If you've ever applied to multiple jobs at once, then you know the challenges of dealing with each company's different hiring timelines.

You might be reaching the final stages of interviews with one business while another that you're excited about drags its feet.

At a certain point you might wonder, "Should I tell the hiring manager or recruiter that I'm interviewing with other companies?"

For Adriane Schwager, she strongly recommends being transparent upfront.

Schwager, the CEO and co-founder of GrowthAssistant, has interviewed thousands of people during her 20-year career working in recruiting — and she's made hundreds of hires as a result.

As a leader who values transparency, Schwager tells CNBC Make It she was surprised when a recent job candidate said in a late-stage interview that they needed more time before accepting an offer — because they were in conversations with another company.

As Schwager sees it, "there's a kind of an old-school way of interviewing where everybody keeps their cards close to their chest with the offer process [and] where you are in your other interviews. But it's not really setting up the relationship to start on a basis of transparency and being candid with one another."

While she acknowledges that not everybody or every company values that level of candidness, "if that's important to you, either as an interviewer or as a candidate, this is a great place to test it, in the interview process."

How to share that you're interviewing with multiple companies

Schwager isn't saying that you should start every job interview with a rundown of all the businesses you're talking to. But, mentioning it to a recruiter in your first conversation could help clear things up down the line.

As a hiring manager, Schwager says hearing about a candidate's interview experience with another company could clue her into whether her business can offer them what they're looking for.

"It's much better to talk about: Tell me about those other jobs. Why does that sound interesting?"

For example, if the candidate is excited about another job that will manage a team of 50, while Schwager's role will have a more limited scope of managing five, she'd rather know that sooner than later.

"If that's something that's super important to them, and I find that out they're interviewing with three other companies that have that larger structure, I may ask more questions about [it]. Let's talk about the differences between a large company and a small company. Why do you think a small company would be a good fit for you? Why would that company be a good fit for you?"

There's no right or wrong answer, she says, but it can help both parties better understand where the other is coming from: "We're really just having this conversation about what that person's preferences are with no threat."

Sometimes, those conversations can help job-seekers better understand their career goals, which Schwager is happy to facilitate.

For example, if a candidate realizes they want to be part of a large organization, "I realize, 'Great, I'm glad we got that out now,'" Schwager says. "Because eventually that person will start looking for another job that offers that when they realize that's a bigger priority."

As for the job-seeker Schwager recently interviewed, the candidate ultimately accepted an offer to join GrowthAssistant after talking through their other options.

"As an interviewer, I want that person to make the best informed decision for them," Schwager adds. "Ultimately, if you are forcing someone into an offer or a decision, everybody knows that doesn't play out well long-term."

Want to earn more money at work? Take CNBC's new online course How to Negotiate a Higher Salary. Expert instructors will teach you the skills you need to get a bigger paycheck, including how to prepare and build your confidence, what to do and say, and how to craft a counteroffer.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It's newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.