Best Way to Avoid illegal Questions during an Interview

The obvious reason for avoiding discriminatory questions is that they are against the law, but you will also want to avoid them because they can adversely affect your company’s reputation for many years. In egregious situations, schools may bar companies whose on-campus interviewers violate school policies against discrimination from interviewing on campus. Even when that does not occur, adverse publicity or bad word-of-mouth may have lasting effects on a company’s recruitment efforts.

Some general, practical guidelines will help you to steer clear of trouble. One way of avoiding illegal questions is to focus on questions that are job-related. However, not all questions you may believe are job-related are necessarily nondiscriminatory. For example, some men may believe that asking a woman about her child-bearing plans is job-related because having a child may prevent her from working for a period of time, but federal law prohibits that question. Ask­ing non-job-related questions, though, only heightens the chances that you will run afoul of nondiscrimination stan­dards.

You needn’t lapse into asking the old “worst question” syndrome in order to avoid illegal questions, though. Remember that a wide range of questions may be job-related—asking about an experience waiting tables, a college thesis, even butterfly collecting.

If you find yourself asking certain questions only of par­ticular categories of interviewees—for example minorities, women, disabled—watch out. You should not ask questions of any category of interviewees that you would not ask all interviewees. If you find yourself starting a question with “I probably shouldn’t be asking this, but . . .” don’t ask the question.

Do not ask questions of candidates because you think your clients or customers may have certain prejudices. Let’s assume, for example, that one of your major customers has told you he will cease doing business with you if you employ persons of a particular religion or nationality. This would not justify your refusing to hire a person of that religion or nationality, because client prejudices can never excuse your acting discriminatorily in your hiring.

Another way to steer clear of discriminatory practices is to avoid asking questions that make impermissible assump­tions. For example, asking a woman about child care pre­sumes (a) that it’s a legitimate concern when a woman is being interviewed, but not when a man is; (b) that women always have child raising responsibility; (c) that children are a liability for female employees; and (d) that women can’t handle both work and family responsibilities.

When you need information that may be sensitive, elicit it sensitively. For example, when interviewing an older appli­cant, don’t ask, “Why did you decide to go into this field at your age?” Instead, inquire how that person’s prior experi­ence will contribute to his work with your company. Like­wise, instead of asking a person whether her spouse will be able to find a job in your city, ask what factors will be important in deciding where she will accept a job or what other cities she is considering and why. These questions are likely to provide you with the same information, without running the risk of offending the interviewee.

Certain questions are definitely impermissible, including questions about age; arrests; citizenship; marital or parental status or plans; and race, religion, sex, or national origin. The Americans with Disabilities Act has greatly expanded the protection afforded persons with disabilities, in some cases requiring an employer to make accommodations that will allow the disabled to work. Though discrimination on the basis of sexual preference is not currently outlawed federally, several cities and states, and some schools, prohibit discrimination on this basis.