Travel expenses for on site interview

[gabox01]

Hey,

I have a nice contract possibility in London.

We have done with the technical interview, and now the agency told me, that they want to make an on site interview before making the final decision.

I said OK i will do it, if they cover the cost of the flight/train. The agent said, that since this is a contractor position, the employer expects me to cover the cost.

I'm just wondering if what he is saying is a rule of thumb, or is there anything I could do here to at least share the cost with them. Since I'm not a British resident, it would be pretty expensive, and I know that there are 3 other candidates, so the odds are not so good.

Thanks

[GazCol]

Hey,

I have a nice contract possibility in London.

We have done with the technical interview, and now the agency told me, that they want to make an on site interview before making the final decision.

I said OK i will do it, if they cover the cost of the flight/train. The agent said, that since this is a contractor position, the employer expects me to cover the cost.

I'm just wondering if what he is saying is a rule of thumb, or is there anything I could do here to at least share the cost with them. Since I'm not a British resident, it would be pretty expensive, and I know that there are 3 other candidates, so the odds are not so good.

Thanks

Skype

[kal]

Hey,

I have a nice contract possibility in London.

We have done with the technical interview, and now the agency told me, that they want to make an on site interview before making the final decision.

I said OK i will do it, if they cover the cost of the flight/train. The agent said, that since this is a contractor position, the employer expects me to cover the cost.

I'm just wondering if what he is saying is a rule of thumb, or is there anything I could do here to at least share the cost with them. Since I'm not a British resident, it would be pretty expensive, and I know that there are 3 other candidates, so the odds are not so good.

Thanks

Yes he is right. You can of course offset this as an legitimate business expense. The fact that the client is prepared to interview you for the position even though you are not UK based is rare in itself.

[gabox01]

Skype

Not a possiblility I asked.

[GillsMan]

Another +1 for Skype.

TBH, I've been offered interviews abroad where the client was prepared to pay for the flight, and I'd only pay it myself if it was basically just me in the running. But I don't think I'd do it if there were three other people in the running.

Edit - Ah, the fact that they won't do Skype (which allows a face-to-face meeting really) and the fact that they want you to pay for a flight for an interview where there are three other people in the running isn't massively reasonable IMO.

How confident are you of landing the gig? If very confident and/or the cost of the flight is peanuts to you, then go for it. If not very confident of landing it and/or the cost of travel would be significant to you then to be honest, I'd pull out.

[gabox01]

How about asking the agency to cover the cost?
Or just asking them for a refund, if i'm not succed?

Is this reasonable/conveinent? My problem is that I'm taking all the risk here.

[eek]

How about asking the agency to cover the cost?
Or just asking them for a refund, if i'm not succed?

Is this reasonable/conveinent?

No agency will take that risk, after all it may be pointless for them as they may have supplied all the candidates.

To be honest, if you want to work in the UK (and clearly, you do for the money) you need to make some effort...

[tarbera]

They want to see the whites of your eyes and mannerisim under questions

Hey,

I have a nice contract possibility in London.

We have done with the technical interview, and now the agency told me, that they want to make an on site interview before making the final decision.

I said OK i will do it, if they cover the cost of the flight/train. The agent said, that since this is a contractor position, the employer expects me to cover the cost.

I'm just wondering if what he is saying is a rule of thumb, or is there anything I could do here to at least share the cost with them. Since I'm not a British resident, it would be pretty expensive, and I know that there are 3 other candidates, so the odds are not so good.

Thanks

Suck it up and pay yourself as agent or client are not, Skype - No, if someone asked me for a Skype after i requested a F2F there CV would be filed in the bin.

Ive covered many a flight/hotel myself for interviews

[TheFaQQer]

I'm just wondering if what he is saying is a rule of thumb, or is there anything I could do here to at least share the cost with them. Since I'm not a British resident, it would be pretty expensive, and I know that there are 3 other candidates, so the odds are not so good.

It's up to the agency, the client and you to negotiate it - it's not out of the question for someone else to pick up the bill, but certainly it would be the exception rather than the norm. I had a client pay to fly me out to Berlin for an interview which fell through because they didn't get the budget agreed for the role, but generally my company pays for the expenses of bidding for work, rather than expecting someone else to pay for it.

[stek]

How about asking the agency to cover the cost?
Or just asking them for a refund, if i'm not succed?

Is this reasonable/conveinent? My problem is that I'm taking all the risk here.

You're a business ffs, its all about risk.