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A few months ago I attended an interview in which most of the questions were about my previous job. The interviewers mainly focused on the Dos and the Don'ts to make the company grow. I had less experience in the line of the job I had applied for. My first thought was that I was not going to get the job. At some point I felt that I needed to explain to the panel that the questions were not related to the job they had advertised but I kept the thoughts to myself.
A few weeks later, I got a call for a second interview and then I was offered a job. During the first interview I thought the company should have just paid for all the information I was giving out. However, when the second call came through, I realized that the information I gave the interviewers might have steered the company to offer me the job.
Apparently, the company was introducing other departments and needed experienced personnel. I had applied for a job with the company about a year and a half before attending the first interview. I had already forgotten about it.
Most people must have gone through the same experience and felt that they needed to keep information to themselves during such interviews.
When a company launches a new product it usually seeks people with expertise to make the company grow and to be able to compete in the market. Many a times, job seekers might feel that giving too much information about their work experience may not pay off, that the company will most probably take their advice and employ someone else to implement whatever information they might have received from interviewers.
If you ever feel that way don't worry someone, somewhere could be looking for you with all the experience and information you have. Many career talks advice people that when one feels that the interview is going in a different direction not related to the topic or job in question, that the interviewee should explain his concern. In some cases it could be applicable but in some it does not have to be that way. The most important thing is that jobseekers need to weigh when they should disclose such information and when not to. My advice to you is that when an interview turns consultative, you keep talking.
