Inappropriate Questions? You Be the Judge!
October 15, 2008 by Darlene McDaniel
Filed under Jobs
As a contributor to Secrets of the Job Hunt, I get to meet people from all over the world and respond to questions by job seekers. One of the readers at Secrets of the Job Hunt recently was asked:
1. Who do you believe will win the Presidential election?
2. What year did you graduate from college?
The reader wanted to know whether these questions were inappropriate. What do you think?
Here are my thoughts:
First, some interviewers may ask these questions with no hidden agenda or motive. They may just be trying to make small talk. However a savvy interviewer could be asking these questions to get you to volunteer information that you may not otherwise volunteer. When an interviewer is asking to get you to volunteer information – that is a great time to have a neutral answer. The political question is probably one such question. Neutral in this case is to be undecided or to have no opinion given the climate in America. It would be ok to say you are still mulling through your thoughts and then turn the question back on the interviewer by asking, "what do you think?" If you can skillfully skirt the question and turn it back on the interviewer, you will have dodged a bullet.
The second question in this case is not a big deal to me. As a savvy interviewer, I might ask this question to confirm that the person actually graduated from college. If the job seeker hesitates or has to think long and hard about it, I would question whether they are being truthful. If you wrote it on the application, and then you can’t remember that would be a red flag. If you can’t figure it out or appear to be ducking this question, that would be a red flag too. Answer this question and move on. People graduate at all ages, so answering the question about the year is not inappropriate, in my opinion. What do you think? Scroll down and leave a comment! I would love to hear from you!!
Tags: Interview Chatter, Inappropriate Questions, Presidential Election, Secrets of the Job Hunt
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For the political one, depends on the position. When I’m hiring for a job that involves policy or politics, I might ask that to get the person talking politics so I can judge their political instincts — relevant to the job. If it’s not relevant, the interviewer might just be trying to make small talk (but on highly charged territory, so I wouldn’t recommend it).
I responded on the Secrets of the Job Hunt website also. I think neither question is illegal or unethical and in part depends on the context and the atmosphere (formal, relaxed, “chatty”, etc.) of the discussion.
With that said, it’s usually a good idea to avoid politics and questions that could be age-related. If nothing else, it avoids having someone wonder about your motives – like this gentleman did. There are other ways to get the information you may want.
These questions are not illegal or unethical – but probably just a poor choice of questions.
Ask a Manager, Brian – Thank you for visiting Interview Chatter!! I appreciate your comments!!