Travel reimbursement?

I've had to do a lot of traveling lately via the metro system in Los angeles. This week I've landed two interviews with different recruitment agencies that were looking for support techs. It was nice and all and I didn't mind giving them my time, but I don't have much money and it will end up hurting me soon when I go broke.

Can I ask them to reimburse me for these trips? It's probably around $4.50-$5.00, which doesn't seem like much.

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cisco_trooper

KGhaleon wrote:

I've had to do a lot of traveling lately via the metro system in Los angeles. This week I've landed two interviews with different recruitment agencies that were looking for support techs. It was nice and all and I didn't mind giving them my time, but I don't have much money and it will end up hurting me soon when I go broke.

Can I ask them to reimburse me for these trips? It's probably around $4.50-$5.00, which doesn't seem like much.

Hmm...Tough call here. I would be unlikely to ask for reimbursement for these trips. Keep your receipts. I think you can deduct these job hunting expenses on your taxes for the year in which they were incurred. Check with your tax dude first....

Mishra

Companies who are willing to relocate you are the only companies who will pay for travel expenses. If you don't want the job or KNOW you did terrible in the interview you could ask for reimbursement. It wouldn't hurt.

dynamik

I personally think that would like kind of bad. It'd be a different story if you were traveling to do work for your company, but when you're just looking, I think you're on your own.

BeaverC32

You "didn't mind giving them your time"? Who is doing who a favor here?

I personally think for you to ask for reimbursement for the cost of traveling is ridiculous. I drove 30 minutes both ways for multiple interviews, and never considered asking they pay the price of gas consumed to get me to/from the interviews.

snadam

yea man, its tough, but I agree with everyone here so far. youre on your own.

sprkymrk

What happened to the job at the beauty salon?

http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=198776#198776

KGhaleon

It wasn't a beauty salon, it was a company that specialized in beauty products. They ended up giving the job to someone who had connections in the company.

I'm saying that I don't have hardly any money(I'm paying for this place in LA and my former residence in florida, which I haven't moved out of), so I'm living off pennies. I normally wouldn't bother going to these interviews as they may never call me again anyway, so I'm putting my neck out here in hopes that they will really send me out for some jobs. I'd drive an hour or more to interview if I had my car(which is in florida). I barely have money to eat right now.

cisco_trooper

KGhaleon wrote:

It wasn't a beauty salon, it was a company that specialized in beauty products. They ended up giving the job to someone who had connections in the company.

I'm saying that I don't have hardly any money(I'm paying for this place in LA and my former residence in florida, which I haven't moved out of), so I'm living off pennies. I normally wouldn't bother going to these interviews as they may never call me again anyway, so I'm putting my neck out here in hopes that they will really send me out for some jobs. I'd drive an hour or more to interview if I had my car(which is in florida). I barely have money to eat right now.

Is there a viable reason for having both of these places? I know it probably goes without saying but you need to get rid of one of these places of residence if they aren't generating monthly income. If you're renting that place in florida you will probably be better off breaking the contract. They have to make an effort to fill that spot, and you get to quit paying rent when its filled. Of course, check the laws for yourself, I'm not a lawyer and don't claim to be.

KGhaleon

It's a condo that my family owns so I'm not under contract, but I pay the monthly fees. I plan to move my things over to LA once I get a job, but there's little I can do right now.

Don_PA

KGhaleon

Desparate Situations call for Desparte Measures
Apply and take for any job like warehouse or Staples etc. even though it might pay only $9-$15 an hour in your area where you won't have to rely on a car. You have to swallow your pride and accept a lower paying job until you get an offer of an good IT position. I am pulling for you, as I am in the same boat, except I do get unemployment benefits to support myself. I might have to take that temporary IT Computer deployment job that pays half of what I previously made. In the mean time I am studying to finish my Cisco CCNP as well as honing and practicing my skills on my home network on Wintel Servers, Virtualization and Backup practice.

Hang in there and utilize all of your available time wisely to keep looking .

dynamik

KG, out of curiosity, what's the worst-case-scenario for your situation? Are you able to go back to Florida or move in with family? I think I speak for a lot of people here when I say that I'm concerned about your situation.

KGhaleon

I'm staying with a friend right now. I'm contemplating taking a job at a Cheesecake factory restaurant down the street if I don't find an IT job soon. Supposedly they pay extremely well.

I don't like to sponge off my friend, but he may be able to take care of my side of the rent until I get a job and pay him back(with interest, gah).

I sent the recruiter an email about travel reimbursement, but I haven't heard from him. Maybe he won't respond. I'm about to jump on the bus to go interview with him.

I've also considered putting up some fliers to get local customers, doing computer repair. I'm also waiting for my W2(for last year) to arrive, which should net me a bit of money to cover travel and such.

I eat Ramen, sandwiches and other cheap foods to get by.

Schluep

KGhaleon wrote:

I've also considered putting up some fliers to get local customers, doing computer repair. I'm also waiting for my W2(for last year) to arrive, which should net me a bit of money to cover travel and such.

Be careful with this and do your homework first. I have never lived in California but there is likely going to be at least one license required and insurance also becomes a concern. There would be nothing worse than a lawsuit without insurance when you are already hurting financially.

Shouldn't you already have your W2 form? I thought the due date for it to be provided to you by your employer was early February (guessing February 1st) without going to the www.irs.gov website to check.

Good Luck with everything and keep working at. As Don suggested don't be afraid to take any job you can get even if it has nothing to do with IT. Personally I would not ask for reimbursement on those travel expenses as it could hurt you chance for employment.

paigow

what happened to that $25 tech job you talked about in another thread but didn't have a car for? I don't know your situation but wouldn't your family help you out here? i mean if i was that down my family or friend would always help me out and i would be able to borrow money for a beat up $1000 car that can get me from point A to B. There was also the option of renting the cheapest car you could find im sure $50 or less a day which would still get you $150 earnings a day i mean thats not the best for LA but that is a hell of a lot better then $0

KGhaleon

oh crap. My license is expired so that may be a problem when I get my W2s in...I wasn't aware that you had to file them by a certain date. Last year I didn't have a problem.

That $25/hr job was too far for me. My friend would never drive me out there everyday and I didn't know anything about the bus system at the time...I'm a little experienced with them now that I'm relying on them lately.

There's a cheesecake restaurant down the street from where I live, and they need people right away. I'm considering putting an application in to get some money, but there's a two week training course involved and I wouldn't be able to pursue IT jobs.

sprkymrk

KGhaleon wrote:

I'm considering putting an application in to get some money, but there's a two week training course involved and I wouldn't be able to pursue IT jobs.

But then again, it's hard to pursue jobs if you're living off the street and starving. :P

I'd take the job - part time if you can. If you have to go full time, see if you can get odd hours, like 2nd shift. That way you'll be free in the mornings for interviews. I would assume they need people more during lunch/dinner rush like from 11:00AM-7PM.

Schluep

sprkymrk wrote:

But then again, it's hard to pursue jobs if you're living off the street and starving. :P

I'd take the job - part time if you can. If you have to go full time, see if you can get odd hours, like 2nd shift. That way you'll be free in the mornings for interviews. I would assume they need people more during lunch/dinner rush like from 11:00AM-7PM.

I agree with this completely. Even if you can't get in there look for other restraunts in the nearby area as they usually need people in the evening and weekends more than other times of day which would provide the perfect opportunity to support yourself while continuing to pursue an IT position during the day.

KGhaleon

Sounds like something to do today. I'll walk around the area and ask around at several of the nicer restaurants.

The recruiter at Prosum Technology Services never emailed back and at the interview he didn't bring up my request. meh.
The interview was pretty much a joke, he was just having me fill out forms and didn't ask me anything relevant about my experience. It was unprofessional and laid-back, he only brought up one job he had available. I told him I was interested so I hope he actually calls me back. >_>

Got a call earlier about a project starting this month installing/upgrading several hundred Dells and printers at a client site. I expressed interest and I'm waiting to hear back from them as well.

KGhaleon

I filed my taxes this morning online, btw. I used TurboTax which is mostly free(depends). It was quick and simple, and I believe I got $541 back for some work I did last year. It'll take two weeks to get the check though.

I'd recommend E-filing though, since you don't have to pay someone to do it for you.