Is it rude to ask how many other people are being interviewed?

[preslove]

I passed the phone interview for a job & am being flown up in a couple weeks for the-face-to-face. The potential supervisor emailed me this evening with the interview schedule (yay for all day interviews! :\). I'm going to reply with a couple questions about the presentation I have to give (40 minutes, baby! :\).

Would putting a 'p.s. how many other people are being interviewed' be weird or rude, or should I just wait to casually bring it up during dinner/lunch while I'm there?

 

[Dr. Zaus]

Neither. Just have the confidence that you will be chosen and any other interviewees are, infact, irrelevant.

 

[Rumpltzer]

Don't ask that in an email. Go to the interview, do your thing, and then see if you really care how many people are being interviewed at the end of the day.

In the pre-interview email, it sounds desperate.

In a discussion at the end of the day, asking questions like, "what's next? when will you be making a decision? how many candidates are you considering for this postition?" It makes it sound like you're interested.

 

[Zeze]

Don't ask that in an email. Go to the interview, do your thing, and then see if you really care how many people are being interviewed at the end of the day.

In the pre-interview email, it sounds desperate.

In a discussion at the end of the day, asking questions like, "what's next? when will you be making a decision? how many candidates are you considering for this postition?" It makes it sound like you're interested.

This. I generally ask at the end of the interview and they answer it no biggie.

I also get in touch with the recruiter about this rather than the hiring manager, where there is no negative impact.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Recruiters will only have the informaiton if provided by the hiring manager/HR.

Most compnaies will not spend money on bringing people in from out of the area (costs) for interviews unless they are fairly certain and you are one of the top 2-3 potentials, if that.

 

[TheNinja]

I probably wouldn't ask about it. It might show weakness or that you aren't confident in your abilities. I guess like you said, you could kind of throw it into a conversation if you are really curious though.