Thomas, yes, what you mention is a problem. I have had quite a few job interviews that were free consultations. It's real painful when you have to fly out on your own dime for this, something I no longer will do at all. If the company can't afford to cover interview costs, it's not profitable and should be avoided. The experience the other guy described of it working out in the end does happen sometimes but it is a minority of cases. A lot of companies will contact domain experts and consultants and want them to come out for a chat. Sometimes they want to talk on the phone for 6 hrs. It's a huge red flag when they pull out specific problems that they are having trouble with and which are for their company, and start asking for a detailed technical analysis of how to solve it. Especially if they take written notes or video tape the interview. Usually what happens is their guy later implements the solution you give them.
