Is “preferred start date” ever a trick question or a criteria for candidate selection by headhunters?

I have a HH asking if I have a preferred start date of 2019 or immediate when presenting an opportunity. Is it wise to say immediate? Not sure if this is ever a loaded question.

533 WSO Academy Private Equity Session Reviews: 4.82/5

Anahuac University

Class of '18 Nov 2026 Cohort

5.00/5

Private Equity Full Resume Review

“Rachel helped me through the very beginning and we had several iterations that were crucial to the development of a better and great CV for applications. I appreciate her patience and puntual feedback every single time. Also the response time was very short and kept me aware of any delay. It kept me on line for what I had to do and some areas to focus that I didn't knowe before, and some of them honestly I didn't have any idea. Very well all around work”

Class of '24 Dec 2025 Cohort

5.00/5

Private Equity Mock Coffee Chat

“Julius was extremely helpful in breaking down the accounting concepts, especially allowing me the opportunity to walk through a question step by step on how the three financial statements are impacted across income, cash flow and balance sheet along with figuring out the mental math for it all. The concept for Equity Value to Enterprise value and bridging between the two were fairly straight forward. Along with the networking advice on reaching out to potential recruiters for Investment banking roles and how lateral recruitement is happening year end vs going into Q1 next year.”

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Is “preferred start date” ever a trick question or a criteria for candidate selection by headhunters?

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Is “preferred start date” ever a trick question or a criteria for candidate selection by headhunters?

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