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After a job rejection, Why do companies ask where I decided to work?

dreamrunner

Hi,

I currently switched my job, and during my job search, I had 4 job offers. All the offers were great, but since I only have one of myself, I had to take one offer. After the careful consideration, I chose a firm that I thought would be the best fit for me. I sent a rejection letter to the other three firms, and they all responded back gracefully. After few emails back and forth, two of the firms, which I connected well with throughout the hiring process, asked where I ended up choosing to work at. This is my second job, so I am not familiar with whether it is appropriate to disclose a name of the firm. Could anyone more experienced share with me why they would ask such question, and how I should respond to them? Thanks.

 
Feb 20, 15 8:52 pm
quizzical

I always ask that question so I can follow the candidate over time. If I like someone well enough to make a job offer, there's every reason to think I would try to hire that person again at some point in the future. 

It's a well known fact that most firms experience ups-and-downs over time. If I lose a strong candidate to Firm A and somewhere down the road I start hearing that Firm A is having some problems and is starting to reduce staff, I might take that as an opportunity to get back in touch and see if perhaps what we have to offer might be more attractive the second time around.

Also, I'm just always curious.

There are no reason (that I can identify) that would preclude you from telling those two firms where you ended up. Certainly there's no ethical prohibition against revealing that information.

Feb 20, 15 9:45 pm  · 
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What quizzical said. I get emails from time to time from firms I interviewed at previously. The architecture network is a small one, even in a big city. Basically it's kind of a networking thing, and if things go wrong where you are at, you know where to look first and so do they.
Feb 21, 15 4:38 pm  · 
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Also the subtext in the "where did you decide to go?" question is... "and why?" A firm wants to know if it's losing people to the same firms frequently, or if another firm is offering something that's acting as a trump card. 

Feb 23, 15 7:32 pm  · 
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sameolddoctor

4 offers? you must be real cheap. Oh wait, I mean you must be real good...

Feb 24, 15 1:41 pm  · 
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