Ask HN: How to interview a candidate from a direct competitor | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How to interview a candidate from a direct competitor

6 pointsthiscatis8 comments

I'm looking at some advice from people here on HN regarding a situation I'm currently facing.

We're looking to fill in a certain position which comes with a strong requirement of inside industry knowledge from the medical sector.

One of the head-hunted candidates is from a direct competitor and it's clear there is a lot of overlap between where our two companies are heading to (same regulation issues, etc...) and how we're solving these problems.

Would it be weird to have a candidate sign an NDA (personally I think this would have 0 benefits in the end and just alienate a potential candidate).

At the same time we're not extremely comfortable discussing real-world scenarios and issues we're facing as we would normally do during a job interview nor doing a deep dive in our hardware setup and configuration.

Any pointers how we can best assess the candidate without it being a risk?

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I'm assuming that you also don't share company secrets with regular candidates? I wouldn't be too afraid if your competitor learns a bit about team structure, culture, way of working. It's probably wise to share with the candidate that you won't cover too specific cases, and don't expect him/her to share that kind of information from their side.

The same as any other interview.

What if you interview someone from a non competitor and then she goes to interview or even work at said direct competitor ?

Don't expose things you don't want to, don't bother with NDAs unless for rare cases, maybe if there are things hanging in the corridors like in gaming shop, always assume the worst and manage the interview accordingly

The candidate should look into their contract if they have a non-compete clause in it. If I was you I would ask them about this, it may reduce time wasted (if the candidate have non-compete then she/he won't be able to start in next X months).

Do I read you correctly that you are afraid of candidate learning something from you and instead of joining bringing this back to their company? You normally assume good will.. What would stop this candidate from joining you, staying with you for a few months and then joining their company back?

HN should know that non-compete clauses are largely unenforceable in California. if there's a non-compete in your contract, you shouldn't hesitate to go to work for a direct competitor.

I live in Europe so not aware of laws governing California.. Out of curiosity is it very common to see non-compete clauses in IT in US?

it is common, and i cant speak to other states, but in CA you see them all the time because most individuals dont know that they aren't enforceable

Note that the problem goes both ways - the candidate may be afraid of being sued by their employer if they tell you (a competitor) any details about their current work.

You should really be asking a lawyer about these kinds of issues, not random people on HN. And the candidate may also want to consult their own lawyer before agreeing to meet with you.

Out of curiosity - how do you normally interview? Is the risk that much greater when interviewing someone who already works for a direct competitor as opposed to someone who could go start at your direct competitor tomorrow?

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