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For anyone who applies to positions that are out of town or out of state
How many hours are you willing to drive to interview for a position that requires you to interview in person (no skype, etc.) and does not reimburse you?
Would you pay out of pocket, like $500 or more to travel to an interview for a position where you are top candidate but are not guaranteed a job offer?
There's a difference in doing this for a $10/hr job vs a $120k per year job. Yes I know most employers will fly you out for the $120k job just saying there's a difference.
I would not drive far, I would fly. I never pay for my interview travel. Companies are willing to pay for my airfare, hotel and rental car. Some will tell me to save my food receipts and turn in an expense report and they will reimburse me (if I'm not hired I do not bother). If I had a crack at a huge increase in pay at a large firm I would highly consider paying my own way, but then again...a company with the resources to pay a large salary isn't going to ask someone to pay for travel, car, hotel.
For no reimbursement, probably no more than 2-3 hours each way, unless it was for my dream job. My field is the same way, OP-- I'm applying for jobs across the country, and only about 1/2 pay for expenses for interviews. And so far, exactly one place has been willing to partially reimburse moving expenses.
I landed a cross country job after a phone interview followed by a Skype interview.
A couple months back I interviewed for a job where I would travel often around the country... But when it came time for a $300 flight to KC for an interview they wanted me to pay for it.
Ummmmm no. If you are too cheap to pay for a flight you can find someone else.
Local searches I would limit it to 30 mins because Seattle traffic sucks.
That was the main reason I accepted my current job... Location. I'm working south of Seattle and don't have traffic issues at all. I should pay them for all the time I'm not sitting in traffic and for all the gas I'm saving.
The most I have driven is about 2 hours. Anything over, and it's worth thinking about booking a flight, or a train ride. I've used Amtrak a couple times, and found it to be decent. Often, I will spend a day or two in the new location, just to see if I would enjoy living there.
Some employers are open to phone interviews, or even Skype. I prefer this, at least during the preliminary phase. No sense wasting a trip before I know if the job is worth it, or if I would be a good fit.
I paid about $700 for airplane/hotel/rental car expenses to interview for my current job. it's a good position and I am glad I am getting the experience.
I had a job offer in North Dakota. For $3200 a month.
It was a motel front desk position at a semi-luxorious hotel, but the problem is... I would have to spend $500 on a plane ticket, and there was no guarantee that i was going to get any money for my training days, and in the case of me not liking the conditions, it would have been another $500 coming back to New York.
I think if it's a really good offer, a plane ticket over there and simply relocating is a good idea if you can't find absolutely jack squat in your area.
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