March 12, 2025 • 17 mins
Can I line up a personal holiday off the back of a work-funded trip? How do I make sure I'm on my game after a long-haul flight? Should I tell a future employer I have a planned trip? And can I just work from a cafe if I work remotely?
Welcome to BIZ Inbox, your new workplace group chat where we answer the burning questions you definitely can't ask your boss.
Writer and podcaster Em Vernem teams up with entrepreneur Michelle Battersby to tackle your trickiest workplace dilemmas.
If you want your work life issue solved, send us a voice note or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au.
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HOSTS: Michelle Battersby and Em Vernem
EXEC PRODUCER: Kimberley Braddish
AUDIO PRODUCER: Leah Porges
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to I'MM with mea podcast. Hello, and welcome
to biz Inbox. I'm M Vernon and I'm Michelle Batisfy,
both of us back in it again. We're remote for
the first time. You look very very nice.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Hey, we're color coordinated as well. We are look at it.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
She took me really long to set this up, so
I'm not wearing any makeup, so if you're watching, do
not look too close. But we are here for biz Inbox,
where we answer your burning career questions in the simplest
way possible because we're busy and we know you're busy,
so we don't sugarcoat anything. We just give you straight
answers without the need of a corporate translator. When I
(00:51):
mean we, I mean Michelle, because you will be getting
some bit of rogue answers from me personally.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
This week we're getting into traveling for work and working
from home and the things you could be doing to
maximize flexibility for your work trips.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
So jumping straight into it. This week, Mish, we received
a question from Chavonne and she says, I have a
new job where I get to travel, which is exciting.
How appropriate is it to line up personal travel off
the back of a work trip, and how do I
make sure I'm on my game when I land from
a long haul flight. Personally, I don't do that much
(01:33):
traveling for work, but I feel like it's kind of
a dream of mine, like I'd love to be in
a position where I get to travel from work. So Misha,
I'm gonna let you take the reins on this one.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
One hundred percent, it is goals to be traveling for work.
I actually went to Paris last week.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
I saw that I was living through you and your
solo dates and your bike riding and your Crosson ratings.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Yes, I wanted a cross On tour and it was
all for work, it was all paid for, and it
just reminded me. I don't know, I guess it depends
what drives you, but for me, personally, traveling for work
makes me feel like I've made it. Congrats to this individual.
Love that for you, And one hundred percent, it is
appropriate to take personal travel off the.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Back of work trips.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
I personally have always done that, especially when there's weekends
and you might be able to extend the trip for
a couple of days. Maybe there's a city nearby that
you want to pop over to, or maybe you've got
some annual leave banked up and you want to, I mean,
use it to your advantage that you've had these bigger,
potentially long haul flights covered and extended a little bit
(02:47):
for personal reasons. I think that it's kind of up
to you, and obviously communicate it with your manager, like
any leave, if annual leave is coming alongside the request,
it needs to be approved. But I feel like most
managers also appreciate how great it is to travel for work,
and like also want you to love the experience and
(03:10):
get the most out of it.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
How appropriate is it, sorry to inject my own question here,
how appropriate is it to kind of do personal travel
things while you're actually meant to be working? Like, am
I expected to be stuck in a hotel room every
day doing my normal day to day job? Or can
I encompass that whole thing as a work trip and
then if I have, I guess a few hours, am
(03:32):
I like? Can I get out and explore?
Speaker 3 (03:34):
I think it comes down to the purpose of the
trip the business. When I used to do a lot
of my travel, it was going to bumbles offices in
other cities, so I ended up landing in London or
landing in the US, and then I was kind of
straight into a regular work week where I was going
into the office working with my overseas colleagues, and then
(03:55):
any additional time normally, like the business wants to socialize
with you, so maybe there are events that are already
planned after work and things like that. But if you've
got the spare time, I think it's kind of like
your regular week. You know, if you've got spare time,
you can do other things that you're interested in, go
to the gym, do some exploring if you're there for
like a one day conference, and then have a second day. Yeah,
(04:17):
I think as long as you're getting the job done,
people won't really try to control all of your time.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Oh my god, that's so good to know. I need
to write that down.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
The best thing about once you get a job where
there is a ton of travel involved, even if it's interstate,
if you just choose one airline and commit to it
and just bank those status points up. I ended up
like riding on those points and status that I'd built
up for years after I left the job that offered
(04:46):
me all that travel, and like still have lounge access
with a couple of major airlines because I'd built up
so much status. So from the moment you get that
first trip, make sure you sign up to programs just
so you're getting the rewards and you can then use
them for personal travel and personal reasons as well.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Well, that's so smart. So would you like choose the
airline that I guess your company has been sending you on?
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Yep, I mean, it depends how much travel you're doing.
When I was working at Bumble one year, I didn't
even rent a place because I was just on a
flight every week, multiple times a week. So I got
rid of my apartment and whenever I was in Sydney,
I would just stay at my parents' house because I
was like out the door another few days later. And
(05:32):
so I was traveling so much, I could put my
eggs in two different like alliances baskets and get like
the highest status that you can get, and I could
honestly just like maintain it. It just like kept paying
dividends to me even after I'd left the company because
I'd just got so many points from all the travel
(05:54):
that I was doing.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
That's so cool, But.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
It is smarter to just like pick one and stick
to it, and then you'll get lounge access, you'll get
priority check in, you'll get priority boarding, and it does
make a big difference when you're traveling. But venor other
question on how to be on your game once you land,
I think this also comes down to the individual, but
a couple of hacks that have always worked for me.
(06:19):
Whenever I'm traveling long haul, I am just straight on
the hydration, Like I drink more water than I've ever
drunk in my life when I'm on a flight, even
though that might mean you're up going to the toilet frequently,
I think it helps so much with adjusting into a
new time zone and just making sure you don't feel
depleted when you get off the flight. Another thing I
(06:42):
do is from the moment I step foot on an
international flight, I start operating in the time zone that
I'm going into. And normally the flight wants you to
do that anyway, like they might be serving dinner to
try and get you to go to sleep, or maybe.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
It it's like dinner at five am.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Lights on, Yeah, exactly, the lights on, all lights off.
They're kind of trying to push you there as well.
But I really pay attention to what time it is
wherever I'm landing, and try to force myself to shut
my eyes or force myself to stay awake, even though
it can be really uncomfortable in flight. Sometimes even just
(07:21):
shutting your eyes and like resting, I think can just
do a lot for your preparation, and just kind of
allowing your body to rest, even if it's not sleep,
is still a win. And then I always try to
get outdoors and do some kind of exercise as soon
as I land, even if it's like ten pm at
night or you know, the crack of dawn, just try
(07:43):
to move your body just to re energize you a
little bit.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Oh my god, these are such good tips. I always
get nervous about the long haul flights because obviously, even
if you're just traveling for fun, you don't want to
get there and then feel like you need to have
a massive nap. You want to just kind of be
doing things like you can do that when you come back,
like on your own time exactly. I think that's so good.
The hydration thing one is one that I I learned
from you ages ago. I remember seeing it on your
(08:08):
Instagram stories and when I went to a trip to Singapore.
I was just like sculling water so much, running to
the bathroom like people on the plane thought there was
something wrong with me.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
But it works. It is one of the best things
you can do.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Okay, So we have another travel question. We have a
bit of a theme going on. This one came through
our Instagram page at bizby Mama Mea and make sure
you follow us if you don't already, and jump into
our dms if you also have a work a career dilemma.
But this person said, I have a three week holiday planned.
Should I tell the person interviewing me for a new
job or is it a deal breaker? I didn't know
(08:45):
this was a thing until I started working at Mama Mia.
Like back when I was twenty one in twenty eighteen,
I had planned like a full trip and then I
got the job and my mom was like, you have
to cancel that trip. And I was like, what do
you mean, And she's like, you can't start a new
job and then go on a trip. You have to
cancel the trip. And I was like, oh, okay, and
(09:07):
I canceled it because I thought that's just what you do.
And now whenever I see a new person start in
a role. They always say, I have a holiday plan,
just letting you know, and it doesn't seem like that
big of a deal.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Yeah, how long was your holiday?
Speaker 1 (09:19):
I think it was like two weeks. So I was
meant to start the job and then a month later
go on a two week trip, but I canceled it.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
I mean that is showing extreme dedication and commitment to
the role.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
You're a little bit of social media assistant.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Yeah, so I think this is a really valid question.
And I do feel like most of the time people
aren't going to care if you've already had a trip
planned or you'd committed to something previously, but you don't
want to risk losing the role because you've got a
(09:53):
trip planned, and let's say, your neck and neck with
another candidate and they just can't make a decision, but
they know you're going on a holiday, and that's the
thing that maybe just makes them lean towards the other candid.
I don't think you'd want a situation like that to arise,
So I think it's best to keep it to yourself
(10:13):
that you have a holiday planned until you have a
formal offer, and then once the formal offer comes through,
then you can say something like so excited about this opportunity,
can't wait to work with the tam, love the interview experience,
whatever you want to say, showing gratitude essentially, and then
just let them know, Hey, I already had a trip
(10:34):
that i'd committed to. It's from this date to this date.
I could start ahead of that trip, meet the team,
do my onboarding, and then take these two weeks off
that I'd already committed to, or we could delay my
start date and I could begin once the trip is complete.
Let me know what would work best for you. Open
(10:56):
to being flexible here and just show the employer that
you're kind of willing to work with what they need
and that you're down to start and then take a
bit of a break, or you could push your start
date back. I do feel like most people would probably
go for the latter, like, let you take the holiday,
have a bit of a break in between your two jobs,
(11:17):
re energize, and then start fresh and not have an
interruption so soon after you've joined. But I would think
if it's a huge issue that you've got a trip planned,
it's probably a bit of a red flag in the
employer as well, you know, so I wouldn't feel that
bad about letting them know you've already got something you
(11:38):
committed to. I do just think it's probably best to
bring it up once you've already got the offer on
the table, because you just don't know how people's biases
might play into the hiring, so you can kind of
do yourself a favor there, or.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Like how desperately they need someone in the role. But
I will say that taking a holiday between jobs is
the best type of holiday because you physically can't think
about work because there's no work to think about exactly.
I actually do a lot of interstate travel, and I
am very grateful, but yeah, I just want that, you
know where you just like have that boss feeling that
(12:14):
some company overseas wants to meet you and you're representing
not just your company but your whole country. And I'm like,
you walk in with your with your power suit.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
It makes it sound like the career Olympics.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Like time zones don't matter to me. I do this.
I have a BlackBerry in my hand and my iPhone
in my other hands.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
The national anthem is playing as you walk in.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
I just grabbed a coffee from this like barista that
I just met one day out at the Bahamas. You know,
I just wanted to keep her a visit, Like I
have this idea in my head that this is what it's.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
You're going on a date with him later that night.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Yes, and then we take like a quick trip to Spain.
People you can, and I'm fine because I traveled first class,
so I'm like had my whole sweet shower in the plane.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
It's giving eat pro love.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Okay, So for those of us who don't get to
travel a lot for workfully, this episode will like push
you to like reconsider any options where you can travel
for work. But we do have a question coming up
after the break about working from home and how to
navigate that. So our final question this week comes from Belinda,
(13:25):
and she wrote to the biz Inbox email and she said,
can I work from anywhere if I'm working remotely?
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Like?
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Can I chill in a cafe all day? And how
do I get the most out of working remotely? This question? Okay,
I don't want to sound like a Debbie Downer, but
I feel like when we first started working remotely after COVID,
if you still had the option too. I tried to
be that main character who would take my laptop and
like a book to read maybe, and then go to
(13:54):
a cafe. And then I'm in the cafe, and firstly,
the cafe is noisy, there's crumbs everywhere. You feel a
bit weird because you have to constantly order coffees and food.
And then you realize there's no Wi Fi, so you
have to hotspot, and then your phone sometimes doesn't work,
and then you have to take calls and it's too noisy,
and then you need to go to a bathroom, but
you can't leave your computer on the table because you
can't go to the bathroom with all your equipment out there,
(14:16):
and someone takes your seat. It's just like, I feel
like it's not worth it.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
It's not worth.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Going to a cafe to stay at home or go
to the office.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yeah, do you know what I actually feel?
Speaker 3 (14:27):
You It definitely comes down to the individual and how
you work best and how you're most productive.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
I think at the end of the day, it.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Shouldn't really matter where you work from, if you have
a remote job or if you have some sort of
hybrid arrangement, if you are able to do your job well.
I think where the issues come in is when an
employee's work environment is prohibiting them, restricting them, limiting them
in some way from doing their best. Like, for example,
(15:00):
we actually let go of an engineer that we had
hired at Sunroom because we realized that they were traveling
all around Europe and what was happening was they started
to be kind of really slow delivering their work. We're
missing meetings, their pace just wasn't at the same level
as the rest of the engineering team, and we figured
(15:22):
out it was because they were constantly plugging into like
Starbucks Wi Fi network, and then they often weren't able
to access our code base because of security reasons, and
so it was actually just limiting their ability to do
their job. And so we started asking a question in
our interview process that actually was like, do you have
a stable environment that you'll be working from from home?
(15:44):
Just to sense like what someone's plan was, and again like,
it wouldn't really matter for me because I'm not accessing
you know, different kinds of like.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Software tools, code bases.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
I could essentially do my job from anywhere, but not
everyone is able to actually do that.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Yeah, that's so interesting. So it's a very job as well.
I'd also recommend that if you don't have like at
home Wi Fi and you can't really make it to
the office. There are also like great free options, like
I'm always in the library that's in my neighborhood all
the time that has Wi Fi. It's quiet. It's a
bit hard if you have to take calls and do meetings,
(16:24):
But I think there are just so many better options
than cut corners when it comes to working from home,
because at the end of the day, I feel like
if I do go to a cafe or I like
kind of take the piss and go for like a
really long lunch and pretend I'm working, there's always something
in the back of your head where you're gonna be like, oh, so,
like someone's gonna call me out for it. It's obvious,
(16:44):
You're so right, Like the proof is in the pudding,
Like you could tell that your engineer wasn't like in
a stable environment, especially in a job that I guess
requires like coding and for you to have like a
really stable Internet connection.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Also, like I've been the employee that's like tried to
take the piss and try to cut corners, you know,
like it's so obvious to me when someone else.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Is doing it.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
But if you're delivering, if you're good at your job,
and if you're getting your work done, like I don't
really care how you do it, where you do it,
and when you do it. To be honest, Thanks for
helping us at Clearly Busy Inbox. If you've got a
work question, send it our way. You'll find a link
to submit your questions in the show.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Notes and if you missed it earlier this week mission
so answer the question that we've all asked ourselves at
one point or another, should we be starting our own business?
No spoilers, You have to head back into our feed
to check it out and we will be back in
your ears for biz Inbox next week.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Bye bye.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Mamma. Maya acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters
that this podcast is recorded on
You're listening to I'MM with mea podcast. Hello, and welcome
to biz Inbox. I'm M Vernon and I'm Michelle Batisfy,
both of us back in it again. We're remote for
the first time. You look very very nice.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Hey, we're color coordinated as well. We are look at it.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
She took me really long to set this up, so
I'm not wearing any makeup, so if you're watching, do
not look too close. But we are here for biz Inbox,
where we answer your burning career questions in the simplest
way possible because we're busy and we know you're busy,
so we don't sugarcoat anything. We just give you straight
answers without the need of a corporate translator. When I
(00:51):
mean we, I mean Michelle, because you will be getting
some bit of rogue answers from me personally.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
This week we're getting into traveling for work and working
from home and the things you could be doing to
maximize flexibility for your work trips.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
So jumping straight into it. This week, Mish, we received
a question from Chavonne and she says, I have a
new job where I get to travel, which is exciting.
How appropriate is it to line up personal travel off
the back of a work trip, and how do I
make sure I'm on my game when I land from
a long haul flight. Personally, I don't do that much
(01:33):
traveling for work, but I feel like it's kind of
a dream of mine, like I'd love to be in
a position where I get to travel from work. So Misha,
I'm gonna let you take the reins on this one.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
One hundred percent, it is goals to be traveling for work.
I actually went to Paris last week.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
I saw that I was living through you and your
solo dates and your bike riding and your Crosson ratings.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Yes, I wanted a cross On tour and it was
all for work, it was all paid for, and it
just reminded me. I don't know, I guess it depends
what drives you, but for me, personally, traveling for work
makes me feel like I've made it. Congrats to this individual.
Love that for you, And one hundred percent, it is
appropriate to take personal travel off the.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Back of work trips.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
I personally have always done that, especially when there's weekends
and you might be able to extend the trip for
a couple of days. Maybe there's a city nearby that
you want to pop over to, or maybe you've got
some annual leave banked up and you want to, I mean,
use it to your advantage that you've had these bigger,
potentially long haul flights covered and extended a little bit
(02:47):
for personal reasons. I think that it's kind of up
to you, and obviously communicate it with your manager, like
any leave, if annual leave is coming alongside the request,
it needs to be approved. But I feel like most
managers also appreciate how great it is to travel for work,
and like also want you to love the experience and
(03:10):
get the most out of it.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
How appropriate is it, sorry to inject my own question here,
how appropriate is it to kind of do personal travel
things while you're actually meant to be working? Like, am
I expected to be stuck in a hotel room every
day doing my normal day to day job? Or can
I encompass that whole thing as a work trip and
then if I have, I guess a few hours, am
(03:32):
I like? Can I get out and explore?
Speaker 3 (03:34):
I think it comes down to the purpose of the
trip the business. When I used to do a lot
of my travel, it was going to bumbles offices in
other cities, so I ended up landing in London or
landing in the US, and then I was kind of
straight into a regular work week where I was going
into the office working with my overseas colleagues, and then
(03:55):
any additional time normally, like the business wants to socialize
with you, so maybe there are events that are already
planned after work and things like that. But if you've
got the spare time, I think it's kind of like
your regular week. You know, if you've got spare time,
you can do other things that you're interested in, go
to the gym, do some exploring if you're there for
like a one day conference, and then have a second day. Yeah,
(04:17):
I think as long as you're getting the job done,
people won't really try to control all of your time.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Oh my god, that's so good to know. I need
to write that down.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
The best thing about once you get a job where
there is a ton of travel involved, even if it's interstate,
if you just choose one airline and commit to it
and just bank those status points up. I ended up
like riding on those points and status that I'd built
up for years after I left the job that offered
(04:46):
me all that travel, and like still have lounge access
with a couple of major airlines because I'd built up
so much status. So from the moment you get that
first trip, make sure you sign up to programs just
so you're getting the rewards and you can then use
them for personal travel and personal reasons as well.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Well, that's so smart. So would you like choose the
airline that I guess your company has been sending you on?
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Yep, I mean, it depends how much travel you're doing.
When I was working at Bumble one year, I didn't
even rent a place because I was just on a
flight every week, multiple times a week. So I got
rid of my apartment and whenever I was in Sydney,
I would just stay at my parents' house because I
was like out the door another few days later. And
(05:32):
so I was traveling so much, I could put my
eggs in two different like alliances baskets and get like
the highest status that you can get, and I could
honestly just like maintain it. It just like kept paying
dividends to me even after I'd left the company because
I'd just got so many points from all the travel
(05:54):
that I was doing.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
That's so cool, But.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
It is smarter to just like pick one and stick
to it, and then you'll get lounge access, you'll get
priority check in, you'll get priority boarding, and it does
make a big difference when you're traveling. But venor other
question on how to be on your game once you land,
I think this also comes down to the individual, but
a couple of hacks that have always worked for me.
(06:19):
Whenever I'm traveling long haul, I am just straight on
the hydration, Like I drink more water than I've ever
drunk in my life when I'm on a flight, even
though that might mean you're up going to the toilet frequently,
I think it helps so much with adjusting into a
new time zone and just making sure you don't feel
depleted when you get off the flight. Another thing I
(06:42):
do is from the moment I step foot on an
international flight, I start operating in the time zone that
I'm going into. And normally the flight wants you to
do that anyway, like they might be serving dinner to
try and get you to go to sleep, or maybe.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
It it's like dinner at five am.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Lights on, Yeah, exactly, the lights on, all lights off.
They're kind of trying to push you there as well.
But I really pay attention to what time it is
wherever I'm landing, and try to force myself to shut
my eyes or force myself to stay awake, even though
it can be really uncomfortable in flight. Sometimes even just
(07:21):
shutting your eyes and like resting, I think can just
do a lot for your preparation, and just kind of
allowing your body to rest, even if it's not sleep,
is still a win. And then I always try to
get outdoors and do some kind of exercise as soon
as I land, even if it's like ten pm at
night or you know, the crack of dawn, just try
(07:43):
to move your body just to re energize you a
little bit.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Oh my god, these are such good tips. I always
get nervous about the long haul flights because obviously, even
if you're just traveling for fun, you don't want to
get there and then feel like you need to have
a massive nap. You want to just kind of be
doing things like you can do that when you come back,
like on your own time exactly. I think that's so good.
The hydration thing one is one that I I learned
from you ages ago. I remember seeing it on your
(08:08):
Instagram stories and when I went to a trip to Singapore.
I was just like sculling water so much, running to
the bathroom like people on the plane thought there was
something wrong with me.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
But it works. It is one of the best things
you can do.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Okay, So we have another travel question. We have a
bit of a theme going on. This one came through
our Instagram page at bizby Mama Mea and make sure
you follow us if you don't already, and jump into
our dms if you also have a work a career dilemma.
But this person said, I have a three week holiday planned.
Should I tell the person interviewing me for a new
job or is it a deal breaker? I didn't know
(08:45):
this was a thing until I started working at Mama Mia.
Like back when I was twenty one in twenty eighteen,
I had planned like a full trip and then I
got the job and my mom was like, you have
to cancel that trip. And I was like, what do
you mean, And she's like, you can't start a new
job and then go on a trip. You have to
cancel the trip. And I was like, oh, okay, and
(09:07):
I canceled it because I thought that's just what you do.
And now whenever I see a new person start in
a role. They always say, I have a holiday plan,
just letting you know, and it doesn't seem like that
big of a deal.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Yeah, how long was your holiday?
Speaker 1 (09:19):
I think it was like two weeks. So I was
meant to start the job and then a month later
go on a two week trip, but I canceled it.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
I mean that is showing extreme dedication and commitment to
the role.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
You're a little bit of social media assistant.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Yeah, so I think this is a really valid question.
And I do feel like most of the time people
aren't going to care if you've already had a trip
planned or you'd committed to something previously, but you don't
want to risk losing the role because you've got a
(09:53):
trip planned, and let's say, your neck and neck with
another candidate and they just can't make a decision, but
they know you're going on a holiday, and that's the
thing that maybe just makes them lean towards the other candid.
I don't think you'd want a situation like that to arise,
So I think it's best to keep it to yourself
(10:13):
that you have a holiday planned until you have a
formal offer, and then once the formal offer comes through,
then you can say something like so excited about this opportunity,
can't wait to work with the tam, love the interview experience,
whatever you want to say, showing gratitude essentially, and then
just let them know, Hey, I already had a trip
(10:34):
that i'd committed to. It's from this date to this date.
I could start ahead of that trip, meet the team,
do my onboarding, and then take these two weeks off
that I'd already committed to, or we could delay my
start date and I could begin once the trip is complete.
Let me know what would work best for you. Open
(10:56):
to being flexible here and just show the employer that
you're kind of willing to work with what they need
and that you're down to start and then take a
bit of a break, or you could push your start
date back. I do feel like most people would probably
go for the latter, like, let you take the holiday,
have a bit of a break in between your two jobs,
(11:17):
re energize, and then start fresh and not have an
interruption so soon after you've joined. But I would think
if it's a huge issue that you've got a trip planned,
it's probably a bit of a red flag in the
employer as well, you know, so I wouldn't feel that
bad about letting them know you've already got something you
(11:38):
committed to. I do just think it's probably best to
bring it up once you've already got the offer on
the table, because you just don't know how people's biases
might play into the hiring, so you can kind of
do yourself a favor there, or.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Like how desperately they need someone in the role. But
I will say that taking a holiday between jobs is
the best type of holiday because you physically can't think
about work because there's no work to think about exactly.
I actually do a lot of interstate travel, and I
am very grateful, but yeah, I just want that, you
know where you just like have that boss feeling that
(12:14):
some company overseas wants to meet you and you're representing
not just your company but your whole country. And I'm like,
you walk in with your with your power suit.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
It makes it sound like the career Olympics.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Like time zones don't matter to me. I do this.
I have a BlackBerry in my hand and my iPhone
in my other hands.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
The national anthem is playing as you walk in.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
I just grabbed a coffee from this like barista that
I just met one day out at the Bahamas. You know,
I just wanted to keep her a visit, Like I
have this idea in my head that this is what it's.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
You're going on a date with him later that night.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Yes, and then we take like a quick trip to Spain.
People you can, and I'm fine because I traveled first class,
so I'm like had my whole sweet shower in the plane.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
It's giving eat pro love.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Okay, So for those of us who don't get to
travel a lot for workfully, this episode will like push
you to like reconsider any options where you can travel
for work. But we do have a question coming up
after the break about working from home and how to
navigate that. So our final question this week comes from Belinda,
(13:25):
and she wrote to the biz Inbox email and she said,
can I work from anywhere if I'm working remotely?
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Like?
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Can I chill in a cafe all day? And how
do I get the most out of working remotely? This question? Okay,
I don't want to sound like a Debbie Downer, but
I feel like when we first started working remotely after COVID,
if you still had the option too. I tried to
be that main character who would take my laptop and
like a book to read maybe, and then go to
(13:54):
a cafe. And then I'm in the cafe, and firstly,
the cafe is noisy, there's crumbs everywhere. You feel a
bit weird because you have to constantly order coffees and food.
And then you realize there's no Wi Fi, so you
have to hotspot, and then your phone sometimes doesn't work,
and then you have to take calls and it's too noisy,
and then you need to go to a bathroom, but
you can't leave your computer on the table because you
can't go to the bathroom with all your equipment out there,
(14:16):
and someone takes your seat. It's just like, I feel
like it's not worth it.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
It's not worth.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Going to a cafe to stay at home or go
to the office.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yeah, do you know what I actually feel?
Speaker 3 (14:27):
You It definitely comes down to the individual and how
you work best and how you're most productive.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
I think at the end of the day, it.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Shouldn't really matter where you work from, if you have
a remote job or if you have some sort of
hybrid arrangement, if you are able to do your job well.
I think where the issues come in is when an
employee's work environment is prohibiting them, restricting them, limiting them
in some way from doing their best. Like, for example,
(15:00):
we actually let go of an engineer that we had
hired at Sunroom because we realized that they were traveling
all around Europe and what was happening was they started
to be kind of really slow delivering their work. We're
missing meetings, their pace just wasn't at the same level
as the rest of the engineering team, and we figured
(15:22):
out it was because they were constantly plugging into like
Starbucks Wi Fi network, and then they often weren't able
to access our code base because of security reasons, and
so it was actually just limiting their ability to do
their job. And so we started asking a question in
our interview process that actually was like, do you have
a stable environment that you'll be working from from home?
(15:44):
Just to sense like what someone's plan was, and again like,
it wouldn't really matter for me because I'm not accessing
you know, different kinds of like.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Software tools, code bases.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
I could essentially do my job from anywhere, but not
everyone is able to actually do that.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Yeah, that's so interesting. So it's a very job as well.
I'd also recommend that if you don't have like at
home Wi Fi and you can't really make it to
the office. There are also like great free options, like
I'm always in the library that's in my neighborhood all
the time that has Wi Fi. It's quiet. It's a
bit hard if you have to take calls and do meetings,
(16:24):
But I think there are just so many better options
than cut corners when it comes to working from home,
because at the end of the day, I feel like
if I do go to a cafe or I like
kind of take the piss and go for like a
really long lunch and pretend I'm working, there's always something
in the back of your head where you're gonna be like, oh, so,
like someone's gonna call me out for it. It's obvious,
(16:44):
You're so right, Like the proof is in the pudding,
Like you could tell that your engineer wasn't like in
a stable environment, especially in a job that I guess
requires like coding and for you to have like a
really stable Internet connection.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Also, like I've been the employee that's like tried to
take the piss and try to cut corners, you know,
like it's so obvious to me when someone else.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Is doing it.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
But if you're delivering, if you're good at your job,
and if you're getting your work done, like I don't
really care how you do it, where you do it,
and when you do it. To be honest, Thanks for
helping us at Clearly Busy Inbox. If you've got a
work question, send it our way. You'll find a link
to submit your questions in the show.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Notes and if you missed it earlier this week mission
so answer the question that we've all asked ourselves at
one point or another, should we be starting our own business?
No spoilers, You have to head back into our feed
to check it out and we will be back in
your ears for biz Inbox next week.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Bye bye.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Mamma. Maya acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters
that this podcast is recorded on
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