I'd say no. I'm pretty serious about employee rights, but this is not a consideration that I feel employees are entitled to, at least not as originally framed.

I'd say no. I'm pretty serious about employee rights, but this is not a consideration that I feel employees are entitled to, at least not as originally framed. Who sets the market rate? Anyway, legally you have no standing to charge for that when the going protocol is that interviews are free. I'm not sure that I want to step away from that protocol, either. Employers have as much ground to charge sloppy candidates for wasting their time. Employers should pay all costs (e.g. travel) and they should volunteer so it isn't socially awkward-- no one should have to ask to be reimbursed for train tickets-- but they shouldn't be expected pay for the employee's time. Search costs are shared; that's just social protocol. Besides, the absolute last thing I want as a job candidate is to compete with spam candidates taking an outside shot at getting in and collecting a day's pay. Yes, that would seriously happen if companies started paying unsuccessful interview candidates. However, companies should be upfront about how long the process will take. Unexpected follow-ons are irritating and I usually wouldn't start running a clock, but I feel that I should have that right. What you can't do (legally, you have no standing) is retroactively decide that the clock was running because the company didn't have its house in order and missed deadlines. Also, if you try to "collect" and threaten reputation damage, there's a thin line between that and extortion. You probably won't go to jail in that particular case, but your leverage is gone. What I do support charging for (in event of not getting the job, which hasn't happened yet) are reference checks. I haven't had to give references in a while, but here's the best way that I can come up with to do that. Send an email with the contact information of your references in it. Then, generate a PDF with the first page having phone numbers and emails of your references (the exact same information, so it looks redundant; you'd prefer that the PDF not be read). Have the second page be either blank or garbage. On the third page, put that you consider any contact regarding you between employer and any reference to be extension of a job offer and that, if they contact a reference (provided or "back channel") and pass on you, they are liable in amount of 3 months' salary, Then make sure one of your references is someone who'll tell you if they get a call from that company. If they pass on you and you can't prove that they contacted references, you don't collect. However, if they call your references (and you can prove it) and still decline you, you usually will have legal standing to collect; since you allowed them to take a risk with your professional reputation, you have a right to appropriate consideration.