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Are you interviewing elsewhere

 
sanitation engineer
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What is the purpose of this question, what does the hiring manager really want to know?I could never figure this one out. And if they ask with whom, do you say it?
 
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I think they just want to get a idea if anyone else
is interested in you.
just a guess.
 
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They want to know where the jobs are, so they can get their people in there quickly. A Dirty trick !!
An agent once explained that with the current state of the market employers want to know whether the job seeker is actively looking for work and not being successful.
On replying that it used to be a trick question to find where the jobs are, she was dumbfounded.So in a way, they may have a point if that's as far as the question goes.

You can reply that yes, you are interviewing elsewhere but you'd rather not tell where, until you hear from the interviewers. You can give a description of the type of company that interviewed you, media,finance and turnover - that should give them some idea of your prospects.
Useful if this is your first job-hunt. If you have been interviewed
and done your homework you should know.
They also follow up with a question as to how the interview went and what questions are asked. You can be sure then, that the reason is the first one I gave. Fortunately, this happens only rarely.
regards
 
Author
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My favorite comment from a recruiter:
And if you see any other companies that you're interested in, even if we don't have a relationship with them, let us know, because we can try sending your resume over there.
Translated:
And if you see any other comapnies, let us know, so we can hit them up, too. We'll be happy to submit your resume on your behalf. Although resumes submitted by recruiters are more likely to be looked it, we also make you look 25% more expensive.
--Mark
 
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"We want to make sure that we are not double submitting you."
And that's BS too. They will double submit you to give their other candidate a push. The only scam better than that is when they tell you they are submitting you but they are not. Now you tell the others you have already been submitted.
Contracting is almost as ugly a practice as H1-B.
[ November 07, 2003: Message edited by: Rufus BugleWeed ]
 
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Originally posted by HS Thomas:
They want to know where the jobs are, so they can get their people in there quickly. A Dirty trick !!


More of an agent-style dirty trick though. I've been cautioned not to give the game away by the first agent in. So what I do is ask agent #2 to divulge
the client name under strict confidentiality, then I confirm or not whether it's the same company.

Originally posted by HS Thomas:
An agent once explained that with the current state of the market employers want to know whether the job seeker is actively looking for work and not being successful.


I would interpret it in the opposite manner; "Are you in demand, do we need to move quickly on this if we want you?"
In this job market they are trying to get people who are currently employed. Failing that, people who are making the finals elsewhere. It's a confirmation that others have confidence in your abilities.
 
Al Newman
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Originally posted by Rufus BugleWeed:
"We want to make sure that we are not double submitting you."
And that's BS too. They will double submit you to give their other candidate a push. The only scam better than that is when they tell you they are submitting you but they are not. Now you tell the others you have already been submitted.


True. Which is why you ask whom they are acting for under condition of confidentiality. Unfortunately this still gives them some information. If they learn that someone else has submitted you they might try to trash you to the client. But it's still better than double-submittal. I've had it happen once or twice.
[ November 07, 2003: Message edited by: Alfred Neumann ]
 
Consider Paul's rocket mass heater.
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