Help! Interview Clash

[PerfectStorm]

Precisely this.

You have nothing to gain by sharing anything about your situation.

Yup.

On a few occasions I've had recruiters say "I just want to check that you're still up for it, and declining interviews elsewhere, and that you've taken your CV offline" - all while not producing a contract. Can't have it both ways.

On a few occasions I've had multiple projects in hand and chosen from those.

But tell them what they want to hear. They can't do anything to you about it and will have told you a load of whoppers by this point anyway. (Including: how much client will pay, when it's actually going to start, how many people they're interviewing (it's always "between you and one other!"), etc. etc. )

Remember that the agent's customer isn't you, it's the prospective client. And the agents job is to find people able and willing to do the work who aren't going to go elsewhere if the client decides they want them. They want to give the illusion of controlling that last bit, but the truth is you hold the power there. Not in a contract? Not in a contract.

[TheDude]

This sounds horrible to say, but you need to play the game a bit, as in every one of these interactions, it's being played against you anyway.

To every agent, you're immediately available, have nothing else on the table, and aren't taking further enquiries.

In reality - you might have a notice to serve, you might have 2 contracts on the table and a 3rd interview tomorrow.... you want to hedge your bets hard and then let people down when you have to.

Which sounds horrible. We don't want to be like that, right?

But here's the thing... they're doing it with you. You know those interviews that go amazingly well and you end up waiting 1-2 weeks to hear back? That's the client's first choice declining the gig for something else. You'll never be told that, but that's what just happened.

Basically, don't worry about wasting the time of people who are very likely already waking yours to some degree, and certainly ewouldn't fail to do so if the need arose. there's a great saying here - keep looking until you're at the client's desk (Remotely speaking, unless you're NLUK)

Precisely this.

You have nothing to gain by sharing anything about your situation.

[PerfectStorm]

Go to both interviews, get two offers and use them as leverage against one another to extract the best terms.

You should be doing that even if you only have one prospect tbh

[PerfectStorm]

This sounds horrible to say, but you need to play the game a bit, as in every one of these interactions, it's being played against you anyway.

To every agent, you're immediately available, have nothing else on the table, and aren't taking further enquiries.

In reality - you might have a notice to serve, you might have 2 contracts on the table and a 3rd interview tomorrow.... you want to hedge your bets hard and then let people down when you have to.

Which sounds horrible. We don't want to be like that, right?

But here's the thing... they're doing it with you. You know those interviews that go amazingly well and you end up waiting 1-2 weeks to hear back? That's the client's first choice declining the gig for something else. You'll never be told that, but that's what just happened.

Basically, don't worry about wasting the time of people who are very likely already wasting yours to some degree, and certainly wouldn't fail to do so if the need arose. there's a great saying here - keep looking until you're at the client's desk (Remotely speaking, unless you're NLUK)

[SussexSeagull]

Keep on looking, including interviewing, until you have a contract in your hand or sitting at your desk/logged in from home working for them.

[gixxer2021]

I’m usually up front to both agencies if they ask, especially the following agency (not sure if that’s the right approach though!), and try and arrange both interviews as close as possible. I’ve had to turn down offers when both have offered before, not had any problems with the agents afterwards. The risk with the first interview is if they offer quickly, I’ve been lucky they’ve taken a day or so giving time to do the second interview. Good luck with both!

[BlasterBates]

Yes, I thought about it as well. If I hold him for few days and if I'm through with the first role, I would be eventually wasting his time. I know I might be overthinking but I was in similar situation a while back and an agency wasn't happy for holding him for few days and now I can't go to them for future roles. I just don't want to repeat the same mistake (if it was a mistake) and loosing another potential agency.

The last time you delayed for time, but as long as you give a clear yes or no after the interview there shouldn't be a problem. You have two good opportunities I would advise simply accepting the first offer that you get. The fact that you have two opportunities means you should be ambitious with your rate, at least for the first one. Once you agree verbally, stick with the decision unless there is good financial incentive as you will annoy the client. That is more important than annoying the agent.

[Smoggy]

Go to both interviews, get two offers and use them as leverage against one another to extract the best terms.

[WTFH]

You don’t have an interview clash.
An interview clash is when you have two interviews at the same time.

What you have is an opportunity. Agree to interviews when you can, and arrange times that suit you.
If you get two offers, then you have a choice to make. Toss a coin and before it lands you will know which role you want.

[Pete30]

errr......
If you need help with this you're gonna really struggle at an actual interview.

If you're not available for an interview, just say "I'm not available at that time. Can we do it later/earlier/another day?"

Yes, I thought about it as well. If I hold him for few days and if I'm through with the first role, I would be eventually wasting his time. I know I might be overthinking but I was in similar situation a while back and an agency wasn't happy for holding him for few days and now I can't go to them for future roles. I just don't want to repeat the same mistake (if it was a mistake) and loosing another potential agency.

[Lance]

errr......
If you need help with this you're gonna really struggle at an actual interview.

If you're not available for an interview, just say "I'm not available at that time. Can we do it later/earlier/another day?"

[Pete30]

Hi

Sorry if I should already know how to deal with this situation but;

I've applied for couple of contract roles on Fri and I got response from both agencies. One has already scheduled an interview with the client on Tue and I expect the other one will definitely call me on Mon to schedule an interview with their clients. Both roles are equally good and paying same rate, length and very good end clients.

How do I deal with situation? I would like to be in good books of both agencies.

1. If I accept the interview with agent2 on Mon and if my Tue interview goes fine with agent1, I'll be end up wasting agent2's time and potentially missing further opportunities from this agency.

2. If I don't accept the interview (god knows what excuse I should give), and my agent1 interview doesn't go well, I'm at dead road.

Please be gentle, I’m still learning

Thank You