After waiting a month between calls, I heard back after the call yesterday. They want to move forward, and the next step is meeting in person. They are in Chicago. This is the first client who actually wants to meet in person.

We scheduled a meeting on Wednesday. I get to fly out and back that day, and spend most of the day with them to see how things work. Before scheduling the meeting, they did discuss rate and everything.

Typically, that means I am going to get the work. Flying me out is a fairly big commitment on their end, and usually a Skype or Google Hangouts call would happen instead, if they were still on the fence.

I don’t really want to go, but since it’s likely I get the work, wasting a day in Chicago is worth it.

The real nice part is I fly out and back the same day. I don’t have to worry about getting a hotel and trying to get out of two days of work.

I get the book the plane tickets and submit the receipt. Once I get there, I get a check to cover the cost. I am guessing that is their insurance policy that I actually show up and they don’t get stuck with the cost of the tickets if I don’t go.

One friend from Ohio went to California for an in person interview, and ended up getting asked really hard questions. He did 5 separate interviews. I am hoping that doesn’t happen to me. After one of the calls, where I didn’t hear back, I didn’t think I did too well.

Taking off work, going to the airport, and then spending the day in terrible interviews doesn’t sound too fun. I did get asked if I had any dietary restrictions, so I am likely getting lunch of this.

Still, I really have nothing to lose since I get paid back the cost of the plane tickets. Worst case scenario is I wasted a day. Best case, I get a new client doing work I actually like to replace the one that ran out.