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Being a technical recruiting company, our IT recruiters Boston are always digging into commutes with each prospective candidate and IT job opportunity.  It always surprises us when a candidate agrees to an interview, then ultimately turns down the position because of the commute.  Did the person not think through how they’d get to the job site before they agreed to take time of their day, the hiring managers and even the IT recruiters?  Did the roadways change since you agreed to interview?!

Because of this, technical recruiters proactively press each candidate on their commutes.  They will want to know how the person plans on getting to their place of employment.  IT recruiters will also want to know whether the candidate has a reliable form of transportation, whether the vehicle is theirs to use or if they share it with someone and if they’ve had any recent mechanical problems that could prohibit them from getting to work in the near future.

If the prospective candidate lives within a public transportation route, IT recruiters will ask how far they live from the bus or train (or even boat) station, how they plan on getting to the departure location, what times do the modes of transportation run (to ensure it falls within the schedule of the client), then how far is the arrival location from their actual work site.  Technical recruiters Boston may even go so far as to ask the candidate to test-drive the commute before committing to the job interview.

Because there are so many variables in the IT recruitment process, our IT staffing experts do everything they can to remove any obstacles that stand in the way from making a successful placement.  A person’s commute is one such obstacle, and such an easy one to eliminate if the recruiters are proactive and pose the proper questions and/or scenarios:  “If you’re looking at an hour commute by car each way, what happens when there’s an accident?  Rain or snowstorm?  Friday traffic?”  These are the hypothetical that a prospective candidate might not take into consideration until after the fact (when they’re faced with a nightmare commute and a tough decision as to whether to resign from the technical job).

Even after 15 years in the IT recruiting Boston industry, even after placing thousands of information technology professionals in various technical jobs, it still amazes me how little some candidates think about their commutes before committing to an opportunity.  Unfortunately, facing a grim reality after the fact doesn’t typically end well.  Therefore, if you’re a prospective candidate and you find yourself answering a number of questions about your commute when talking to technical recruiters, I hope you can understand why the need for us to dig.