confidential information in the application

Question

hi,

while I put down my application, i.e. essays and resume, I have put down some confidential information (mainly named some of our clients). I was assuming I will have the interview abroad so that the names I put would not mean anything to the interviewer.

For example instead of writing 
 - sell side advisory to a Turkish automotive company (which we generally write as the clients name is confidential) I put down the name of the company, so I wrote sell side advisory to XXX, a Turkish automotive company.

I believe that the schools commit confidentially and they dont use my documents elsewhere. but now that I will have an interview with a local alumni, he will have my resume with those client names. Are the interviewers sign any type of confidentially with the school or can he use my resume elsewhere..

Thanks..

by the way the interview is with Yale

stickerpros · Answer

I do not think there is a lot of control in the alumni interview network. I doubt they sign any kind of agreement. Can you change your resume and make it more general? At the same time, I doubt anything would happen, but at least you will be more relaxed about it!

ua87 · Answer

How can I change my cv at this stage? Can I just send an email to the aqdcom informing the situation. In any case I am still registered to have the interview on campus but I will probably change that to local interview and while sending that email I think I can send an updated resume

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randompasserby · Answer

I appreciate that this will be of no help to you... but in case anyone applying in later rounds is reading this thread, I would personally recommend against mentioning client names. (Instead using generic terms "International Financial Institution" "European Government Body" etc).

Think about the possible interview situations (e.g. with an alum who currently works for a competitor), and the possible interview questions. By not disclosing the client name, you can be more open in the interview about your experiences, without worrying that you are breaching confidentiality.

As for your specific case - it's a judgement call. I would personally suggest NOT flagging this with Yale and re-submitting your CV, as it highlights to them that you might have a poor ability to judge confidentiality. They obviously don't perceive there to be an issue at the moment, otherwise they wouldn't have invited you for interview.

However, if you have said something / plan to say something in interview that is commercially or reputationally sensitive... I would recommend getting the CV updated.

runnergirl · Answer

I am not sure how Yale does their alumni interviews, but I've scheduled 3 alumni interviews with other top schools, and each time I was instructed by the school to upload a resume to the interview system as well as email this resume directly to the alum. I am not sure if Yale uses the same process, but if so, then you have the opportunity to upload a different resume from the one that you submitted in your application. This makes sense, because sometimes employment information changes between your application submission date and your interview date. If Yale uses this same process I would recommend uploading a more generic resume to share with the alum.

runnergirl · Answer

Also: I believe that FERPA (Federal Law) prohibits the school from disclosing your application materials to alumni. That's probably why you have to send a resume to the alum after you get an interview invite, instead of the school just sending your resume to them.

ua87 · Answer

Thanks for the feedback. That's good news for me:).

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Jerz · Answer

Actually, FERPA only applies to records associated with enrolled students. While most schools will retroactively apply FERPA to application materials of enrolled students, at the time of application those materials are not covered by FERPA, and application materials of denied students or students who choose not to enroll are never covered by FERPA.

As for the original question, you're much better off not putting anything confidential in your application than hoping that the school keeps it confidential. Given the number of consultants and bankers who apply, schools are used to seeing materials that refer to generic company descriptions rather than specific company names.

confidential information in the application

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