Reply to: Strange interview request. Is this normal?

[sociopath]

£70 for accommodation at an interview?
1. Drive it in one day, don't stay overnight.


2. If you must stay overnight, you'll find somewhere for a lot less than £70. Try Booking.com

You could always make a night of it. Sample the local breweries and get a feel for the place. That's if you haven't been before and don't know the area etc.

[sociopath]

Can't I just shout at newbies and pretend I know what I'm doing?

At least your consistent [emoji2]

[sociopath]

Set up a google drive ... store all your stuff on there.. Then you can access it from other machines, mobiles etc ... first 15GB is free.

Set up your own cloud drive using a NAS and access it from other machines, mobiles etc.

[WTFH]

£70 for accommodation at an interview?
1. Drive it in one day, don't stay overnight.


2. If you must stay overnight, you'll find somewhere for a lot less than £70. Try Booking.com

[Relaxed]

Do you mean YOU have been contacted, or some company you work for, and they have decided to put you forward?

I, the director of my company, have been contacted.

5 hours round trip, or 5 hours one way?

5 hours one way, 10 in total

5 hours (or 10) is not two days travel, nor is it a couple of hundred quid, unless you drive a very uneconomical car badly.

Fuel - £100, accomodation £70... OK, you are perfectrly right, it's £30 less than couple of hundred quid, well spotted.

Is the role through an agent you have used before?

Nope.

When you have raised your concerns with the agent what have they said?

Love it or leave it.

If you got offered the role, would you take it? (think about the travel)

I would rent accommodation locally.

What statistics/regulations are you thinking of?

Already replied by other forumites

Have you been contracting long?

If I had contracted for 20 years I would probably already have answer to my question.

[northernladuk]

Set up a google drive ... store all your stuff on there.. Then you can access it from other machines, mobiles etc ... first 15GB is free.

Can't I just shout at newbies and pretend I know what I'm doing?

[Pogle]

In response to the original post, it does not sound odd to me. I regularly work away from home and am used to going to interviews many miles away.
Obviously I prefer a technical telephone interview first, but my last 3 contracts (including the one that will start in the New Year) all insisted on a face to face interview and I got the contract based on that interview.
I would not dream in a million years to ask for expenses for the interview travel costs! That is all part of my own business expense.
Also visiting the customer and seeing what the travelling is like and what the offices are like all help me to decide if I want the role.
Do you have to drive? Would it be quicker to go by train or plane?

[SpontaneousOrder]

Yes you can be sexist in language.

For example if I referred to all nurses as "she" I would be sexist as they could be any sex, though I should say gender to cover all human beings.

What I found more troubling is that SpontaneousOrder was one of the first to notice it.....

That's because I know what sexism is, and what it isn't even though some people who don't know what sexism is insist that it is.

[Cirrus]

If I Had a Brain I'd Be Dangerous

Are you saying that Hapax and Relaxed are the same user?

Well spotted. Apologies to Hapax.

[WTFH]

Ah, I see. Well for Hapax the client contacts Reception. They speak with an American accent because he has his own offices in Silicon Valley. But they are efficient and put the call through to Professional Services, who then in turn ask Hapax to put together a bid proposal, or may suggest a possible diary slot for his sales team.

It would be the same routine for me. The only thing is, with the state of the market, nobody ever rings.

Are you saying that Hapax and Relaxed are the same user?

[SueEllen]

Every company has to spend time/money to make money. Whether this is preparing a tender or attending an interview.

Yes, you will lose a days rate and travel costs but consider the rate and duration of the contract on offer, and status of current contract.

Even if a potential opportunity has been raised for Joe Bloggs mate that doesn't mean that you can't win it on merits. It just depends on how good you are and how well you can sell yourself.

No point registering interest though if you're not willing to commute or work away from home.

You are wasting your breath. The OP was told this on the first page of this thread.

[SueEllen]

Blimey. You learn something new every day here....

Yes you can be sexist in language.

For example if I referred to all nurses as "she" I would be sexist as they could be any sex, though I should say gender to cover all human beings.

What I found more troubling is that SpontaneousOrder was one of the first to notice it.....

[SpontaneousOrder]

This thread is weird.

The OP simply stated that the found the interview arrangements personally off-putting, and wondered if it was typical (so it knows how to respond to it).

Then 99% of the responses were nothing to do with how typical it is, and instead were telling it how it should judge the merits of attending the interview.

I'd have thought it would have been able to judge for itself - given an indication of how typical it is or is not, based on it's own circumstances & preferences, whether it would be in it's own interest to go or not.

[sociopath]

Every company has to spend time/money to make money. Whether this is preparing a tender or attending an interview.

Yes, you will lose a days rate and travel costs but consider the rate and duration of the contract on offer, and status of current contract.

Even if a potential opportunity has been raised for Joe Bloggs mate that doesn't mean that you can't win it on merits. It just depends on how good you are and how well you can sell yourself.

No point registering interest though if you're not willing to commute or work away from home.

[Cirrus]

When I am contacted by an agent or client I wouldn't say they contacted my limited company, but that they contacted me.

Ah, I see. Well for Relaxed the client contacts Reception. They speak with an American accent because he has his own offices in Silicon Valley. But they are efficient and put the call through to Professional Services, who then in turn ask Hapax to put together a bid proposal, or may suggest a possible diary slot for his sales team.

It would be the same routine for me. The only thing is, with the state of the market, nobody ever rings.