Been working through the interview process with two firms over the past few weeks, interested in both opportunities, one slightly more than the other.
For the opportunity I am slightly more interested in, I had a face to face with the CEO of the company about a week ago, on a Friday afternoon at 4pm. Ended up chatting with him until nearly 7:30pm, very fluid and relaxed conversation. Turns out his son goes to same undergrad I went to, so there was some common items we were able to discuss, etc. Took it as a good sign that he stayed that late on a 7:30pm, despite the fact that his wife kept calling him asking him when he was coming home.....
He indicated he was traveling for a week and then would be back, and would like me to meet the other principals in the firm face to face (it's a relatively small group) and they had some case studies they would like me to look at. Prior to my meeting with the CEO, I had an initial phone interview with the other principals (2.5 hours long). I emailed him a thank you the following day, and he responded that he looked forward to reconnecting when he returned from traveling.
I met with the other firm a few days after, another long (3 hour) interview with all 3 partners of that firm. Also came away with a good vibe, they made a point to ask whether I was in the middle of any serious dialogue with other firms, what my timing was, etc etc. I'm assuming they wouldn't have asked if they weren't at least partially interested in moving forward.
If I end up getting more than one offer, that's great, but not looking to bid them against each other, not my style. That being said, would it be a strategic misstep to let the CEO of the first group I met with I am very interested and would love to join the team, etc? I guess I don't want to show my hand and come off as desperate, but given that I'm close to 40 and these are more senior level positions, I feel like the honesty of my strong feelings about the job might show well that I'm enthusiastic and excited.
