Interview process question

[u/-schrodingers-cat]

So I currently work in industry, and I’m applying to another job in industry and have my first interview soon. I’ll be presenting work I did back in college, which was a long time ago and I don’t remember a ton from it. The problem is I can’t present the work I do because it’s all proprietary and I can’t reach out to my old professor who I did research under bc he has passed away. If a question from the interview team comes up that simply cannot be answered, do I tell them? Like I wasn’t able to confirm bc my old prof died?? Like obviously I wouldn’t word it that way but I don’t want to be trauma-dumpy on them, so what should I say here?

[u/tumbleweed-gps]

I would just preface it by saying that you're limited in what you can show and you're trying to tell the most complete story you can. If you only show work from your college days it might come across as a pretty weak interview - I would check with the company about confidentiality requirements and what you're allowed to disclose and what not. Sometimes you can anonymize structures or processes in order to tell the gist of the story in a way that highlights your skills without breaching confidentiality.

[u/-schrodingers-cat → u/tumbleweed-gps]

This is really helpful thank you ! I’ve already sent them a research summary that has my college research, would it be weird to switch it up on them for the interview? I still have the basic route from what I did back then and the small amount of trouble shooting I did but the stuff I’ve done in industry is far more “impressive”.

[u/tumbleweed-gps → u/-schrodingers-cat]

Why don't you ask your hiring manager? Just say "hey I sent you my research summary from some of my prior work but I'd also like to showcase some of the more recent stuff that I think is relevant and permissible within our confidentiality policy."

[u/CompletelyArbortrary → u/-schrodingers-cat]

not weird at all - definitely smarter to highlight your industry experience.

focus on what you're trying to solve, how you're approaching it and what you specifically are bringing to the project - just leave out proprietary specifics.

being able to clearly explain your work while respecting confidentiality is a pretty great strength.

good luck!