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[wsampsonpuc]

I have noticed that many community colleges require applicants to pay their own travel expenses to mandatory preliminary interviews.  The CCs will pick up the expenses for a second interview, if the candidate "makes the cut."  Wouldn't it be more advantageous for community colleges, in regard to candidate pools, to conduct preliminary interviews by phone?  Would you advise me to accept preliminary interviews that require long-distance travel?

My concern stems from one interview that I did have.  The minimum requirement was a master's degree, but they preferred a doctorate.  I came from out of state. I had just earned my doctorate. Because of the short notice that was given to me, my expenses came to $1500.  When I arrived, the interview was perfunctory.

I later learned that a local woman with a master's, who was the "heir apparent" actually got the job.  Insiders told me that the other interviews were basically shams.  Moreover, the CC needed to demonstrate that they had interviewed out-of-state candidates.

Since I was burned once, I hesitate to go on any more long-distance preliminary interviews.   

[madhatter]

This month alone, two community colleges are flying me out for first-round interviews. About one hour each. I will be spending between 13 and 36 hours on these one-hour interviews. One college is paying for the trip. The other one might pay for it ... if the dean feels like it ... but I should submit receipts anyway and see what happens.

Yes, I broached the topic of doing a phone interview instead. Let's just say that flexibility and cost-effectiveness are not part of the CC vocabulary.

[rockprof]

Depends on the College.  At our school, at least on the SCs I've been on, we'll do a preliminary phone interview if we get a CV from a promising candidate and they're more than 100 miles away.  If we still like them after the phone interview, we'll spring for plane tickets and a hotel and bring them in.  I would never invite someone to come, at their own expense, if they didn't have a real chance at getting the job.  It is hard to be objective when there's a known person in-house who wants the job, but the SCs I've served on have all tried to be fair to all the candidates.

[georgiaprof]

At my previous CC, we paid up to a certain amount for reimbursement of expenses ($500 - $1000 depending on the position level)  But, we only really did one round of interviews.  At my current CC, we do have two rounds and the first round is required to be by phone.  So it depends on the place. If I were asked to pay out of pocket for an interview trip, I'd think twice.  If they won't pay for this, then they probably won't pay for a lot of other things that I feel are important (like faculty travel for professional development).

[archman]

Both of the CC interviews I had last year were out of state, and neither was paid for. Both SC's brought this up during the "phone call to see if I'm interested". And yes, I'm still suspicious if I was only brought in to satisfy HR requirements.

One CC application I filled out actually has a statement in it explaining that the school probably won't be able to reimburse applicants for travel costs. There was a little check-box where applicants could mark whether or no they would be interested in such an interview.

Am I bad to have marked the box "yes"? Needless to say I didn't get an interview...

[zuzu_]

I am sorry to hear that happened to you. If that's really how it happened behind the scenes, that is horrible.

As someone who has had interview invitations from about 15 CCs, my experience is that about half of them will pay all or part of your travel expenses. Several schools paid for whole thing, and another one payed half. CCs in Kentucky with reimburse up to $250.

When I was invited to interview, I asked the following questions:

Will the college reimburse interview travel expenses?
If the answer is "no," I politely ask the following questions:
How many applicants are they interviewing?
Are there any inside candidates?
These questions will help you get a vibe on whether or not it is sham.

If you get the feeling that the search is legit, accept an interview. You can always cancel it. Then, research how much it will cost and weight his against how much you want the job. Also weigh this against how many other interviews you have lined up. You can always call back and say, "I am sorry, I just realized it will cost $2000, and I don't have that kind of money."

[mj_romo]

I don't even want to say how many interviews I've gone on in the last 2.5 years - let's just say a lot, and about 1/4 of them were out-of-state.  A small handful requested that mandatory preliminary interview and reimbursed me completely for travel expenses, although the check didn't arrive for almost 4 months in one case.

The rest offered phone interviews, but my impression in that case was that there was an inside candidate, and that the SC simply needed to show that they looked beyond the obvious field.  I still accepted the interviews, if only for the practice.

[wsampsonpuc]

Thanks for the tremendously helpful replies!  I very much appreciated all of your advice.  Have a wonderful holiday season.