hiring someone who has moved to direct competitor

Hi all,

When screening for job applicants or in the interview, how do you feel about hiring someone who in the past had moved from one company to its direct competitor?
Do you differentiate between "superstar" and other type of talents, I mean if that person is sooo good (can't pass) you will hire him anyway (assuming the personality and tech competities matches with your need) ?

Thanks for your inputs,

Regards

Dea Imut
Monday, May 24, 2004

So what?  Almost any move will be to a direct competitor. Millions of people move from one bank to another bank, one pharma to another pharma, one consulting company to another.

T. Norman
Monday, May 24, 2004

Are you a business owner or are you an employee? I think your role in the company will tell you how flexible you'll be in a hire/no hire situation involving this issue. Owner -> more flexible, more you can get away with. Employee -> your boss may not like competitor jump, so you'll have to be more sensitive.

Anon-y-mous Cow-ard
Monday, May 24, 2004

T. Norman: I'm talking about something like Coke to Pepsi or vice versa situation.

ACoward: I'm an employee.

Dea Imut
Monday, May 24, 2004

In some areas such contractual limitations are nulled and considered void by local courts simply because they were abused.

Li-fan Chen
Monday, May 24, 2004

It would depend on the situation, of course.  It would only concern me if it was a small industry, and if he appeared to be sharing sensitive information with his new employer.  If he was a consultant who jumped from Accenture to EDS, or he was a DBA at a software company, neither of those would probably concern me.

If you want to hire him but you're really concerned about this, have a lawyer write up a small non-disclosure or non-compete agreement.  An NDA would be enough to protect your trade secrets.  Written correctly, I believe it would allow you to seek damages against the *competitor* if the employee was to move there.

Ryan
Monday, May 24, 2004

Why would you care?

Mr Jack
Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Without knowing the specifics, I would think that if you recognize both companies well enough to know they're direct competitors, then they're both probably in the top five of their field. Wouldn't you *hope* that a person would move from one to the other? It makes more sense to me than "I see you left IBM for 'Computers in Cardboard Boxes, Ltd'..."

(I'm not saying people don't do it, or that there aren't good reasons to do it; just that it seems less likely)

Philo

Philo
Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Can you imagine what would happen if football thought this way?

"I'm sorry, Mr. O'Neill, your record is very impressive and all but I see you once left a club for another in the same league so we can't hire you."!

Ridiculous.

(Note to americans: Football is the game where you kick the ball with your foot, not the game which is quite like rugby but played with big girly pads where you pick up the ball with your hand).

Mr Jack
Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Did he jump ship or was he poached.

Slightly different and also depending on your interpretation of this, it might be a good or bad thing.

Tapiwa
Tuesday, May 25, 2004

[note to non-Americans about soccer - let it go, we have. 9/10 of the world's population calls it 'football' why does it matter what we call it - do you define yourselves by our attitudes that much?]

[grinning, ducking, running]
Philo

Philo
Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Mr Jack,

What if Arsene Wenger goes to MU or Alex Ferguson goes to Arsenal? :)  Or Arsene goes to Spurs?

Go Porto !!!
Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Philo: while I'm with you on the live-and-let-live front, you gotta admit that non-American football can claim a moral victory based on the fact that, you know, *it actually uses the feet with the ball*. :)

Pierce
Wednesday, May 26, 2004

Plus in football (american) the over-padded-player-wimps have to stop for a rest every 20 seconds.

:)

Furious George
Wednesday, May 26, 2004

Only those who have never put the pads on and head their head knocked into next week would call American Football wimpy.  Don't forget that the pads, while for protection, allow the hitting to occur at much greater speeds.  Certainly at much greater speeds than slow pasty Europeans playing rugby.

Ugly American
Wednesday, May 26, 2004

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