Just as you're about to finish the interview, the hiring manager has one last question: "So, what other companies are you interviewing with?"
By asking this question, the interviewer is trying to determine how serious you are about the job and how committed you are to getting a job in the specific industry you are trying to enter.
Even though this is a less common interview question than some of the others you'll encounter, there's still a chance it will pop up, so it's great to have a solid answer ready.
What other companies are you interviewing with?
Here's a full article and some tips to keep in mind when answering this question. We begin with another form of the question.
Some other formulas
There are many other formats related to this article that have the same format as the "What other companies are you interviewing with?" Such as:
- Do you attend other job interviews?
- How many companies do job interviews for?
- Do you conduct job interviews in other companies?
Why does the interviewer ask you this question?
Well, hiring managers are curious about what other companies you're interviewing for for a variety of reasons.
They may want to determine the scope of the competition, see how serious you are in the field, or even gauge their likelihood of winning such a star candidate.
- First, they want to see how your job search is going in general. They want to know if you're interviewing in general, if you sound confident, etc.
- Second, they want to know if you expect job offers soon. (This is so they can speed up the process, or at least know what to expect when you start interviewing.)
- Finally, they are curious to know what kind of jobs you are looking for. They want to make sure that their job fits the overall style of what you want.
Employers want to hire someone who is targeted and specific in their job search, not just applying for anything they see.
So, ideally, you want to show employers that you've interviewed at other companies that are similar to them, or for other jobs similar to their positions.
How to prepare for the answer
The key to preparing the question "What other companies are you interviewing with?" It is telling them about the types of companies you are interviewing with, without telling them the names of specific companies or going into more details.
This will help you get past the interview question quickly and move on! Next, your secondary goal is to show confidence and act like you've had some success so far!
It's okay if you don't have a lot of interviews. You can still say, "I just started looking for a job, but I'm starting to schedule phone interviews, and I feel confident about how things are going."
Or you could say, "I'm relatively early on in my job search, but I'm starting to get some advice on my resume, so I'm feeling good about things so far."
This is how you can sound confident and optimistic even if you don't have as many interviews as you want yet! You don't have to tell a big lie here, but you never want to say, "Well, you're actually the first company that called me. I applied six months ago and no one else cared."
As a final piece in your answer, if you are expecting job offers soon, you should let them know. You could say, "I've had a couple of late interviews and can get job offers by the end of next week."
This way, they can speed up their process or you can meet several people in one interview if they like you! You'd be surprised what companies can do to speed things up if they know they have a competing offering coming up.
I wouldn't recommend lying about this, but if true, it's a good idea to share this...including your first phone interview with a recruiter or HR.
Examples of answering the question
Sample responses can help you understand how to carefully answer the question “What other companies are you interviewing with?” Consider these sample answers to help inspire you to prepare your own answer:
I have two recent interviews with Vodafone and Orange. for senior marketing positions. But I can tell you that based on what I know, this position has exactly the kind of challenges I'm looking for in my next role.
I interview a few companies for a range of positions, but they all deliver an excellent customer experience. I wanted to stay open about how best to achieve this goal, but so far it seems like this role will really allow me to focus all my energy on customer experience and retention, which I find very attractive.
I am still very early in my job search. I have applied for a number of opportunities that will allow me to use my data visualization skills to help educate clients, but this position is the most exciting for me. In fact, I think this position is particularly suitable for my skill set because I can draw on my extensive experience working with complex data sets.
I do interviews at other technology-focused companies like yours. I started looking for a job recently, so I just started doing interviews, but this is the kind of company I focus on finding a job with, which is why I applied for this position.
I'm still in the early stages of my job search, so I've just started doing phone interviews. It's going well so far, and I'm mainly talking to tech companies like yours about sales and marketing positions.
See: Interview Question "What Will Your First 30 Days in This Role Look Like?"