How to Ask for a Vacation When Starting a New Job

How to Ask for a Vacation When Starting a New JobHow to Ask for a Vacation When Starting a New JobIts summertime, which means your thoughts turn to vacation. If youre new at a job, what are the rules about asking to take vacation time? In alot of jobs, you earn vacationtime, which means that you cant take a few days off until youve worked long enough to have earned time off. But some jobs grant you vacation on your first day of work. Can you take a vacation - and succeed on the new job - when youve only been therbeie for a month? Here are several ways to look at and answer this question. Planned in Advance If you have a trip planned before you start a job, the trip should come up during the negotiation phase. That is, if your sister in Alabama is getting married and youll need 3 days off in July, dont wait until your first day in June to mention that youll need time off. Instead, when youhave received a job offerand before youve accepted it, you can ask if you can take those days off. In most cases, your new boss wont have a problem with such a request - although some may inform you that the leave is unpaid time. But, if your boss says no, you then have the choice of accepting the job and skipping the weddingor turning down the job and serving as her maid of honor. Standard Summer Vacation In this case, you have nothing specifically planned, but youd like to take a summer vacation. Starting a new job doesnt mean you dont want to take a couple of days on the beach or go to visit grandma. Keep in mind that a lot of jobs have high learning curves and taking time off at the beginning can set you behind. You dont want your boss judging your long-term performance in a negative light because you took time off in the first couple of months at work. With that in mind, its still possible to take some time off. First, speak to your boss and acknowledge that you are new and youll understand if its not possible to take time off. Tell her that youd like to take a rea sonable amount of time off this summer. Expect the boss to give preference to everyone else in the office. Its not because youre not fabulous its just because youre new. If your boss says its no problem, go ahead and take your vacation. If your boss seems hesitant, assure her that you understand and that youll use your vacation time later in the year. Is that fair? Of course. Youre new to the job, which means that the position has probably been vacant for some time and they have a backlog of work that needs to be done. This doesnt mean you wont ever get to use your vacation time, just that you need to do some work first. What About Summer Jobs If youre astudent, working to earn money for schoolor a car, and both you and your boss are clear that when school starts in the fall, youre out of there, its a different situation. A lot of summer jobs are part-time, which means that you have a lot of free time anyway. You can ask for a week where you work Friday, Saturday, Sunday (which most people prefer not to work), and in exchange, not work the weekdays, allowing you to take a nice vacation - albeit undoubtedly unpaid. If your summer job is full time, getting time off is mora difficult. People hire seasonal workers because they need people there to cover jobs. It is something you should also ask about during the hiring process. Keep in mind that the answer may be no. One reason employers hire summer help is to allow regular full-time employees to take vacation time. Competition for summer jobs is fierce, and you may lose out to someone who is willing to commit to the whole summer. Does Your Level Matter Absolutely. If youve just been hired at an entry-level position, youre going to need to prove yourself. Asking for a vacation right at the beginning wont help with your reputation. If youre the new director, how you approach vacation will set the tone for your department. You want your staff to take their vacations, so taking one yourself looks like a good l eadership move. If you cant take a vacation in the first six months or more of a new job, it can be slightly bothersome, but its one of the things that come with the new job territory. Feel happy that youre in a new place and make sure youre first on the list for planning next years vacation.