Job Interview: How To Interview With A Competitor

Job interviews are full of anxiety and challenges, especially when you are not sure of what to expect and are relatively new to the scene or haven’t interviewed in a long time. Even more challenging can be a job interview with a competitor company of your current employer; that one company that is always mentioned in the boardroom as your number one competitor.

Why challenging? Because every single thing you say will be scrutinized and used to evaluate you as a suitable candidate.

So, Should You Handle This As Another Job Interview?

Melody Mwendwa, a Career Advisor at Corporate Staffing Services says the interview will not be any different from others, but you must be careful not to reveal your current employer’s secrets.

“In any case, a job interview with a competitor company is advantageous to the job seeker as they already understand the workings of the company, the processes and basically the daily operations. However, you should be careful the information you choose to reveal to the interviewing company,” says Melody.

She says that any job seeker going to interview with a competitor company should be conscious about how they come out to the employing company in terms of integrity and confidentiality. Can you keep company secrets? Are you a person who will talk ill of their former employer? Bottom line, you need to prepare what to say and what not to say in the job interview.

3 Tips To Ace A Job Interview With A Competitor Firm

1. Use your inside knowledge to your advantage
Unlike other job seekers interviewing for the same position, you know how the company operates, you know their achievements and most probably, you know their weaknesses. Having this information and having worked in the same field, you are better placed to demonstrate your value to the company. You know the problem; all you need is to offer them a solution.

2. Be careful not to disclose company secrets
You may have signed a non-disclosure agreement with your current employer and you disclosing information you shouldn’t, could breach that. But something even worse could happen; the hiring company could judge you as a person who cannot keep company secrets and end up not hiring you. To avoid these two tragedies, go through what is okay to say and what is not.

3. Be as discrete as possible with your current employer
Your employer may feel betrayed if they found out you are applying to jobs and going for interviews while still at your job, and it will be even worse when the company you are interviewing with is a competitor. If you do not intend to have your employer double your salary to keep you at the current company, don’t let them know that you are looking elsewhere.

A job interview with a competitor company can be the best opportunity you ever came across to grow your career, but it could also be an underlying threat. Be careful how you go about it and be well prepared.

To book an interview coaching session with one of our coaches, contact melody@corporatestaffing.co.ke