Taking time off before a new job

By Daisy Carrington, amNewYork Deputy Features Editor | dcarrington@am-ny.com

June 18, 2007

I've been freelancing for a year and haven't had a proper vacation in as long. I've started interviewing and have a job offer pending. I really want to take a vacation, but I'm not sure how to bring it up with my potential employer. What's the etiquette?
--Burned out, Brooklyn

According to Lindsey Pollak, career expert and author of 'Getting from College to Career,' requesting early vacation time isn't an issue of 'etiquette' so much as it is a negotiating point.

"I would approach it more as a bargaining issue," she says.

If you're still in the process of negotiating salary and benefits, you can negotiate your vacation as part of that package, or you could ask to start a week later, thereby allowing you to take a holiday and approach the new job refreshed.

You still want to make a good first impression, however. When asking for that time, show that though you need a holiday, you're still eager to get started with the new job.

"Tell them, 'I really want to start fresh,' and ask if there's some reading you can do during that time, or offer to call in," Pollak says.

"If possible, it's better to take time off before you start, rather than interrupting the new job a month down the line."

If you can't schedule the holiday before your start date, or if you feel negotiating an early vacation might be a deal-breaker, Pollak advises approaching the topic by setting up a meeting with your new boss and giving him or her several options.

"You don't want to set them up to say 'yes' or 'no,'" she says. "Instead of making it a black-and-white issue, ask them what you can do to make it OK to take that time off."

Pollak suggests offering to use it against future vacation time or asking to take on an extra workload.

"Do something your boss will feel good about," she says. "Use it to create a win-win situation."