Answering What Other Companies Are You Interviewing With - Career Sidekick

Answering What Other Companies Are You Interviewing With - Career Sidekick Answering What Other Companies Are You Interviewing With? Interview Questions and Answers / https://www.edenscott.com/blog Theres one way of answering, what other companies are you interviewing with? thats going to impress any employer. And there are two big mistakes you NEED to avoid at the same time.Dont worry Im going to walk you through exactly what to do in this article.Were going to look at:Why interviewers ask questions like, what other companies are you interviewing with? or are you interviewing anywhere else?The single most important thing to do when answering this question2 costly mistakes to avoid when answeringLets get startedWhy Employers Ask What Other Companies Youre Interviewing With:There are a couple of reasons why interviewers love to ask if youre interviewing anywhere else, or what other companies youre interviewing with. And they often ask this in an initial phone screen, so you need to be ready for it.Heres why they ask:First off they want to see how your job search is going overall. They want to see if youre getting interviews in general, whether yo u seem confident, etc.Next, they want to know if youre expecting job offers soon. (This is so they can speed up their process, or at least know what to expect as they begin interviewing you).Finally, they are curious about what type of jobs youre looking for. They want to make sure their job fits the overall pattern of what you want.Employers want to hire someone whos being targeted and specific in their job hunt, not just applying for anything they see. So you ideally want to show employers that youve been interviewing at other companies that are similar to them, or for other positions similar to theirs.Thats also why employers ask interview questions like, why did you apply for this position? and, why do you want this job?So this isnt a trick question. They just want to get a sense of your job search and what youre looking for. And then they want to see how far along you are in your job search. However, that doesnt mean there arent some mistakes you need to make sure to avoid.And it doesnt mean you EVER need to tell them the names of other companies youre interviewing with because you dont (and shouldnt).So in the next section, well look at the best answers for what other companies are you interviewing with? without having to name specific companies!How to Answer What Other Companies Are You Interviewing With?The ONE Thing You MUST Do:Heres the key to giving a great answer when the employer asks if youre interviewing elsewhere.Your main goal is to show them youre looking for jobs similar to theirs. So you might say:Im interviewing at other technology-focused companies like yours. I started job searching recently, so Im just beginning to take interviews, but thats the type of company Im focused on finding a role with, and thats why I applied to this position.The key here is to tell them thetypes of companies youre interviewing with, without telling them specific company names or going into more detail. That will help you get past this interview question qui ckly and move on!Then, your secondary goal is to show confidence and act like youre having some success so far!Its okay if you havent had very many interviews. You can still say, Im just starting my job search, but Im beginning to schedule phone interviews, and Im feeling confident about how things are going.Or you could say, Im relatively early in my job search, but Im starting to get some nibbles on my resume, so Im feeling good about things so far.Thats how you can sound confident and optimistic even if you havent had as many interviews as you want so far! You dont have to tell a huge lie here, but you never want to say, Well, youre actually the first company to call me. Ive been applying for six months and nobody else has been interested.As a final piece in your answer, if youre expecting job offers soon, you should tell them. You could say, Ive had a couple of late-stage interviews and could be getting job offers at the end of next week.That way, they can speed up their process or have you meet with multiple people in a single interview if they like you! Youd be surprised what companies can do to speed things up if they know they have a competing offer coming.I dont recommend lying about this, but if its true, its appropriate to share this including in a first phone interview with a recruiter or HR person.2 Mistakes When Answering, Are You Interviewing Anywhere Else?Now that we looked at the how to give the best possible answer to questions about where else youre interviewing, lets go through the MISTAKES to avoidMistake #1: Revealing the names of other companiesTheres no benefit to sharing this, and its not something they need to know. So politely decline. I have word-for-word answers coming up in the next section, but heres the general idea of what to say if they ask for company names:The companies Im interviewing with are software firms, similar to yours, in the greater Boston area. Im not comfortable sharing names of companies, though. I want to respe ct their privacy, and Id do the same for you if another firm asked me where else Ive had interviews.The bottom line is: Employers have no need for this information, and are just trying to use you to gather market data on who else is hiring, who their competition is, etc.While you should be open about whether youre interviewing elsewhere and how far along those interviews are, you should NEVER feel the need to tell them a company name. Use the answer sample above instead.One exception: Its different if youre interviewing with a recruiter from a staffing agency. They represent many companies and need to know who youve already spoken to, or else theyll be wasting their time potentially sending your resume to companies who already know you. So if youre working with a recruiter, go ahead and share this info. If you dont, theyre very unlikely to spend any time helping you.If youre unsure whether youre talking to an in-house recruiter who works for one specific company, or an agency recrui ter who recruiters for many employers, thats a good question to ask the recruiter in a first call.Mistake #2: Telling them youre not interviewing anywhere elseYou want to seem in-demand, and like your job search is going well.Thats probably the second most important thing to do in your answer, right behind showing them that their job fits what youre looking for overall!Why do they care how your job search is going?Employers want someone who is in-demand and desirable,so you do NOT want to sound frustrated, disappointed, or anything else like that.So never tell them that youre struggling to get interviews. Instead, you can tell a white lie and say, Im still early in my job search, but Im beginning to take phone interviews and its going really well so far.Now lets look at some word-for-word example answers. This will be a good recap of everything weve talked about above including how to avoid giving them other company names, what to say if youre not interviewing with any other compani es yet, etc.Best Example Answers For What Other Companies Are You Interviewing With?This first example shows you what you could say if youre just starting in your job search and havent had many interviews. Remember you never want to admit that you have no other companies interested. So youd say something like thisExample Answer #1:Im still in the early stages of my job search so Im just beginning to take phone interviews. Its going well so far andIm speaking primarily with technology companies like yours aboutsales and marketing positions.This is the best type of answer because you do NOT want to sound like you have no other prospects. This makes it sound like youre getting good interest from companies. And youre also reassuring the company that their job fits what youre looking for overall!This should all sound familiar if you read the answer steps earlier in this article.So you can use this script even if youve had zero other interviews. Just say youre doing phone interviews and its still early in your search.Now lets look at an example answer you can use if youve had some interviews, but no job offers yetExample Answer #2:Im actively interviewing and Im talking with a number of early stage technology companies like yours. Im focusing my job search on sales and marketing positions in particular.Ive met with a few companies face-to-face butI dont have job offers yet. That could change soon, so I can keep you updated.Use this if youre a bit further along in your job search and really do have some late-stage interviews going on.Its never a good idea to lie about job offers, though. So dont use this script above if its not true. Lies lead to more lies, and can end up getting you in trouble in future interviews.However, if you do have a job offer expected soon, this is the best answer. And if youve already received job offers, you can tell them that, too.Stay Calm and Use the Steps Above to Answer, Are You Interviewing Anywhere Else?Its not a trick question when employers ask about the other companies youre interviewing with.However, you do need to make sure to sound confident, show them you are looking for specific things in their job search, and show them their job fits the overall theme of what youre looking for.If you study the steps above and format your answer to sound like the two examples we just looked at, youll have a great answer any time they ask, what other companies are you interviewing with?