Interviewing with multiple companies
Lisa is back with another post!
As a job seeker, you might think you’re not harming anyone by withholding the fact that you’re interviewing with multiple companies, when in fact it could take away some of your career options. It's exciting to have several companies interested in you, but it can be hard to manage interview and offer deadlines while trying to figure out which one really is your dream job.
So here are my words of advice:
Let the recruiters you're working with know if you receive an offer from another company... actually, loop them in when you learn you've just been invited to an onsite interview... ok, let’s just say loop them in any time you’re talking to another company. I realize the interview process can be lengthy, but we do our best to speed it up in circumstances like these as long as you let us know!
Your recruiter is a great resource for more information about the time period that you have to make a final decision. I’ve seen some companies only give candidates 48 hours which seems unrealistic to me. Your recruiter may be able to help you figure out how to ask for more time if you get an unrealistic timeframe. Remember, you owe it to yourself to make the right decision and not a quick decision.
Realize that you might just pass up your dream job if you do quickly accept the first offer you receive. If you let your recruiters know about other interviews and offers early in the process, and then follow through with the interviews you already have scheduled, you may just end up with multiple offers. Wow, what a terrible predicament to be in. :-)
2 Comments
Chetan Rao said:
I do not agree to what you say. First of all, before going to an interview we have to have a through check about the company and the role taht it is going to offer us. Company checks can be done by checking company website, asking collegues or friends in the same field, blogs and also people working the same company. If you are going to a particular company for an interview then you must try to clear it, negotiate, get the job and join it. You should not go to multiple interviews and waste your time as well as others time; as a person can get only one job.
If you do not clear the interview then you can go to the next. In short, a person should know which company he needs to join for a bright future. Obviously, even after surveys, one cannot be 100% sure. But, then if you have the right skills and the job market is good you can always quit.
Francesco said:
@ Chetan,
I disagree with that. You are right that a person should investigate their choices when starting their job search, but I don’t see why this means you can only try to get a job at one place at a time. I think that focusing on one company at a time could be a terrible strategy for a number of reasons:
1. Like with Baseball and Hurricanes, there’s a recruiting season. If you do not put your resume out to all of your prospects during that time, by the time you do get around to applying all the positions you were interested in might be filled.
2. The recruiting process can take a long time and it can also take almost no time at all. This is random and unpredictable, and isn't even company specific. Some jobs are easier to find candidates for, the staff is more flexible for interviews, etc etc some are more complicated. You could apply for one job, get rejected in 2 weeks, move on to the second company, wait 4 months and get rejected, and then you are left with no job. The better strategy is to apply to all of them at the same time and do your best to balance the interview dates and deadlines.
3. The line about how you could always quit if you do not end up getting the best job is bad advice, IMHO. Short spurts on your resume raise flags that you are unable to hold a job. Not to mention the expense to you and the company of relocation, training, acclimation, etc. The best scenario is to find a job you love right out of the gate and keep doing it.
As Lisa said, it is never a bad thing to have more choices. Companies wont be offended, they understand that recruiting is a competition and that we are competing for them as much as they are competing for us and it less difficult then you think to manage multiple interviews and scheduling (if you think that is hard, wait till you have a real job and have to do 10,000 things at once).