Direct Interview Questions
Master 17 Direct interview questions covering straightforward communication and clarity-focused scenarios.
Question 13 of 17
How do you handle sick days?
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Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"Although I do not call in sick often, my current company does have a specific email related to sick days. We send a note explaining how many days we expect to be absent. This implementation was my idea because we have such a high volume of employees. Do you have a process in place for sick days and day-off requests?"
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"What are sick days?! All kidding aside, if I am going to be out for a day, I will call my supervisor directly to ensure the situation is straightened out. He takes on my workload when I am away so I will debrief him on any urgent matters."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"I perform much of my job on the laptop, so if I am under the weather, I will work from home to avoid getting anyone sick. It's a policy in my current office. Do you have a preference in these circumstances?"
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"We run a pretty tight ship in my current job when it comes to scheduling. I know that a sick day can throw a lot of things off balance, for much of my team. I do not like calling in sick. Even if under the weather I will still go in and make it through as much of the day as possible. What is your sick day policy?"
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"My company does not offer sick days; rather, we have PTO's which are Personal Time Off. If we need a PTO, we text or email the boss. The expectation is that we do not leave any clients or deals hanging, of course, but we have the benefit of the doubt when it comes to making responsible decisions. Do you offer PTO's or specific sick days?"
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"According to our union, if we are sick, we need to make arrangements for our substitute. I like this policy because it keeps everyone honest when it comes to truly being out for a good reason. Do you have a similar policy here?"
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
The interviewer would like to know how you handle things when you need to call in sick. Do you email, text, or completely ghost on your employer? Be brief in your answer and reassure the interviewer that you are not the type to call in sick frequently. You can also ask them what their preferred method of communication is, should you fall ill.
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"I have called in sick just a couple of days in the last year or so. My current employer prefers that I remain out of the office if contagious! Could you share with me your sick policy and preferences?"
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Anonymous Answer
I contact my direct manager and explain my illness and let them know how long I expect to be sick. If I'm up to it, I'll always offer to keep up to date with the work, email it, if needed.
Rachelle's Feedback
Good answer, and very thorough!
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