Will RE firms cover or help to subsidize your travel expense for interviews?
What's your experience interviewing with firms out of town? I found a role through a recruitment agency but its not in my area. I'd need to move several hours away to be at this job. So far the recruiter has pushed my resume/info to the firm and they've shown interest in me and want me to fly out on short notice. I can fly and come back in the same day, but I'm sort of put off by them because they want me to come on-site, skip a phone interview, and basically foot the cost of the travel on my own. To be clear, I have only had two conversations; both with the recruiter, not with anyone at the actual firm.
It's a developer with having developed nearly $3 billion worth of properties. It's an analyst level role, but they're looking for some experience with the candidates they are interested in.
My gut tells me this isn't a good sign because they want to rush the process but won't actually offer to cover any part of it. I have about 3 years of working experience in the industry and was expecting a little more flexibility in terms of time because I could easily fly out there, waste money and time to not get an offer because they don't like me or something that could have been brought up in a phone/video interview.
I'm in a similar boat, I have an interview scheduled across the country ina few weeks but have not yet booked flights. I would expect it to be covered but nobody has formally mentioned that. Curious to hear what others have to say.
Why is it scheduled so far out and not sooner? And they haven't said anything about how to book a flight?
In the past, I've had one firm take care of everything completely in a more organized way but this situation seems totally rushed without any consideration to my time and the fact that I'm still with another firm.
Small boutique developer. Their principal is out of town next week and couldn't meet until later the following week. They don't really have a large staff or formal recruitment process. No discussion on flights :/
Recently had two interviews that required flight, one paid one didn't
Did it result in an offer for one of them?
Offer from both, the one that paid for the flight would be considered way less "prestigous" than the one that didn't
I wouldn’t interview somewhere that doesn’t cover your costs. Especially if they haven’t even given you a phone interview. That’s just weird.
The recruiter initially said they'd go with a phone interview. Then the recruiter got back to me and said they liked my experience, based on my resume, and want me to fly out this Friday or Monday to meet in-person. I was like what?! They want me to skip the phone call and jump right to in-person without even paying or providing anything for my travel costs?
I’d at least arrange a phone call. Say you’d like some more background before you drive 8 hours or drop $500 on a flight
How far is this, really? You said a couple hours - they might just think you can drive.
It's 7-8 hours driving, not quite a "couple" hours driving. A little over an hour and a half to fly.
Got it. Yeah that sucks, but I saw your "small boutique developer" comment above and that's 100% why. I would put money on them not even thinking about it.
It's all squared away now. Going to start off with a phone interview then we'll see from there if they want to bring me in.
Good job on working that out
Yeah the fact that OP was able to tactfully handle/negotiate this already puts 'em light-years ahead of the average candidate.
As an update did the phone interview earlier this week. It was a good thing it was a phone interview and not an in-person because it would have been a waste of time. Too many red flags came up in the phone interview with very unclear answers to all the questions I was asking. They took interest in me to move forward in the process, but am declining to do so based on this experience. Dodged that bullet!
And you guys are all awesome for contributing responses to this post. I definitely felt things were funny with them to begin with, but I can see how in some cases it can payoff to travel there on your dime if you truly believe it is the right role for you. Thanks!
Had two interviews out of undergrad, one with a boutique developer and one with a very large developer. Both flew me out and covered all expenses. I would be hesitant to buy a ticket somewhere if you've only spoken to someone in HR, but that might just be me. If you think you have a good shot with the company, then it is always worth paying for the flight.
I have an interview I'm flying out to (4hr flight) - 0 mention of any expenses paid for. I was flying out there anyways to interview and meet with other companies, and they knew this, so they weren't that inclined to throw in a flight for free.
I bet the larger companies expense interview travel costs more often than boutique companies.
I had an out-of-state interview a few weeks ago for an analyst level role. It was with a mid-size development firm (~20-ish employees). All expenses were paid; flight, hotel, rental car. HR handled all of the booking. I would never pay out of my own pocket to travel to a job interview.
Yes, but make sure you ask. You want to know if it's a "no" before you burn dollars doing this (unless it is a dream job and you know you have a good chance of being chosen). The market is saturated with experienced analysts right now.
No excuse for a firm not to pay for all interview related costs. If the firm doesn't mention whether they'll pay during the coordinating phase then flat out ask. Their answer will tell a lot about the culture / thinking within the firm.
I'd guess close to 90% would say "yes of course" and the balance can fairly be deemed near-sighted idiots.
So in short, never pay for interview related costs unless you're desperate.
I had an interview in Atlanta for a large insurance company in their originations team. They comped everything: hotel, meals (up to $40 for the day), and flights were covered. I submitted my expenses and got paid 3 weeks later despite turning down the offer.
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