Flexibility on the interview process

Hi there,

This depends largely on the type or role and recruiting mode:

If you are applying on a rolling admission basis, all firms are usually very flexible with scheduling.

If you are applying for a deadline-based position with competition, you would usually not be able to reschedule.

All the best,

Florian

Hi there,

If you want to avoid creating a bad impression to recruiters, you should find a more solid excuse than holidays to postpone your interviews. 

If this is the only reason and you are very interested on getting the job, I strongly advice against moving the interviews.

Best,

Alberto

—

Check out my latest case based on a real MBB interview: Sierra Springs

Personally? I wouldn't.

What impression would that leave you if you were the firm/interviewer? As in, two equal candidates, who would you hire?

I'm not saying a vacation rules you out or will inherently affect your application negatively. However, it could.

I caught the Flu before my BCG interview. Did I have reason to move the interview? Yup. Did I? Nope. 

Was 8/10 sick and flew NYC - Boston to do my interviews.

If it were me I would find a way to do the interview while on vacation.

Hi there,

Q: How easy is it to take a break during the interview process? 

This might depend on how the recruiting pipeline is structured (i.e., if it is with specific deadlines or rolling admissions). The best thing is to contact HR and ask them if there is an option to postpone, worst case, they will say that’s not an option.

Good luck!

Francesco

Hi,

if you are applying in a country where they have year-round recruiting, postponing the interview is usually possible. If you are somewhere where there is only a specific application and hiring window, you won't be able to postpone - at least not within the same cycle.

In either case, I would not tell them that a vacation is the reason for this. Come up with a more legitimate sounding reason if getting the job is important to you.

Best of luck

Hi there!

So you would like time off between the rounds? 

If that's the case, then yes, it's possible, in pretty much all situations. 

Going on vacation is not a great excuse though. Typically, they are more flexible if your reasons have to do with work or personal commitments. 

Do discuss the situation with HR, however. It's important to note that sometimes, for specialist roles, they have a set hiring period and a set number of roles. So, in these situations, they are less flexible than they would be with generalists, for instance.

Good luck!
Cristian

This is quite simple. If this is batch recruiting (e.g. University recruiting) postponing will always put you at a disadvantage. 

If this is rolling recruiting, then it wouldn't make much of a difference. 

Please note that they are unlikely to immediately schedule to the week right after the first round and basically you will only need to ask them to postpone for a week / a few days. In any case, I would suggest taking 1 week off, not 2.