Recruiters: why do you ask “are interviewing with any other companies” and how should I answer?

Amazon
gdma80

Go to company page Amazon

gdma80
Apr 6, 2018 18 Comments

I currently work at Amazon but for whatever reason finally took a Google recruiters call last week and figured, since I was going brush up on my fundamentals for the interview anyway, I might as well respond to a few other recruiters too - namely Facebook, Adobe and Oracle.

So far I’ve only done a phone-screen with Google but when we were scheduling the on-site I was asked if I was interviewing anywhere else and I said no (technically I wasn’t yet) but as I expect to be asked this again by the others I wanted to know why they ask this and if will saying yes/no help or hurt me?

Also - any thoughts between those companies? Eg, if all the offers were more or less the same so it was narrowed down to a question of work-culture etc - which would you prefer/avoid?

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TOP 18 Comments
  • Uber
    XQXB30

    Go to company page Uber

    XQXB30
    The correct answer is "Yes". For negotiation purposes you want them to think you're entertaining many offers.
    Apr 6, 2018 5
    • Uber
      XQXB30

      Go to company page Uber

      XQXB30
      Yeah, I wouldn't lie to the recruiter. But it is a good idea to actually interview and obtain offers from multiple companies, and you don't have much leverage unless you tell your recruiter this.

      And anecdotelly–i had offers from Google and Uber (among others) and negotiated them both up without showing anything in writing. You're right that they'll stop at a certain point though.
      Apr 6, 2018
    • Uber
      xxvegas

      Go to company page Uber

      xxvegas
      ^ that’s what I meant. You don’t need to show actual written number to other companies.
      Apr 6, 2018
  • Amazon
    dmbm345

    Go to company page Amazon

    dmbm345
    Hi! I’m a recruiter and we ask that question to better understand the layout of what you’re looking at. It helps better understand your timeline (E.G. If you’re at an on-site stage with one company and just starting the interview process at my company, I know I need to catch up) as well as what competition we have in terms of making an offer.

    It has little to no effect on what our offer will be because the big companies you referenced utilize compensation bands by levels to avoid essentially starting an auction for candidates. As recruiters, we simply like to be in the know so we can council our interviewing team appropriately. Perhaps one of our interviewers worked at one of those companies previously and can share their personal experiences. Things like that.

    Overall, I always encourage you to be honest and open with your recruiter. Don’t get me wrong; I know there are lots of bad recruiters out there but the good ones are going to fight on your behalf to get you your preferred interview date, compensation offer, team, etc and honesty about your activity helps with that.
    Apr 6, 2018 1
  • Google / Eng
    Yottabyte

    Go to company page Google Eng

    PRE
    Oracle
    BIO
    2**80
    Yottabyte
    It's to see if they need to move faster to take you to each next step in the process. Getting an offer from Google can be 2 to 3 months from sourcer phone screen to extending an offer. If you are interviewing elsewhere the recruiters are supposed to keep your packet moving faster to reduce it to like 1 to 2 months.

    There have been many cases where candidates have started interviewing elsewhere after starting to interview at Google and then accepting an offer elsewhere before even clearing hiring committee. That's also the logic behind those exploring offers, to force you to choose before other offers become clear.
    Apr 6, 2018 2
  • Pinterest / Eng
    LOK53

    Go to company page Pinterest Eng

    LOK53
    Really interested in this answer as well, I have said no in the past, and then later informed them that I have also been contacted/interviewing since I started interviewing with the company who is asking and on multiple occasions get a response saying that they have moved on to other candidates. I’m wondering if you say it later in the process it appears you’re trying to leverage or are not actually interested in the company asking?
    Apr 6, 2018 0
  • Apple
    anonp

    Go to company page Apple

    anonp
    Having been in both sides of this equation, it is mostly for timing and planning purposes, but also if you are interviewing with other companies and you are one of the first candidates to interview for a position, it means that you have to impress them, because they do not know if a better candidate may come. So this can play both as advantage or disadvantage.
    Apr 6, 2018 0