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I'm not a good morning person, and this has caused friction in jobs when I've been consistently the last person in the office, regardless of my performance at the job.

I'd like find a job that has the expectation of starting 10:30am. This have a two fold advantage - one in that with that expectation up front, I'm not failing the expectation, but also it would allow myself to relax in the morning and not be rushing out of the house.

The problem is I feel like that this is going to be an unattractive ask for many employers.

Is there a way to going about seeking this accommodation that isn't going to jeopardize my job search?

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  • 5
    Your right, it is an un-attractive ask.
    – Neo
    Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 22:17
  • 7
    Try and work remotely for a company that's 2 hours behind you and you'll turn up at 08:30 every day .
    – Ben
    Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 23:28
  • 3
    Television broadcasting, restaurants, almost anything in the entertainment / hosting industries.
    – Wesley Long
    Commented Feb 20, 2018 at 0:07
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    The majority of startups only care about your results, not hours spent at work or when you do them. So I'd try them.
    – Juha Untinen
    Commented Feb 20, 2018 at 4:20
  • 1
    What industry are you working in?
    – dbeer
    Commented Feb 20, 2018 at 16:49

4 Answers 4

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Is there a way to going about seeking this accommodation that isn't going to jeopardize my job search?

Some companies offer Flextime as an option, where you are expected to do X hours a day, but you may distribute them as they better fit you.

You can also try remote working, or some place that may accept remote and on-site work.

These are all reasonable options that many companies offer and that are not likely to jeopardize your job search.

The problem is I feel like that this is going to be an unattractive ask for many employers.

Well... if some company doesn't offer such alternatives then, as per your stated preferences, you should seek for one that does. Naturally some companies may not like these ideas, but other surely will.

If you are definitely not settling for something else, I suggest you try to find if they offer such alternatives as soon as possible during the search process. That way you will not be waisting anyone's time by proceeding with a company that does not offer what you seek.

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    Even places with flex time often want you to start by 9 am at the latest. I ti hard to coordinate work among people who work drastically different hours.
    – HLGEM
    Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 22:22
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    @HLGEM not all. The company where I work allows people to check in at any time, as long as they put 8 hours in a day and don't miss important meetings. Some starts at 6 am, some at 10 am.
    – L.Dutch
    Commented Feb 20, 2018 at 6:17
  • @HLGEM: That totally depends on the company. Yes, many have core hours, but not all. My company for example used to have core hours, but recently dropped the rule.
    – sleske
    Commented Feb 20, 2018 at 8:53
  • @HLGEM I work for a company that offers flex timing, we're expected to show up before 10 am. I'm not in the states, however. I work in the financing industry and in IT.
    – Jonast92
    Commented Feb 20, 2018 at 11:26
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In direct answer to your question, the best possible choice I think would be to start your own business. Then you have a job that starts whenever you deem fit, although you may still struggle with client schedules.

I think a big concern from a hiring perspective would be, if you can't make it in by time x, why should I think you will make it in by time y? (Assuming time x is not super early and there are no conflicts like dropping off kids at school.) What guarantee is there you won't simply wake up later for the later start time?

If you did find a manager who was ok with one person showing up 90 mins. after everyone else, how should she explain that to everyone who has to be there at 9:00? You are just that much better? Now you're giving the manager extra headaches. What is it about you that makes those extra headaches worth it?

However, maybe you are that good at your profession. If that is the case, when the headhunters come calling just tell them that's one of your demands for a new position.

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One thing you might consider is contracting, especially while working remotely. You'll generally have very flexible hours. In the US, in fact, companies have to be careful not to require unnecessarily strict working hours else the contractor might be considered an employee. The downside is that it can be less secure, in terms of long term stability. Extra bonus if you can contract for a company a couple time zones west of you.

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In many ways, the answer is "grow up and get a good night's sleep", because honestly you're just making the whole process harder for yourself because you lack the discipline to go to bed early enough.

I say this authoritatively because that's why i'm not a morning person, even though I'm well aware that when I do get a proper night's sleep i'm so much more effective.

What's never worked for me (i've also never tried it) is ever being up-front about this to the hiring manager. It's just a giant red flag. Also, I wouldn't want to work with people who are so unimportant that they can turn up whenever. That just sounds like a dead-end job.

What has worked in the past is just to turn up early for the first month, shine at the job, and then each week turn up 30 mins later and later. In this way I've worked in the kind of companies where this is frowned upon and everyone turns up at 8am, but I've been happily turning up at 10-10:30.

You might want to ask if teams have a morning or an afternoon team meeting in your interview - you really want to work in places where there are constant team meetings. If they mention morning meetings then you're probably out of luck - most morning meetings are at 9, or 10 at the latest. You just cannot skip your team meetings.

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