Hallo EFers
after having done a first interview last week, i was asked to think about it and let them know in few days if i was interested or not. Which i did, expressing my interest for this position. Few hours later i got the reply from the boss, the same guy who interviewed me, saying that he was really happy i was interested to this job and inviting me to a second phase, which means "spending 2 or 3 days by us to see what is like working in our environment". Now, how should i interpret this ? i mean, he never mentioned in his email that they also were interested to me and he never mentioned anything about signing up a contract, which is what usually happens in a second interview. i find also a bit odd to spend 2 or 3 days to see how they work, since i already said i'm interested. Is this more like a "practical test" ? but they already asked me many technical questions in the first interview and if so, why should they need 2-3 days for a practical test? I mentioned to them that at the moment i'm still working so that's why it sounds a bit odd...........Has anyone had a similar experience?

I have never experienced this but I would see it as a positive, I can not imagine a company spending a couple of days with you unless they are really interested. I imagine it is a 'getting to know you' part of the process and seeing how you are in the working environment.

Good luck.

This also happened to me, I was proposed to come and spend with them few days or a week or even a month. But in my case I didn't have permit and rejected with the reason that I'm not allowed to work without it, the company agreed and we made a deal without this meeting.

For me it seems to be reasonable for a small company to try a newcomer for a few days. Anyway I think it is a good sign for you. Good luck!

Definitely a positive - chemistry in work relationship is everything. Its like getting the chance to live with the person before you get married.

actually a sign that this boss is using his brains and not just looking for someone with skills but someone who fits into the team, which is usually more crucial.

I find this kind of strange from a legal point of view, I personally wouldn't do it in Switzerland.

If you spend a couple of days working somewhere, you need to be covered under their accident insurance policy OR you need to have your own. Did they discuss this with you?

How will you be paid if they the contract up afterwards as starting from 1 Feb and you go in a couple days next week, for example? Your work and time have value and you deserve to be paid for your time spent working.

If you are on RAV, working needs to be declared. Working needs to be declared to AVS. How can you do that without some legal clarification of what is going on for these two or three days?

In other words, will there be any contractual agreement covering and protecting you for these couple of days? This is why work contracts exist.

Try-and-hire temporary contracts exist in Switzerland if the company needs to know you better before extending a permanent contract.

With a one week notice in the first three months of employment in most places for permanent contracts, and a one week notice for the entire duration of temporary contracts, I don't understand why they would bring you in without some sort of contract, even a temporary one.

For a smaller company, I can understand drawing up the paperwork for AVS and accident insurance and the like and holding it until it is assessed if the person sticks around (i used to work in an office where new hire paperwork wasn't fully submitted for a couple of weeks in case of a really bad fit). But these issues need to be clarified and you need to understand what the company's contingency plan is before going in there and giving your valuable time.

I do understand the need for chemistry and maybe they got burned in the past with bad fits, but you need to work out with them how these days will be declared and paid for. You deserve the respect and trust of a contract, otherwise how will this company treat you when you are a "real" employee?

In this economy I know it is tempting to take a job if they bite if you don't have one or don't like the one you are in, but you also need to make sure everything is on board.

I have no idea of the legal ramifications specially if you are non EU and do not have a permit yet but I think this is a very positive sign! To see if you fit and also if the job fits you!

Well, I do not chime in the "it is a positive sign" choir as it happened to me before for very wrong reasons... and the reasons aren't always obvious.

In short is it VERY uncommon in Switzerland and unless you are currently out of work frankly speaking not ok to ask you to take days off your work to make some sort of mini internship. While I agree that it could be a super boss who finally understands that attitude is much more important than the pure skillset and wants to see if you match the team (Read this very good blog: http://blogs.hbr.org/schwartz/2012/0...ers-so-mu.html)... well, I have personally never met one who did this.

What I did meet first person was a completely messed up company where people left as soon as they managed to find any other offer. One was the department head I was supposed to replace. They basically told me to have a look at the company for a few days while it actually was already some half-baked hand over before they had to let the other guy go... when I was there I found it strange that they had a farewell apero every single evening, found out that the department I was supposed to head was reduced to two people including me (from five, of course were we expected to still do the same job...) and overall that the company was close to being bankcrupt.

In short: If companies do very strange things during the hiring process, question their motives. Some have good motives, Google had the weirdest assessment center I ever been to, others have outright bad motives.

Your case would for me raise a red flag and I would discuss with them what they expect and why they are doing this. Are they not sure about you, is it normal practice at a very unusual company or are there other reasons?

Success!

Isn't the trial period supposed to clarify the "can work with you" part? I mean, how much can you learn about a person in 2-3 days of working together? Some...but I would say not that much more than from a 2-3h interview discussion. If, on the other hand, there is a trial period of say 1-3 months, there will be a lot of times during that period where you can really say if the person is right for the job, the team, the company etc.

Having said that, I think you should still go for it, as I think you have nothing to lose (except your time, but I would consider a few days spent knowing another company from the inside a valuable experience). It's more the employer who I think won't get such a big benefit from it.

"when I was there I found it strange that they had a farewell apero every single evening, found out that the department I was supposed to head was reduced to two people including me (from five, of course were we expected to still do the same job...) and overall that the company was close to being bankcrupt."

So, if I understand correctly, it was still worth it, as you found out you shouldn't take the job after all.

Absolutely, I learned a valuable lesson. "Are you currently profitable" is since then a standard question of mine in every single first interview... However, I was already on gardening leave when I went for the three day trial, so I did not care too much.
I would have hated to waste my vacation days on this as yes, it was an experience but I needed only half a day to find out that something was fishy - not three of them.

It depends a lot on the job, the company and on the person applying. A graduate and a recently graduated (maybe after the first job) is often asked for a "Schnuppertag" (trial day). I have however never heard of 2 to 3 days unless you are looking for a Lehrstelle where this would be the minimum period. This is when people have little or no working experience so it will help them to get an impression of what their job will be like. Later on this is dealt with in the Probezeit (trial period which can't last longer than 3 months).

So I think if you like the job you could tell them that it would be ok for you to work there one day but not two or three as you can't take more days off in your current job. One day should be enough to get a feeling of the company and the people that you would work with. If you still feel ok after that go for it. If it turns out not to be what you tought it would be you can still leave within the first three months.

Good luck

2-3 days seems strange. 1 day is great, 2-3 would make me uncomfortable unless there was a good reason for it (I can't think of any). On the upside, if they are willing to spend 2-3 days with someone that can not currently offer them much help sounds like they are fairly committed.

I had a trial day at the company I recently interviewed for to see how I fit with the team and to see if I was OK with the type of work. I have been in the industry for a while but the job involves work that is different from my past jobs. It also gave me a chance to see how they interact without the boss around and how they interact with other teams. The next morning I had a contract.

so, as far as i understand, is it like a technical or practical test or more like an introduction day to the work and the team? i mean, should i expect them to ask me "hey look, let's see if you can really do this or that....." or simply really "tasting" a normal dayly work ?

It would appear to me that they have already decided to offer the job, but wish to put the new employees through the company's induction process on the employee's own time.

I've seen similar at the other end of the recruitment process where certain cheap-skate employers give you an on-line, or email, form with which to transpose the carefully crafted details from you CV, in order that they might affect some cost savings by off-loading their internal clerical tasks onto job seekers.

My opinion with such outfits is that if this is the way they treat job-seekers who wish to work for them, how dreadful must the jobs they are offering be?

Thanks for all the answers so far, they were very helpful. Another thought came in my mind, would it be possible that they are doing this probation-day with other candidates and not just with me? or am i just getting really paranoic................

Bringing a new guy in for a couple of days does not exactly raise productivity with the people as some five people will be working less and talking more to you showing you around... I cannot imagine any half sane company doing this with a candidate they are not 90% sure to hire, let alone several... again: When it happened to me it was actually already AFTER I signed with them... so yes, I think you worry too much. Question why they do this exercise, but don't question if you will get the job - if you don't completely blow it in those days will you have it IMHO.

Get a contract. This is what the probezeit is for.

its not that easy, at our place once we offer someone the job then that's it, if they refuse, back out, or fail there probation then you have to request another FTE (which can, and often is refused) and start the whole process again. so inviting someone in beforehand makes a lot of sense.

They are already treating you like a door mat!!! If they are already expecting you to donate 2 or 3 days of your time to their company while they decide if they will take you on, how will they treat you when you are working for them??? To ask someone to come for a few hours for a technical interview, meet the team and so on is one thing, but to expect someone to give up 2 or 3 days is simply disrespectful.