Leslie looked at the caller ID on her phone and quickly realized that it was Bob from the Slicko Sales Company calling. She was trying to stay calm, but her excitement was building with each ring of the phone. After two interviews with Bob, she was hoping and assuming that he was now calling to offer her the sales job

Question

"Hello," Leslie said as she answered the phone. She tried to sound calm and confident.

"Hey, Leslie, how are you doing?" Bob began the conversation.

"Great," Leslie replied while thinking how exciting it would be to finally be able to tell all her friends and family that she landed a job.

"Good to hear it," Bob responded. "I really enjoyed interviewing you for the Slicko Sales Company. Unfortunately, we just don't have any positions right now, so we're not hiring. But I was wondering, since we seemed to hit it off so well in the interview, if you'd like to go out with me sometime?"

Leslie replied . . .

What should Leslie say to Bob?

Answer 1

Think about it—would you want to develop a relationship with someone whom you thought was interested in you for your sales and management abilities but really just wanted to get to know you personally? It sounds like Bob misrepresented his intentions; it also sounds like he is using his position of power (theoretically he has sales positions to offer) for personal gain (meeting women). This is very close to harassment.

In addition, Leslie needs to know that a common way for companies to gain information about competitors is to advertise an open position. As part of the interview, the employee is asked about what he/she is working on within his/her current job. The interviewee doesn't get hired by the competitor (in some cases the vacant job doesn't even exist) but the competitor gets the inside information from the competitor's employee.