As if I don't have enough to worry about...

[riss287]

So, I just received a job interview invitation today. It's a part-time job, but it's mostly weekends. I haven't heard anything from any grad schools yet. The problem is, I don't want to tell them I'm thinking about going to grad school because 1. I haven't actually been accepted yet, and 2. I don't want them to not give me the job because of it. On the other hand, if I have to go to visit days, I don't want to (or know how to) lie about where I'm going, and I don't want them to fire me for witholding the info or for having to take off so many days. I know one school's days are a Thursday and Friday, and another is a Friday, but I'd have to take off Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for that one because of traveling and plane rides. What do you all suggest that I do or say in the interview? It's Friday, so there is a slight chance that I will know something from at least one school by then. I want the job, but now everything is becoming way more complicated. If I knew I would be accepted somewhere, this would not be as big of a problem. I'm afraid that I'll ruin my chances for the job and then end up not getting accepted anywhere. !!!

[golonghorns]

How badly do you need the job?

[riss287]

Well, I'm unemployed, but on the other hand I don't have any expenses as far as rent, etc. But I need money for the potential move. So I guess if I didn't have the job it wouldn't be the end of the world, but it would be nice to have it.

[GirlattheHelm]

Tough one...

Go to the interview and you might want to talk to them about scheduling. When you go be very interested in understanding how the job layout works and all that. You needn't divulge anything at this point.

Just trust me, they are NOT going to want to hear that the first few weeks you want to take off on X, Y, Z dates- that's pretty lame. However, if you can punch in whenever that's different. This will all depend on the job context as much as it does on going to see schools. And, by the way, you don't have to divulge your life history or story to them; they don't care. If it's a part-time gig they probably have a high turnover rate anyway.

The other factor is that you may have to go at a different time, by scheduling trips around your work life. This may be easier to achieve than fighting to take off work, obviously. Open houses and newly accepted student 'whatnots' are all nice and everything but this is graduate level stuff - professors know students have to work and will accommodate your schedule. Just remember to give them a range of possible dates that work for you so you can help work with their schedule (this is key to professional work).

And yeah, that's my advice.

[riss287]

Thank you! It is part-time, so I'm really hoping that the schedule is lenient like my previous part-time job. I also thought about visiting on a different day. The only problem with that is that I can't drive and am legally blind, so visiting a strange city is not easy in general, and definitely would be a little easier if I were with other prospective grad students doing things together. I guess I can try to find out in the interview if there are ways to switch one's days around, hopefully without divulging that I might have to take two weekends off. Also, I know that one weekend is the 19th and 20th (a Thurs. and Friday), so I could always say that I'd start work right after that, which would avoid one problem. I think I'm just thinking about it too much, when I haven't had the interview and don't know about grad schools. It's just annoying having your whole life up in the air.

[miratrix]

I think you should go to the interview, get a feel for whether you want the job and how flexible they are, and deal with these problems if and when you are actually offered the job. I had similar concerns this fall, but for the most part it wasn't an issue because I wasn't offered most of the jobs anyway. Get as many options as possible, don't endanger any at this stage, and make your decision when it's clearer what your choices are.