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I will likely receive a couple of (2 or 3) on-site interview invitations from companies located in the same city, for the same week, if things go well.

The city is rather far from where I live, requiring an one-hour trip to the airport plus an 1.5-hour flight to reach.

I expect the companies to reimburse my travel expenses (it's customary to do so here). Apparently, a company would normally buy me round-trip tickets on the same day.

However, it would be quite a hassle to return to my residence and fly out again the next day (or 2 days later) in the same week.

I wonder if it would make sense to just stay in that city until I've finished all my interviews.

However, I wonder if proposing this would have a negative effect on the companies I'm interview with.

I've already told the companies that I have multiple ongoing interviews.

Also, what happens to my travel expenses? There would be two flight tickets (and bus fares) if I manage to arrange the interviews on the same day. If I stay overnight, hotel expenses will also be incurred.

I think there have been people who've done something similar, e.g. this person who interviewed for six Sillicon Valley companies in six days. I wonder how they handled the travel expenses.

Or should I just tell each company to schedule the interview on a separate day, and do the round trip every time?

There was a question about two on-site interviews in two different countries, which I don't think is really the same as this case.

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    Have you asked such companies if they are willing/able to cover travel expenses? Confirming such fact would greatly help you plan better if you need to stay or to several trips
    – DarkCygnus ♦
    Commented Feb 18, 2019 at 19:11
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    @DarkCygnus Yeah actually I'm in Germany and by law the companies are required to cover the expenses, unless they explicitly state otherwise in the job ad.
    – user98941
    Commented Feb 18, 2019 at 19:26
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    Could the downvoter care to explain why instead of leaving a downvote without a word or a flag?
    – user98941
    Commented Feb 18, 2019 at 20:39
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    Sadly, sometimes people DV without giving feedback. I would not worry about that much, unless you feel you start to get malicious votes, case in which feel free to raise this to a mod
    – DarkCygnus ♦
    Commented Feb 18, 2019 at 20:44

1 Answer 1

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I've done that before. Just contact the companies and ask:

  • whether they reimburse the costs at all
  • if the answer is "yes", ask one of them whether it would be possible for them to reimburse you a return flight on the next day instead
  • ask the other one if they could reimburse you a night in a reasonably priced hotel instead of a flight, mentioning you will be in the city anyways but lack accommodation.

Of course, you shouldn't mention that you need to stay longer/ you will be in the city for 2 interviews. At least not, if you are not asked about it directly. It's a bit like online dating. Everybody knows people normally talk to several matches at the same time but bringing up a date with another man/woman is not an attractive thing to do.

If that's impossible you obviously need to consider how important the interviews are for you and take a decision that reflects your goals.

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  • Sounds reasonable. However, what if the hotel price is generally much lower than the flight price (especially if the flight is booked just a week in advance?) Would the company that books the flight be unhappy about such an arrangement? Or do I just simply not mention the fact that I'm actually going to interview for another company the second day.
    – user98941
    Commented Feb 18, 2019 at 19:33
  • If the company pays for your flight, it shouldn't matter if you fly back on the same day or the following one. Not sure what the price of a hotel stay has to do with it...
    – BigMadAndy
    Commented Feb 18, 2019 at 19:38
  • Sure. I guess it's just that the first company to propose to book my flight would need to bear the greater part of the cost, while the company that books the hotel would save money. But it's not like the first company needs to spend any extra money anyways.
    – user98941
    Commented Feb 18, 2019 at 19:43
  • I absolutely, totally, disagree with this answer. It is crazy amateurish to say things like "could you move my hotel around" etc.
    – Fattie
    Commented Feb 18, 2019 at 21:21

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