I am looking for a new job, I want to reduce my schedule from 5 days a week (8-5) to 4 days a week (8-4). I don't want to waste anyone's time, so I want this apparent from the start. If the employer does not allow for a note in the application process, how do I reflect my scheduling requirement?
Note: I plan to apply to full and part time positions. Since I am in a professional role, majority of positions are full time.
If the employer does not allow for a note in the application process, how do I reflect my scheduling requirement?
If these are your requirements, you are looking to work part-time. (In most industries, at least in the US, employers consider anything 30-32 hours per week or less to be part-time).
Instead of applying for a full-time position and adding notes, apply only for part-time positions. (Or look for ads for positions that have the number of days and the total number of hours explicitly specified, and that meet your requirements.)
That way, you'll get interviews for jobs that might actually meet your requirements, you won't be misleading anyone, and neither your time nor the hiring manager's time would be wasted.
I plan to apply to full and part time positions. Since I am in a professional role, majority of positions are full time.
In my opinion, this is a mistake, and risks wasting everyone's time.
You would be far better off seeking the minority of part-time positions in your field, rather than expecting folks offering full-time positions to change their requirements for you.
The answer depends whether you just "want to" but would take a great job if it was 5 days only, or whether you "have decided to" and would turn down any job if it wasn't 4 days a week.
In the first case, you ask in the interview if a reduction in hours/days for an equivalent reduction in pay is feasible. Ask towards the end, when you know they like you. If it's a multi-round set of interviews, ask when you've made the second round. (Note: you might need to be paid a touch less than 80% of the nominal salary when reducing from 5 days to 4, with the same hours, because expenses like office space and computer hardware are the same no matter what hours you work. Further reducing the hours per day will mean an even further cut.)
In the second case, you put it in your cover letter. Anyone who won't consider a 4 day week will toss you in the reject pile, and you will know all your interviews are at least open to the possibility.
Before you start this, you need to know how strongly you want it, whether it's the same day every week that you want to be home or just one of the 5, whether working from home is an option for you, and so on. Also whether you'd be willing to start at 5 days and drop to 4 after a while. When and how you bring it up depends strongly on those answers, which only you can know.
