I think these are valid concerns. It's definitely a selfish thing to do; but in this particular case, I'm okay with it for some reason. I guess it's a "ends justify the means" kind of thing. I draw the line at lying about my intentions. If they ask me, I'll definitely tell the truth about how seriously I'm taking them. Regarding reputation, who knows. I think many hiring-managers' hubris gets in the way of them thinking they're a warm-up company.

do u think companies interview many candidates for a single position bcoz they want to hire all of'em? of coz not, they want a pool of candidates and pick the best one, and there's even a waiting list...u need to do the same, two way straight.