Q. I’m interviewing for a job and think I may get more than one offer. I’m focused on my vacation though — I have a family vacation booked to Australia for a relative’s wedding — and I will be gone for three weeks in July. Should I wait until I am hired to tell the employer?
A. First, congrats on your interview success!
When I worked in recruiting, it wasn’t that big of a deal for candidates to mention it up front. It doesn’t hurt to mention it since you’ll be out of pocket for a significant amount of time. You can ask about the personal day policy and then see if your time bank can go negative or what would happen because you may only be working there a few weeks before taking vacation.
I had instances where the hiring managers suggested delaying the start date — this isn’t necessarily a bad thing depending on the group’s needs and who would train/mentor you and when. This way, you can go away and come back to start the new job rather than start, disrupt the momentum to go overseas and feel tempted to work while you’re with your family, etc.
I’d loop in the employer to give them a heads up because it could impact your start date. It hopefully should not impact your offer — and if the employer scoffs at your outstanding trip, that’s insight you need that perhaps this is not the right employer. Buon viaggio!
Q. I have no complaints about my job — I manage a great team, work for a terrific company — but I’m bored. We have headquarters in London and I could manage HQ and relocate my family! I think they’d love it. I’d love it. My company would benefit, too. How should I begin looking into this?
A. I commend you for recognizing being bored and needing to jump-start your career out of the plateau at the executive level. All levels could benefit from asking themselves, “What’s next? Where can I grow and go?”
Next, start looking into your company’s global mobility policy for rotational assignments — more specifically, the length of time. Talk to your partner at home — they may first ask how long it could be and that’s why it’s good to know basic information like the assignment length and when you envision starting. Flesh it out like writing a job description for yourself and goals you hope to achieve. Do your homework and reach out to people in your network who may have relocated overseas, more specifically London.
Once you’ve done your homework, speak to your boss to see what’s possible! Even if it hasn’t been done before, it doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Many pieces need to be thoroughly explored and understood such as taxes, work authorization and a compensation package (like a relocation bonus, cost of living adjustment, tuition reimbursement and more).
My parting words of insight: Get a repatriation commitment from your employer. This is a statement in your assignment contract (like an internal employment letter) with the start and end date that indicates at the successful completion of the rotational assignment, you will have a job (either your current title or referenced more generically) back in your home office or other locations.
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