Excuses you made up to go to an interview during current job?

I'm currently working a contract position and I feel underpaid for the job I'm doing. If they offer full-time, it will definitely be lower. So I figured to either continue the contract or take the full-time and look for another gig.

But since it's during business hours (7:30a-5p), what excuses did you make to go for a job interview? Did you just call in sick or tell them you're coming in late? I don't want them to be suspicious of my job exploring.

Find more posts tagged with

Free for TechExams community: Cybersecurity salary guide

Compare cert salaries and plan your next career move

Button

Comments

Asif Dasl

Michael Jackson has just died. It worked too!

Seriously, a dental appointment.

sambuca69

Call out sick... schedule it early and come in late due to "car-troubles"... or work from home and just "go to lunch" at the interview time.

cyberguypr

Subscribing. I am sure this will be interesting.

skyline

One's I have used in the past:

Sick
Wife's Sick
Dentist appt
Doctor's appt
Car trouble (xyz part broke on my drive in)
Sitting for exam
Picking someone up at airport
Personal day

chrisone

haha you must really feel guilty about going to an interview to be asking for excuses here.

In the end, you need to remember, you provide for yourself, you have to look out for the best interests for you and your family. If anyone else dont like it throw up the bird and tell them F*@k YOU!

Do not have any remorse or guilt for trying to make your life better. NEVER!

Anyways all of the above are great excuses!

Alif_Sadida_Ekin

I just went to an interview yesterday morning. The previous day, I sent an email to my manager stating that I have personal matters that need attending to so I won't be in until later that day. He was ok with that.

Rockets34Life

Hehe, just want to be discrete while I'm still working at my current position. I'm just hoping I get enough interviews that I can schedule them all on one day so it would be easier to make the excuse.

It sucks I have to resort to this. I like the role I'm in and I like the people I support. T

The downfalls:

- Don't like my co-worker, who works as an individual and not as a team player
- Director who meddles in our business instead of hiring a manager to work with us and who can mediate b/t our team and him
- Pay is waaaaaaaay too low with the amt. of duties I have for this position

nice343

Family member needs surgery now.....he is in the ambulance as we speak!!!!!!!!

arwes

Either explosive diarrhea or Dutch Elm disease. Typically I just say that I've got an appointment to go to. I haven't had to use any subterfuge in several years though.

powerfool

I remember all of the hoops I had to jump through at one job when I was attempting to leave. I actually called in sick to go to an interview, and then they rescheduled the interview for the next day, at the last minute; so, I called in again. Then just as I was going to head into my bosses office to put in my notice, I received an calendar message that my boss was going on vacation the next week... and while I had lost a lot of respect for the guy, I didn't want him cancelling his vacation because of whatever would arise. He went on this vacation for one week, and then I planned on putting in my notice when he returned on Monday... and the same thing happened... he was going to go on another weeks vacation the following week. The thing with the second one was that I was going to be out of the office on Tuesday of that week for the primary election; they knew this because I always work the elections and I outlined all of my planned leave for the year just three weeks prior. Well, I didn't come in on that Tuesday, and the president of the company sent me a very nasty email indicated that he respected my decision to work the elections that he expected me to provide better notice especially since my boss was out (we were a small shop). Well, I sent him a message, copying my boss indicating that I gave proper notice by informing my boss (attached the original email message), and referenced the shared calendar entry. I ended up having a meeting with the president of the company and I told him that I was quiting and that I would have put in a two weeks notice, but giving these circumstances, the following Monday would be my last day so that I could brief my boss on whatever information he needed, plus I was scheduled to be out of the office that Tuesday through Thursday anyhow. That had to be the most awkward set of circumstances I had dealt with. A great deal of it was that it was a four month hiring process by my new company, mostly do the new boss being extremely timid.

I find that unless you are going to bring your interview clothes into the office with you, just call in. Otherwise, try and schedule it for the beginning or end of the day; dental/vision appointment is the best (unless you recently had one), as you can just claim it is a standard checkup and not have much of a reason...

Psoasman

I overslept on purpose, called in to let them know I'd be in an hour late, went to the interview, got the job, turned in 3 week notice.

Excellent1

Rockets34Life wrote: »

I'm currently working a contract position and I feel underpaid for the job I'm doing. If they offer full-time, it will definitely be lower. So I figured to either continue the contract or take the full-time and look for another gig.

But since it's during business hours (7:30a-5p), what excuses did you make to go for a job interview? Did you just call in sick or tell them you're coming in late? I don't want them to be suspicious of my job exploring.

I understand what you're trying to do, and I can empathize. That said, I would council against lying. You can say with honesty that you can't make it in because you have an appointment, you don't have to specify whether it's medical or otherwise.

I've often seen people that try to be discreet (i.e., secretive) about their job hunt activities who end up getting found out. A friend of a friend of the manager mentions to someone who just happens to mention to their current employer that Joe was interviewing for a position at their company. If the person in question has been lying about their activities, it's a huge black eye, and typically hurts the relationship with their current employer substantially. The balancing act is to find a better job without burning bridges at your current one. While the quick lie is easy and convenient, it's not always the best option.

Just my opinion, take it with a grain (or an entire lick, if you'd like) of salt.

lochmoigh

My current boss is friend, I told him I am looking. He understands as the owner is an interesting cat. I just dress up for work that day and go on the interviews.

tiersten

I just say that I need a half day or full day off and to take it out of my holiday days. I don't need to give any specific excuse.

ibcritn

This isn't an easy thing for me to do because I never call out.

My last job I had for 1 year and the only time I didn't show was due to the interview I had....I just explained through an email (I was the early bird first one in) that I needed a personal day due to a family issue.

I know they suspected me of job exploring because they knew I felt underpaid for the amount of stress I had to deal with daily, nightly, weekendly.

Hypntick

Yep, I just say I have an appointment. That has always worked and usually no further explination is needed.

MAC_Addy

The last excuse I told was that I had a doctors appointment and they were testing my blood. Because that always takes a long time.

xenodamus

Yesterday I left early to "talk to my tax guy". Got the job btw.

PhildoBaggins

"I have to go to my vagina mechanic"

mikedisd2

I used to be an onsite technician and noone kept track of billable hours. I'd just leave with no questions asked. Did lots of interviews like that; it's a small city though so had to just hope noone I knew saw me walking around with a tie.

jmritenour

I go with the vague "I have an appointment". It's not a lie, so I'm not being dishonest with the boss. I've never been asked to clarify. If I were, I'd just say "it's of a personal nature", and leave it at that.

shaqazoolu

I had a phone interview on Thursday and if all goes according to plan, I'll be in this position in a couple weeks if I get a face to face. I was just going to take a vacation day and tell them it was for personal reasons.

Ever since Dynamik quit, they've been treating me like a king because they don't want me to leave too. I've been leaving bread crumbs on Facebook and randomly updating my LinkedIn page to see how much attention they are paying and it seems to me like they are on high alert because they notice everything. If I take a random day off and give them a really cryptic reason, they're going to know what's up so it's pretty pointless for me to lie anyway. I'm way beyond the point of caring though. I'm fortunate enough to be in a position where I hold all the cards. I'm not about to volunteer the information, but honestly, if they straight up asked me if I was looking, I'd probably just tell them yes.