TRAPS: When an interviewer presses you to reveal
confidential information about a present or former employer, you may feel it's
a no-win situation. If you cooperate,
you could be judged untrustworthy. If you
don't you may irritate the interviewer and seem obstinate, uncooperative or overly
suspicious.
BEST ANSWER: Your interviewer may press you for this
information for two reasons.
First, many companies use interviews to research the
competition. It's a perfect set up. Here, in their own lair, is an insider from
the enemy camp who can reveal prized information on the competition's plans, research,
financial condition, etc. Second, the company may be testing your integrity to
see if you can be cajoled or bullied into revealing confidential data.
What to do? The answer here is easy. Never reveal anything truly confidential
about a present or former employer. By
all means, explain your reticence diplomatically. For example, "I certainly want to be as open
as I can about that. But I also wish to
respect the rights of those who have trusted me with their most sensitive
information, just as you would hope to be able to trust any of your key people
when talking with a competitor..."
And certainly you can allude to your finest achievements in specific
ways that don't reveal the combination to the company safe.
But be guided by the golden rule. If you were the owner of
your present company, would you feel it ethically wrong for the information to
be given to your competitors? If so,
steadfastly refuse to reveal, it. Remember that this question pits your desire
to be cooperative against your integrity. Faced with any such choice, always
choose integrity. It is a far more
valuable commodity than whatever information the company may pry from you. Moreover, once you surrender the
information, your stock goes down. They will
surely lose respect for you.
One President we know always presses candidates unmercifully
for confidential information. If he
doesn't get it, he grows visibly annoyed, relentlessly inquisitive. It's all an
act. He couldn't care less about the information. This is his way of testing the candidate's
moral fiber. Only those who hold fast
are hired.
