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I'm a passionate trekker and have a plan to visit the Everest base camp in summer 2021 (if covid-19 issue resolves). This would require me to take a 25 day leave from work considering the trek duration and a few rest days on return.

How do I explain a potential employeer in an interview or over a phone conversation, that I'd like a 25 day leave close to my one year of joining?

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    How many days holiday is usual in your country?
    – guest
    Commented Nov 23, 2020 at 6:29
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    I'm not the one who downvoted you but ask yourself. Is your problem really that you don't know how to ask? Or is it that you're afraid that they'll reject you if you make that request? And if it's the latter, I really don't know how you would expect us to have a better answer than you would. We don't know you. We don't know if you're in a country where 25 days of vacation the first year is commonplace. We do not know if the type of work you do is seasonal. And we do not know if you're at the very top of your profession and are so highly sought after that a potential employer might say "yes".
    – Stephan Branczyk
    Commented Nov 23, 2020 at 6:56
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    I've edited the question from "need" to "like" - this isn't something you need to do like a medical procedure that cannot be postponed, it's a personal choice as to your leisure time. In the worst case scenario, it may be you have to choose between the job and your trip.
    – Philip Kendall
    Commented Nov 23, 2020 at 11:25
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    Personally I would stick to the word Need when Telling (not Asking) the employer, it's more authoritative. Using the word Like makes it easier for them to say No. -- Also postponing it may cost the OP money, such as non refundable bookings. I think when joining a company you have the slight upper hand, as recruitment is costly. Unlikely they would want to loose a good candidate over 25 days
    – flexi
    Commented Nov 23, 2020 at 12:19
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    @PhilipKendall Really it's the other way around. The OP is talking about a lifetime goal that he has planned for. He needs to do that. The job is one of probably a number of "potential jobs". In my personal experience, I was a runner who trained up for a marathon. I ended up organizing my life around my long runs. Those were mandatory, the rest of my life was optional.
    – DaveG
    Commented Nov 23, 2020 at 16:48

3 Answers 3

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I had an somewhat similar issue at my last job, in that I had a one week vacation already planned for my start month. When my employer issued me an offer I said that I was going to need that week of vacation (actually, a week of "no pay" in this case) and they were fine with it.

Bring it up when the employer is offering a job, just like any other condition you want as part of your employment contract.

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    This answer. Same thing when I joined my last company. When they were offering the job I let them know I had a holiday booked and would need that time off... IE, part of my agreement to joining was to have that time off. -- Wasn't a problem. -- I think even a whole month is fine. You weren't to know when you booked it that you would be taking a new position, and you can't cancel it without loosing a lot of money... If an employer can't accept this, are they the type of people you want to work for?
    – flexi
    Commented Nov 23, 2020 at 10:37
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Don't tell them until they either ask or they make an offer.

It's normal to have holiday time booked in advance when changing jobs, everyone expects that. You are asking for rather a long amount but it's not unheard of.

If they ask just be straight with them, don't try to justify it, just tell them you have it arranged and your current employer agreed to it. That's the "market rate" for people like you, agreeing to occasional extended time off.

If they don't ask them bring it up when they make an offer. At that point they have indicated that they want you and are likely expecting some holiday to be booked. There are usually some snags, people need extra time on their notice period to relocate or have something booked shortly after starting.

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you have 4 choices

  1. go to interview, tell them your story and ask for leave or leave without pay

  2. go to interview, tell them your story and ask for late start date(so you can finished your trip)

  3. finished your trip before start job-hunting

  4. don't go to the trip yet

depend on your situation,

(1.) is too good to be true but still possible

(2.) is most practical which employer could accept it (make sure you have confirmed that you get the job, having signed contact unless you want to risk coming back from the trip and have your position taken away by someone else b/c you take their word for it)

(3.) if you not in dire need of money.

(4.) Mt. Everest won't run away from you, maybe considered 2022 base camp or later year instead.

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  • 2) isn't going to work for something that happens 6 months from now as in the OP. Few companies would sign on someone who only starts after half a year.
    – Erik
    Commented Nov 23, 2020 at 7:48
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    You seem to be missing what everyone actually does in your list; tell them once they've made the offer but before you've accepted. That's the normal time (at least in my country, the UK) and the time when you have most leverage)
    – Richard Tingle
    Commented Nov 23, 2020 at 13:25

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