Am I being unreasonable asking for a phone interview?

tjb122982

I had a interview for a job today over the phone. When they had contacted me, I asked if we could it over the phone because the job is 3 hours one way from my area. I'm working part time and I only make $8 an hour, so money is a little tight. I was told that this is the first round and if I make the second round, I have to come down there or I'm out of the running. With that being said, am I being unreasonable asking for a phone interview over in person considering that gas is about $3.80 a gallon right now?

lsud00d

Would you have to work that distance? If the money is right, a 6 hour round trip drive sucks but is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things if it's beneficial towards your long-term goals.

CyberfiSecurity

tjb122982 wrote: »

I had a interview for a job today over the phone. When they had contacted me, I asked if we could it over the phone because the job is 3 hours one way from my area. I'm working part time and I only make $8 an hour, so money is a little tight. I was told that this is the first round and if I make the second round, I have to come down there or I'm out of the running. With that being said, am I being unreasonable asking for a phone interview over in person considering that gas is about $3.80 a gallon right now?

I think you should not ask for phone interview if the travel is less than 500 miles. Usually, the employers do the phone screen first. The second round would be face-to-face; therefore, I want to see your personality. It is hard to hire someone from the phone. Sometimes, they are willing to do the skype or any other type of video conference. You should request for skype instead phone.

SephStorm

Try to schedule the interview on a day you don't work.

gbdavidx

Or after work, they usually can accommodate especially if your working already

tjb122982

CyberfiSecurity wrote: »

I think you should not ask for phone interview if the travel is less than 500 miles. Usually, the employers do the phone screen first. The second round would be face-to-face; therefore, I want to see your personality. It is hard to hire someone from the phone. Sometimes, they are willing to do the skype or any other type of video conference. You should request for skype instead phone.

It's 190 miles, I just checked. I want to point out that I asked nicely and didn't demand a phone interview. If I do move on, I will ask for a Skype interview first and go there if they say no. And at this point, I don't think I'm going to get it because I'm not a local applicant. I don't think it is one of situations where they already know who they want but I think I might have the stigma of not being local meaning I'm not going to stick around.

srabiee

If they offered you a job, would you be moving closer? If so, drive to the interview. If not, don't worry about it and keep looking for other employment opportunities.

tjb122982

srabiee wrote: »

If they offered you a job, would you be moving closer? If so, drive to the interview. If not, don't worry about it and keep looking for other employment opportunities.

Do you mean to check out the area?

srabiee

The job is 3 hours away. That's impractical. If you were to get hired by them, would you be willing to relocate in order to live closer to the job? i.e. pack your stuff up and move into a new home

BradleyHU

I would ask for a phone interview...i would suggest an interview over Skype/WebEx/GotoMeeting/etc...

190 miles is a far way to go for an interview. Having said all that, are you looking to move to where the job is located?

Heero

I would ask for a phone screen/interview for the first interview. I'd talk to the employer and try to work something out where you would only have to come in person for an interview once, and that one time would need to be late in the whole process. Most places are reasonable and will work with you. I lived two hours away from my current job and the interview was a phone screen first, and then one in person interview, which is very reasonable.

jibbajabba

You will always have to go for a face to face interview eventually. I doubt any company would offer you a job based on phone / skype conversations alone, simply because remotely it is a lot harder to "get you" - to see if you are suitable - how you react to tough questions etc. Here in the UK you sometimes have to go in just for HR interviews etc. - they won't do any of the phone / skype stuff either ..

If you cannot really afford to drive up there, I wonder how you can afford to either commute or relocate - worries a company would have as well...

networker050184

You should know what kind of pull you have. Are you interviewing for an entry level job that can be filled by a dozen local candidates just waiting to get in the door if you hesitate? Then you might want to take the trip. Or is this an interview for a seasoned, experienced professional and they are going to try and recruit you hard? If so you probably have more say so in how the proceedings will go down. Be smart about it.

Jon_Cisco

The type of position has a lot to do with it.

If this is your dream job and the once in a lifetime opportunity that just presented itself then you better find a way to go interview.
If it's a 50 cent raise and 3 hour daily commute then sure tell them your only willing to skype.

daviddws

I hope you would consider moving, because that would be a crazy commute. I've have 5 hour commutes before (2 1/2 hours each way) and after a few months of that, you will be begging for mercy and every motel starts to look very appealing.

RouteMyPacket

It sounds like you are wasting not only their time but your own with this. Why even take an interview with a company 190 miles away if you have no plans of relocating should you get the position? I dare say you wouldn't have got it anyway due to this very reason alone.

Khaos1911

Personally, if the commute is more than an hour each way, I'll pass. For every job, I've always lived close to where I work, no more than 20 to 40 mins away. That saves on gas, lunch (go home and eat/xbox), and overall sanity, because I don't have to deal with crazy traffic and I get to sleep in later

Akaricloud

Honestly I would say yes it's unreasonable to ask for a phone interview for your second interview with them.

If you're going to be going there every day for work, why would it be unreasonable for them to expect you to come in once ahead of time? If the job means that little to you, why should they hire you?

Sometimes people are different or offputting in person. In-person interviews are the standard for most all companies.