If you’re job hunting, you know how hard it can be to get a single interview. But what if the opposite happens, and you suddenly have two or more interviews scheduled? Here is what you need to know.
Here is What You Need to Know If You’re Interviewing at Multiple Places
Don’t Mention It…At First
It’s perfectly fine to interview at multiple companies. But there is no need to mention that fact to either interviewer. Treat each job interview as its own thing, and assess each organization based on its own merits.
Do Mention It if You Get an Offer
After your interviews, you may decide you like one company better than the other. If the one you like best offers you a position, feel free to take it. If you are still in contention at the second organization, it’s polite to send an email to let them know you have accepted another offer.
But what if the company you don’t like as well offers you a job, and you still haven’t heard back from the one you really want? In this case, ask for time to decide. Express your enthusiasm about the position, and then request a decision date a few days in the future.
Next, contact the company you prefer. Let them know that you are still very interested, but you have another offer. Politely ask if you can get a hiring decision by whatever date you have to let the first company know.
What About Playing Companies Against Each Other?
If you end up with two offers, you’ll have a decision to make. Be sure to consider all of the factors, not just the job title and salary. What do the commutes look like? Is one schedule better for you than the other? What would you actually do day to day at each organization? Does one company provide a better career pathway?
More than likely, each organization will have its pros and cons. It’s reasonable to mention that you have another offer and ask the company you like best to match one or two things from the other offer. For example, you might ask them to meet the salary and provide the same amount of PTO. But it would be unreasonable and unfair to go back and forth between the companies, upping your demands each time. In fact, that’s a good way to get both offers rescinded.
Having multiple interviews, or even multiple offers, is a good problem to have. You can leverage the situation to get more of what you want. But be reasonable, and don’t try to play two companies against each other.
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