Expert: Kitty Kavey - 10/11/2008

Question
Kitty,

Hi, I did some print shoots for Saputo Cheese coupons and flyers in July and
now Sargento cheese is interested in  me for a national ad, since there is no
union for print work, should I be upfront about this conflict of interest?  The
jobs were with two different agents, so really the onus is one me to tell
Sargento about my past work.  But I wondered if you had any thoughts on
this.

Answer
You can tell the agent representing you for Sargento that you recently did the print work for Saputo, and you want to make sure it's not going to be a conflict of interest.

I personally would mention it for several reasons: it may turn out that the Saputo items are being shown in a location that is not in competition with Sargento, or since Saputo did not presumably pay extra or ask you to sign a no-compete clause (or Sargento didn't ask, or your agent representing you for Sargento didn't ask/didn't know you had done the other work) in which case it may not be an issue.

Also, all your agents (or if you had one agent following the other) should be aware of the work you did/are doing.  It helps avoid situations where you would be asking yourself if you should let your agent know.

Since you clearly understand the business, and this matter is on your conscience, it may be best to clear the air, regardless if the outcome means you lose the job or not.  But of course that's my opinion, and certainly you should take into account whether you can afford to possibly lose out on this one job, or if it's more important to hold yourself to a higher standard.  

I don't mean that as a moral issue, just that if this is something that your mind is trying to make a choice about - it may just be that no matter what the outcome, you have to figure out what decision will benefit you the most.

You're already admirable for even asking the question, and it's certainly understandable that you would want to keep the job (and the money) rather than risk it.

I wish you continued success, and I hope that it works out perfectly.
~Kitty