(NECRO) people who get flown across the country for job interviews

[EagleKeeper]

If you have potential value to the company, they should have no qualms in footing a small $500-$2K package to talk to you if they desire.

I do draw the line at them asking for me to foot the bill w/ the reimbursement if they hire me.

They foot the bill if they wish to see what I look like - either by paying for most of the costs up front or having it in writing that I will be refunded any costs that I incur.


For those coming straight out of school, it may be more rare, but it depends on what skills you bring to the table for them.

 

[Platypus]

I've flown a few times for interviews, furthest was alabama.

had I taken that job I could have lived like a king but.. in alabama

 

[erub]

I got flown to Cedar Rapids, IA from Atlanta for an internship interview. I thought that was a little extreme as for my previous internships I had only talked on the phone. They said that this was a first time thing this year for them. I didn't get the job though. Feburary in Iowa is not an ideal time to fly in a recruit from the south!

Cost them about $1500 to do so, for some reason although I commited to the date weeks in advance, their travel agency that they were working with policy was to 'ticket' the thing 2 days before (highest price fare then, haah). Got a free bump to Economy Plus, woo..

 

[Firebot]

It costs more for a company to fire a useless employee, then it does to fly a potential candidate in. Just a cost of doing business.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Platypus
I've flown a few times for interviews, furthest was alabama.

had I taken that job I could have lived like a king but.. in alabama

So... we're talking about a triple-wide here?


(Full disclosure: my grandmother lives in Alabama, I believe her trailer is a double-wide. Most of my mom's family lives down there)

 

[Platypus]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Platypus
I've flown a few times for interviews, furthest was alabama.

had I taken that job I could have lived like a king but.. in alabama

So... we're talking about a triple-wide here?


(Full disclosure: my grandmother lives in Alabama, I believe her trailer is a double-wide. Most of my mom's family lives down there)

lol.. QUADRUPLE WIDE BITCH

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: pontifex
I see this every so often where people say Company X is flying me to <state> for an interview.


How often does this happen and wth do you have to offer that makes companies want to do this, especially for people just out of college?

I know I'll never experience this myself in my current situation, just curious about it.

very common in the legal industry, mainly because most interviews take place in front of a panel and (a) its too costly to fly to whole panel (b) members of the panel are too important anyway to have them all miss work for several days.

 

[mugs]

FWIW, I've heard that it costs on average ~$15,000 to fill a position. I'm not sure what all is included there; it probably accounts for initially low productivity, etc. In any event, the cost of a plane ticket is pretty small in the long run. On the other hand, most companies prefer to interview local people if there are qualified local candidates.

 

[SoulAssassin]

The company I just left had hiring weekends, they would fly all the potential candidates into the main office (Austin) and bring a few current people in to do the interviews. Dinner and drinks that night, hotels for everyone. This was for consulting work.

 

[bonkers325]

my boss is flying someone in from Oregon and putting them up in a hotel for a whole week while we interview and negotiate with him.

 

[Special K]

It was the norm when I was interviewing for jobs that the company would pay for all of your travel expenses (flight, rental car, hotel). Some even gave you a set allowance for food, and allowed you to keep whatever you didn't spend. Others required receipts for everything, and just sent you a check for your expenses later.

All of the companies I interviewed with were large, and none of them had offices anywhere near the college, so it was pretty much expected that you would have to travel quite a ways to interview with any of them.

 

[RU482]

my wife got her first job out of college that way.
Granted, she was a pretty good student, and had some good internship experience.

 

[darthsidious]

In EE, this is fairly standard - most companies will fly you out to their location after an short interview at your college (usually after career fairs), or a phone screen interview.

I was recently flown from austin,texas (where I'm doing an internship) to Orange County for an interview. In addition they put me up in a nice hotel (Fairmont Newport Beach), and paid for reasonable meal expenses for 2 days($55/day). From what I've seen, companies are more concerned about wasting the time of the people interviewing you than the cost of flying you down - that is what limits the number of interviews on site. Obviously, demand and specialization also play into it. You're going to fly the person who wrote THE paper/Phd thesis on a hot new technology that your company wants to work on, vs a receptionist for the front desk.

 

[spidey07]

The answer is really simple.

Finding a really good fit for a position is very difficult. If you find a good fit, a few thousand dollars to see if they are a good fit is literally nothing cost wise.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

a assume it just was easier/cheaper to bring all possible recruits to a central recruiting location instead of bringing interviewers to the candidates. especially since my company recruits nationally and will want to conduct multiple interviews once you are on site. prior to this, there was a prescreening interview at my university.

 

[Ronstang]

Ford flew me from Houston to Detroit first class and put me up in the Ritz Carlton for two nights when I went up there for my second interview after getting past the first round at my school. Companies do this all the time.

 

[murban135]

My previous employer flew me from Detroit to Denver for an interview, but they have their own airplanes so the expense was minimal.

 

[Felisity]

Originally posted by: pontifex
I see this every so often where people say Company X is flying me to <state> for an interview.


How often does this happen and wth do you have to offer that makes companies want to do this, especially for people just out of college?

I know I'll never experience this myself in my current situation, just curious about it.

I think it entirely depends upon these factors:

a) the industry you are interviewing for a position in
b) your skill-set and profession

I am an industrial designer and I chose to specialize in interior architecture structure design for the tradeshow/convention industry. My official title has usually been exhibit designer, or senior exhibit designer. Companies in that industry typically are forced to hire design talent that does not already reside in their backyard, even if said company is located in a large metropolis like Boston, or Dallas. I've been flown to different states for interviews roughly a dozen times in my career so far. In most cases, I was flown in very early in the morning and out again the same afternoon. A few times, however, I was put in a hotel and given a rental car. It really depends upon the company, their practices regarding new hires and their financial situation as to whether they put you in a "ok hotel" or a "really nice hotel" - or - whether they simply fly you in and out the same day.

 

[Felisity]

Originally posted by: Platypus
I've flown a few times for interviews, furthest was alabama.

had I taken that job I could have lived like a king but.. in alabama

If the position was in Huntsville, Alabama you should have taken it. Very very very nice place to live. I grew up in Birmingham and even though it's the largest metro in the state, it's a crummy place to live, IMO. However, Huntsville has tons of people from all over the country due to the aerospace industry being very prominant there. Have friends and relatives there and because of the cost of living, and the wide variety of nice professionals who live and work there, it's a terrific place to raise a family/live.

 

[evident]

i was flown across the country to seattle to interview w/ MS. it was quite the experience :-D

 

[dug777]

I got flown across continent for one of my grad interviews

 

[Wapp]

A couple of my friends were flown up to the DC metro area when they separated from the AF. All of us have security clearances so we're a hot commodity in this area.

 

[RandomFool]

The company I work for now offered to fly me to Boston for an interview but since I only lived 2 hours away I just drove in. They did fly a bunch of other people in though. I suppose they did it because they liked what I said during the phone interviews.

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: BoberFett
When hiring a well paid professional, the cost of a plane ticket is one of the smallest expenses a company will incur when compared to salary, benefits, etc. It certainly costs less than hiring the wrong person. If you're really good at what you do and demonstrate that in your resume/portfolio and over the phone, I imagine many companies would have no problem paying your airfare.

What he said. Where I work, even if you drive to the interview from a certain distance or more, you get reimbursed for travel expenses.

 

[lnfa2012@]

I was interviewed by a Assisted Living Company in Boston over the phone, then sent a PI to fill out with budget scenarios to answer, after about 2 weeks they put me on a plane, whereby I sat in a conference room interviewing with a lot of Senior management. I was hired as a traveling administrator...now 12years later I am flying to South Carolina to meet the top brass that manages veterans homes in the southeast. I live in Texas and work as a nursing home administrator in Corpus Christi. The recruiter has been great and gives me info as needed. I told him right up front my current salary so were not wasting time. They still want to fly me out this Sunday, so,unless I show up and blow it, I have a very strong chance to be hired. So I think that companies absorb interviewing costs like flights and hotel as part of the process to find that RIGHT person. Phone calls just don't don't ever get it done. While its impressive to hop a plane, I don't get excited until I see a job offer in writing. As long as the company reimburses me quickly for my expenses, Im cool