I will be interviewing soon with a great business and really look forward to the opportunity to tell them what I can offer. So will my former co-worker. NewCo. knows we worked at the same place at the same time, but are unlikely to directly ask about her (right?)
I’ll make it clear that it’s me they want, but it would help if I could also drop some subtle hints about who they don’t want. Out of the question? What if they ask for examples of “when things went wrong” and I fixed it? Still no?
[ul]
[li]I show up, put work first 99% of the time, support my employer’s goals, and do my best to be professional.[/li]
[li]She’s smart, but was always a mess- sick all the time, flaking on commitments, terrible email manners, gum-smacking, walking around barefoot, you know the type. My concern is she looks great on paper and can talk her way into or out of anything.[/li][/ul]
Personally, I think you should just let your record speak for itself and not worry about your competitor. If it were me hiring, I would take talking trash about someone in the interview, subtly or otherwise, as a BIG red flag. How could I trust you to be telling the truth anyway? My thought would be that you’re naturally just trying to gain an edge.
Trying to rag on your competition, even if you know them to be a flake, will make you look bad. Nobody wants the complainer on their team. Nor do they want the tattle tale. YOU should be enough to get the job because YOU are the best candidate, not because your coworker is the worse candidate.
If I were interviewing someone, and they chose the interview to comment on how bad the for the organization their competition would be, that person would get an instant no-hire from me.
Nobody likes a mudslinger. Think back on elections you’ve voted in: While mudslinging might work, it’s always ugly. And if you don’t like it in politics, then your interviewer probably won’t like it in the office.
If anything at all, be prepared to say something positive or complimentary about your competitor (and then only if it comes up in the context of you knowing the other person), but this probably won’t happen.
Slagging off another person who the employer has decided to be worthy of interview is almost certain to make you look an ass.
Saying something positive and genuine about a competitor, if done right, could prove that you are capable of objectivity.
There are ways you can make yourself stand out against known competitors in an interview situation - for example if, when discussing the details of the job, you have the chance to notice and say something about your intent as a future employee that you suspect other candidates might omit - i.e. “Whoever you employ in this position, they will definitely have to get widget X under careful control”.
Use your knowledge of the other person’s weaknesses to inform your discussion of your own strengths - and talk about those.
Trust me. You’ll just end up looking like a jerk without changing the outcome one bit (except maybe excluding yourself). Depending on the size of the company, you two might not even interview with the same people.
Think of it a different way. Do you want to work for someone who is just going to take your unsubstantiated word about someone else’s performance?
And if they do ask you something like “Hey, you know [the other applicant], don’t you? How would you rate their performance?” - it would most likely be a test to see if you’re silly enough to shoot your mouth off.
Think about your motives, here. Do you really care about the company who ends up hiring her? Or do you just want them to choose you instead?
Or her word about his performance. Because, if she knows he’s interviewing, she could try to sandbag him right back. OP, you probably don’t want them to take her seriously if she tries to do that. Frankly, I’d rather not work for a company that takes the word of one relatively unknown applicant against another.
In reality, unless you were her supervisor and they are explicitly contacting you for your opinion on her work performance, you have no credibility. Saying or implying anything negative about her will only make *you *look bad.
The number one rule of selling is never disparage opposition product. You should be so confident in your ability to be successful at the job, it does not matter how good the other candidates are, you are clearly the superior choice.
It is possible to care about who they hire, in a general sense - I recently had a series of interviews for a job that from the very start, looked absolutely ideal for me - and we came to rapid agreement that what we both wanted was the ‘best fit’, i.e: If we’re not *both *convinced that I am the person they need for this role, I don’t want the job (or want them to want me), and they don’t want to employ me (or want me to wish I worked there) - if that makes sense.
(I got the job - I start there in October).
But that’s not really what’s happening in this thread. Initiating a negative discussion of the other candidate can only end badly and responding negatively to an (unlikely) enquiry about the other candidate is probably not wise - find something good to say, or turn it into an opportunity to talk about how much you loved working as a team with person X, or something.
Off topic, but wow, I’m surprised to hear that, given the number of times I’ve heard salespeople running down the competitor, often instead of boosting their own product:
“[Mattress Co X] will sell you a reconstituted mattress. They won’t TELL you they’re selling you one, but they will.”
“[Car company] really doesn’t have a good reputation for reliability, you know.”
Even the big boys run down the competition sometimes - ‘better than brand X’ (although this is often the statement of the known underdog) - and there was that whole “I’m a Mac/PC” thing.
As a consumer, it always leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
As a voter, I also hate it when I see it in politics so often. “The other guy is shit” doesn’t tell me anything about you.
Mudslinging works when the people judging (voters) aren’t putting in a lot of effort to distinguish candidates. That’s a very different application than the job interview case.
To the OP: I’m in the “just sell yourself” category. Were reference letters or reference phone calls or something like that a part of the application process? Those folks will have (or should have) already been asked about you two in the same sentence.
Mudslinging also works in elections because the electorate must elect one candidate or the other. There is (usually) no credible third alternative, and the office cannot remain vacant.
Job-hunting is different. Most likely there are already more than two candidates in the picture. If not more will be along shortly. If the interviewer dislikes you, and dislikes your competitor even more, he/she can hire neither. And, it’s hard to run down co-workers (even if justified) without making the interviewer dislike you.
Do you know me in real life? I am silly enough to walk right into that. Smart enough to know much Better, but put me in the right stressful situation… another reason I’m nervous.
Also, there are now 2 positions. Would be just my luck to end up Working with her again.:smack:
Don’t let that be a concern (you can always turn down their offer if that happens and you think it’s a dealbreaker).
Assuming this is a job you really want, work out why you really want it in detail - focus on what appeals to you about the role; how it might help you develop skills or might challenge you in useful/interesting ways; think about what you can contribute to the role, etc.
It seems very unlikely that they’d ask you about another applicant, and certainly you shouldn’t bring it up or say anything about her at all beyond confirming that you’ve worked with her if they ask. Present yourself in the best possible light, not as a vindictive petty trash-talker.
It would not help to discuss the other candidate, especially in negative (no matter how slight) tones. Period. The interviewers would only remember “Tenacious J - negative”.
If they are stupid enough to ask about her, say something along the lines of “Well, I’m really focused here on the position and how I can apply my skills to bring value to the company. Let me ask you, after training, what is a typical day like?” (or some such question to turn them away). Do not, under any circumstances, allow your interview to become about her.
I am silly enough to walk right into that. Smart enough to know much Better, but put me in the right stressful situation… another reason I’m nervous.