I had a half-hour phone interview that was fun and flowed more like a conversation than a traditional interview. The interviewer was very enthusiastic about my work, but had reservations about me being an out-of-state candidate. When it was mentioned that there was no budget to bring me across the country for an in-person interview, I expressed my willingness to come at my own expense because it truly was a dream position. We ended on the solution that if the powers-that-be were interested, the next step would be a Skype interview and it would be played by ear thereafter. Two weeks went by without hearing back, so I emailed to check in and found they had decided to go with a local candidate. I was told I was talented and should easily find work elsewhere, but that rang very false as I'd been unemployed for over a year following my graduation from college. They seemed more interested in finding the most convenient candidate for the job rather than the best, but perhaps they can afford to do so.