Is International Vacation During an Interview Process Detrimental?

Question

I am in what I feel to be a unique situation: My company is being shut down by our parent company at the end of the calendar year. Basically I have until now (11/14/2017) until 12/31/2017 to find another job while "still employed". I am now looking for my next job and am beginning the interviewing process with some other companies.

My issue is that I had planned (months ago) a 3 week vacation to Singapore which will take place 11/17/2017 to 12/10/2017 - this takes up almost half of my remaining employment time. I have a couple of worries and wanted to field them for anyone who may have experienced or seen a similar situation.

1. Does being currently unemployed have an adverse affect on a job hunt vs. being employed? That is, should I be worried I'll be spending time on vacation during valuable "employment time"?

2. If I start the interview process say 11/16/2017 with a company, and then go to Singapore, would that put parts of the process on hold? Is it ever a deal breaker if an employee puts an interview process on hold like that?

3. Remote and phone interviewing is one thing, and I've done that before, but does anyone think the time difference (14 hours ahead) would give rise to especially bad lines of communication? I assume email would move along fine but phone calls or Skype calls would be harder to orchestrate. Would this put interviewers off from trying to schedule "meetings"?

4. When I return on 12/10/2017, will I be setting myself up for failure in some way if recruitment slows down soon for the holiday season? Does recruitment become much slower in the holiday season?

This may sound silly, but this is a very important trip to take for me, I'm in a long distance relationship and we haven't seen each other in a very long time, but I'm very anxious about the situation as it currently stands and would appreciate some unbiased feedback to help me make any plans. Thanks!

Edit: W.R.T. this question being suggested as a duplicate Why shouldn't I resign when I haven't secured another job?: I honestly can't really identify anywhere in my question where I'm asking a similar question or addressing a similar problem. Bullet point 1 is not being asked because I want to resign or plan on resigning, I have a date of termination and no say in the matter. I'm asking if international vacation during an interview process is detrimental to the interview process, date of termination is a variable in my equation.

Answer 1

Does being currently unemployed have an adverse affect on a job hunt vs. being employed? That is, should I be worried I'll be spending time on vacation during valuable "employment time"?

It can do yes.. by being currently "employed" you are already seen as being inherently employable. The circumstances surrounding your unemployment will likely mitigate this effect somewhat as you have a very good reason for being unemployed that doesn't reflect upon you personally and you can explain that in your cover letter if it comes to that.

If I start the interview process say 11/16/2017 with a company, and then go to Singapore, would that put parts of the process on hold? Is it ever a deal breaker if an employee puts an interview process on hold like that?

Yes this can be a deal breaker, it's not guaranteed to be one as it will depend on how quickly they want to move forward with the hiring process but if there are other candidates who are just as qualified/suitable for the role than they are there and you aren't then they are probably going to have an advantage over you. If you are an exceptional candidate or if your role is a particularly difficult one to recruit for that will help you but as the old adage goes "you snooze, you lose"

Remote and phone interviewing is one thing, and I've done that before, but does anyone think the time difference (14 hours ahead) would give rise to especially bad lines of communication? I assume email would move along fine but phone calls or Skype calls would be harder to orchestrate. Would this put interviewers off from trying to schedule "meetings"?

If the company is amenable to remote interviews in general then it shouldn't be too much of a problem, I would say though that the time difference would have to be something you would need to be prepared to handle entirely yourself. Some interviewers/hiring managers may be prepared to be a bit more flexible and if they offer this flexibility then there's no problem taking it but I certainly wouldn't be asking for it let alone expecting it.

When I return on 12/10/2017, will I be setting myself up for failure in some way if recruitment slows down soon for the holiday season? Does recruitment become much slower in the holiday season?

Whether recruitment slows down or not over the holiday period will vary from industry to industry and by locale - but in most industries I've been in it does slow down over this period yes. The fact that so many people are taking time off restricts availability if nothing else.

This may sound silly, but this is a very important trip to take for me, I'm in a long distance relationship and we haven't seen each other in a very long time, but I'm very anxious about the situation as it currently stands and would appreciate some unbiased feedback to help me make any plans. Thanks!

It doesn't sound silly.. but the hard truth is that this is a very bad time for you to be putting yourself on the proverbial bench for three weeks. If you can afford a period of unemployment in the new year then it's still workable but you're still taking a gamble. If you do decide to go on the trip then I'd make sure you keep up with the job hunt as much as possible remotely via the internet/email and just make it clear from the start that you are out of the country and returning on 12/10/2017 when you'll be available for in-person interviews.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Does being currently unemployed have an adverse affect on a job hunt vs. being employed? That is, should I be worried I'll be spending time on vacation during valuable "employment time"?

It is better if you are employed while job hunting. Given so, seems that such employment time is indeed valuable. Check the post Why shouldn't I resign when I haven't secured another job?

If I start the interview process say 11/16/2017 with a company, and then go to Singapore, would that put parts of the process on hold? Is it ever a deal breaker if an employee puts an interview process on hold like that?

Well, first of all you will not be able to enjoy your vacations and you will also not be in the ideal environment and conditions to take any follow-ups that may take place.

If some company reaches out to you and you say "Hey, thank you for your offer, I am currently on vacation, can you wait for me to come back?", may not be the right move to do (they could move to other candidates easily).

Remote and phone interviewing is one thing, and I've done that before, but does anyone think the time difference (14 hours ahead) would give rise to especially bad lines of communication? I assume email would move along fine but phone calls or Skype calls would be harder to orchestrate. Would this put interviewers off from trying to schedule "meetings"?

Meeting across timezones is indeed more complex than local or similar meetings. Although I doubt your Internet may fail you, it is more likely that scheduling such meetings will be harder to coordinate.

When I return on 12/10/2017, will I be setting myself up for failure in some way if recruitment slows down soon for the holiday season? Does recruitment become much slower in the holiday season?

I say that you will have less chances than if you stayed and used that time to pursue a new job.

I am not completely sure about if recruitment slows down during holiday. My suspicion is that it may do, as usually most companies are eagerly counting, preparing and forecasting next years financial and taxes. That and also that most people tend to take their PTO on these dates, so lack of personnel may slow things down a bit.