Wrong Interview Questions - That Candidate Can Refuse to Answer
As a thumb rule, if an interview question is related to the job, then it is generally appropriate to pose to the candidate. If the question is not related to the job, caution is advised. Any interview questions that involve religion, race, marital status, gender, and so on must be completely avoided during interviews. A seasoned and professional interviewer will never ask the following interview questions. However, he or she may re-phrase and re-word them in order to avoid controversy and flak.
Following questions are compiled to help citizens and business operating in US so that they donot ask illegal questions and comply with State and Federal Laws. These questions will vary from country to country depending on the labor and other laws that apply.
(1) Age
Wrong Interview Questions and Statements:
- What is your age?
- Which year did you graduate from college?
- What are your feelings when it comes to working for a co-worker much younger than you are?
- How close are you to the retirement age?
Reworded Interview Question:
- Are you older than 18 years?
(2) Gender
Wrong Interview Questions and Statements:
- What are your plans for having children?
- Childcare is difficult to obtain. Do you have issues with regard to baby-sitting?
- What is your maiden name?
- How comfortable are you working for a woman/man?
- Our clients at times demonstrate a preference to be served by men. We hope that this is not a potential problem.
- Are you of the view that intuition possessed by women would prove to be handy for his job position?
- Please elaborate on how did a man come to be interested in such type of role.
Reworded Interview Questions:
- Do you have other responsibilities apart from work that could prevent you from performing particular job requirements, such as the need to travel?
- What days and hours can you devote to work?
- Have you worked under a pseudonym?
(3) Disability
Wrong Interview Questions and Statements:
- Do you suffer from any disability?
- Are you perfectly healthy?
- Do you possess any physical deformities or defects that could prevent you from performing certain tasks?
- That limp is noticeable…Those are extremely thick glasses…How intense is your disability?
- What is your conditions prognosis?
- Will you need special or extra leave to treat your disability?
- Please list any disorders or diseases that you were treated for in the last couple of years.
- How many days were you absent from work in your previous job due to poor health?
- Have you ever consulted a counselor or psychiatrist?
- You stated that your daughter has multiple sclerosis. Will that aspect affect your attendance?
- Are any of your family members or relatives disabled?
Reworded Interview Questions:
- Are you capable of performing the job duties without or with accommodation?
- What type of accommodation would you need to carry out the tasks pertaining to your role?
- Now that you know about the leave policy and the minimum number of hours to put in, do you feel comfortable in meeting these requirements?
- Can you tell me the number of days you stayed away from work in the last year of your previous job?
(4) Race
Wrong Interview Questions and Statements:
- There are not many staff members here belonging to a minority community. Will that be a potential problem?
- You seem to have an intriguing family history. Can you define your race?
Reworded Interview Questions:
- None
(5) Sexual Orientation
Wrong Interview Questions and Statements:
- Are you married?
- Your group of people have excellent verbal communication skills, which is ideal for this job position.
- This department is genuinely family-oriented. Is that fine with you?
Reworded Interview Questions:
- Please provide the contact details of any person in case of emergencies.
(6) Religion
Wrong Interview Questions and Statements:
- Which is your place of worship?
- Would you require to take time off from work hours to attend a specific religious occasion or festival?
Reworded Interview Questions:
- Are you capable of adhering to the pre-determined schedule?
When wrong interview questions are posed to prospective employees, they should realise that this is not the ideal place to work because of the discrimination, bias, and prejudice prevailing in the organisation. The moment the interviewer poses such questions, you can point out that such questions are beyond the scope of the interview.
