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i dunno, while i get frustrated running up against the barriers that long distance jobseekers face, i can understand why employers would be concerned. they don't want to hire someone and then have them change their mind before they start (after the employer has already cut all the other candidates loose), or worse, after they move and have started work.
i don't usually advocate lying (beyond the lies everyone is kind of forced to say in interviews, like why you left a cruddy job or what your biggest weakness is), but in this case maybe it does make sense to say you have family in the area. that seems to have worked for me, although in my case it's true.
During an interview, you must take care to keep your interview questions focused on the behaviors, skills, and experience needed to perform the job.
Do not bring up stuff that aren't relevant. You don't need to lie. Simply saying that "I am in the process of moving due to family reasons" is more than sufficient. Nobody would dig into it any deeper.
If you don't plan to ask for moving reimbursement from the company, how is where you live relevant to your ability to perform the job? Even it is, it's not the concern of the employer as it is your responsibility to fix that issue.
If you can't start work right away, you can:
1. negotiate a new date
2. turn down the offer
I have had people reference my marriage when they see my wedding ring, I believe that's legal because they can see it. I even had a guy yesterday, after he noticed the ring and made reference, since we live in the same city, says oh I live right by that church with a slight pause.............I think he was fishing and I didn't take the bait.
"Illegal interview questions, while not illegal in the strictest sense of the word, have so much potential to make your company liable in a discrimination law suit, that they might as well be illegal."
so basically, exactly what i said. not illegal, but very, very stupid.
If employers are that concerned, they should discard the resumes of geographically undesirable candidates, not have them travel to an interview for a job they won't be getting because they are not local. The OP was pretty clear that the business knew where he lived when he applied for the job.
i can agree with that. companies shouldn't be interviewing people if they're going to disqualify them based on something they already knew before the interview. and by the way, i've never had an employer tell me they didn't hire me because i'm not local; then again they rarely tell me why they didn't hire me.
I've had relocation paid for. I think it was because I told them how much I respected their company, for a long time, and thought it would be really cool to work for them. They could tell i really thought their company was prestigious. I guess in their speak they would say I "drank the kool-aid".
During an interview, you must take care to keep your interview questions focused on the behaviors, skills, and experience needed to perform the job.
Do not bring up stuff that aren't relevant. You don't need to lie. Simply saying that "I am in the process of moving due to family reasons" is more than sufficient. Nobody would dig into it any deeper.
If you don't plan to ask for moving reimbursement from the company, how is where you live relevant to your ability to perform the job? Even it is, it's not the concern of the employer as it is your responsibility to fix that issue.
If you can't start work right away, you can:
1. negotiate a new date
2. turn down the offer
this is barely a response to my post, so i'm not sure how to even respond. i never said that people should bring things up (except for, again, the absolutely standard and normal practice of including address and job locations on your resume, that would raise a big red flag if they weren't there), but of course employers are concerned about relocation plans. and if you say "i am in the process of moving", of course they are going to want to know where from. and what do you do then? refuse to answer the perfectly reasonable question? tell them that question is inappropriate because it doesn't focus on job performance? might as well pick up your rejection letter on the way out.
if you accept the job and then never move, that affects how you perform your job. if you move to a new city for 6 months, change your mind, and then move back or move somewhere else, that affects how you perform your job. in the sense that you WON'T BE DOING IT after the company invested time and money in you. of course the employer is going to be concerned that you have a solid plan to move and are really committed to staying put for at least a few years.
when interviewers ask me about my relocation plans, which they do every single time, i tell them that i am moving to the area where i grew up to be closer to family, that i have a place to stay lined up in the immediate area (because i do), and that i can give 2 weeks notice at my current job and head right up there. this seems to reassure them.
this is barely a response to my post, so i'm not sure how to even respond. i never said that people should bring things up (except for, again, the absolutely standard and normal practice of including address and job locations on your resume, that would raise a big red flag if they weren't there), but of course employers are concerned about relocation plans. and if you say "i am in the process of moving", of course they are going to want to know where from. and what do you do then? refuse to answer the question? might as well pick up your rejection letter on the way out.
if you accept the job and then never move, that affects how you perform your job. if you move to a new city for 6 months, change your mind, and then move back or move somewhere else, that affects how you perform your job. in the sense that you WON'T BE DOING IT after the company invested time and money in you. of course the employer is going to be concerned that you have a solid plan to move and are really committed to staying put for at least a few years.
when interviewers ask me about my relocation plans, which they do every single time, i tell them that i am moving to the area where i grew up to be closer to family, that i have family or family friends to stay with in the immediate area (depending on where it is), and that i can give 2 weeks notice at my current job and head right up there. this seems to reassure them.
Sorry, guys, these questions are illegal. That doesn't mean that people don't ask and most of the time, it flies under the radar.
show me the law then. just saying they're illegal over and over again proves nothing. even the source you linked to says they are not illegal. just that they might as well be because it is such a bad idea to ask them.
it is only illegal to discriminate against people based on their answers to that kind of question. so of course asking them is incredibly stupid because it opens you up to accusations of discrimination that couldn't happen if you didn't ask them. but that still doesn't make them illegal.
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