askST Jobs: Can you avoid divulging sensitive information in interviews?

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Q: How do I showcase my skills to prospective employers, even if I can’t share details about my past work?

A: Employers use confidentiality, or non-disclosure, agreements to protect sensitive data, trade secrets and competitive advantages, says Mr Linus Choo, regional executive director of legal and governance hiring at executive search firm Ethos BeathChapman.

Breaking these agreements could result in legal and financial consequences, he cautions, underscoring the importance of discretion when sharing your track record with prospective employers.

In cases where one’s best work was deemed sensitive or confidential, Mr Choo suggests that workers anonymise specific details to ensure no unique information is divulged.

For instance, instead of naming a specific client or the size of a deal, you could describe the market position the client occupies and provide ballpark figures.

You could also highlight the skills you have and the types of tasks you performed in your previous job, even if specifics cannot be shared.

“Think through what is sensitive and what is not. Provide a broad brush of your experiences in a nuanced fashion,” Mr Choo says.

This need for secrecy, if framed properly, will not affect your chances of landing the next job, he points out.

“Hiring managers value discretion – handling sensitive information well is a skill in itself. It signals professionalism and trustworthiness, which many roles demand,” he says.

In Mr Akshay Mendon’s experience, interviewers are usually more interested to hear the candidate’s thought process behind a certain approach or strategy, rather than elicit confidential data points.

“In cases where there is sensitive information involved, it’s better to give the interviewer a heads-up that you are bound by confidentiality on certain items, though you will try your best to explain,” says Mr Mendon, the Singapore head for executive search firm EMA Partners.

“As a ground rule, always let common sense prevail.”

There is some information that may be sensitive, yet is necessary for interviewers to gauge how qualified you are.

For example, if you are interviewing for a sales role, the interviewer would require information on your sales revenue, customer segment or the size of the team you have managed, Mr Mendon says.

Other than anonymising details, you can also provide information on a range of what you have done across different stints, rather than for a specific stint, he adds.

The onus is on the candidates to best showcase their experience, “taking into consideration the confidential information”, he says.

He adds that as an interviewer himself, if he does not see “an earnest attempt” by the candidates to explain their experience, “it raises red flags”.

In a few cases, Mr Mendon has seen candidates attempting to cover up a lack of actual experience or a patchy work history under the cloak of confidential information that cannot be revealed.

Mr Choo says what matters more is giving a response that shows an ability to address the questions while acknowledging what details cannot be shared and why. This will reassure interviewers of your ability to handle privileged information responsibly.

If an interviewer asks you a question that you are unable to provide details on, staying professional while setting firm boundaries is the way to go, Mr Choo says.

Do not be tempted to share more than what you should, even if pressed to provide the details.

“Draw on analogies and examples of past career highlights that are of relevance to the role,” he suggests.

Mr Mendon says candidates could also politely ask persistent interviewers to clarify what specifically they need to know and why.

“This should lead you to a point where you can either address the query or firmly draw the line.

“You must understand that interviewers, in most cases, are rational people with extremely busy schedules. Their main purpose of asking such questions is usually to ascertain fit to the role.”

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