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 area to be unfamiliar with the scope of questions that are officially illegal to ask during interviews. Each recruiter you inquire 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 modern employee is strictly forbidden by law.
Questions that may allow for later discrimination include any efforts, no matter how subtle, roundabout or direct, to obtain information on such personal characteristics and preferences as race, gender, age, marital status, mental health/physical health status or history, sexual preference, ethnicity, family status, country of origin, or objective 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 create workplace tension and a negative first impression for the new 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 unfortunate, though realistic side of human nature to act primarily for one’s own self interest and the only foreseeable serve for this activist style move 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 fetch away with discriminating questioning.
If you are interviewing for a region and feel you are asked an illegal question, you may want to consider your opponent’s motive before allowing yourself to present nettle, 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 valid 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 look like you have something to shroud. However, there are quite often those slick employers who try roundabout tactics to obtain personal information about their interviewees. But of course, even if you are positive that attempts to discriminate are taking place, it’s pretty sure that if you really want the position you have to retain your mouth shut.
Finally, if you’d like to read an empowering, inspirational, “take life by the reigns and don’t let go” type of perspective on illegal interviewing questions, you may be alive to in a similar article titled, “How To Handle Illegal Interviewing Questions: A Realistic Viewpoint”. It is to be published on Associated Hiss any day now but since it is still waiting to be processed I’m afraid I cannot provide a direct link. If you wish to read it though, you may obtain it best by scanning the top of my jabber 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 expect, written in conversational format. It may give you another perspective to go on before the substantial day. Good luck.