The past few months, I have been looking to lateral. Every time I interview, I’m told up front that I’m the first person they’re interviewing and that the process will take a while.
I really don’t like being the first because I think firms tend to forget you when you’re the first interviewee.
I recently got a callback request from another firm asking for availability I’m the coming weeks. Should I just tell them I’m not available until a few weeks down so I avoid being one of the first interviews?
I don’t know if there is any truth to my fear of being forgotten by the time the firm decides to move on a candidate.
Lateral Interview First Interviewee Forum
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Anonymous User
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Re: Lateral Interview First Interviewee
I think you’re looking at this the wrong way. Having gone through the lateral process somewhat recently myself and having worked with a great recruiter, I learned that firms typically only open lateral applications when there’s a strong need to fill a position and they want to do so quickly because it isn’t beneficial for them to have a vacancy and interview people indefinitely.
In other words, you snooze, you lose.
If you’re the first person that a firm is interviewing, that may mean that they think you’re a strong candidate and they wanted to bring you in as soon as possible. Alternatively, it means that they aren’t comparing you to anyone else. They aren’t going to hold off on extending you an offer until after they’ve interviewed everyone — they will extend offers to interviewees as soon as they determine that someone is a suitable candidate. I think your plan of waiting a few weeks because you don’t want to be first will a) likely result in you shooting yourself in the foot because other interviewees may get offers in the meantime, and b) come across as a lack of interest in the firm for not moving fast enough.
In other words, you snooze, you lose.
If you’re the first person that a firm is interviewing, that may mean that they think you’re a strong candidate and they wanted to bring you in as soon as possible. Alternatively, it means that they aren’t comparing you to anyone else. They aren’t going to hold off on extending you an offer until after they’ve interviewed everyone — they will extend offers to interviewees as soon as they determine that someone is a suitable candidate. I think your plan of waiting a few weeks because you don’t want to be first will a) likely result in you shooting yourself in the foot because other interviewees may get offers in the meantime, and b) come across as a lack of interest in the firm for not moving fast enough.
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Best
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Re: Lateral Interview First Interviewee
Lateral hiring is rolling. They offer when they find a candidate they're happy with. If there's already interviews scheduled/being scheduled, they'll wait, but you shouldn't be trying to time the lateral hiring timeline.
