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Don’t Answer That Interview
Question
Inappropriate interview questions and how to respond
(diplomatically).
By Lisa Vaas
He was in his early 50s, and he looked every bit of it.
The questions on the job application went right to his age.
After stewing over the form and discarding his first draft, he
filled out a second copy. Then, he sat and waited for his
interview. As he waited, an attractive, young woman entered
the room for a job interview.
She was called in before him. She wound up getting the job.
He didn’t. He did, however, receive $50,000 after filing
age-discrimination claims with the
U.S.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
The above encounter happened to a friend of Matt Rosen, who
shared the story with
TheLadders but asked not to identify his friend.
Rosen has seen employment discrimination from almost every angle.
He has been a certified labor and employment attorney since
1981, has worked in human resources since 1995, and recently
found himself looking for a new job. He’s been on both sides
of the interview table and witnessed many inappropriate
questions that can lead to discrimination.
“Every place, it’s mind-boggling,” said Rosen, who recently began
HR and legal work for Franklin Street Financial in Florida.
“You are always asked for birth dates, for EEOC (-related
information such as race and disability status). ... Places,
in my viewpoint, just ask for too much.”
The reason interviewers ask inappropriate questions varies.
Sometimes they discriminate, as they did in the scenario
above. Sometimes they need the information for internal
statistics, he said.
And then sometimes interviewers are simply trying to make
conversation, according to Ellen B. Vance, senior consultant
and advisory services practice leader for
Titan Group, a Richmond, Va.,
human-resources consulting firm. “Many inexperienced hiring
managers use questions about family as an icebreaker for
interviews, not realizing that what seem to them as innocent
inquiries about spouse, children, etc., are unlawful.”
Most job seekers don’t want to sue over these practices. They
just want to know how to deal with them diplomatically. Job
seekers want to avoid appearing combative and thus
jeopardizing their chances of being hired and want to avoid
handing over information that can be used against them in
discriminatory situations. Knowing what questions to shy
away from is the starting point, and knowing how to skirt
them is the next step.
Answer the questions they should have asked.
Vance typically advises job seekers to redirect
inappropriate questions back to the interviewer. For
example, if asked whether you have children, you can respond
by saying, “It sounds like family is important to you — tell
me about yours.”
“By redirecting, the applicant is not placed in the situation of
being perceived as adversarial,” Vance said. If an
interviewer presses, she suggests that another response
option is, “I am perplexed by your question because I cannot
determine why my age/my marital status/my nationality is
critical to performing this job. Would you shed some light
on why you are asking this question?”
“If that doesn’t cause the interviewer to catch their mistake,
then the applicant is left only with the option of saying,
‘I would prefer not to respond to that question,’” Vance
said.
Don’t answer these questions
Here are more questions that can and can’t be asked, according to
HR professionals and the EEOC. In all circumstances, try to
find out why an interviewer is asking a particular
off-limits question, and then steer the conversation into
addressing particular, relevant concerns, in the following
ways:
Nationality:
It’s illegal to ask a job seeker about their nationality, their
citizen status, their native language, or how long they’ve
lived here. If asked, instead explain that you’re legally
able to work in the United States.
Religion:
It’s not permissible to ask what religion job seekers practice,
what religious holidays they observe, or their religious
affiliations. If an interviewer probes these verboten areas,
try to find out what the interviewer is concerned about and
to address these concerns: working certain days of the week,
for example, could be a legitimate concern.
Age:
Do not answer questions about age beyond stating that you are
over the age of 18. Interviewers shouldn’t ask how close you
are to retirement but can ask what your long-term career
goals are.
Marital and family status:
While it’s
permissible for interviewers to ask whether you have ever
used another name in work or academic situations, it’s not
permissible for them to ask questions about your maiden name
or marital status. Don’t answer questions about whether you
have children or what your child-bearing plans are, but do
explain whether you’re available to work overtime or whether
you can travel, particularly on short notice.
Gender:
If gender comes up, steer the conversation into what traits and
abilities you can bring to the job.
Health and physical abilities:
It’s
inappropriate to ask job seekers if they smoke, drink or
take drugs. Your height, weight, use of sick days, presence
of disabilities or past operations/sicknesses are similarly
off limits. Interviewers do have the right to ask if you’ve
violated company policies regarding alcohol or tobacco,
whether you use illegal drugs (as opposed to simply
“drugs”), whether you’re able to lift a given weight or
reach items on shelves that are at a particular height, how
many workdays you missed in the past year, whether you’re
physically capable of executing the position’s specific
duties, and whether you can perform the job with or without
reasonable accommodations.
Residence:
It is inappropriate to ask how far away a job seeker lives, but
it’s permissible to ask if the candidate can start work at a
given hour or if he is willing to relocate.
Criminal record:
It’s inappropriate to ask if a job seeker has ever been
arrested, but it is permissible to ask if she has ever been
convicted of a specific type of crime that relates to the
job.
Military service:
It is illegal for an employer to discriminate against a
member of the National Guard or Reserves, but it is legal to
ask if the job seeker anticipates requiring extended time
away from work.
If worse comes to worst
If you feel that your employment rights have been violated, you
may file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC. Here’s
the
EEOC’s information page on how to do so. The EEOC also
provides an in-depth look at
what constitutes discriminatory employment practice
under
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).
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