WEBVTT - What to do when you have run out of leave days to go for job interviews?

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<v Speaker 1>Hi, it's our Ask Me Anything segment where we answer

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<v Speaker 1>a work-related question that you have sent it to us.

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<v Speaker 1>Please continue to send. I like them. They give me

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<v Speaker 1>very good food for thought and we hope that we

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<v Speaker 1>have helped you a wee bit in your work week.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's question is sent in by Shaan. Now Sean's question

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<v Speaker 1>is about how to ask or get time off to

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<v Speaker 1>go and do interviews when you are juggling an existing job. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm sure many people are interested right now.

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<v Speaker 1>Well this is especially for interviews where you don't know

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<v Speaker 1>if you're going to be successful and there are multiple rounds. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>so Sean says taking leave for every interview is not feasible,

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<v Speaker 1>especially when you have to save some for other users.

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<v Speaker 1>I resorting to taking medical leave more recommended or more

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<v Speaker 1>common in the workplace where leave approvals are not required

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<v Speaker 1>or can be requested at the last minute. OK, this

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<v Speaker 1>is a tricky situation, Sean, but how do you go

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<v Speaker 1>for these multiple interviews without

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<v Speaker 1>Raising the question with your boss that, hey, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>this guy is taking a lot of leave, huh, and

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<v Speaker 1>also I just want to caveat. I'm asking for a

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<v Speaker 2>friend. OK. Should you use medical leave for this? Please don't. Please, please,

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<v Speaker 2>please don't lie. Don't abuse and mistrust because people are

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<v Speaker 2>going to figure out how come you always fall sick

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<v Speaker 2>and you don't really look sick and if it gets

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<v Speaker 2>found out, it's really, really going to look very bad

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<v Speaker 2>on you.

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<v Speaker 1>So trust is

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<v Speaker 1>going to be an issue.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, yes. So don't abuse the benefit of medical leave

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<v Speaker 2>for job interviews. So with that out of the way.

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<v Speaker 2>then how do we get through the multiple rounds of

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<v Speaker 2>interviews if you're not going to use this. Actually, I

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<v Speaker 2>feel like most of us, we somehow have our own

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<v Speaker 2>way of figuring it out, navigating it, so there isn't

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<v Speaker 2>that one fixed answer. Maybe those who are listening, maybe

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<v Speaker 2>you can also drop in your comments on what you

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<v Speaker 2>have done. The legit good ones, OK, not the illegal ones,

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<v Speaker 2>but one thing is during the interview process, it's important

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<v Speaker 2>for you to ask the recruiter how many rounds uh

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<v Speaker 2>can you expect. Sometimes they say 2 to 3 rounds

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<v Speaker 2>and you.

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<v Speaker 2>a sense over the next couple of weeks, uh, if

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<v Speaker 2>things go according to plan and you get caught up

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<v Speaker 2>for subsequent rounds then how many days of leave you

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<v Speaker 2>need to take. You might not want to take full

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<v Speaker 2>day leaves.

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<v Speaker 1>If you have the option of taking half day, right?

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<v Speaker 1>You can take

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<v Speaker 2>half days. You could also ask some of these interviews,

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<v Speaker 2>are they online, offline, right? I know some of the

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<v Speaker 2>people are going to wonder, hey, but if you are

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<v Speaker 2>online and then your boss calls you or rather your

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<v Speaker 2>working hours and isn't this like eating into the company policy,

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<v Speaker 2>you're not being a good employee, taking

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<v Speaker 2>Time off, I mean, this is where the gray area happens. Ideally,

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<v Speaker 2>the new company will be nice enough to ask you

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<v Speaker 2>to maybe come down during lunch hours or after office

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<v Speaker 2>hours for an interview, and that's a possibility as well.

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<v Speaker 2>If that's an option, you can consider it, but as

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<v Speaker 2>a job seeker, right, I'll be wondering whether the person

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<v Speaker 2>has eaten lunch. Why

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<v Speaker 1>should

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<v Speaker 2>you

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<v Speaker 1>career

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<v Speaker 2>hungry person interviewing you

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<v Speaker 1>it's not it's gonna make proper assessment because not enough

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<v Speaker 1>blood sugar.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so usually if it was up to me, right,

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<v Speaker 2>I would probably say maybe just after lunch hour.

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<v Speaker 1>Food coma, no,

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<v Speaker 2>then it's for you to impress the person to keep

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<v Speaker 2>the person awake during that time or maybe just before lunch,

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<v Speaker 2>just before that, I think it'll be OK, but if

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<v Speaker 2>it's right smack in lunch hour, people might not like

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<v Speaker 2>it very much. But I do know companies HR and

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<v Speaker 2>the supervisor are willing to meet people during lunchtime. It's

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<v Speaker 2>possible as well.

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<v Speaker 1>So if it's outside of

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<v Speaker 1>the lunch hours, you still have to take like a

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<v Speaker 1>half day leave and everything. So you still have to

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<v Speaker 1>pace out, I guess Sean probably has to pace out

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<v Speaker 1>the leave quota that he has because he might want

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<v Speaker 1>to use all the other days to go and travel

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<v Speaker 1>with his family, do his own travels and things like

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<v Speaker 1>that,

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<v Speaker 2>right? Yes. Honestly, I don't think it will take a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of days, right, unless you're aggressively being sought after la.

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<v Speaker 2>But generally, you know, if you are.

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<v Speaker 2>while you're still being employed. The leave days is not

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<v Speaker 2>going to be significantly a lot, honestly speaking. But you

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<v Speaker 2>do need to manage if today you are really saving

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<v Speaker 2>up that leave for other things, then you do need

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<v Speaker 2>to plan a little bit. And what we said earlier,

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<v Speaker 2>asking for the number of days, number of rounds that

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<v Speaker 2>you need to have, that you can do it online,

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<v Speaker 2>can do it after office hours, during lunch breaks. I

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<v Speaker 2>think these are some of the advice that I will

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<v Speaker 2>give that you can try.

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<v Speaker 2>I don't know, maybe we'll hear a lot more from

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<v Speaker 2>our listeners in terms of what they have done,

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<v Speaker 1>what are some of the good tips that they can

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<v Speaker 1>give to somebody like Shawn. So yeah, Sean, wish you

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<v Speaker 1>all the best in your job interviews. I hope that

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<v Speaker 1>you don't have to go through that many, many rounds,

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<v Speaker 1>but in a nutshell, don't lie, get creative and you

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<v Speaker 1>know I'm hearing this for the first time trying not

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<v Speaker 1>to do a lunchtime interview, so yeah, let's try and

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<v Speaker 1>avoid that.

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<v Speaker 1>If like Sean, you have a work-related question, do send

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<v Speaker 1>it to us. We are at CNA podcasts at Mediacorp.com.sg.

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<v Speaker 1>We're also on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Me Listen, and YouTube

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<v Speaker 1>where a video version of this is at.

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<v Speaker 1>The team behind the Work It podcast is Junai Johari,

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<v Speaker 1>Joanne Chan, Saye Win, Alison Jenner, Shahzad Dalia, and Christina Robert.

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<v Speaker 1>Video by Hania Ahmed. I'm Gerald and I'm Tiffany. Have

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<v Speaker 1>a good work week ahead and I hope you have

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<v Speaker 1>an understanding boss.