At an interview yesterday, the man asked me if I had any other interviews or applications elsewhere. I’ve never been asked that before. is that a good thing?
I would think the interviewer should know that you have your eyes open.
He probably just wants to know how much time he has to make a decision.
I wasn’t expecting the question, and he was asking me for a lot of information (what my former boss would say is my best and worst quality), but I said no, figuring he would ask where, etc. He said I should hear by the middle of next week.
It’s not an unreasonable question, and could help you by giving the manager leverage to get an offer through the paperwork before you get another offer. So I’d be honest. I definitely would not give details about where you are interviewing though.
Probably wanting to know what kind of time he has.
But the answer to that one is always, “Yep. Dozens. Have a second interview tomorrow, as a matter of fact.”
Well, I blew that. Can only hope now. A good point in my favor is it takes me 6 minutes to walk there so I told them I had open availability, hours-wise.
If you mean you answered that question wrong, I doubt it will have much impact on the hiring decision. So, don’t worry.
[cynical mode]
He’s testing you for your absolute unwavering rock-solid loyalty to the company, and he hasn’t even hired you yet! What do you suppose they will demand of you once you actually begin working for them? I’d be very wary of working for this outfit. Do your due diligence!
[/cynical mode]
Yeah I’ve got this question lots of times. I think, as Inigo Montoya says, the interviewer wants to know how much time they have to decide on their next move. It’s probably a somewhat good sign. If you totally bombed in the interview, the interviewer would say “OK, off you go then.” But if they’re asking if you have other applications in process, it suggests to me that they at least are thinking about having you go forward in the process.
I do disagree with Inigo Montoya that the right answer is always that you have lots of suitors. Saying you have employers beating down your door might get them to move faster. But telling them that they’re the only one you’re talking to can signal that you’re not in a hurry for a change and you’re going to need a pretty compelling offer if they want you. It’s hard to say. I generally just default to being honest, if for no other reason then because I have a terrible memory.
Well, they didn’t hire me. its always been my experience whenever I get hired, it is at the interview or a few hours later. So, no surprise.
The same company, in a farther location called me out of the blue (I had applied online awhile ago and forgotten) called me for an interview. I got hired there!
Congrats!
Re: “at the interview or a few hours later”: I’ve never to my recollection been offered a job during the interview, but I once had a job offer waiting on my answering machine when I got home from the interview. 
Yeah, congrats - good work!
Didn’t see this thread earlier - just a thought on what that question might have meant (for future ref, maybe). It’s from a British perspective, but I suspect the response is interpreted thus:
Yep, dozens = “I hate my current job. I’m applying here just to get away from it.”
No other applications = “The reason I’m applying for this job is that I’m genuinely enthusiastic about it.”
Just a thought.
j
Not unless your last interviewer was the CEO.
I tried to be the last interviewer for candidates we were especially interested in, since I figured that the last thing they heard would be the thing they remembered. But an offer requires getting together with other interviewers to get a consensus, and then HR and management signoff.
You could be positive with a candidate, but you can never, ever make them any promises.
Twice that I remember, I was hired on the same day as the interview. On one of those occasions, the interviewer (who was to become my boss) came to my apartment that evening and knocked on my door, job offer letter in hand!
I’m not certain, but you seem to be saying that something that happened to me didn’t happen. You are incorrect.
My current job made an offer on the day I interviewed as well. It’s never happened to me before (well, except for McDonald’s, but it turned out that “interview” was just another word for “orientation” at that particular place and time). The interview was at 7, I was done before 11, and shortly after noon I got a text from the recruiter saying they’d already made the decison to hire me. And then I got the formal offer letter in an email later that day.
Most interviewers ask me what else is going on in my job search. I’m always vague but honest. “I’ve had a few interviews, and a few more coming up. No offer yet, but a couple positions seemed very promising.” The undertone is that I’m still on the job market, but probably not for long so you better make a decision fast.
What kind of company was it? I was referring to big ones with paperwork.
On the other hand, if HR was on the ball, I could see an offer being given the same day. Our HR was never on the ball that much.
I was thinking about offers made during the interview when I responded.
Medium-sized public library system. For a part-time entry-level circulation clerk position.
That’s the sort of question I’d ask to make sure you wouldn’t be immediately missed if I decided to murder you.
I have asked this question a lot as a hiring manager. There is not a right or wrong answer. I just want to know where I stand in this candidate’s universe of potential employers. I use the answer along with other information. Sometimes we’ll get somebody to come in who is not looking for a job so I expect the answer to be that they’re not looking at anything else at the moment.
This is perfectly credible. I work for a small company (<100 employees) and we make offers the same day all the time. When I worked for a Fortune 500 company with 90,000 employees, not so much.