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I'm currently searching for a new job. I've applied to a particular Company X and was invited for an on-site interview next week after a phone interview with a person from Company X.

In the meantime, a person from recruitment agency contacted me and the offer they presented seemed interesting as well, so I applied, too. But upon very close inspection of both offers and speaking to the person from the agency over the phone, I have a reason to suspect the following. The recruitment agency is looking for a candidate for company X as well, for the exact role I'm already applying to directly at Company X. The wording of the offers is different, but the technologies used are pretty rare and the location of the company matches, too. I'm not certain, but I'd say it's quite probable.

I will be having a phone interview with a person from the recruitment agency next week. Should I contact them beforehand (via email, for example), and ask them if they are recruiting for the Company X? I know that they probably cannot disclose this information, but I don't want to waste their time, because the Company X already reached out to me first and already invited me for an on-site interview.

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Ask the recruitment agency if they can disclose the name of their client?

Tell the recruitment agency that you are possibly, currently being interviewed by the said company for similar position. If they were unwilling to disclose the name of the company initially, this may cause them to reconsider.

If the recruiter denies disclosing the name of the client (and you are certain this is the same company), you can politely ask them not to move forward with the application.

It saves time for both the hiring manager at the company and the recruiter involved.

It's a fruitless exercise for the recruitment agency to present your application to a company with which you are already interviewing and they can use the time to deal with other clients/candidates. The hiring managers time is saved by not having to deal with duplicated application.

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    Personally, I dont trust recruiters much. Play coy with them. Ask: "This sounds a lot like a company im already in talks with. Who is it?" Then confirm or deny pending on who they say it is. If its the same kindly wish them a good day and move forward with out them. They may offer to represent you bc they have a special contact yadda yadda. Tell them no, and handle it yourself. There is no advantage working with them.
    – jesse
    Commented Jul 5, 2019 at 13:28
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    I wouldn't say there is no advantage, but it's important to understand the advantages and disadvantages and proceed accordingly. For instance, the recruiter is going to be tenacious on your behalf and they may have a very good existing relationship with trust earned on the client's behalf, but on the other hand it's in their interests to just place you, not necessarily get you the best deal, so they're likely going to try to barter you down on rates on the company's behalf if that makes you more attractive a hire, etc. There are definitely pros and cons.
    – delinear
    Commented Jul 5, 2019 at 14:56

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