How To Answer “Are You Willing to Travel?” (With Examples)

When getting asked if you’re willing to travel for your job, the instinctive response would be to say yes. After all, who wouldn’t want the opportunity to explore a new place on your company’s dime?

Here are a few things to consider before accepting a traveling position:

Key Takeaways:

• When answering this question it is important to talk about positive travel experiences, demonstrate a thorough understanding of the job, and talk about networking.

• You should avoid lying about your availability, any negative travel experiences, and go overboard when talking about the good experiences.

• Before taking the job, it is important to clarify travel percentages, any expenses you may have, and what type of travel it is.

How to Answer “Are You Willing to Travel?”: Dos and Don’ts

1. The DO’s:

   • Talk about positive travel experiences. They’re looking for someone who is comfortable with spending a lot of time away from friends, family, and the home office — you want to do as much as you can to assure them that traveling is something you find invigorating and fun.

     So go ahead and bring up that study abroad trip, even if it’s a little out of date.

   • Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the job. Whatever it is you’re doing, your company won’t just be sending you places so you can eat cool food in new places.

     They want you to work, and understanding that you’ll be working regardless of whether you’re traveling is important to be considered for the job.

     Bring up the unique job responsibilities of the position as you understand it and explain your commitment to fulfilling them.

   • Talk about networking. A lot of work in a traveling position requires talking to other human beings and making business connections that stick.

     For this reason, it’s important to show hiring managers that you know how to make these kinds of connections by talking about networking experiences you’ve had in the past — and it wouldn’t hurt to engage in a little small talk during the interview itself, either.

2. The DONT’s:

   • Lie about your availability. If you can’t travel at all, don’t apply in the first place, but your employer needs to have a realistic understanding of your ability to travel if they’re going to hire you for the position.

     So if you can’t do weekends or certain percentages of the week, let the hiring manager know up front.

   • Focus too heavily on your availability either. Giving a specific maximum amount of travel you’re able to do can look bad as well, especially if that maximum is below the company’s expectations. So tell them your availability, but don’t spend too much time on it.

   • Bring up negative travel experiences: These are fine to talk about once you have the job, but during the interview process it will just make you look like you associate these experiences with traveling and that you are even perhaps lying about how comfortable you are with traveling.

   • Go overboard talking about good experiences: As bad as it is to talk about bad experiences, it can be just as damaging if the only good experiences you talk about are vacations or day trips.

   After all, they expect you to work while you’re on these trips, so if they think you associate traveling just with vacations and relaxing, they might not have the most faith in your dedication to work.

Example Answers to “Are You Willing to Travel?”

1. Yes, I’m absolutely willing to travel. I spent a year studying abroad before graduating last year, and I learned that I love experiencing new places and meeting new people regularly. During my internship at The Coastal Society, I regularly traveled to different coastal sites to meet with marine biologists and gather data. I really enjoyed that aspect of the job, so I’m definitely open to making travel a bigger part of my professional life.

2. I am certainly willing to travel for work. At my last job in sales, I spent about half my time on the road, so the roughly 25% travel time we discussed for this job sounds more than acceptable. I just have a few more questions about how frequently trips are taken for this position and the typical length of a business trip.

3. While I’m willing to travel (and love traveling), my spouse works on the weekends and we have three kids at home. As such, I need to keep my weekends free for childcare. But any travel during the workweek I can happily accomodate.

What You Should Ask During Your Interview

The reasons why the company needs you to travel can vary wildly, and as a result, the particular travel experiences you’ll have could vary even for two similar positions.

It’s important for this reason to figure out exactly what sort of travel the company expects you to undertake before you get too far into the interview process.

A few things you should clarify before you take the job:

• Travel percentage. If a job is advertised as having a travel percentage of 20%, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re traveling every Friday, or alternatively that you’re only traveling one week of every month.

  That 20% is an average, and what it represents can vary dramatically by career, so make sure you ask your hiring manager to tell you exactly what the travel percentage means for the position you’re applying for.

• Expenses. Namely, are they paid? How much of your food is being covered? Gas? Other travel expenses?

  It’s important to know this beforehand — while many places will reimburse you for every expense you incur while on the road, it’s important to know what the company’s official policy is for travel.

• Type of travel. Will it mostly be flying? Will you be expected to drive to the locations you’re going to? Where will you usually be traveling to?

  Where would the company prefer that you stay while you’re there? Will you be staying anywhere at all, or are the trips too short for this?

What Does “Willingness to Travel” Really Mean?

There are two major kinds of travel jobs:

1. Seasonal jobs. These exist only for a few months or even just a few weeks and may require you to travel for the entirety of the time you’re working the gig.

2. “Regular” job that require travel. For these kinds of jobs, the amount of traveling that occurs can vary dramatically depending on the position.

Here are a few things that might be expected of you if you enter a job like this, seasonal or not, and some things you should keep in mind about them.

• You might have to make day trips, but the company may not be willing to pay for you to stay overnight.

• This could mean long work days punctuated by large amounts of travel which could keep you awake for 16 hours or more.

• Alternatively, you might be sent very far away and be expected to fend for yourself once you get there.

• Again, you may not have much, if any, time to explore this place between takeoffs — you might just be working the entire time.

Relocation should NOT be expected of you unless it’s discussed at this time as well, and it’s important to note that there is a big difference between being willing to travel and being willing to relocate.

When it comes to actually answering the question when it’s posed to you by a hiring manager, there are a few things you ought to bring up — and some things you should just avoid entirely.

Final Thoughts

Traveling is often one of the most exciting parts of any job that includes it and, despite the huge amount of work that gets compressed during these trips, it can be very fun if you’re adequately prepared for it.

When it comes to working travel jobs, you really have to be ready to go all in. That’s why it’s so important to understand what a company is asking when they want to know if you can travel.

Not only will it make you look proactive and interested in the position, but it can help keep you from getting in over your head with a situation you’re not comfortable with or ready to undertake.

And whatever you do while you’re out exploring the world, make sure you don’t stray too far from the hiking trail. That’s how you get bear maulings, and those usually aren’t covered under company expenses.

Anyhow, best of luck to you! Here are some other links to help you on your way.

Author

Ryan Morris

Ryan Morris was a writer for the Zippia Advice blog who tried to make the job process a little more entertaining for all those involved. He obtained his BA and Masters from Appalachian State University.