Job Interview Question: What other positions are you interviewing for?
1 September 2006Free the Drones is going to be doing a series on various job interview questions that you might run into out there when trying to switch jobs - and the answers you should be giving to them. Many people don’t know much about interviewing for jobs - hey, if you’re good at your job, you’re probably not interviewing that often. One of the easiest ways to prepare is to get ready for common questions. If you think about it, most people doing the interviews are probably doing the same thing - they go get a book with some generic questions, and they ask them to you. That means that for most interviews, it’s not that difficult to know what to expect.
Today’s generic question is a common one that can throw many people who aren’t ready for it: What other jobs have you been interviewing for? The instinctive response among people who haven’t heard the question is usually “That’s none of your business.” Unfortunately, that’s not what the person asking the question wants to hear - and the key to answering these generic questions is to give them the answer that makes you look best. Here’s a few guidelines for your answer:
1) Tell them about jobs that are similar - in the same field and requiring the same responsibilities. One of the things this question is designed to do is tip off the interviewer as to if you’re not really interested in the job you’re applying for. If you’re trying to be an accountant and you tell them that you interviewed to be a forest ranger just yesterday, it doesn’t exactly suggest that you’re committed to the job they’re hiring you for.
2) Tell them about jobs that are just below or just above the one you’re applying for in terms of prestige. If you are applying to a $80,000 a year accountant position, it sounds bad if the other job interview you did was with a temp agency. That’s a tip off that maybe other people aren’t interested in hiring you for a good reason. On the flip side, if you’re applying for a $300,000 a year CFO position, maybe you’re overqualified and aren’t going to stay long.
3) Don’t lie and make up fake interviews. It’s very easy for them to check up if you say that you interviewed with Company X across the street. It looks really bad if they call them up and you haven’t.
4) If you haven’t interviewed for another position, tell them about the other ones you’re applying for. If you’re in this situation, and it’s your only or first interview in your job search, then tell them about some of the other positions you sent out resumes for. Make clear that they haven’t gotten back to you yet and that you have just started your job search.
5) Focus on what you’re looking for in a position, not the positions themselves. Essentially, what this question is asking you to do is to explain what you’re looking for in a job using your other positions as an illustration. It’s not some kind of trick question to figure out who they’re competing against. So refer to the other positions - but then segue into a discussion of why you selected them that explains why you would also enjoy working at the company you’re currently interviewing with.
Example good answer:
“Well, I’ve had a couple of interviews this week. I interviewed for a project manager position over at Generic Software Corporation. It’s a job where I would basically be overseeing their Virus Destroyer 2.0 development. I would be in charge of four different employees, setting guidelines for their work, doing some programming of my own, and bringing the work together into a cohesive whole. It’s similar to what I’d be doing here - a different kind of software, but I would be managing people and maybe doing a little more programming than in this job. My other interview was with Globosoft for a position as a junior project manager working on their operating system. It’s a much bigger program, so I wouldn’t be in charge of the whole thing. I’d be working on the widgets function, supervising two employees. I would report to a senior manager who would coordinate our work with the other teams. It would be a different experience from this job in the sense that I’d only be in charge of a part of the software project - but the day to day work would be very similar.”
Example Bad Answers:
“I’ve got a waiter gig lined up at Bennigan’s, but if that falls through I’d totally do the programming thing.”
“I interviewed last week with Globosoft and I LOVED THEM! They are so awesome compared to you for the following fifty reasons…”
“I interviewed last week with Globosoft but that job totally blew. I would never take it, and am only considering the hallowed halls of your company, with whom no other employer can compete. In Compusoft’s name I pray.”
“I interviewed with Globosoft for a project manager position where I’d have to supervise other people, and I am much more comfortable working on my own as a programmer. Not that I wouldn’t enjoy the supervision of people I’d have to do in THIS job - I mean, that I can handle.”
“I sent out 500 resumes and this one is the only response I got! Guess you guys got lucky!”
“I’ve got forty other interviews. This one is backup number 24, and if those other ones don’t work out, I could even get down my list to this job.”
Discuss this on the Free the Drones Career Forums here.
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