When a recruiter asks you who else your interviewing with, don’t tell them. It does you absolutely no good whatsoever, except perhaps when they are offering to match or beat another company’s employment offer.
Let’s say Company A figures out you’re interviewing other places, which should be kind of obvious anyway. Telling Company A who else you are interviewing with is a really, really bad idea. First, Company A is unlikely to encourage you to go work for Company B because it’s good for you. Company A wants free information to use as leverage over you. If they know you’ve got another interview, they can pressure you into accepting an offer early, cancel your interview process all together in favor of another candidate, or anything else that would benefit them and not you.
If you are dealing with a third party recruiter, telling that recruiter who else you are interviewing with will also never help you. The recruiter can take the information, market their staffing services to companies you’re already interviewing at, and then worsen your chances of actually getting by increasing the size of the applicant pool. I know, because I’ve done it.
In 2008, a job seeker I was trying to recruit told me about a different company he had an offer from. I used the information he gave me and talked him out of working for the other company. In the end I didn’t feel bad for being a recruiter and doing my job, but he didn’t benefit from me winning and the other company losing. The other company was actually a better fit for him, but I still was able to retain him.
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This post was written by guest blogger Michael Pope, a recruiter from the San Francisco Bay Area. To read more of his insights visit him at the Captain Recruiter Blog.
