When we attend job interviews, all we care about is answering all the questions correctly. But the truth is that it is not obligatory to respond to all of them. It is easy not to notice when recruiters make discriminating or offensive questions. Employers violate your rights during the interview, and it can have even worse consequences after you land a job.
Suppose you don’t want to become a victim of a too-curious and arrogant hiring manager. In that case, you must be aware of questions that you can ignore during the interview. Job search is always challenging, and job seekers should not tolerate the manipulation of the recruiting firms.
Contents
Are you married?
The marital status of a candidate should not be the primary interest of the employers. The main things that any recruiter should focus on during the interview are your key skills and work experience. If you have stated your marital status on the resume, you better delete it because it can provoke more irrelevant questions from the recruiters.
Your future employers can ask about your life priorities and how much time you are ready to devote to work. But they have no right to be interested in whether you’re single, in a relationship, or married.
2. Do you have kids?
According to a recent survey by Slater & Gordin, 40% of managers refuse to hire young women because they can go on maternity leave. It will be a win-win for an employer if their employee doesn’t have a private life and can devote all their time and energy to work. But it would be best if you did not indulge in their whims. You deserve to be hired for your professional skills, and the fact that you are a parent is not relevant to the case.
To land an interview, every candidate puts great effort into creating a presentable CV to have it sorted into the correct group for a recruiter to see. To create a bot-beating resume they even request the assistance of affordable resume services to be sure that ATS systems notice their application. And then, after all of these efforts, the recruiters dare to neglect the candidate’s professional skills and pay attention only to their private life.
3. What is your religion?
Recruiters don’t usually ask this question directly. They may ask what religious holidays you celebrate or what events you attend. Anyway, your faith is only your business, and if you refuse to answer this question, it won’t bring harm to your career.
Some companies’ policies may forbid their employees to put some religious symbols on their work desks. It could be amulets, pieces of clothes, or printed material. If it is necessary for you to have such signs at your workplace, find out whether it is acceptable in the company you are applying to.
4. Do you have loans in the bank?
It is another question that is not related to your productivity at the workplace. Your obligation to banks is your private business. If the recruiter or the employers are interested in your loan history, it is a red flag for you. The employer has a right to show interest in your credit history only if your work is in the finance field.
5. In which country were you born?
It may look like an innocent question, but there is a hidden basis for discrimination. Suppose you’re a qualified specialist in your career field. In that case, your country of origin is the last thing that should bother your employer. It is better to avoid working in a company where you can face racial discrimination.
Many young professionals state their country of origin in their Linkedin resume; however, no job candidate is obliged to do it. Moreover, the applicant tracking system can omit your resume if some information contradicts company requirements. However, don’t forget to indicate having a work permit in the country where you will work.
6. How often do you drink alcohol?
If an employer asks these questions, it means they have a bad experience with former workers. People who have issues with addictions may harm the performance of the company. However, these types of questions are considered a violation of the “Americans with disabilities act” in the US. They are not relevant to the business either.
7. Do you live far from work?
Employers can wonder how long it takes for you to get to the office. This question intends to predict whether you can be late for work or not. But your route from the home to the workplace is your confidential information. You can provide it voluntarily, ask for a ride on corporate transport or request to work remotely for a few days per week.
8. What is your sexual identity?
This is the last but not the least cheeky question you should never answer. The fact that the company is interested in your belonging to any minority group signals the potential to commit discriminatory actions. Even if you have an LGBTQ+ status, it is not legal for the recruiter to ask questions about it during the job interview.
Conclusions
There is an extensive set of interview questions that you can legally refuse to answer. They could be about your family status, country of origin, sexual orientation, financial state, etc. These questions have no direct relation to your job application.If you want to get more info about resume writing visit TopResume. Neither your employer nor the recruiter can be curious about your confidential information.
