I have an interview at the parent company of another company that I am already interviewing for. Am I obliged to notify any of the parties involved?

Question

I'm actually not sure how to handle the situation. I had an interview with Company A yesterday, and I have a follow-up interview on Friday where I anticipate they will offer me the job. I scheduled an interview for Company B for Thursday, only to later realize that Company B is Company A's parent company.

Should I say something to my contact at either company?

My guess is that they wouldn't want to be in competition for the same candidate, but I don't know exactly how the company is structured. To complicate things further, I was placed for the position at Company A by a recruiter, but I have been in direct communication with Company B. I know that recruiting agencies often make companies agree to not cut them out of the deal when they find them a candidate, and I don't want to be the cause of either company unwittingly violating an agreement with the recruiter.

My first instinct is to cancel the interview at Company B (the parent company), but I would like to avoid doing that if possible.

Answer 1

I wouldn't bother informing anyone of this. You are under no obligation to understand their legal structure. You're simply trying to find the best job you can.

Answer 2

I feel like if you weren't allowed to apply for both company A and company B, they would integrate their two hiring systems into one. Plus, if you did end up potentially getting offers from both companies, it would probably be easy for them to realize what has occurred and come to their own resolution about what offers they should give you.

Under normal circumstances, a company that you are interviewing with will generally ask you if you are looking at any other places. That would be the appropriate time to tell them that you're also applying to this other position at the other company, and let them sort it out. You don't have any additional responsibilities beyond that.

Answer 3

There's nothing wrong with applying and interviewing for multiple jobs even at the same company--never mind jobs at two distinct companies that are part of the same organization. There is no reason at all to be concerned about this, from the company's perspective.

The only one who might possibly raise an objection is the recruiter. I could imagine a recruiter complaining if they found out you went with company B and therefore they get no cut. However, I would also say that this objection is entirely without justification, so if it occurs you can safely ignore it. Simply tell the recruiter that you independently found this job and applied for it, and be done with it. Recruiters can get aggressive, but you have done nothing wrong here, so don't worry about it if they do.