Multi-office job-hunting etiquette

November 11, 2010 3:18 PM

I have an interview at one location of a small firm, but want to find out if there are openings at their other locations. How can I tactfully do this?

I want to move back across the county to be closer to my family on the east coast. The company that I’d like to work for has three offices: a small (10-person) office near my family (Office A), a headquarters about 1.5 hours away (Office B), and a tiny, one-person office 4.5 hours away that is looking to build a staff (Office C).

I contacted office A to see if there were any potential opportunities there, and was able to send a cover letter and resume to a manager there as well as an HR person. The HR rep forwarded my resume to the principals at the other two offices, and I received a call from the principal at Office C. She has an immediate need for someone with my experience at her office, and eventually I set up an interview there. In my conversations with the principal at Office C she understood that the location is not ideal for me, but she didn’t think that Offices A & B were hiring... and maybe I could switch offices if something opens up down the line.

A couple days later I received a letter from a manager at Office A saying that they don’t have any openings right now, but “by way of this email, there may be interest at Office B [principal CC’ed]”. That was about a week ago, and there has been no response from Office B. I was surprised because I thought they weren’t hiring. Should I contact Office B to make sure that is the case, or is that rude considering I’ve already set up an interview at Office C? How can I tactfully keep everyone informed? How would I even phrase a question like that? I suppose I want a polite way of saying “Hi, I’m already interviewing at your other office, but I also wanted to see if this office was hiring, too, since it’d be a much better setup.” My knowledge of job-hunting etiquette fails me here.

Thanks for the advice!

posted by yukonho to Work & Money (5 answers total)

Why not just attend the interview at Office C and ask these questions at the end of the interiew- when you're usually asked if you have any questions?

"I'm highly interested in working at Parent Company of A, B, C but was just wondering if transfers to other offices- like Office B- are common/possible within the organization?" And then you can explain your situation to them.
posted by lovelygirl at 5:30 PM on November 11, 2010

Response by poster: Asking again at the end of the interview is a good idea, and I'll definitely do that. I suppose I was wondering the most respectful way to get directly in touch with Office B about opportunities there. In a month, I'll be taking a trip for three days of meetings and interviews, so if it's an option I'd want to visit both offices in that time. Transferring after a few years was already presented as a possibility, but I'm curious if I could get to the preferable location right from the start.
posted by yukonho at 5:45 PM on November 11, 2010

We see this all the time. It's not a big deal. I spoke to a candidate today who had this issue. Sometimes we can work out location issues for the right candidate. (Telecommute a few days a week? Locate the job in another office? The options are often there if the person is a great fit.)

Here's your script:

"XYZ Corp is my target company. Ideally, I'd like to work in Office A, but I'm interested in exploring opportunities in locations A, B or C."
posted by 26.2 at 10:22 PM on November 11, 2010

Best answer: Just as a counterpoint, I work at an "Office X" which is about 40 people, and there is an "Office Y" which is about 15 people about 4 hours from here. Office X is growing rapidly, Office Y isn't really in hiring mode. We see it as a major negative when people going through our interview process at Office X talk about how much they'd prefer Office Y - I'd venture to say a question along the lines of what lovelygirl outlines above would basically exclude you from the possibility of an offer at Office X for us.

If working at "Office C" is still something you are interested in, I'd be very, very careful to emphasize your strong interest in working in that location, and phrase the Office B inquiry as more off-hand. If Office C gets the feeling you are just using them as a stepping stone, I think it could majorly hurt your chances at getting hired.
posted by CharlieSue at 7:08 AM on November 12, 2010

Best answer: Wait, you emailed A&B, got a reply email from A directed to you and B, and you're waiting to hear back from B? To me, I would have thought it appropriate to email B (a "reply" including A's message to both of you) saying "I was pleased to hear that there might be an opening in office B. If this is the case, I'd like to talk with you about ways I might be a good fit in your office. While I will be interviewing on [date] at office C, I am also interested in opportunities at the B location blahblah cover letter blah," and attach your resume (again, unless it was already still attached in A's reply to you & B).

Basically, don't assume that B grabbed your information from your previous email to A & B, before A pointed you out to them, and don't feel shy about sending that information again wrapped in A's blessing.
posted by aimedwander at 7:19 AM on November 12, 2010