Answer / dolly

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.

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.

what motivates you at work

1 Answers   Abacus, Andhra Bank, Changepond, Flextronics, Nabard,

---

What is the reason behind your Low/high C.G.P.A

1 Answers   HPCL,

---

What are the values you respect

1 Answers   Philips,

---

You do not have all the experience we seek. Why should we hire you?

1 Answers   BEML,

---

What is the effect on the coefficients of logistic regression if two predictors are highly correlated? What are the confidence intervals of the coefficients?

1 Answers   Google,

---

What did you dislike about your old job?

1 Answers   IndiGo Airlines,

---

What are the key milestones in our history?

1 Answers  

---

Have you progressed in your career as you have expected?

1 Answers   Apple,

---

why do you believe you are qualified for this job?

1 Answers   BNY Mellon, Under Armour, Wegmans,

---

What parts of your education do you see as relevant to this position?

1 Answers   Motorola,

---

What do you know about Bluestar?

1 Answers   Blue Star,

---

If it were to your last day on this planet, how would you spend it?

1 Answers   Reliance,

---