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Getting around NDAs

Most of the work you do for companies and clients will be under NDA (non-disclosure agreement). But that doesn't mean you have nothing to talk about in your job applications. Let's look at all the stuff you can talk about.

4 min read

me

One thing I see all the time when I review candidates is this:

"All of my recent work is under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA)"

I can tell you that there's no bigger wet blanket on the hiring process than this.

If you don't put in any effort to get around this limitation, it often stops the process in its tracks. I've seen it hold back back dozens of candidates in my vetting career. It doesn't need to be this way.

To be sure: it's definitely a limitation. But there's many ways around it.

If you can't talk about specific projects, what can you talk about? Let's jump in.

The tech stack

While you can’t talk about the actual product you worked on, you can talk about the tech stack:

  • I spent the last 3 years working on a large and complex Node/Express app.
  • We built the frontend with React, Redux and Tailwind and ensured it was AA a11y compliant. I worked in all parts of the stack.

This tells me a ton about your skills. It tells me you've worked on a complex app, and that you're comfortable across the whole stack. The a11y bit? That's huge today — no one knows a11y.

Your role

While you can’t talk about the team, you can talk about your role:

  • I was responsible for building accessible, responsive, custom UI using Tailwind.
  • I developed and integrated a QA process that reduced bugs by half.

This tells me that you have solid frontend skills, strong ownership drive and leadership potential.

What you learned

While you can't talk about what you did, you can talk about what you learned:

  • When I started at AcmeCo I was a foundational engineer.
  • In just 3 years, I learned a11y, React, Redux, Typescript, testing, Tailwind and can do some backend work with Express.

This one tells me that you're hungry and interested in growth. Learning all these things in just 3 years tells me that you're motivated and ready to dig in.

Putting it all together

Let's pull all these together into one paragraph to really see how much you can say in the context of an NDA.

"While I'm not allowed to talk about the actual product, I can talk about my role. I spent the last 3 years working on a large and complex Node/Express app.

When I started at AcmeCo I was a foundational engineer. In just 3 years, I learned a11y, React, Redux, Typescript, testing, Tailwind and can do some backend work with Express. We built the frontend with React, Redux and Tailwind and ensured it was AA a11y compliant.

I worked in all parts of the stack. I was responsible for building accessible, responsive, custom UI using Tailwind. I developed and integrated a QA process that reduced bugs by half."

What a powerful intro. I could almost guarantee this candidate would move to the next stage with this on their resume.

Also, be sure to note the continued use of the pronoun "I" in there. It's fine to say what you built as a team, but I'm only really interested in what you built and worked on.

The big secret

The big secret here is this: No one really cares about that product you worked on anyway — that's their product! We want you to come work on OUR product!

We want to know what you did and how you did it. What you learned and how you learn in general. What kinds of extra stuff you like to do (documentation, QA, testing, etc). That's what we care about, not what the actual project was.

Use the NDA to your advantage:

Turn: "I can't talk about project"

Into: "I did great work with that team"

Turns out there's a lot you can say. Now, all you have to do is say it.

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