Travel expenses

hello2007

I went to three interviews with a company over the course of a month. I have now found out that they never had a role for me in the first place and were hoping to find a role for me.
If I had been told this in the first place then I would have never went to three interviews.

The company are now refusing to pay the travel expenses and more fool me for going to three interviews.Employers are taking advantage of people because of the current job market.

InsideInsurance

Its not a new thing at all, certainly in my type of role it is relatively common.... they want to do something quickly, they therefore advertise the role at the same time as internally requesting funding for the role.... unfortunately the funding isnt always approved. C'est le vie.

Did they offer to pay expenses prior to you travelling?

hello2007

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Its not a new thing at all, certainly in my type of role it is relatively common.... they want to do something quickly, they therefore advertise the role at the same time as internally requesting funding for the role.... unfortunately the funding isnt always approved. C'est le vie.

Did they offer to pay expenses prior to you travelling?

No they did not. I am going to have to put this down to a very bad experience.

Companies should not be allowed to advertise and interview people for roles that they hope to have available in the future because it is not fair.

InsideInsurance

hello2007 wrote: »

it not fair.

I have advertised jobs before I've had them signed off fully but thankfully none have ever been turned down.

In fairness to the people in question, they frequently will feel equally annoyed as not only does it mean they wasted their time looking at CVs, interviewing (probably more than just you) etc but that their team isnt going to expand and so the excessive workload will continue or the project they wanted to do isnt going to happen etc

hello2007

InsideInsurance wrote: »

I have advertised jobs before I've had them signed off fully but thankfully none have ever been turned down.

In fairness to the people in question, they frequently will feel equally annoyed as not only does it mean they wasted their time looking at CVs, interviewing (probably more than just you) etc but that their team isnt going to expand and so the excessive workload will continue or the project they wanted to do isnt going to happen etc

I understand what you are saying but from my point of view I spent alot of time preparing for the three interviews and have no job offer.

I have also incur travel costs that the company is refusing to refund to me. I blame myself for the bad experience the alarm bells should have been ringing when they made me have so many interviews.

tizerbelle

It's just life I'm afraid. I was interviewed for a contractor role back in the days when the electricity market was being opened up for competition - travelled Hull to Bolton for the interview which was at 8.45am (building didn't officially open till 9am!!) so I passed the first obstacle of getting in for the interview in a closed building, had a great interview and received a call on my way back to Leeds (where I was working at the time) to say, I'd like to offer you the job. Fantastic! 1 hour later, recruiter rang me to say really sorry, programme manager had been told by CEO no more contractors - have to fill the role from in-house staff so no job for me. Bummer, yes. Did I get angry? No. It's life, stuff happens.

So you've had 3 interviews and you haven't got a job offer - who's to say had circumstances in the company been any different you would actually have been offered any of the jobs anyway.

KiKi

hello2007 wrote: »

I have also incur travel costs that the company is refusing to refund to me.

But they didn't agree to pay them in the first place. Why should they? *Some* organisations will pay travel costs, if agreed upfront, but the vast majority don't.

KiKi

hello2007

tizerbelle wrote: »

It's just life I'm afraid. I was interviewed for a contractor role back in the days when the electricity market was being opened up for competition - travelled Hull to Bolton for the interview which was at 8.45am (building didn't officially open till 9am!!) so I passed the first obstacle of getting in for the interview in a closed building, had a great interview and received a call on my way back to Leeds (where I was working at the time) to say, I'd like to offer you the job. Fantastic! 1 hour later, recruiter rang me to say really sorry, programme manager had been told by CEO no more contractors - have to fill the role from in-house staff so no job for me. Bummer, yes. Did I get angry? No. It's life, stuff happens.

So you've had 3 interviews and you haven't got a job offer - who's to say had circumstances in the company been any different you would actually have been offered any of the jobs anyway.

The company said that I interview very well and if they had a role that they would have hire me. I also been told by the company if they have a role available in the future that they woud like to make me a job offer.

hello2007

KiKi wrote: »

But they didn't agree to pay them in the first place. Why should they? *Some* organisations will pay travel costs, if agreed upfront, but the vast majority don't.

KiKi

I had nothing to lose by asking my travel expenses to be refunded they said no so I have to put it down to a bad experience.

tizerbelle

hello2007 wrote: »

The company said that I interview very well and if they had a role that they would have hire me. I also been told by the company if they have a role available in the future that they woud like to make me a job offer.

2 thoughts on this:

1. If you interview that well, why did they need 3 interviews? I have been in a situation where I went for an interview for one job and afterwards was offered a different higher level job on the basis of that one interview even though it wasnt the job I'd gone for / been interviewed for.

2. Am I the only person who thinks that you may be wise not to hold your breath for a job offer in the future? I believe the phrase is called "softening the blow" and TBH if you can tell a candidate something like that - it makes the task of saying you've not got the job a little bit easier for the person doing the telling.

KiKi

hello2007 wrote: »

I had nothing to lose by asking my travel expenses to be refunded they said no so I have to put it down to a bad experience.

Of course you had nothing to lose, I'm not saying you shouldn't have tried. But by saying "the company are now refusing...", you're suggesting that they're going back on an agreement.

KiKi