Free trial days with travel - thoughts?

[fancyaflatwhite]

Just had a positive preliminary job interview (on zoom) for a good mid-senior largely role with a healthy salary. The company is based in the south-east and I'm near-ish London.

As next step, the employer has asked me in for a full-day trial on-site, as that's their hiring process.

What do people think about this? I know some people aren't even happy about doing interview tests: what do people think about full day work trials? Should I be charging for travel? I've agreed to go along without first checking the terms. 🤔

I'd ask about whether they can reimburse you for travel.

In regards to working a day for free on a "trial day", I personally think it's a great idea both for the prospective candidate and for the employer.

Too often, someone will start a new job and decide on day 1 that it's not for them. By that point, the employer loses out as they would have already turned down numerous candidates, and wasted (usually) 4 weeks waiting for the candidate to start, only to have to start the whole process all over again, but in a worse position if they had originally replaced someone who has now left.

And for the candidate, it means they would have resigned from a job, only to realise that they made a mistake and should never have left. It's a huge waste of time for all involved.

So trial days are a great way for you to see if you like the company, if you're a good fit, you get to meet the people beforehand, see the working environment etc etc.