Hey You Can’t Ask That! Questions Interviewers Are Not Supposed to Ask

We spoke with a few labor law attorneys who shed some light on what questions interviewers are not supposed to ask – and also found out what questions are within their rights to ask, in order to see if you are a match for the open position.

As you likely know, there are laws regulating the kinds of questions a prospective employer can ask; however, the potential employer can ask you questions related to your health, ability, and availability -  provided these are asked in a certain way and related to the position for which you are applying.

The risk with answering illegal questions

Know that you are free to answer any questions, however, if you choose to do so, realize you may be giving up information that is not job-related and could harm your chances at getting the job. You can also refuse to answer any question. But, while you would be well within your rights to not answer, you also run the risk of coming off as uncooperative and the interviewer could consider you to be a less-than-ideal candidate.

You also have the option of taking any illegal line of interview questioning to a higher authority at the company or to a legal advocate, but of course, that would also mean you have no intention of getting hired at the company. Because – duh – they won’t hire someone who decides to take them to court.

A few things to consider if you find yourself in this situation.

First, ask yourself if you want to take a position with a company that would ask these illegal questions. Is it worth it – to your career and potential work/life balance? If they are looking for people who don’t have small children because they don’t want to ‘deal with’ someone who has child care concerns, you probably don’t want to work for them. Why? If your priority is your children and one gets sick, you can bet they probably won’t be very understanding. Take your talents elsewhere as there are plenty of companies out there who understand and value employees who do make their family a priority.

Second, if asked any of these questions during the interview, decide how you are going to handle it if you really want the position.

Third, be aware that there are ways employers can ask questions that get them closer to the answers they want without asking the illegal questions.

Employers can ask the questions, in a legal way

If you still want to work for a company that asks the questions, take a moment and examine the intent behind the question and respond with an answer as it might apply to the job.

For instance, if the interviewer asks, “So, are you a U.S. citizen?” or “What country are you from?” – yep – you have been asked an illegal question.

Instead of answering the question directly, you could respond, “I am authorized to work in the United States.” Or, if your interviewer asks, “Who is going to take care of your children when you have to travel?” you might answer, “I can meet the travel and work schedule that this job requires.” No need to give up any further information.

To help you out as you begin the job interview circuit, below are the kinds of questions a hiring manager is not supposed to ask during the job interview and the kinds of related questions they CAN legally ask of you: