Interview for a job that requires travel

I have an interview tomorrow for an IT audit position with a large company. The job description I am not worried about, they said they are looking to expand the audit department and they are having trouble finding auditors with IT experience.

The job says 30 percent travel primarily to Europe. I have never had a job that required travel let alone international travel. I am writing down a list of questions to ask and practicing because I want to show that I have concerns but not sound like I am against the idea of travel.

30 percent can mean many things, 30 percent per week can mean a couple of days per week but I don't see that being possible if I have to go to Europe.

Do companies count your hours total away from home as "work hours"?

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NOC-Ninja

In my experience, they can say whatever percent it is. When it comes down to it, you stay in that location until the job is done.
I guess you have to ask them if this is set or it varies.

quickman007

My cousin got a job a few months ago with 50% travel. So far it's just been a rough estimate. He might travel for two weeks straight then stay at the office for two weeks straight. Unless the job description specifically states 30% travel per week, I doubt it's 30% per week. You'd be spending way to much time flying.

Is the job salary or hourly?

tpatt100

It's salary, I am going to ask specifically what they mean if they take it the wrong way it's on them no loss for me since I have a job already.

bpenn

Travel percentage really does mean anything. I am taking a new job on Monday and the travel rate is 10%. However, I will only travel once a year and I can be gone from 30-40 days straight.

MarieW

30 percent could mean 10 days per month or it could mean one month per quarter. You might want to ask how many trips per year and are the trips usually a week long. If its auditing, you might be following a specific procedure at a client site for five days, for example. You might also want to ask if you'll be using a corporate credit card vs cash advances vs reimbursement. Will they pay for dry cleaning if you're gone more than a week? Will they pay your transportation and/or parking to and from the airport, car rental onsite, if you are working through a weekend will any expenses NOT be paid?

Your work hours will most likely be the work day. For example if the team meets at 7:30 for breakfast to prepare for the day and you work through dinner, your work day might be 7:30am - 8:00pm.

Good Luck.

EnderWiggin

Just preface your concerns with something along the lines of "I am excited about the idea of traveling, but I have a few logistical questions." When it comes to travel time, they should be pretty understanding about needing to know how it will work, as you will need to make accommodations at home before heading out.

tpatt100

Thanks for the input, I wrote these all down in OneNote so I can remember to ask them tomorrow.

gespenstern

I'd bet at first you'll have to travel a lot. Later on it could become less of a necessity because you'll know everything and will be able to predict things and do lots of stuff remotely. But at first it could be difficult, I remember myself on the go all the time, even on major holidays...

But, if the pay is good I say go ahead. The pay should reflect this travel situation and be somewhat higher than this type of job would have without travel.

networker050184

tpatt100 wrote: »

It's salary, I am going to ask specifically what they mean if they take it the wrong way it's on them no loss for me since I have a job already.

Why would they take you asking about the job your interviewing for the wrong way? Isn't that kind of the point of the whole thing?

pinkydapimp

Their percentage is just an estimate. I did 100% travel for about 8 years. Out on Monday home on friday. I suspect yours will not be as rigorous.

Most important thing you can ask is for the travel policy. Make sure they wont be forcing you to stay in motels or come out of pocket for meals and such. And do get more details on what a typical travel week/month is like. If you are cool with it, then give it a try. It can be alot of fun!

updatepedia

it depends on company, not every companies count %

Raystafarian

Whatever percentage they estimate is definitely low, I've found. My auditing job of 50% travel was really 75%. My auditing job with 60% was more like 90%. They key questions are
- Whether you return on Thursday nights or Fridays. Probably not applicable overseas.
- Whether you need to work and log hours during transit.
- Whether you work weekends
- Whether you expense and get reimbursed or get per diem (retain what you don't spend).
- Petty - but whether your airline miles and hotel points etc are yours to keep.

pinkydapimp

Raystafarian wrote: »

Whatever percentage they estimate is definitely low, I've found. My auditing job of 50% travel was really 75%. My auditing job with 60% was more like 90%. They key questions are
- Whether you return on Thursday nights or Fridays. Probably not applicable overseas.
- Whether you need to work and log hours during transit.
- Whether you work weekends
- Whether you expense and get reimbursed or get per diem (retain what you don't spend).
- Petty - but whether your airline miles and hotel points etc are yours to keep.

Definitely not petty. This is a huge perk that can be worth alot of money. Years after my 100% travel job i was taking vacations for free at highend resorts. Count that as compensation!

tpatt100

Well just got done and I really asked a ton of questions when I got to the travel part, I feel a lot better asking a ton of questions about the job and the travel.

I met with the IT Audit Manager and the Audit Department Manager for about an hour. I don't have a lot of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) experience which I need but they said they needed somebody with some technical experience because they are expanding their audits into the more technical side and they are heavy in the accounting side of things.

They said they travel as a group and they over estimated travel because they changed over to SOX compliance last year. They want to go to each site once every three years and the foreign travel is being reduced due to language reasons. They started going with local contractors more if there are not a lot of English speaking people at the site or if the site is small and not worth spending the money to send us.

The IT audit manager said the most he traveled last year when things were more hectic was five weeks and he was always home by Friday, they do a lot of prep work before they go to reduce the need to be on site.

I asked a lot of questions about their audit process and then talked about family/travel experience and the woman told me they all had kids as well and that was a good question to ask.

At the end the Audit manager asked me if I would be interested in coming in again so I could get a better look at the office area, meet the rest of the team and see how I like the environment.

pinkydapimp

Sounds like a very interesting role . Good luck!

tpatt100

Interview went really well, nice building very "corporate". I always feel like somebody is going to ask me what I am doing there, left over insecurities from my retail days I guess.....

Met with four people, managers for each audit department and the global IT manager. Each one kept saying the environment was really laid back, talked about corporate environment all the locations of the different plants and I would be working on the floor of the "C" level, which I asked what that meant and was told our department reports to the executives, the CEO, CFO, CIO, etc. That's the way auditors are supposed to work, not like I am now at my current job which is why I run into so much conflict of interest.....

Went over benefits work schedule, etc. The audit manager said they don't have a real schedule and people come in at different times depending on family needs etc. Some like to come in early so they can leave early because of their kids after school activities.

I was told travel can fluctuate but 1 week a month is excessive and not the norm unless it's Europe.

I then met with two audit managers who were CPA types, CPA types make me nervous. They were cool though, after the interview we gabbed for a while in the parking lot which is a good sign.

The head audit manager is pregnant and is due this week so she wanted to meet me quickly before she took off on maternity leave.

The audit manager for IT is going to schedule a meeting with me outside of work because he wasn't in the office today and said he would drive out to meet me halfway somewhere to chat for a bit.

I was also told I could work from home a couple of days per week if I don't have any meetings scheduled.

From what they tell me I am going to be slipping more into the business side of IT, much more than I am currently but I am fine with that. I will get to still dabble into the systems but will be mostly into the compliance side of IT.

cyberguypr

Looking good. What's the timeline for a decision?

tpatt100

The IT Audit manager is on assignment out of state and is coming back tomorrow, he will schedule a meeting with me before a decision is made so I am just going to be patient. The recruiter said I was the only person interviewed so if I am not chosen then they will be looking even harder, he's having a hell of a time finding IT Auditors with actual IT experience.

There were ten positions in my area that opened up for different companies and I got calls for all of them through Monster, Indeed, LinkedIn. I did an interview with Johnson Controls a few weeks ago but I didn't do so well and I can tell they were looking for a CPA type which I explained on the first call before a face to face that I was not a CPA type person I was more on the technical audit side.

pinkydapimp

tpatt100 wrote: »

Interview went really well, nice building very "corporate". I always feel like somebody is going to ask me what I am doing there, left over insecurities from my retail days I guess.....

Met with four people, managers for each audit department and the global IT manager. Each one kept saying the environment was really laid back, talked about corporate environment all the locations of the different plants and I would be working on the floor of the "C" level, which I asked what that meant and was told our department reports to the executives, the CEO, CFO, CIO, etc. That's the way auditors are supposed to work, not like I am now at my current job which is why I run into so much conflict of interest.....

Went over benefits work schedule, etc. The audit manager said they don't have a real schedule and people come in at different times depending on family needs etc. Some like to come in early so they can leave early because of their kids after school activities.

I was told travel can fluctuate but 1 week a month is excessive and not the norm unless it's Europe.

I then met with two audit managers who were CPA types, CPA types make me nervous. They were cool though, after the interview we gabbed for a while in the parking lot which is a good sign.

The head audit manager is pregnant and is due this week so she wanted to meet me quickly before she took off on maternity leave.

The audit manager for IT is going to schedule a meeting with me outside of work because he wasn't in the office today and said he would drive out to meet me halfway somewhere to chat for a bit.

I was also told I could work from home a couple of days per week if I don't have any meetings scheduled.

From what they tell me I am going to be slipping more into the business side of IT, much more than I am currently but I am fine with that. I will get to still dabble into the systems but will be mostly into the compliance side of IT.

Sounds like a great role. Good luck! Let us know how it goes. Dont hesitate to negotiate. Sounds like your in a good position to.

tpatt100

holy crap I got responses to my "thank you" emails I sent lol. Never had that happen before. Was told they are going to schedule a follow up with one person and enjoyed meeting with me.

P.S. something funny but one of the managers was impressed when I talked about identity theft prevention. I used my WGU Capstone project as the basis for what I talked about.

scaredoftests

tpatt100 wrote: »

holy crap I got responses to my "thank you" emails I sent lol. Never had that happen before. Was told they are going to schedule a follow up with one person and enjoyed meeting with me.

P.S. something funny but one of the managers was impressed when I talked about identity theft prevention. I used my WGU Capstone project as the basis for what I talked about.

Isn't that great when that happens? Such a shot in the arm.

apr911

pinkydapimp wrote: »

Raystafarian wrote: »

Whatever percentage they estimate is definitely low, I've found. My auditing job of 50% travel was really 75%. My auditing job with 60% was more like 90%. They key questions are
- Whether you return on Thursday nights or Fridays. Probably not applicable overseas.
- Whether you need to work and log hours during transit.
- Whether you work weekends
- Whether you expense and get reimbursed or get per diem (retain what you don't spend).
- Petty - but whether your airline miles and hotel points etc are yours to keep.

Definitely not petty. This is a huge perk that can be worth alot of money. Years after my 100% travel job i was taking vacations for free at highend resorts. Count that as compensation!

I'd dont know that I'd go so far as counting it as compensation but its definitely a pretty nice perk. The question of pettiness depends on the definition used and the employer.

As an employee, being able to keep the miles can be pretty significant perk and it is certainly not a petty (trivial) thing to ask about and its no more behaviorally-petty than asking about pay, hours, work life balance, benefits or any other aspects of what to expect from the company in regards to the give and take of the employment covenant. Additionally, how the employer responds to such a question will tell you a lot about the company.

The good companies (i.e. the ones you want to work for) will not see ulterior motives in the question. They likely view the miles as a petty (trivial) cost of doing business and let you keep them.
The bad companies will view see petty-behavior/ulterior motives in the question because they themselves have the behaviorally-petty (spiteful, small-minded, ungenerous) view that they own the miles as the paying party and expect you to give them up to the company.

If a company is petty minded about something like miles that realistically are just part of the cost of doing business (after all, miles are only awarded to those who signup for the rewards program and the company would be paying for you to travel whether miles were involved or not) imagine what other petty rules and other behaviors they might have. So ask away and if they are taken aback by your audacity to ask such a petty-thing, perhaps sufficiently enough that they know longer consider you, know you probably dodged a bullet and they saved you the trouble of having to turn down the offer.

To add to the list of questions (though I know the OP already got answers from the company) I would include questions about what they consider to be a trip and what they consider to be "travel" time. Is it overnights or days on the road and does time enroute count?

Typically, on an overseas or cross-country trip, travel time is on company time but a company might view a shorter trip (think the 30-45 min commuter flights and trains along the eastern seaboard between DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, NY, Boston, etc) as part of your commute.

Plus, if they only consider travel time to be those "nights" away from home... Well there is a big difference between 50% travel consisting of 2 overnight trips a week and 75% consisting of 1x 3 night trip a week. Even if being home is important to you, I'd argue the 75% travel is more desirable than the 50% travel arrangement... While you are physically "home" more often with the 50% arrangement, you might not be mentally or emotionally there as you are always preparing for the next trip and it is more physically and mentally taxing to have take 4 flights a week than it is to only have to make 2 flights. Plus dont forget, the risk of getting stranded due to weather, maintenance, overbooking, etc. is (mostly) cumulative so each leg or trip increases the risk of a cancellation.

Which brings up the point I made about what do they consider a trip because with so many airlines no longer discounting single destination roundtrip tickets, many companies have gotten in the habit of booking multiple leg trips because its more efficient and cost effective to visit 2 locations on 1 trip than to make 2 trips. These multiple hop-trips are a hybrid of the multiple trips a weeks and 1 long trip per week so they sit directly in between single long trips and multiple short trips as far as physical and mental strain and toll. They have many of the benefits of both and only a few of the drawbacks.

Lastly, if you like travel and like/want to see the world, I'd ask them how they feel about extending trips either through the weekend or use of vacation time at mostly personal expense; this works better if you dont have kids at home and are single (or have the disposable income/finances to fly the SO out to meet you). A lot of companies have no problem flying you out earlier or later than planned and sometimes through a different city if it doesn't cost them much more than it would to keep their planned itinerary...

I've extended trips to Philadelphia, New York and Washington DC and picked up the cost to get to/from Philadelphia when necessary so I could spend the time with family with the company paying for my flight from/to Philadelphia.

I've extended trips to cities I've never been to before and picked up the cost of the hotel so that I could get out and experience the town with the company paying for my flight on an earlier/later date.

By far the best trip I've had was a company trip to London. I was working 4x 10's, Saturday-Tuesday and the company wanted me in London to work 5x8's Monday-Friday for 2 weeks. I was able to arranged to have them fly me out on the Tuesday night red-eye after my shift ended and since it was the end of my work week, I didnt have to report in until the following Monday so I had Wednesday-Sunday in London... Worked M-F with the weekend to myself and after working the second week M-F, I was able to get them to fly me out the following Saturday on the early morning flight.

Because I was state-side in time to make it to work on Saturday and travel time counted as work time and there was a US holiday in there, I only had to take use a single floating holiday for my trip. So I was overseas for ~26 days. I worked 10 of them but still had the nights to myself, traveled on 2 of them and had 14 full days to myself all for a single floating holiday. As an added benefit, because the company had so many US visitors they rented a 3 bedroom long term flat/apartment and since the flat was only partially occupied they let me stay at the flat so it didnt even cost me a hotel except for when I traveled to Paris, Antwerp and Amsterdam in my final week and even those expenses were nearly covered by a generous per-diem that exceeded actual expenses for the 10 working days, 2 business required weekend days and 2 travel days I received it for.

So yeah, being able to extend your trips could be huge, if you're into that sort of thing.