Need advice on what to about interview and work schedule conflict

[thetimegoeson]

Hello all,

I am in a very conflicted situation where I just received an II for this Friday, which also turns out to be their last interview date.
I work as a MA in a busy practice and have work scheduled this Friday. I reached out to my office manager that I need to take off work so that I can attend my interview only to get my request denied. Admin claims that the office is currently so short-staffed (which is so true - this practice is a miserable place with an insane turnover rate) and that I MUST work that day as they have no-one else to work.
I have no idea what to do. I really want to attend the interview (who wouldn't? lol.. I'm also only on WLs at this moment with no Acceptances). I told administrative people that I would have to quit this job if not granted my request, but they said "go ahead, but you do know that you have to put in 2 weeks' notice right? you still gotta work Friday."
Any advice on what to do?

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[Moko]

Do what's best for you. If I was in your shoes, I would attend the interview without question. You can apologize afterwards on its last-minute nature that was out of your control. I would not have threatened to leave, but hindsight is 20/20. If they choose to fire you because of this, Target is hiring for $15/hr (up to $24/hr apparently in select stores). Firing you will cause much more inconvenience to them than you.

Also, two weeks notice is generally a courtesy and not a demand. Read your contract to be sure. Best of luck with your Friday interview / sick day .

 

[Kokonaut]

Going to echo Moko who said everything sagely. Skip work, go to the interview. The potential payoff could be (and I very much hope for you is) enormous whereas going to work is well, just any other day. Also, if they really are as short-staffed as you're saying then you may have some leverage. Best of luck!

 

[arnim]

I'm in this exact situation except I don't ask for days off for my interviews. I tell them I'm taking the day(s) off. @Moko is 100% correct on this. If you're fired or quit, once you're a doctor who is going to care if you left without a 2 week notice as an MA years before. It is not your practice nor are you going to not attend an interview that could determine your future career over a temporary job. If they cannot handle having an MA miss then its the office's problem. Also a 2 week notice is not a legal requirement anywhere, that's them trying to finagle a way for you to come in. Tell them you're taking the day for a medical school interview and come what may afterwards, just do great in your interview and don't stress about work!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

If they knew you were applying to medical school, having to go to an interview is understandable. Good luck.

 

[thetimegoeson]

Do what's best for you. If I was in your shoes, I would attend the interview without question. You can apologize afterwards on its last-minute nature. I would not have threatened to leave though, but hindsight is 20/20. If they choose to fire you because of this, Target is hiring for $15/hr (up to $24/hr apparently in select stores). Firing you will cause much more inconvenience to them than you.

Also, two weeks notice is generally a courtesy and not a demand. Read your contract to be sure. Best of luck with your Friday interview / sick day .

Going to echo Moko who said everything sagely. Skip work, go to the interview. The potential payoff could be (and I very much hope for you is) enormous whereas going to work is well, just any other day. Also, if they really are as short-staffed as you're saying then you may have some leverage. Best of luck!

I'm in this exact situation except I don't ask for days off for my interviews. I tell them I'm taking the day(s) off. @Moko is 100% correct on this. If you're fired or quit, once you're a doctor who is going to care if you left without a 2 week notice as an MA years before. It is not your practice nor are you going to not attend an interview that could determine your future career over a temporary job. If they cannot handle having an MA miss then its the office's problem. Also a 2 week notice is not a legal requirement anywhere, that's them trying to finagle a way for you to come in. Tell them you're taking the day for a medical school interview and come what may afterwards, just do great in your interview and don't stress about work!

If they knew you were applying to medical school, having to go to an interview is understandable. Good luck.

Thank you all for your advice and input. I was able to talk in a more calm manner with my office manager today at work, and was eventually able to take the day off to attend my interview! Hopefully I can crush the interview and clinch that A

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Go to the interview. You never know how the dice will fall at a particular school. Actually both schools that accepted me were schools for which I nearly didn’t complete the secondary. What if I didn’t decide to submit? Who knows. What if you don’t decide to go the interview? Who knows. But I would hate to look back and say “wow maybe things would have turned out differently if I had just attended the interview)

 

[chssoccer7]

Hello all,

I am in a very conflicted situation where I just received an II for this Friday, which also turns out to be their last interview date.
I work as a MA in a busy practice and have work scheduled this Friday. I reached out to my office manager that I need to take off work so that I can attend my interview only to get my request denied. Admin claims that the office is currently so short-staffed (which is so true - this practice is a miserable place with an insane turnover rate) and that I MUST work that day as they have no-one else to work.
I have no idea what to do. I really want to attend the interview (who wouldn't? lol.. I'm also only on WLs at this moment with no Acceptances). I told administrative people that I would have to quit this job if not granted my request, but they said "go ahead, but you do know that you have to put in 2 weeks' notice right? you still gotta work Friday."
Any advice on what to do?

Just as an aside, outside of the military, no place can ever tell you “you have to come in because you haven’t put your two weeks in”. They can’t take you to jail for not showing up to work. They can fire you, and I wouldn’t ever provide their info on a resume or a recommendation request, but they can’t force you. Obviously there could be things in your contract that you might forfeit if you don’t provide a two week notice, but in cases like this where your future depends on the day off, I’d politely tell them I won’t be there and if they try to force me to, they would be short an employee when that day rolled around.

Edit- after a response from another poster, it does look like they could sue you, but only if it’s in the black and white of your contract. I’d risk it and pay the fine if it ever came to that for something this important, but that’s just my opinion.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Just as an aside, outside of the military, no place can ever tell you “you have to come in because you haven’t put your two weeks in”. They can’t take you to jail for not showing up to work. They can fire you, and I wouldn’t ever provide their info on a resume or a recommendation request, but they can’t force you.

Some can bring civil suits if there was an employment contact

 

[chssoccer7]

Some can bring civil suits if there was an employment contact

I googled it, looks like you are right, but only if it’s in black and white. I’d risk it in this scenario if it came down to it. I want to be a doctor for the rest of my life, not an employee at whatever company that clearly didn’t care about me.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

I googled it, looks like you are right, but only if it’s in black and white. I’d risk it in this scenario if it came down to it. I want to be a doctor for the rest of my life, not an employee at whatever company that clearly didn’t care about me.

True, I don’t think it would apply to most medical assistant or scribe jobs.

 

[arnim]

Also, if this happened to a future reader or lurker, and they try to fire you afterwards you can always pull the ol' Leonardo DiCaprio:

 

[TragicalDrFaust]

Hello all,

I am in a very conflicted situation where I just received an II for this Friday, which also turns out to be their last interview date.
I work as a MA in a busy practice and have work scheduled this Friday. I reached out to my office manager that I need to take off work so that I can attend my interview only to get my request denied. Admin claims that the office is currently so short-staffed (which is so true - this practice is a miserable place with an insane turnover rate) and that I MUST work that day as they have no-one else to work.
I have no idea what to do. I really want to attend the interview (who wouldn't? lol.. I'm also only on WLs at this moment with no Acceptances). I told administrative people that I would have to quit this job if not granted my request, but they said "go ahead, but you do know that you have to put in 2 weeks' notice right? you still gotta work Friday."
Any advice on what to do?

They wouldn't be acting like this if they weren't desperate for coverage. I would skip the shift AND ask for a raise But look, I got an acceptance a couple days before class started and I left my job without giving notice. I liked the job, liked the people and my bosses congratulated me even though stuff was going to be a bit harder for everyone for a couple weeks while they found a replacement. You need to take care of yourself first. You don't want to look back and have regrets about sacrificing big opportunities for a job that clearly devalues you.

And, at the risk of waxing philosophical, I posit it's better for the social good if every person if operating at their highest potential. We're in trouble as a society if very capable people, such as yourself and anyone else granted an interview invite, feel so beholden to their minimum wage jobs that they do nothing to advance themselves - just a slice of my beliefs on this matter, open to discussion.

Obviously your own values will dictate your decision. But I believe that there are lots of reasonable people with great work ethic who would pick the interview without a second though. Whatever you choose to do, best of luck.