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I'm in between jobs at the moment and have some temp work I've been doing to pay the bills. Often time's I work with, or at least see, the same people. The other day someone started asking me all of these interview questions. It was very sudden. The questions were uncomfortable, especially since we were eating lunch at a table with other people. The questions were like 'on a level of 1 to 10, how hard of a worker are you?' and 'if you got paid double, would you work twice as hard?'. He then revealed he's a manager at another company he works for the has a product related to smart homes.

At his request I added him on LinkedIn and we exchanged phone numbers. He's been pestering me by text to set up an interview with him in the next few days. I've been busy with my other work and haven't had a time to look into his company but based on the way he's acting it's a scam.

Given that I probably will run into him again at our 'other job', how can I politely tell him I'm busy for the next little while but will get back to him if I am interested? BTW if he's doing the same temp work I'm doing, he's probably lying about being a manager for another company (I haven't checked out their website yet but just by the over eagerness he had in hiring a random person I'm suspecting it's a scam).

I'm not sure when I'll be free to come in for an interview

Would just have him continue to text me each day asking.

Also, a little aside, but what's a good way to respond to someone asking these types of interview questions when you're not actually at an interview?

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You might want to check out the website just to be sure, but at any rate if you're not interested in the position, just be honest about it. No need to go into specifics, just tell them:

Thanks for the offer, but I'm not interested in a position at your company.

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    I did this and he sent me a rude message back saying it was lame I was satisfied in my current position. I kind of had a feeling this would happen, but I guess it's their problem if they feel the need to be rude.
    – eatlunchinpeace
    May 1, 2018 at 9:38
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    @eatlunchinpeace consider that a bullet dodged, and blacklist the company so you don't accidentally work with these folks in the future.
    – Erik
    May 3, 2018 at 12:23
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Tell him exactly what you think. There's nothing impolite about rejecting an interview request or letting a person know that you don't like to discuss work at lunch table.

'on a level of 1 to 10, how hard of a worker are you?'

"Hey, I'm having my lunch, I really don't think this is the right place for an interview!" (or)

"Hmm, I don't discuss work related stuff at lunch. Can we talk about this later ?"

If they insist on your number, you can ask them for their number instead (without giving yours) and let them know that you will call in case you are interested.

Regarding how to respond to his text, you should tell him "Sorry, I'm kind of busy right now. You don't have to text me, I will check your website and let you know if I'm interested".

You should then find some time from your schedule and check up their website or check reviews about it and see if it fits your profile. There's no point delaying this and it normally takes very less time as people who are happy with a company may/may not give reviews, but people who are unhappy would most probably give a feedback somewhere.

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