Careful interview!

Introduction

All employees are periodically faced with interviews. Some call them interviews. The purpose of the interview is usually to find a new job (employee). Some people go to interviews for the sake of interest, test their level of knowledge, and to keep up with industry trends.

Often psychologists may be present at the interviews. Their task is to identify the positive and negative aspects of the nature of the subject. But almost no one pays attention to the fact that the interview can be used for competitive intelligence and even industrial espionage , in order to gain an advantage over a competitor. Industrial espionage differs from competitive intelligence in various forms of violation of the law. This article will consider the possibility of conducting reconnaissance measures at interviews.

Today

The above concepts are quite extensive and diverse, but in general the methods can be divided into four groups:

• Exploration by technical means;
• Open source analysis;
• Bribing or introducing an agent;
• Social engineering;

Getting information through an interview closest to social engineering. Of course, there are various security departments, non-disclosure agreements, but they do not save from careless employees. And interviews are conducted with the aim of hiring employees.

Problems

During the presentation of various startups, they often talk about competitors. More precisely that they are not, or almost none. What are such statements based on? On the analysis of information from open sources, on the study of competitors' products. But all this information speaks about the state of affairs of a competitor for yesterday! And what will happen tomorrow, if today the brilliant worker had an idea how to lift the product to heaven, to leave all competitors without bread, and this idea is being actively discussed by the management?
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If we consider that the success of a startup is very much dependent on the novelty of the idea, then there are thoughts to conduct a more serious exploration. I do not consider illegal ways (the business has not yet been opened, but we can already sit down ...).

Another idea

Consider a job interview as a way to gain a competitive advantage. In any enterprise there is some turnover, in some it is more, in others less. Usually, the main competitors are always known. Here are their employees and should be invited for an interview. At what you can invite and not to yourself, but to the company Horns and Hoofs on the next floor, thereby camouflaging your intentions.

Here are sample questions at the interviews:

• Tell us about yourself;
• Tell about technologies in your projects;
• List the technologies you would like to learn;
• Why do you want to change jobs?
• And so on.

Comprehensive technical testing and knowledge testing of technologies announced in the executive summaries are also usually carried out. These are only the most basic questions, but you can also find out about the relationships in the team, the condition of the material part (did you work with a cluster of 50 cars?).

And now look at these questions. It seems nothing special, but if you set yourself a goal to find out the future plans of a competitor, then they become not so harmless. Competently composed questions, as well as a sufficient sample allow to learn about a competitor almost anything. In such cases, competently drafted non-disclosure agreements even stop working. After all, if it is known that a competitor uses technologies A and B, and his employee has recently been certified for technology C, then this is not just that.

Effects

Business success depends on many factors. But possession of the necessary information allows you to act more boldly, calculate risks and move forward effectively. And neglecting information that is easily accessible can lead to total failure.

Sometimes the knowledge of one small detail, seemingly completely unimportant, can “give” to a competitor all the many years of work, think out a unique idea, lead to the necessary thoughts.

Decision

There is no universal solution for all occasions, but it can be said with confidence that if a company has low or no staff turnover, employees are happy and do not go to interviews, the security service works correctly, the business gets serious protection from competitors in the form of cohesive team, high performance and competitive advantage.

You should also carry out preventive work in order to reduce the possibility of information leakage through company employees. A competent and motivated employee who is familiar with the methods of extracting information is safe for the company and leads it to prosperity.

findings

One should not overlook such a simple channel of leakage of important information, for the above are just some thoughts, and real ways of obtaining information can be much more sophisticated.

This article is not a guide to action, does not call to violate the law, but provides food for thought and competent business.