When is confidentiality important? In many professions such as IT, HR, legal, medical, and finance, maintaining confidentiality is vital. Disclosure of privileged information may not only lead to a breach in trust, but also legal consequences.
Interviewers want to know how you handle sensitive information and if you are discreet. They’ll look for candidates who can demonstrate good judgment and professionalism when handling sensitive issues. Check out our confidentiality interview questions to prepare for your interview.
Answering confidentiality questions
The interviewer won’t ask you directly how you manage confidential information when posing questions. They will instead present you with hypothetical situations. You can show employers that you are experienced in dealing with sensitive situations and know how to be discreet by the way you respond to them. Click to see what employers want in a reply.
Q: A team member asks you for salary information about a colleague. What should you do?
In the US, National Labor Relations Board says that employees can communicate about wages with their colleagues, either face-to-face or via social media. Employers are not required to reveal this sensitive information. So, make sure that your answer is in their best interest.
Sample response: “I invite my team members to speak with HR in order to find out the cause of their concern. We can do a salary review and reevaluate the structure of their pay to find out what they can do.
Q: You receive an unexpected email from the HR Manager containing confidential information about your company. What would you do?
When a data breach occurs, effective communication becomes critical. Interviewers will want to know that you can act swiftly and decisively when faced with this situation.
Sample response: “I immediately inform the sender of the error. I would not open attachments or copy the email. I would delete the email from my inbox as well as trash .” to maintain confidentiality.
Q: A client wants to know the detailed features of a product of yours. What do you say?
A product map is a visual representation of the inner workings of a particular product, its inspiration, and future development. These are, as you might imagine, company secrets which shouldn’t be revealed. It’s important to keep your customers happy without compromising your discretion.
Sample response: “I thank the client for their interest in our products and will pass their questions on to our product development department for detailed answers.” I am also happy to set up a meeting if the customer prefers to speak directly with a member of the product development team .”
Q: How do you ensure that digital documents are shared securely?
You don’t want your intellectual property to be compromised in a world full of cyber-attacks. What security measures would you use to stop this?
Sample answer: I would recommend first creating a policy on handling confidential documents, so that all employees are aware of the procedures to be followed. It includes password protection, changing passwords on a regular basis and not working remotely using public Wi-Fi. Through a rights management system, only certain employees could access confidential documents. All transmitted data would also need to be encrypted. I would track and record the times and people who accessed sensitive data .”
Final Thoughts
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to maintain privacy in the digital age. Employers want employees who will protect their confidential information, work discreetly and ethically. You’ve now mastered the interview questions about confidentiality. Check out our values-based question and answer section.
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