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Someone who replies with that kind of hyperbole is just saying they don’t want anyone who is going to take more than a bare minimum of PTO. If you’re dealing w

Someone who replies with that kind of hyperbole is just saying they don’t want anyone who is going to take more than a bare minimum of PTO. If you’re dealing with a reasonable person, you should be able to preface the question by explaining how having sufficient time off helps you do your best work and avoid burnout, and that you want to clarify expectations up front to make sure that you and the company are an ideal match. It’s also of course a bit less risky to bring up this sort of thing a bit later in the interview process when you’ve built a bit of a rapport with the interviewer and ideally demonstrated your value somewhat.

thomasahle 5y ago
> If you’re dealing with a reasonable person, you should be able to preface the question by explaining how having sufficient time off helps you do your best work and avoid burnout If you are dealing with a reasonable person, hopefully you want have to explain any of that.
- mandelbrotwurst 5y ago
  Sure, I've just found that it can be helpful to clarify intent is all, especially when you're dealing with someone you've just met - e.g. maybe the interviewer is mostly reasonable, but is scarred from past negative experiences with colleagues who were legitimately lazy. This phrasing might help such a person understand where you're coming from a bit more easily.
  - Cyph0n 5y ago
    If you need to clarify intent for something as fundamental as work/life balance, wouldn’t that be (at best) a yellow flag?
    - redisman 5y ago
      This needs to not be a taboo. It’s very important how many days I get off, how many hours I’m expected to work and if I’m expected to work nights and weekends. Those are like my top 3 concerns, I don’t really care about your snacks or vision or stack to be honest.
      - lazide 5y ago
        But they do care about those things - a lot. And since being employed requires both parties are happy with the deal, it is something worth considering that obviously not caring about the things they care about could cause them concern. It goes both ways of course - them not caring about your well-being is obviously just a big a red flag for a candidate.
- bluGill 5y ago
  If you are not dealing with a reasonable person you don't want to work there anyway.
- lazide 5y ago
  Have you ever had a date where the first thing someone talks about is something like having babies, or going on and on about their ex, or they want to know how much you make in the first 15 minutes? It is not a pleasant feeling, and makes it pretty clear what their priorities are (and aren’t). Namely that having some idea who YOU are and if they like you doesn’t really matter much. If someone starts the interview process talking about about the vacation amounts (and not much else), that isn’t that different. Chances are at that point they don’t know folks on the team, and vice versa, they don’t know about the company (much), or what the job would likely look like, it may entail, or really much of anything. It’s just weird, and a bit concerning, in the same way that someone might ask about perks and pay without even trying to understand any of those factors too. Because those factors matter too, a lot. I’m not saying asking about vacation is a round file thing - rather I have seen, and can definitely imagine, scenarios where it is or would be a pretty major red flag. If part of the general background comp discussion after someone has spent some effort figuring things out, or as part of the initial listing? Of course, that’s not weird at all. And giving a pay range for a role is of course necessary to avoid people wasting their time. So ‘it depends’
  - me_me_me 5y ago
    Interview is not a date. Its a formal meeting where parties are trying to acheive something concrete. Hire a good employee, find a good job. If someone starts off with asking about essential thing that is important factor for them it means that its a dealbreaker issue for them. Whats the point of interview if they know there is no flexi time, and you only look for flexitime jobs?? Its actually a matter-of-fact approach that goes straight into details and saves everyone time. Given it was properly delivered I would be more inclined to hire engineer like that.
    - lazide 5y ago
      If properly delivered? Sure. As many folks seem to be indicating in these threads, as the primary or even sole topic of interest to them? Would you then consider that a plus?
      - 5y ago

thomasahle 5y ago

> If you’re dealing with a reasonable person, you should be able to preface the question by explaining how having sufficient time off helps you do your best work and avoid burnout If you are dealing with a reasonable person, hopefully you want have to explain any of that.

mandelbrotwurst 5y ago
Sure, I've just found that it can be helpful to clarify intent is all, especially when you're dealing with someone you've just met - e.g. maybe the interviewer is mostly reasonable, but is scarred from past negative experiences with colleagues who were legitimately lazy. This phrasing might help such a person understand where you're coming from a bit more easily.
- Cyph0n 5y ago
  If you need to clarify intent for something as fundamental as work/life balance, wouldn’t that be (at best) a yellow flag?
  - redisman 5y ago
    This needs to not be a taboo. It’s very important how many days I get off, how many hours I’m expected to work and if I’m expected to work nights and weekends. Those are like my top 3 concerns, I don’t really care about your snacks or vision or stack to be honest.
    - lazide 5y ago
      But they do care about those things - a lot. And since being employed requires both parties are happy with the deal, it is something worth considering that obviously not caring about the things they care about could cause them concern. It goes both ways of course - them not caring about your well-being is obviously just a big a red flag for a candidate.
bluGill 5y ago
If you are not dealing with a reasonable person you don't want to work there anyway.
lazide 5y ago
Have you ever had a date where the first thing someone talks about is something like having babies, or going on and on about their ex, or they want to know how much you make in the first 15 minutes? It is not a pleasant feeling, and makes it pretty clear what their priorities are (and aren’t). Namely that having some idea who YOU are and if they like you doesn’t really matter much. If someone starts the interview process talking about about the vacation amounts (and not much else), that isn’t that different. Chances are at that point they don’t know folks on the team, and vice versa, they don’t know about the company (much), or what the job would likely look like, it may entail, or really much of anything. It’s just weird, and a bit concerning, in the same way that someone might ask about perks and pay without even trying to understand any of those factors too. Because those factors matter too, a lot. I’m not saying asking about vacation is a round file thing - rather I have seen, and can definitely imagine, scenarios where it is or would be a pretty major red flag. If part of the general background comp discussion after someone has spent some effort figuring things out, or as part of the initial listing? Of course, that’s not weird at all. And giving a pay range for a role is of course necessary to avoid people wasting their time. So ‘it depends’
- me_me_me 5y ago
  Interview is not a date. Its a formal meeting where parties are trying to acheive something concrete. Hire a good employee, find a good job. If someone starts off with asking about essential thing that is important factor for them it means that its a dealbreaker issue for them. Whats the point of interview if they know there is no flexi time, and you only look for flexitime jobs?? Its actually a matter-of-fact approach that goes straight into details and saves everyone time. Given it was properly delivered I would be more inclined to hire engineer like that.
  - lazide 5y ago
    If properly delivered? Sure. As many folks seem to be indicating in these threads, as the primary or even sole topic of interest to them? Would you then consider that a plus?
    - 5y ago