How the heck do people interview for jobs while already working a full-time job?

Title says it all.

To me at least, the most stressful part of job hunting is the scheduling. I don't understand how people do it!

I work 8 hour days with a 1/2 hour lunch at my current job. Whenever I get a call back on an application to set up the initial phone interview, the availability window always seems to need to happen sometime inside my current workday, which means I'm either taking an early-out on short notice (not always the easiest thing in the world to do) or sitting in my car at lunch. Then there's the in-person interview - usually means a half day or full day off on short notice depending on the timing.

How do people manage to innocuously interview for new opportunities while being currently employed?

Am I overthinking this? Should I just pull the jerk move of scheduling an interview and then calling in sick that day? Inquiring minds want to know how everyone else handles this...

Long lunches. 

Yep longer lunches and working over and days off.

In reply to pointofdeparture :

Let me know if you figure it out .

I usually managed to at least put the phone interviews to times before and after work. Heck, if the company who is allegedly interested in hiring you isn't willing to extend you that courtesy and insists on interviewing you during 9am-5pm, that's not a good sign IMHO.

Personally (wearing my ex-manager hat) I would take a vacation day, not a sick day for an in-person interview. You don't want one of your colleagues see you driving around looking like you're dressed up for an interview while you're allegedly sick.

An interview shouldn't take longer than an hour and if they're really interested in you should respect your current situation. Be up front with them about it.

Long lunches, call in sick, take PTO, schedule a Dr. Appt the same day, etc.

I know you probably don't want to lie to them, and you're probably not comfortable taking a sick day or leaving your coworkers out to dry... but get over it. You gotta look out for you. 

In reply to Suprf1y :

That really depends on the industry and what level you're coming it at. In IT, having the in-person interview last half a day or a day is not that unusual, especially for experienced people.

Suprf1y said:

An interview shouldn't take longer than an hour and if they're really interested in you should respect your current situation. Be up front with them about it.

My shortest interview in my professional career was 45 minutes, not including my internship. Longest was about 5 hours (3 people individually, a lunch, 2 of the first 3 together later in the day). 

How much notice does your current employer require to approve a request for a 1/2-day Of vacation?

BoxheadTim said:

In reply to pointofdeparture 

Personally (wearing my ex-manager hat) I would take a vacation day, not a sick day for an in-person interview. You don't want one of your colleagues see you driving around looking like you're dressed up for an interview while you're allegedly sick.

I agree with this, but it isn't always possible to get PTO/Vacation approved in time.

mtn said:

BoxheadTim said:

In reply to pointofdeparture 

Personally (wearing my ex-manager hat) I would take a vacation day, not a sick day for an in-person interview. You don't want one of your colleagues see you driving around looking like you're dressed up for an interview while you're allegedly sick.

I agree with this, but it isn't always possible to get PTO/Vacation approved in time.

Tell me about it - in my current job I pretty much have to schedule any PTO at least 6 weeks out. Not that I'm currently interviewing, but if I were it'd be a massive pain in the posterior.

Oh, and one thing that always bugged me is that certain employers will only look at hiring people that already have a job, and then make it as inconvenient as possible to actually interview with them. I think some of this still has a lot to do with certain employer's mentality that it's still a buyer's market for employees out there.

I live in Chicago.  This was stressful.  
 

1. Owner of Minnesota hose company lived in Michigan and had me fly to Detroit for an interview and lunch during the week.  
 

2. Then on a Saturday I flew to Minneapolis to see the shop and meet the inside sales team.  
 

In fairness if a guy looks good we will meet before work or on a Saturday morning.  We try hard to accommodate the right person.  

I usually do PTO/call in sick/say kid is sick, etc etc.

Since I wear jeans and a long sleeve, it's not like I can quickly change in to a suit/business casual to go to an interview, do that for half an hour to an hour, then change and come back to work.

I've tried it and it sucks. Much easier to just take the whole day.

Datsun310Guy said:

 

 We try hard to accommodate the right person.  

Which is how it should be. It's a two way street.

In reply to BoxheadTim :

I've never seen anything like that. That's insane.

Once we were interviewing a Pastor for our church and he preached two services on Sunday then a Q&A on Sunday night.  

Sometimes Pastors don't like to tell their current congregation they are interviewing- might not go over well and the potential place might not be a fit.

This guy stands up and asks; "where does your current church think you are this weekend"?   He was forcing the guy to admit he lied to his congregation.   

We asked in the future to not ask that question.  
 

Suprf1y said:

Datsun310Guy said:

 

 We try hard to accommodate the right person.  

Which is how it should be. It's a two way street.

 

Agreed - not always possible and both sides will need to give a little, but today with skype/teams, flexible work schedules, etc., it shouldn't be TOO hard to find time. Probably industry specific though. 

The two-way street thing bears repeating for a different, though related issue: Remember, you're interviewing them. They need to find out if you're right for the job; you need to find out if they're/the job is right for you.

Suprf1y said:

In reply to BoxheadTim :

I've never seen anything like that. That's insane.

It's mostly because I tend to be booked for client visits 6-8 weeks out. Obviously my employer still accommodates for sick time and other emergencies, but proper vacation time needs to be booked quite far ahead.

Always left early or came in late because of an "appointment."

One place that hired me, I told the recruiter before the first interview, "I wear jeans and a polo to work, if I show up in slacks and a tie and I'm not attending a funeral, it's going to be very obvious what is going on."

I interviewed in jeans, polo, and sneakers. I was hired. 

I switched jobs recently, and scheduling interviews was not easy. When at all possible, I tried to schedule phone interviews around lunch time and took those from the car in a commuter lot about a mile from my office. In person interviews I mostly took PTO for half or full days, depending on where the interview was an how long it would last. It's not an easy process, but you'll get through it!

In reply to BoxheadTim :

I meant the half to full day interviews. That's nuts

I recently went through this process after 20 years in the same job, though it was easier for me because I was working rotating 8hr shifts - the catalyst for me leaving. I actually turned a job down because the process was taking too long. I went to the interview for the job I eventually accepted for noon. By 1pm I'd had 3 interviews, a walk through the plant, and a job offer

Before you interview do a little research into the interview process, and the psychology of interviewing. It will help a lot.

When I was interviewing for my current job the phone interviews were easy to schedule because I would often do conference calls in my car anyway.  It was the perfect alibi!  The hard part was flying to Dallas and Boston for face to face interviews.  I asked for them to be scheduled for Fridays so I would take a long weekend.  That way if there were flight delays I would have the weekend to recover.  Interviewing sucks.  Companies that do like 5 or 6 different ones certainly make it difficult.

Yep. PTO for a half day if you can. 

Or "wife/moms car broke down".

or "Optometrist" or sick kid. 
 

or "got sprayed by a skunk"....

If you need to call in sick or take an emergency day use the most embarrassing excuse you can think of. That way nobody will want to bring it up for any reason.

hemorrhoids works, but use your imagination

In reply to Suprf1y :

Oh, that. Yeah, IT interviews are a little screwy, and with the proliferation of people who pretend to be experts in areas they haven't got a clue about, the assumption is now that anybody you interview doesn't know what they're talking about . As a result, IT hiring is a complete mess.

Suprf1y said:

In reply to BoxheadTim :

I meant the half to full day interviews. That's nuts

I've done that multiple times. It's not abnormal depending on your level.