I’m significantly expanding the area in which I search for a job. Currently I reside in Michigan, and it seems likely that I will get interviews with a few police departments in Texas. While I’d love to interview with them all, I can’t really afford a trip to Texas unless I have a pretty good shot at getting hired.
So basically, how do I tell a hiring manager “Hey, I can’t afford to come interview unless you are serious about hiring me,”? I don’t want to come across as an arrogant jackass, nor do I want them to think that I am not willing to go the extra mile. I just don’t have the money to interview with places that I’m not a serious candidate at.
Many employers actually expect to pay expenses for an applicant who travels to interview with them. I am not sure about police departments, though. Are these departments understaffed, such that they know they need to recruit outside the local area? That would make them more likely to pay. You could ask if they reimburse any interview travel expenses.
If the departments don’t pay, I think the best way to handle the situation you describe is to ask if it is possible to do a first interview (or first round of interviews) by phone.
One other option is to plan a week-long trip to Texas and try to schedule as many interviews as possible for that week.
The other way to handle this is to turn the question around. Tell them that you are very interested in the position and feel a visit would be worthwhile. This should be done on a phone call. It should be clear from the response if they are interested in you. They may even offer to pay for your travel. Of course, you better know enough about the job to have an opinion and should be very interested in the position before doing this.
I think you need to be careful here: if you say that you can’t afford to travel, then maye you don’t want the job badly enough?
I don’t know about America, but over here the general rule is that if they want to interview you, they think you can do the job. Office politics applies, of course.
If they don’t do pre-screening by phone, suggest it. They may be so used to hiring locally that it hasn’t come up. The time to ask is after that interview - though they may need a bit to talk it over. You’ll also get some sense if it is a place where you want to work.
Even if you will have to pay to go there, maybe you can set up interviews with a few departments in reasonable proximity, which will increase your odds without increasing your costs much.
