You should not tell your boss anything. It's none of his business. If he asks, it's OK to tell a white lie or, my personal favourite, mention personal reasons. Stonewall if you have to. Oh, just taking a little personal time off.
Most managers ask because
- Social reasons - it's nice to show interest in your report's lifes
- Little pushback - it's socially acceptable to ask and they often get a reply
Regardless, you do not have to answer anything if you don't feel like it.
Sidenote: If your default answer is personal reasons, you will never have to think of an excuse
* References *
Sorry I missed that bit initially, editing in.
It has been my experience companies do not contact employers for reference until the very last moment, in order to avoid situations like the one you fear. In fact job offers in the UK often have some wording akin to subject to a reference check, the job's yours, while others won't even start the referencing process without your explicit permission.
Nevertheless it's not a bad idea to explicitly state your expectations to the interviewer. Just tell them your employer doesn't know you're interviewing, and you prefer to keep it that way and you hope their referencing policy aligns with that goal.
There's nothing immoral about scheduling an interview if you're already happy where you are. It's the interviewer's job to sell you the position as much as it's yours to sell yourself your skills.
manpreet![Tuteehub forum best answer]()
Best Answer
2 years ago
EDIT: This question is specifically about how to communicate my actions and goals to my current employer. This question is unconcerned with the ethics of interviewing without intention of taking the job, to clarify, the ethics tag has been removed
I've been contacted about interviewing by a recruiter and I'd like to take the interview but don't really plan on leaving my current job (everyone has a price, though.) I'd like to be honest with my employer about why I'm taking Paid Time Off because A) the company I'm interviewing with may contact my current employer for reference and B) I'd like to establish a trend of interviewing once a year without anyone worrying about my loyalty.
TL:DR How do I handle informing my current employer that I am going on an interview but have no intention of leaving my current job?
I've only worked at my current company for 2 years and this company has a reputation for extremely longevity (some of my coworkers started here in the '60's) My boss seems to be a very understanding guy but management above him is very "corporate" so I'm not sure how they would react. I've considered the following options:
Tell them about the interview but claim it's just because I want someone to pay for a vacation (the interviewing company will pay airfare, room, and board)
Any other ideas?
I realize that some of you will say that interviewing is a bad idea or even dishonest if I don't plan to take the job. I've already weighed and made that decision so please keep answers on topic.
A bit of background. At a company I worked for in the past there were a pair of developers who believed in going on at least one job interview a year. They did so and made their bosses (the CTO and CEO) aware of their activities. My understanding is that they were honest about the interview and insistent that it was a matter of currency: neither intended to leave the company and neither ever took job offers. It may be relevant that these b.com/tag/people">people had 14 and 15 years tenure at a 16 year old hundred-million dollar company. Their loyalty was therefore virtually unimpeachable.
I am a mid-career engineer, well credentialed in a niche skill. In other words, b.com/tag/people">people like me are not recruited often but are highly sought-after when the b.com/tag/need">need arises. I work in the U.S. for a large corporation.