Inappropriate Job Interview Questions
If you are a recruiter, like many you might have asked inappropriate or many times illegal questions to interviewees. Some of you have do it because you had no idea that it was illegal, some wanted to appeal to the personal side, some wanted to make decision based on that and some for no simple reason ( I remember some time back a recruiter telling me that she was chatting about the candidate personal life as she had nothing to talk about.. the hiring manager was running late)
One of the finest laws ever passed was the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which Prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin."
Like I said most of the time the hiring manager doesn't think or know the questions they are asking are inappropriate or even illegal in many cases. All the want (atleast most of them) only care about getting the right person for the right job. Everyone knows that its just not about the skills though a very important componenet; it also about hiring a candidate with the right frame of mind to fit in with corporate business and corporate culture and with the right personality. The interviewer probably does not intent to offend you. Most of time they are unintentionally asked and they over indulge. One of the biggest factor is the lack of training which HR/Recruiting should come together and help in creating programs for managers on behavioral trainings. To "Err is to Human" so even if you are trained revisiting them is a good idea.
So here's some of the Inappropriate Job Interview Questions you need to AVOID
* When did you graduate from school?
* Do you have any disabilities
* Does your religion prevent you from working weekends or holidays?
* Have you ever filed for workers' compensation before?
* Have you ever declared bankruptcy?
* What is your political affiliation?
* What is your first language?
* Do you have Children or plan to have them?
* What's your graduation date?
I don't think there is any harm in asking abt the marital status, if its not mentioned in the profile. It helps us to get an idea about the interest of them regarding relocation in case of change of project,stability,accountability towards assignments,travel interest etc.
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You got to be kidding me. I am not sure if you are recruiting in US but that would come on top of the list with be inappropriate AND illegal.
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Does your religion prevent you from working weekends or holidays?
What about if it's important that they work on Weekends?
I guess removing the word religion would do the trick.
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Good tips. Though I agree to most of the questions that you have mentioned herein, there are certain questions that I feel are imperative in any interview. The "Competency based interviewing techniques" in fact, suggests that we ask such questions.
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Dilip..Ask what questions?On religion or marital status? Competency interviews are based on desired behaviors and u don't need to things mentioned (blog) to find that.
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Hi Rithesh, What you said is absolutely correct. COmpetency interviews are based on desired behaviors. But competency based interviewing also suggests that you have to start with some personalizing to make the candidate comfortable and get into the talking mode where he is all the more willing to share his experiences, which would lead me to evaluate his behavior in a given situation. In doing that I would have to ask questions like, "Are you married?", "When did you graduate from school?" etc. These questions would not form part of the actual interview though, but would be required to set the tone for the interview. I personally do not find anything wrong in it. But questions based on religion etc. should definitely be avoided.
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Are you married?" (ILLEGAL QUESTION) & "When did you graduate from school?(Inappropriate & close to breaking the law)".. I am assuming u are not recruiting in US. I never understood the obsession of asking questions on marriage ? If you really want to personalize - - there are better ways than indirectly finding out the person's age or trying to figure out if the person might leave the job after marriage.. Like - 1) Weather2)traffic3)glass of water?.........
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AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY WORKPLACE LAWS FOR - Australia http://www.workplace.gov.au/workplace/Organisation/Employer/EmployerResponsibilities/Avoidingdiscriminationinemployment.htm - United Kingdom http://www.aboutequalopportunities.co.uk/employment-rights.html
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I didn't know these kinds of questions were innopropriate let alone illegal!
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Rithesh,
What is the logic behind the prohibition of the last question ("What's your graduation date?")? I have been asked that by every recruiter I have come across, and have been instructed by career counselors and recruiters alike to have that information visible on my resume. I'm assuming it has something to do with the potential for age discrimination, but that seems like it would be tough to prove age discrimination from such a question (at least at my level...it would be different to ask an older person when he/she graduated).
As I'm not a recruiter,but someone who is seeking employment, this post really doesn't apply to me, but I find it very interesting.
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Jer,
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