Karla News

How to Decide If You Are Willing to Travel for Work

One of the most common job interview questions you might be asked is if you are willing to travel for work. Some employers will specify a percentage of time during which you will be required to travel while others won’t have specifics. If you hate to travel and know that you’ll be miserable if you are forced to travel more than once or twice a year, you need to be honest during your job interview.

Of course, you might be asked if you are willing to travel for work after you’ve already accepted a job. New responsibilities and requirements are “tacked on” to employees’ job descriptions all the time, so you’ll need to decide if traveling is something you are willing to do. In order to make this decision, you’ll need to get as much information as possible directly from your employer.

First of all, don’t agree to travel right away. Snap decisions are often regretted at a later date and you may want to discuss the issue with your family. If you agree to travel for work, you’ll have a hard time bailing out of it after you’ve had time to consider the situation and your boss won’t be happy. Instead, explain that you really need to discuss travel with your spouse or children and that you’ll be happy to get back to him in [24 hours]. This gives you an opportunity to consider your options and to decide how often you’ll be comfortable traveling.

Once you’ve bought yourself some time, you’ll need to consider the prospect of traveling for business in depth.

See also  AmeriCorps Vista Experience

Do you enjoy traveling at all?

If you enjoy traveling for pleasure, then you might really enjoy traveling for business. Not only is the business trip paid for, but you’ll get to see a wide variety of places. If, however, you hate to travel, you might not want to do it at all. Flying or driving for long periods of time will be miserable if you can’t find something good about it.

Do you have obligations at home?

People who have commitments at home are usually not good candidates for business travel. For example, if you and your spouse work and you have a two-year-old child, you’ll be putting your spouse in a compromising position by traveling for business too often. Or maybe you’re a caregiver for an elderly relative or perhaps you have a special needs child. Whatever the case, make sure you can keep your personal and professional obligations.

Are there any monetary incentives?

If you aren’t going to be paid more to travel for business, why would you do it? Aside from seeing beautiful places, travel won’t be in your best interest. If your boss needs you to travel badly enough, he will offer some kind of monetary incentive, or at least better benefits, for your troubles. Make sure that you negotiate this point as well as possible before making the commitment.

What about business travel expenses?

You should also ask your employer about expenses. Will you be given an expense account or must all travel expenses be reimbursed at a later date? If you have financial commitments that don’t allow for up-front travel costs, it won’t be a workable scenario. Make sure you can handle traveling for business both physically and financially.