I was looking for a job and as you do, applied to more than one place. One of the companies I'd applied to got in touch and asked me to do an editing test. Then I spoke to one of their senior managers. Then another. And finally, a third. Then the HR lady called me back, and asked me how much I was expecting in terms of a salary - I told her. Finally (about a month later), they offered me a job. At which point, I was sorry to inform them, that I'd decided to give it a miss. I really was sorry to be passing on the opportunity, but in the grand scheme of things, I'd probably regret not giving another path 100% of my efforts.
The HR lady was livid. I should have told them I was looking around elsewhere, I should have given them some indication etc etc. Okay, understandable that she was upset about losing a candidate after so much discussion and time.
However, consider the situation in reverse - A company interviews several applicants for a job. Every applicant knows that there are other candidates for this position, and not one will delude him/herself that he/she is the only person being considered for this job. Finally, someone is chosen and there is a polite mail (if you're lucky) saying that you have been unsuccessful in your endeavor, or else, there is simply no word from them and you are left to guess where you went wrong.
The second scenario of course, is what is expected. It is expected that there will be more than one candidate for a particular job but heaven forbid that one candidate should consider more than one company to apply to for a job.
Is it just me or is there something seriously out of balance with this thinking?
HR people, fix it!
