The force of globalization and increased movement of workers, coupled with the general lowering of travel costs would indicate a willingness of companies to incur in travel expenses to invite a candidate for an interview, when they are unable to fill a position locally and out-of-state or foreign applicants have the required skills, such as experience in a specific industry or company.

However, reality is different.

Most often than not, companies remain silent on the issue of first interview travel costs. This leaves candidates confused about whether they should even ask about reimbursement, and worried that doing so might diminish his/her chances of landing the job.

Travel expenses may be out of reach for candidates, especially when they are young professionals recently out of university burdened with student loan repayment.

Travel expenses may also be out of reach for companies, which might have a limited budget for recruitment expenses.

Some companies have established guidelines about paying for interview expenses. These guidelines include policy and procedures for the authorization and payment of travel expenses associated with pre-employment interviews of candidates for different categories of positions and grade levels. Often, these policies include reimbursement only to the few top candidates considered, and even then, are subject to many limitations of distance, quality of travel and costs incurred during stay.

The implication for recruitment professionals is clear.

This reality calls for the use of video job interviewing as an alternative to personal interviews. This system saves both sides the costs associated with arranging a meeting, travel, transportation and other expenses.

Recruitment professionals also know that the best candidates are not always those who can invest personal funds in travelling to take a chance at getting that job they are after. By using video interviewing as part of their recruitment process, they make sure that strong candidates are not left out of the selection process just because they might not meet the strict criteria established by companies.

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