When you’re looking for a job, you should never pay to be interviewed. The employer pays for the recruiter, not the candidate. However, you will incur expenses as you look. Moneypenny, an outsourced provider for customer communications, calculated the average cost of a job interview in the US to be $72.29. This includes travel costs, an hour of time at the median wage, lunch and coffee. If the hiring process includes just three rounds, you’re spending over $200 just to interview at one company!
A job interview incurs travel costs, lost wages, and more — 7 Costs To Budget For A Job Search
Moneypenny looked at job interview costs at 20 cities across the US, and Oklahoma City was the cheapest city at $60.31 per interview. Colorado Springs came in as the most expensive at $77.78. Again, this is an estimate for just one interview. If you pursue multiple companies and have multiple interviews per company, the costs can add up to hundreds of dollars.
How Moneypenny arrives at this cost is debatable. You don’t necessarily have to buy lunch and a coffee at every interview. You may not need to take off work, thereby not losing an hour of pay. However, there are expenses for a job search, and candidates should budget for these if they plan to make a career move in the near future. Even if you aren’t planning on leaving, include these costs into your emergency fund in case of layoffs or other surprise:
1 – Opportunity costs
If you have to take a personal day at work for a full interview day, that’s paid time off you won’t get paid out for when you leave. Even if you use an unpaid lunch or after-work hour to fit in an interview, there is an opportunity cost of not doing something else (e.g., family time, exercise, extra effort on the job). As you plan out your job search for the upcoming months, think about where the time for your search is going to come from. Starting saving your vacation days, if it isn’t easy for you to step in and out of your workplace.
2 – Networking meals
You may not need to buy lunch at every job interview, but reconnecting with old colleagues over lunch or introducing yourself to a recruiter over coffee are common job search occurrences. People hire people, and it’s helpful to deepen relationships over food. If you’re asking for help on your search, picking up the tab is a nice gesture (if you get bad career advice along the way, here are three steps to deal with that). You don’t have to do all your networking over meals, and you don’t have to spring for expensive meals, but plan on some portion of your career investment to go towards food.
3 – Rituals and rewards
Moneypenny included a pre-interview coffee in their tally of job interview costs. Drinking coffee for a caffeine kick is an example of a ritual you might have during your job search. Another ritual might be treating yourself to a massage or a night out after submitting your first ten job applications. Or, you buy fresh flowers for your workspace to inspire you to press on.
4 – Professional events
In addition to meeting people over food, you might meet people at an association meeting or a conference. There are membership dues and registration fees that come with being an active participant in your field. If you’re targeting a senior executive who is hard to reach, this can be money well-spent. However, dues and fees can be hundreds, even thousands of dollars if travel is involved, so budget accordingly.
5 – Classes and/or certifications
If your job target involves a new area or skillset for you, classes or certifications may be required to be competitive. (Before you assume you have to go back to school, ask yourself these 10 questions). While you can start with free online workshops or resources at your public library, advanced training usually comes at a cost.
6 – Grooming expenses
Break out that steam iron! If you want to exude executive presence, you’ll need to dress the part. Actual dress code varies by workplace, but in all cases, you want to appear put-together and neat. If it’s been a while since you’ve been in-office, don’t forget to try on your interview clothes well before the big meeting to ensure they still fit.
7 – Tech upgrades
Even if you interview entirely over Zoom, you may want to invest in a ring light, wall art for a nicer background or a better mic and camera. A dark interview space can make you look low energy, even if your communication skills are fine. Interference with your mic or camera disrupts the interview, even if the other person is understanding about it.
Job search costs add up – plan accordingly
Of course, you still have to invest the time and prepare for the job interview so you can do well. Time is the most important currency in your job search – time for interview preparation, company research, following up with your network, submitting applications and more. However, you also need a budget to cover the costs listed above, and keep your job search going. Think of it as a Dream Fund for your next big career adventure!
