FEW GRADUATES WILLING TO TRAVEL MORE THAN HOUR, SURVEY SUGGESTS
The distance a graduate will travel to attend a job interview is shorter than many might expect, according to new figures.
A survey – by Totaljobs.com – revealed that on average graduates will only travel 35 miles to meet a prospective employer. That’s the equivalent of London to Reading, which is a 30 minute train journey. Or Manchester to Chester, which can be done in just over an hour.
Only one in six graduates said they would travel 100 miles for an interview. To many, this will be surprising – considering many graduates’ reported desperation to find any work they can. But Graduate Fog’s users tell us that train tickets and petrol costs incurred during journeys to interviews are rarely reimbursed by employers, and the costs can quickly add up if you’re not working applying for multiple jobs simultaneously.
How far would you travel for an interview? If not far, what’s stopping you from travelling further – the time, the cost of the journey or something else? If you’re simply looking for a job close to where you live now, why wouldn’t you consider moving further away for the right position? Tell us what you think below.
No comments yet but lots of interesting tweets!
@lisanaomi some of my shifts were only 4-5 hours long. A 30 minute journey costing 2 hours wages was a bit annoying at times
@JoshBaboo more about time and right job than distance. Travelled 2 hours to work for 8 months for the right job. I think it was worth it.
@Grovelin I want to be a journalist – I’d move to Timbuktoo to do it but wouldn’t travel for more than 30 mins for a part time cafe job
@SabrinaLianne In other cases, that’s an hour plus. Not everyone drives, and public transport is a nightmare.
@SabrinaLianne I commuted an hour each way for three years and it was horrible – I won’t do it again. Eats into your free time too much.
If that’s how long graduates are prepared to travel for an interview then it is no wonder they aren’t getting a job. I live in the Northeast and graduated in 2010. I have been everywhere for jobs. I have been on a 6 hour coach ride multiple times to attend interviews in London. This obviously means staying overnight.
It has all paid off. I start a new job on Monday in London that pays more than £40k per year and I haven’t even passed my driving test (I haven’t even taken a driving test and don’t intend to).
If you are not prepared to relocate then you are limiting yourself to the amount of jobs open to you. It is unfortunate that the majority of opportunities to better yourself are in London but that’s the way it is. Job seekers have to adapt because businesses won’t.
Depends on the job and it’s level of security. For a £20k or £30k permanent job or “career”-type job, I’d consider going to the other side of the country – though I’d have to use my relatives’ money to move, and a credit card/relatives’ money or a Job Centre rail warrant to get to the interview.
For £6.31 or £7 an hour agency jobs that can end after a day, or fixed term contract of only a few months, I’m rather less keen on uprooting myself from where my friends live and I know and get on with my landlords and spend £600-£1000 of relatives’ money to move to a room elsewhere (with landlords who could be horrible), only to risk ending up signing on somewhere else where I don’t know anyone instead.
I wouldn’t lightly risk sacrificing my present home (and can’t afford to pay rent in two places at once), since if I gamble wrong I’ll have to move back to relatives’ houses in the countryside where my prospects are even more dismal, and commuting costs extortionate.
And of course, plenty of other people simply don’t have the money to move, and still wouldn’t if offered a job unless they got an advance, or could pay rent and a backpackers’ hostel simultaneously.
With reference to what I put above, it’s rather easier to move to the ends of the earth when you’re living in a parents house and not already paying 70% of your social security income in rent somewhere.
On long commutes: I commuted 1.5 h each way (14 miles, bus/tram/bus – would only have been a far more reasonable c 40′ by car depending on traffic, maybe an hour on the way home) for 3 months for an 8am – 5pm £7/h temp office job.
Agreed – leaving at 6.20 and getting home at 6.30 was horrible – so as well as not being able to handle typical London rents I’ve now learned I couldn’t easily handle typical London commutes either.
Didn’t help other things about that job weren’t good either (database didn’t seem to work etc). Am temping nearer now and now don’t suddenly feel shattered and miserable all the time.
@wayne
i am from the north west, the only work i could get was in london, but i hate the place, trying to got a job back up north, as the money would be the same and i would be able to live nicely, not just exist
I find this extremely surprising.
Hell, even if your family live on the outskirts of London it could take over an hour to commute in. An hour is not far to travel at all.
Personally I don’t find distance to be the best way to measure a journey, especially if you don’t have a car. I can travel over 30 miles to London Waterloo by direct train in 35 minutes but if I wanted to get to a place just 10 miles away it could take much longer if I have to walk or get more than one bus.
I think most people will weigh up the costs and inconvenience of a long commute or relocating against the job. Not all jobs are worth travelling for.
It totally depends on the level of the job the organization is offering you and the pay-cut. Recently, I was approached by a company who wanted me as a Sales Manager and did not mention how much would they pay. They mentioned that I have to come for the interview for that. In such reasons, the location is 2 hour away (which means 4 hours of travelling!) – if it is worth the effort, then go for it!
But if not, let’s say you do not get selected, you travelled for 2 hours back and forth , just to get rejected? That’s the worse situation.
Therefore, go through all the factors first and then make a precise decision. If you are satisfied with the job position and salary , only then go for it. Otherwise, keep looking, great opportunities wait for you , trust me!