Inappropriate Questions During an Interview

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Permalink Reply by Chris Russell on October 14, 2008 at 11:28pm

Sounds like the prez question was an attempt to gauge your political views. I dont think it was illegal though. The question about the year of college doesnt seem out of bounds.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Williger on October 14, 2008 at 11:45pm

The presidential question is likely to gauge political leanings as the hiring manager may have strong beliefs. It is also possible that it was a test of knowledge of current events and how you analyze them. I still feel that it is inappropriate in any case to ask that on an interview. The year you graduated college seems like a legitimate question as it is a standard item on almost all job applications and if they were to verify your education they would find that out. It is know than employers ask that question though to try to estimate age of an applicant.

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Permalink Reply by Job Magician on October 15, 2008 at 12:09am

I run a retained search firm, working on execs at 6-figure levels or more. I also have an execurive job hunting advice web site.

I'd need to know more of the whole context of the conversation, but here are a few thoughts:

No reason to try to confront someone on whether the questions are improper or unethical. Some things are brought up just for conversation, or to see how you talk. Asking you who you think will win the election is not directly asking about your political views. It's asking for your analysis of the political process. I try to avoid political questions because they are often landmines, but it probably can't hurt to say something like this: "I don't like to discuss my own political views because I always seem to get about half the peopel upset when I talk about them, but as for what I think will happen in the election, considering the latest polling numbers that I've seen, I would guess that it doesn't look too good for McCain. We're three weeks away from the election, and I saw that he was trailing by 9% to 13% this morning, depending on which poll you see. Stranger things have happened, though - we all remember DEWEY WINS BY A LANDSLIDE headlines." You've sidestepped it, but it shows that you're aware and read the papers.

Asking for a college graduation date is certainly not out of bounds. I require all candidates to either allow me to check their college graduation or to provide proof of graduation that comes from their college. I also require that they provide a complete work history, back to their first job out of college (some candidates don't like to do this, especially if they're job hoppers and are trying to cover something up). The employer is within his or her bounds by requiring that you have your complete college transcript sent to them by the college before they make a hiring decision. If they are doing this to determine whether you're too old by their standards, then it is illegal, but you'd have a tough time proving something like that (and that may not be the reason for the question, anyway).

I don't recommend trying to play hide and seek with an interviewer by trying to hide jobs or your age or anything else. If they want to find out your age, they'll figure it out, and age is much less of an issue these days, anyway (a client of mine just tried to hire a 57-year-old, who turned the job down because his wife wouldn't move to their location). Hiding jobs or leaving off the early part of your career makes the interviewing company wonder what you're hiding and why (and the early part of your career is important, just as the name of the college that you graduated from 25 years ago is). Most people do far more damage to themselves by trying to dodge questions and cover things up, because the truth they're hiding is rarely more damaging than what the employer is imagining.

If the people at the company are real jerks and won't hire you because they think you're too old or are voting for Nader, why would you want to work for them, anyway? But you really don't know that's why they asked you those questions, anyway.

Job Magician (www.jobmagician.com)

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Permalink Reply by Darlene McDaniel on October 15, 2008 at 12:31am

Hi Bill, Thank you for sharing your questions. It was great inspiration for my blog tonight. Here is the answer I posted to my readers. I trust it will be helpful!

Post Link: http://www.interviewchatter.com/inappropriate-questions-you-be-the-...

Darlene
Interview Guru
http://www.interviewchatter.com/

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Permalink Reply by Miriam Salpeter on October 15, 2008 at 12:35am

I'm curious as to how you responded to these questions?

Had the interviewer asked if you were supporting Obama or McCain, that would have been inappropriate, but I do not believe asking who you thought had the best chance to win was unprofessional or unethical. If you read or watch the news, you could have easily given a dispassionate response indicating current poll numbers. Honestly, you would need to be living under a rock to not have an answer to this question. Although it would not be something I would ask in an interview, I don't think it crosses the line. (I've heard much worse!)

Regarding your graduation date - I advise my clients to list their graduation date on their resumes. I do not think it is an unacceptable question if a degree is required for the position.

When you ask how to proceed - what specifically do you mean? I don't think there is any reason to take action against the interviewer. It is a good idea to be prepared for illegal questions in an interview, though. It's a great topic for a blog post! I'll work on one. Keep your eye on Secrets of the Job Hunt!

Best of luck in your search!

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Permalink Reply by Bill Smity on October 15, 2008 at 9:56am

I was asked specifically who I thought would win the election. My response was, "one of the candidates running for President will definitely win the election."

The questions posed by the interviewer I just found to be unprofessional. Although it would be easy for the hiring company to find out when I graduated from college, I still believe that there is potential for age to become an issue in the hiring process. I most certainly would not pose such a question to a candidate.

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Permalink Reply by Janet White on October 15, 2008 at 2:42am

Both of these questions are irrelevant to why you are there in the first place -- which is how you can help them solve the problem they have that is so difficult that they can solve it by themselves and has forced them to bring someone in from the outside.

Knowing this, you can easily avert these questions or turn them to your advantage, like this:

Them: Who do you think will win the election?
You: You know, I think this may be the closest race on record. But whoever wins, the economy is going to be point number one, don't you agree? (Then you shut up and when the interviewer is done talking, you change the subject to where it belongs -- the company and its problem.) Given the state of the economy, what's in store for your new Widget Wonder line you were planning to roll out next spring? Has the credit crunch impacted your operations?

Them: What year did you graduate college?
You: I am assuming you are going to verify my academic credentials as part of the standard pre-employment background check, is that right? (The interviewer confirms this.) So I can assume that if everything checks out, you will be offering me this position, is that right? (The interviewer will probably hedge or might even say yes). Excellent. I graduated in 19 ____, just like it says right there on my resume.

Janet White, Author
Secrets of the Hidden Job Market: Change Your Thinking to Get the Job of Your Dreams
www.jobmarketsecrets.com
jobmarketsecrets@aol.com or janet@jobmarketsecrets.com
Also available on Amazon
Sign up for Quite the Contrary, a very different kind of job advice newsletter

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Permalink Reply by Pamela Hardy on October 15, 2008 at 8:57am

I don't know about illegal but they seem inappropriate for sure unless you are applying for a political position. Would have made me uncomfortable, I'm curious have you heard back from them?

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Permalink Reply by Bill Smity on October 15, 2008 at 9:57am

I was not uncomfortable, more dumbfounded that such questions would be posed.

I have not heard back from them as of yet, however, the interviews only took place on Monday.

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Permalink Reply by Brian Cohen on October 15, 2008 at 10:25am

It's difficult to reply without having actually heard the question, the interview, the type/culture of the company, and the atmosphere (to that point was the interview more formal or was it a more relaxed and "chatty"?). I would say that these were probably two poor question choices.

The political question was probably not unethical or illegal. However, it's generally best to just steer away from politics in the business setting - unless it's someone you know very well and only discussed informally. This might have been some roundabout way to judge whether you would be a "fit" within their corporate culture. It's not illegal to try to determine someone's political views, however, it's still not a good practice.

In terms of age, generally if one is interviewing another individual and looking at a resume with dates, once can get a pretty good sense of their age - if that's what you are after. I'm not sure why they would even ask that question. Also, if it's on most applications (and on many resumes), you probably already have the information. Why even ask the question?

Two poor question choices - not illegal or unethical - but poor choices nonetheless.

Now having a few days to ponder this (and considering the personality of the interviewer and the setting), do you think he/she was trying to determine your political leanings and/or your age for some reason?

Brian
(www.GlobalPitch.com)

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Permalink Reply by Jim Trainor on October 15, 2008 at 10:25am

Suggest to the interviewer that you would rather talk about Sex or Religion then Politics.

To be more serious ,reread the post by Job Magician below.

Most interviewees are clueless on how to fill empty space so you should be ready with responses that get the interview back on track as to your skills as they relate to the needs of the position. As I tell candidates ; The best question you can hope to be asked is "Tell me about yourself"

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Permalink Reply by Karen D. Swim on October 18, 2008 at 11:04am

Hi Bill,

It is difficult to judge this without knowing the context in which they were asked. However, I do not find either question unprofessional or unethical. The Presidential question may have just been a way to engage you in conversation or to judge how you navigate potentially volatile topics. Are you able to keep a cool head and give a neutral answer? Are you visibly uncomfortable or agitated? The graduation question seems very reasonable to ask. Lying about a college degree is one of the most common deceptions. The interviewer may have simply been verifying that information.

Finally, in my personal experience I have found that a large majority of people really do not know how to interview. I did some interview training early in my career and I was always amazed at how few companies actually taught people how to interview and uncover information. As a result you get intelligent people asking really dumb questions which do not really pinpoint if you have the knowledge, skills and abilities to get the job done.

While it's too late to go back and re-do this particular interview, for the future I would advise practicing turning tough questions around to your advantage. I noticed many great answers in the responses to this question and I would have advised the same.

Good luck in your search!

Karen D. Swim
Words For Hire

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