Would you go for a job interview abroad? - RF Cafe Forums

RF Cafe Forums closed its virtual doors in late 2012 mainly due to other social media platforms dominating public commenting venues. RF Cafe Forums began sometime around August of 2003 and was quite well-attended for many years. By 2012, Facebook and Twitter were overwhelmingly dominating online personal interaction, and RF Cafe Forums activity dropped off precipitously. Regardless, there are still lots of great posts in the archive that ware worth looking at. Below are the old forum threads, including responses to the original posts. Here is the full original RF Cafe Forums on Archive.org

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Guest

Post subject: Would you go for a job interview abroad? Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 4:37 am

Hello everyone,

I have a question for you: Suppose you are working in a full-time position in your homeland and actively seeking for a position overseas. You applied for positions abroad and sometimes being replied back. A company schedules you a phone interview. Following the phone interview, which appears to be a successful one, that company asks you to come for a face to face interview at a short notice (1 week or 2 weeks to the most).

You advise them beforehand (before the phone interview takes place) that you can't come to their country because you are working in a full- time position and tight schedules, and your manager won't allow you to take a vacation. The travel to that country can last between 4 days to over a week if there are no frequent flights to that country.

Furthermore, there is no guarantee that you will be hired, your job in your homeland is being risked, you risk yourself in dismissal, you pay (not them!) for the travel and the associated expenses of it (hotel, transportation etc) and all of this operation for an interview that will last how long: 2 hours, 3 hours to the most? Mostly shorter than the flight time to one direction...

And today we live in the 21st century, where almost everyone has a camera and voice aids (microphone and speakers) and can hold an interview through a video conference without being required to travel thousands of miles away! Yet these companies seem to live and behave like in the medieval ages, and haven't heard about today's technologies. These companies are oftern telecom, RFIC and IT companies....

Please let me know your thoughts... and how you would act in this case.

Many thanks.

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Guest

Post subject: immigrantsPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 5:59 pm

everyone in north america came via immigration.

why should you be any differnet ?

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Guest

Post subject: Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2004 12:50 am

Do me a favour, read the post again and then reply OK?

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Rod

Post subject: Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2004 12:09 pm

I you explain your situation to the company abroad, and they still insist you come for a face-to-face interview maybe that's not the kind of company you want to work for.

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Guest

Post subject: Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2004 1:59 pm

Thanks Rod,

Yes, you are probably right. These people insisted to see me face to face despite my explanations. They probably want to shake my hand to see that I am a real human being and not a cartoon from Walt Disney movies.

This is simply an outrage and disrespect towards an applicant. I wrtoe them a pungent email and told them that everyone I know will be advised about the experience I had with them in order to spare it from other people.

Unbelievable that such companies exist and hire people.

Any other replies shall be highly appreciated.

Many thanks

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Guest

Post subject: Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2004 12:41 pm

The mentioned company is Austriamicrosystems located in Austria. Their attitude towards applicants is beyond redemption, as I mentioned in my first post. I advised them about my employment circumstances beforehand, and they asked me to have a phone interview. At the end of the phone interview, I mentioned again this point. Following the phone interview, they invited me to come to a face to face interview in short notice (at the following week), although they knew about my limitations beforehand.

What comes out of this is that they waisted my time on a false phone interview, during which they knew that I can't come and my circumstances wouldn't change. And then they raised my limitation as an obstacle for the continuation of the recruitment process.

I am bringing here my epxerience with them, to spare you from having such an experience with them. Such a company don't deserve the right to recruit and hire people.

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Guest

Post subject: Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2004 4:32 pm

If you are applying for an overseas position and are not prepared to meet with the company leaders face to face then maybe you should look domesticly instead. Yes this is the age of cameras and high speed internet connections but companies do not generaly hire without actually meeting face to face.

The company has every right to recruit and hire based on their requirments and if a face to face is a requirment then that is what it will take to obtain the position.

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Edstroyer

Post subject: Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 2:04 am

Yes, you do have a point. However, a full time job is like a relationship. For example, would you get married to someone based on a teleconference webcam and phone calls without ever seeing the person face to face ?

you know, there are many things you can tell about a person just by standing in front of them . It's not just about the your technical abilities you see .. A person that is a genius in his field is a great thing, but if he is a snobbish one, then I wouldn't want to work with him or even hire him.

This is just my point of view. I'm not an employer and I don't own my own company, so I only reflect my opinion based on being an employee.

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Guest

Post subject: Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 4:01 am

If you see a person and get to speak with him it is enough, if you think that shake his hand, smell his deodorant etc would make you feel more secure that this is the right person, then you can go and work for this company .

If gaining a position in a new company, means you have to risk your current job, being fired, ruin your reputation in the market etc, then the new company you applied to is again narrow-minded, primitive and don't have the right to recruit and hire people (and I think that its right to exist is doubtful too).

The current technologies were made exactly for this purpose, to make the communication easier for people and spare them from traveling thousand of miles just for speaking and seeing each other. A company which is not aware to these basic facts has no right to exist. Gaining a new job is not supposed to be painful or hurting process it is just meant to screen the right person for the job.

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Guest

Post subject: Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:46 pm

I think you are a whingeing sad pedantic git! Why on earth apply for a job abroad if you can't travel and meet them? If it is any consolation I personally would not work for austriamicrosystems because they are one of the most paranoid companies I've ever come across.

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Guest

Post subject: Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2005 9:54 am

Yes you should work for Austiamicrosystems as you and them are made from the same stinking brown material called crap

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Rik

Post subject: Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2005 12:09 pm

Come on. Be nice people.

Doesn't an engineer cost as much as a really nice car? Would you want to buy a car after only seeing it in a video? Most people would want to see it in person. It is only reasonable.

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Guest

Post subject: interesting storyPosted: Tue Jul 26, 2005 10:09 pm

What a story:

Your manager doesn't allow you time off? Why are you working there in the first place. Your job is in geopardy. Well that might be a godsend for you to leave this place.

Your are going where there are few flights? Let me tell you that I have never encountered in Europe or US a case where I had to pay for interviewing expenses. This is supposed to be company cost as part of the hiring cost! If they are not willing to invest in the hiring process it doesn't bode well for anything else after that. You should look elsewhere.

Like others here I do believe that technology or not, after a phone or video conference it is necessary to meet face to face with the guys you will be working with for a long period of time. It is a commitment to them as well as to you.

What you should do really all depend on your personal motivations. My take on your posts is that it is not the company where you work that is the most important to you but other factor like geography... etc. If what you do during the week-end and during your free time is important to you it will guide you to what you should do.

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RF engineer_27

Post subject: Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2005 4:55 am

yes i agree . even when moving within the country for interview, the company will pay the interview expences. i think that any abroad country will pay the interviewing expences beforehand or at the time of interview. if u are applying for such a company which do not pay min expences then u have chosen a wrong place to work.

when are so much busy in your project in the existing company then u should forego applying for the new jobs. u should wait till u are free.

this is just my thought and i strongly object on ur comments when u make after reading our thoughts.

Posted  11/12/2012