I’ll make this one short and sweet (or bitter, whatever) – there are six words that I really, really don’t like hearing in my interviews:
“Do you have anything else on?” – Cue head slamming into desk with exasperation, followed by neck, shoulders, rest of body, and sliding in a miserable heap under the table. Yes I do, in fact you can take it for granted that there will always be other roles more likely than not at the agency with which you are interviewing. However, you have applied for the role that you are interviewing for, and not the other positions. By asking if there are other roles available, you are making it sound like you are not interested in the position that you have come in to chat about, and that is never good. Whether it’s true or not, you are giving the impression that your eyes are on other prizes, and your commitment and enthusiasm is low. Bad times. If I was offered the position of Mrs Ryan Gosling with an annual salary of $37,000,000 + castle + Ferrari 458 Italia, you can be sure as hell that I wouldn’t be asking if there was anything else on the books. Perhaps a slightly hyperbolic way of expressing my point, but you know what I mean.
If you are unsuccessful for the first role, we will be delighted to discuss other options with you, but we are never able to pursue more than one position at a time for you, so don’t needlessly throw a spanner in your own works. At the end of the day, we have two priorities – to make sure that the client is happy, and to make sure that you are happy. If we think that you’re not keen on the role, we’re not going to be overly zealous to pursue your application, are we?
Words my friends, are powerful things – be careful how you use them.
