I'd wait until offered the job to discuss terms & conditions. My dh interviews alot & gets a right old hump when people start specifying what they will/won't do etc during a first interview. Best impression is to be flexible (once you're in the door, you can negotiate).

HTH & my dh is lovely really :)

agree - I wouldn't ask at this at interview stage

It really depends on whether the holiday arrangements are a deal breaker for you. If they said no, sorry, it's 5 days or nothing, would you still want the job? If yes, say nothing at interview and hope that you impress them sufficiently they'll be flexible. If no, then you should ask.

I think I would not want the post if I had to do 5 days during the school holidays as all my pay would be used up in childcare costs. However as they are interviewing quite a few people it would be nice to know if I did or did not get the post based on me and not beause they were put off by my request for flexiable working.

Yes, wait until they offer you the job, then negotiate on the exact days if this is a deal-breaker. It looks much more professional to really give the impression that this is the job for you, rather than it being all about the hours (at first interview). Of course in reality hours are very important, you just don't want them to know that. Good luck.

I'd wait.