Ask any business owner or hiring manager about illegal interviewing questions and he or she will almost definitely have a similar response. It is pretty rare for someone in a hiring position to be unfamiliar with the scope of questions that are officially illegal to ask during interviews. Each recruiter you put a question to on the dos and don’ts of the interviewing process may give you a different version of the rules, but essentially the main message will be very likely clear: Discrimination during interviews, or anything remotely close to the attempt to discriminate during the interviewing of a potential current employee is strictly forbidden by law.
Questions that may allow for later discrimination include any efforts, no matter how subtle, roundabout or direct, to find information on such personal characteristics and preferences as race, gender, age, marital status, mental health/physical health place or history, sexual preference, ethnicity, family spot, country of origin, or just about anything that is not directly related to specific job qualifications, are known throughout the entire employment industry as illegal questions. Any employer who is proven to have judged a job candidate on prejudicial terms is considered to have committed a crime and can be prosecuted under Federal Law.
You would probably imagine that the legal regulations surrounding discriminating interview questions, not to mention the fact that they are downright inconsiderate, might be enough to prevent inappropriate questioning from being a problem in our workplaces.
It seems to be, on the contrary, though, a rather prevalent behavior. Perhaps one reason for this is that most interviewees have a strong enough desire to secure the job than pursue an obstruction of the law. Taking action against a hiring manager who asked illegal interview questions would undoubtedly design workplace tension and a negative first impression for the fresh employee, assuming that his goal in reporting such an incident would actually be to land the job. And for the job candidate who reports the unlawful interview for the sole purpose of promoting a cause, with little care anymore about the particular job…well, few would argue that such measures are worth the efforts such acts might require.
After all, it is an dismal, though realistic side of human nature to act primarily for one’s own self interest and the only foreseeable wait on for this activist style go would be a certain satisfaction if justice is served, and possibly a successful feat of revenge. Yet even these advantages seem insignificant in the scope of one’s career, for the pursuit may very well have the potential to permanently damage the prosecutor’s long-term professional reputation. So, unfortunately, many interviewers do get away with discriminating questioning.
If you are interviewing for a position and feel you are asked an illegal question, you may want to consider your opponent’s motive before allowing yourself to display anger, defensiveness and accusatory reactions. The truth is, many illegal interview questions are brought up due to simple naivety on the part of the hiring employer. He or she may not know any better and what may seem as a probing question may simply be an attempt to be friendly by showing sincere interest in more personal matters of your life.
Considering this fact, it would be highly detrimental to jump the gun and respond irately with suspicious accusations. This puts everyone on the spot and makes you explore like you have something to hide. However, there are quite often those slick employers who try roundabout tactics to gain personal information about their interviewees. But of course, even if you are positive that attempts to discriminate are taking place, it’s pretty definite that if you really want the position you have to support your mouth shut.
Finally, if you’d like to read an empowering, inspirational, “hold life by the reigns and don’t let go” type of perspective on illegal interviewing questions, you may be interested in a similar article titled, “How To Handle Illegal Interviewing Questions: A Realistic Viewpoint”. It is to be published on Associated Content any day now but since it is composed waiting to be processed I’m afraid I cannot provide a bellow link. If you wish to read it though, you may find it best by scanning the top of my content page or simply searching for the title or my name. It goes into a little more detail than this article does in terms of providing specific examples of illegal questions and scenarios to demand, written in conversational format. It may give you another perspective to go on before the big day. Good luck.