Informal chat- Should I mention flexibility re:hours

[feileacan]

I've applied for a job which I'm well qualified for. I've been invited for informal chat. For family reasons I can only do max 4 day week. Should I mention this at the chat? My inclination Is yes. I don't want to have to go into long explanations though.

yes...it's a 50/50 chance of a positive response

My supervisor wfh and doesn't let anybody else so when the new starter came over my supervisor agreed to some very silly terms like consolidated hours and (very)flexi(ble) times

I would/do as if it’s an absolute no then there’s no point wasting your time.

Thanks. Mentioned it at chat stage. Seemed very receptive! We shall see :)

I would.

I recently started a new job. The base is far away from where I live. I had an informal chat prior to the interview to make sure our expectations match. It wasn't totally clear at this point whether it was OK. However, when I was successful at interview it was agreed my base would be my closest office rather than the original base.

If I hadn't had the initial chat then it would have been quite different at negotiation stage.

@feileacan hope you don’t mind a follow up question. Is your expectation that you can do the full time job in four days or that you’re asking for the job to be redesigned to accommodate four days?

I work for a very flexible employer so this ask is pretty common, but as a manager I struggle to know what the best answer is: I don’t think it’s fair to ask people to do the full time job in less time with less pay; equally the job needs doing. It’s why I fully support job share but find the four day ask so hard.

@Couchto5ktowine i have accepted a number of team members on 4 days. Typically they have to do the full job in terms of the core role but then would have less of the 'other bits' and project activity etc. This would mean that delivery of parts outside the core role are a bit slower, but typically I find that reducing the role to 4 days doesn't have as big an impact in our role. Though there is a bit of an impact on personal development as the focus is on just the core role.

I didnt ask that I do a 5 day job in 4 days. I don't think that would be reasonable or realistic. It was a request for a redesign of job, as previous poster said- to cut out certain project activities.
It was only the informal chat stage but it was nice to see that the company was very much receptive to flexibility and explored it with me in some detail.

I've actually put down on the application forms before , that I am only available 4 days a week even though their are advertising full time hours. It's never put anyone off asking me for an interview

I actually had an informal chat about a role today, I currently work a 4 day week and won’t be giving that up if I move. Tbh I had some doubts about this company as they seem quite aggressive as a brand (just a vibe I got) and as it was they came back and said no, this is absolutely a job that needs someone working 5 days. Tbh I’m glad I did, it showed me who they were and I can well imagine there’s limited to no flexibility. I’m glad I didn’t waste any more time on an application. They had my CV at this point so if they’d loved me on paper and were willing to be flexible then they had the option!