Share at your own risk
A common interview tactic is to present top candidates with a business problem and invite them back to present how they would solve said problem. The idea here is that the interviewers get to see how a candidate might perform within the context of the hiring company, and the hiring team can better assess the candidate’s business acumen and problem-solving skills. I have many clients vent to me that they feel like they’re being used and that the hiring companies are merely bringing them back so that they can get free consulting work. In most situations, this is not the case. Savvy managers know that top talent will not stand for this, so they pose candidates general or hypothetical cases.
Do companies sometimes try to get free work out of candidates? Absolutely. That’s why I always advise clients to spend no more than 30 minutes preparing materials for these postmortem presentation interviews. If you’re called to do one of these performance art interviews, carefully evaluate just how much you want to divulge. Sit back, dear readers, and pay attention to this cautionary tale.
Perhaps you’ve heard of a small player in the tech arena called Google. You might remember that Google was in the news last year when one of its Bros authored the definitive manifesto on women’s neuroticism and its basis in biology. Good stuff. I mean, really insightful. But I digress. Google is well known for its rigorous hiring process, and its former practice of asking exceptionally stupid hiring questions. At least Google’s HR has gotten rid of inane questions such as, “How many manhole covers are there in Manhattan?” We can say that for them. But they still do some pretty stupid things.
Consider the case of Jie Qi, who was a PhD student at MIT when an informational visit to Google turned into an on-the-spot job offer. The folks at Google’s Advanced Technology and Products organization were super interested in her research. You see, she was combining her training as an engineer with her lifelong love of reading and books and was creating technology to build 3D interactive electronic books. Jie, of course, was flattered by the offer but was committed to finishing her degree. She turned down the offer of employment so that she could, instead, complete her doctorate.
Imagine her surprise—and horror—when, a few years later, Google came out with the very innovation that she had discussed with them. That’s right folks; the tech giant tried to patent the work she had discussed when she interviewed with them! Luckily for Jie, she had the backing of a major research institution—MIT—in her fight. Had she not had access to the connections and influence afforded to her by the faculty, she likely would have had to fight with the tech behemoth on her own, and probably would have gotten nowhere. Long story short, Jie and the team at MIT persuaded Google’s counsel to submit her previous work to the PTO, thus ensuring that their patent would be rejected.
Luckily, cases such as these are not the norm but proceed with caution. You probably don’t have the resources of a major university to back you up, so my advice is pretty simple. Be careful about what you share with a prospective employer. Don’t give away anything that is proprietary. You want to give them the appetizer only. They have to pay for the entrée.