Personal interview questions can be taboo sometimes.
Have you been faced with personal interview questions?
Interviews are part of every job process, but what happens when you have to deal with personal interview questions, what and how to respond to such and are they even okay to ask? We hope to help you with this article if you found yourself in such a situation.
What interview questions are a no go?
Interview questions are there to establish more facts about the potential candidate, but there are limits as to what is ok and what isn’t. If you found yourself in the “hot seat”, these are some personal interview questions that are rather inappropriate:
• What is your age?
• What religion do you follow if any?
• Are you pregnant?
• Do you have any children and do you plan on having any?
• Are you a social drinker or smoker or both?
• Are you in debt?
• What is your race, colour, ethnicity?
• Are you disabled?
• Which political party do you support?
There are some instances where an interviewer may have crossed the line and asked an inappropriate question some of them not even aware until afterwards. Sometimes these can cost the company legally, if the candidate took action against it, that’s why they are avoided.
Are employers allowed to ask personal question in a job interview?
Technically no, illegal questions or personal interview questions and the way the question is stated and potential motive behind it is perfect grounds for candidates to take legal action. However, in many cases untrained interviewers may not have the skill or training to have known that they’re crossing the line.
In most findings these questions when and if they do come up, it’s done without any harmful intensions and perhaps the interviewer is trying to be friendly. Finding a way to appropriately answer them will help greatly and is probably a good choice. However, blatant discrimination or offensive questions can allow the candidate to walk out of the interview process, and pursue a law suit.
How to answer illegal interview questions examples and tips
Since this is something seen happening during interview processes, here are some examples how you can deal with the questions.
– When asked about gender such as your opinion being a woman and whether or not you can do the job: Your answer should direct the focus away from “men vs women” you can focus on your overall ability to manage irrespective of the gender of the team you’re to oversee.
– Question about age as this can be favourable or non-favourable to the candidate. When directly asked your age: Your answer should reflect your successes and achievements despite being young you were in charge of a team, oversaw a team and how you can benefit the company.
Next time you find yourself dealing with personal interview questions, you can now cope better with them going forward. Good luck with your next interview!
