Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Are Some Interview Questions Illegal?

I learned something this morning from Askamanager's post Illegal Interview Questions? This post addresses the issue of how to deal with interview questions like "How many kids do you have?" and "Is your husband in the army?" I have always thought it was illegal for an employer to ask these types of questions because they might lead to discrimination in the hiring process. Not so, according to Askamanager:

There's a widespread but incorrect belief that these sorts of questions are illegal. The act of asking them actually is not illegal. What can be illegal is rejecting you based on your answers to them.


Read the complete post here, to learn what a job seeker can do to his or her advantage when faced with one of these uncomfortable questions.

Thank you, Askamanager, for clarifying this point!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is an interesting article. The issue really isn't whether the questions are illegal or not. Instead, the real question is whether you want this job in light of the question? Your response here will dictate how you proceed. If you want the job, you will need to answer the question. If you do not, walk out and keep job searching. No one should be made to feel uncomfortable in an interview, but you need decide whether it is worth it to you.

Best,
Mark McCormick