To travel 300+ miles for an interview

[Work38]

I applied for a job which is about 30 mins from where I live.

The interview was on zoom which wasn’t an issue as I am used to this from lockdown.

I have been fortunate to have been accepted for a conditional place, as long as my checks all go through and I’m who I say I am.

So they’ve offered me a second interview but it’s in head office which is a 300+ mile round trip from where I live.

I currently have no job due to being accepted for another role but being let down last minute and so money is tight.

I’m also a single parent with pets and so staying over night would be difficult and expensive.

I would struggle to afford the petrol and my car is not the most reliable and I don’t drive it unless I need to get to work or shopping.

I have looked up coaches/trains but these are more expensive than fuel and I’d need to get transport to the actual site as it’s quite rural.

I do want the job as it does seem really nice and it’s something I want to do but it is minimum wage. If it was a higher wage I would think twice about travelling 300+ miles round trip.

What would you do in my situation?

Is this normal to travel so far?

I'd ask if they'd pay travel expenses. The worst thing is they say no and then you can make a decision.

I think that's reasonable as the job you applied for is 30 minutes away. If you'd have applied for a job 150 miles away I'd expect to pay the travel but you didn't.

I did ask if they reimburse travel expenses but they said they don’t.

Is this a job that would be a stepping stone for your career, and offer development opportunities? Because it’s a bit unreasonable to ask someone to travel that far for a min wage job. This wouldn’t be expected for a job in a supermarket for exemple.
Can you ask if the interview can be at your future workplace (or on zoom) instead? Presumably that’s where your future manager works anyway.

I have asked if it can be done in the actual place of work or over zoom and they said no it has to be done in head office.

It is a job that I can move up in eventually but the top end is still only going to be £26-30k a year.

It’s basically working with adults who are ND but live in a residential home and not a carer that moves around.

So it would be a really fulfilling job and something I’d love to do but not well paid and not many career development opportunities.

I would be tempted to ask if there is definitely no way they could pay - if you're in the north and they are in London it's ridiculous to expect you to travel 300 miles.

I'd be tempted to go back to HR and absolutely clarify that they are expecting al the candidates to travel 300+ miles with no reimbursement - HR do get things wrong so they might be able to get an interviewer to come to the home itself.

Otherwise, I'd hold out for something else.

Crazy. My work would reimburse travel expenses for interviews if asked. I would clarify again, say how keen you are on the role and explain its a 300 mile trip for the interview. If they definitely won’t, I would look for something else.

I assume this is one of the big name care homes that are nationwide. If you do go for the interview make sure you ask about training. A friend of mine got a job and had to turn it down, as a lot of their mandatory training and the induction was done at head office, which was either Derby or Nottingham, can’t remember which, and a very long way from where she lived.

Thanks to everyone’s suggestions.

I am going to speak to them again and explain my situation and see if they’ll reimburse me. I’m not sure what to do if they don’t though.

And yes there are multiple homes around the country and their head office is where I need to go.

I didn’t think about having to travel for additional training as that’s something I definitely can’t do.
They didn’t say this in the advert or interview but then they also didn’t say about going for the second interview/checking documents at the head office either, so I’m definitely going to check.

I'm very sorry to read that you are not being offered travel expenses. That doesn't seem right to me, you contribute your time and they take care of out of pocket expenses.

If they won't budget, I'd ask them to outline what expenses they do cover once you have joined ?

Especially for visiting head office for training and other extraordinary visits.

I wouldn't do it and I'd be telling them why. I've never not been reimbursed for interview travel, even for relatively junior jobs

Would you have a friend or family member who could lend you a car for the day so you can make it.
You could transfer yours or be added to their insurance for the day.

Is that a new thing, it wouldn't occur to me to ask to be reimbursed for the costs of going to an interview and I've never heard it mentioned by anyone I've ever worked with

Have I been missing out? How does it even work, do you have to give your bank details and petrol receipts it bus tickets at the time?

A company with that approach is in the dark ages. If they work for the public sector, I'd argue they are discriminatory.

If you're on benefits then the job centre can help you with travel to interviews. Sorry if that's not applicable.

I’m not officially on benefits yet as it’s still being processed.
I will ask them about travel to interviews help but I’m not sure if they would even pay for that distance.

I would never expect a company to reimburse me but they never said about having to travel so far. I wouldn’t mind travelling 50 miles or so.
The job itself involves no travel either.

I will ask them to outline any additional costs to see if I can actually afford to work there.

I am wondering what sort of company they’re going to be like to work with if they expect me to travel all that way without a heads up or offering to reimburse me.

I wouldn’t travel so fair for an interview unless expenses were paid especially for a social care job at a lowish wage

In the UK? I just asked where i should send the receipts, and gave them my bank details.
In Germany, for every interview, they've reminded me they pay the standard amount for mileage, or a 2nd class train ticket. (I have gone on 1st in the past and showed that it was cheaper than 2nd because i booked in advance. That was all covered)

I've always had my travel either paid for up front, or repaid to me if the interview is held in a different location than the job.

Years ago, I applied for a job in Birmingham but the interview took place in London. They paid for my travel. If the interview was in Birmingham, they wouldn't have.

I swear we had this exact post a few months ago. No it's not normal, they either pay your expenses or do virtual interview, how many minimum wage jobs have a 2 stage interview process anyway?

surely if it’s a job that pays NMW they can’t expect you to fork out all those travel expenses. Why can’t they travel to the area? If they want to show you Head Office then this should be part of your induction and hotel and travel paid…. I don’t sit right with me what they’re expecting to be fair and if I was in your position, I’d be saying thanks but no thanks. It’s ridiculous.

I was in the same position last summer - I had an interview over the Zoom and then was invited to Head Office which was in Leicester (I live in Devon) - took me over 4 hours to get there. It was for a well paid job though, not minimum wage (and tbh I wasn’t really looking for a new job, just that it looked good and I was keen to advance my career) - didn’t get it as not experienced enough apparently???