Comment by astura

Not common but also not unheard of, it's simply just an advance on your paycheck.

I've seen them be offered in jobs/industries/companies where there is a labor shortage or the job is difficult to fill for some reason. They might be standard-ish in some jobs/industries.

like I said, you'd almost always be required to stay for X amount of time - like a year plus usually, or you gotta pay some or all of it back.