12 Illegal Job Interview Questions
You Don’t Have to Answer
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Megan Elliott
Money & Career CheatSheet
February 06, 2017
A job interview is awkward enough as it is, but it can get really uncomfortable when
an employer starts asking questions that don’t relate to your professional
background or skills. How should you respond when an interviewer wants to know
if you have kids, whether you have a disability, or how long you’ve lived in the
United States?
Knowing how to handle out-of-line, potentially illegal job interview questions begins
with knowing which questions employers shouldn’t be asking in the first place.
Employers are prohibited from discriminating during hiring based on a candidate’s
race, color, national origin, or age. While questions related to these topics aren’t
technically illegal, employers that ask them open themselves up to charges of
discrimination, says the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Many employers haven’t gotten the memo that some questions should be off-limits,
though.
“It happens more than they would like you to think,” Justin Hirsch president of Job
Plex, an executive search firm, told Fox Business. “Human resource leaders are
typically more careful and more straightforward, but other executives in the
company may ask something unscripted that’s just on the top of their mind.” One
out of five employers have inadvertently asked an illegal question in a job interview,
a CareerBuilder survey found.
Unfortunately, there’s no ideal way for a job seeker to handle an inappropriate or
illegal job interview question. Politely refusing to respond is one option, but it could
take you out of the running for the position. Answering honestly is another option,
but that could hurt you too, since you might reveal information that also leads to a
rejection.
Sometimes, the best option is to be as careful as possible in your answer. You can do
your best to avoid sharing information an employer might use against you while
attempting to provide the information the interviewer is really trying to get at.
Questions about children for example, might really be an inexperienced
interviewer’s way of asking about your ability to work a set schedule. An
interviewer who asks about disabilities might want to know if you can perform
certain necessary job tasks.
Here are 12 illegal job interview questions and how to handle them.
1. “Are you a native English speaker?”
Employers aren’t permitted to ask questions related to your race or national origin.
Yet interviewers may ask questions that touch on those subjects either out of
ignorance or outright bias.
How to respond: Discuss your strong oral and written communication skills without
getting into whether English is your first, second, or fifth language.
2. “Where are you from originally?”
An interviewer may make assumptions about your personal background and
citizenship status based on your accent or skin color. They might try to verify those
assumptions with a question like the one above, even though your ethnicity, race, or
country of origin has no bearing on your ability to do the job. An employer can ask if
you’re legally allowed to work in the U.S.
How to respond: Provide a brief answer, like “I’m from California,” or “I’ve lived a
lot of different places.” Then, steer the conversation in another direction. A
statement like, “I’ve lived in New York for the past few years and I’m currently
eligible to work in the U.S.” might address the interviewer’s concerns about whether
you’re legally allowed to work in the country.
3. “Are you planning to get married?”
Employers asking this question might be fishing for information about your
personal life for a few reasons. An interviewer might assume a married man is more
likely to stick with a job long-term. Or, he might believe single people will be more
willing to put in long hours.
How to respond: Whether you’re married, engaged, or single is none of the
interviewer’s business. “My focus is on my career right now,” is a tactful way to
deflect this question without getting into specifics about your relationship (or lack
thereof).
4. “Are you going to have kids?”
Unfortunately, women are more likely than men to get asked this question (or
questions about whether they already have children) and face discrimination as a
result. But whatever your gender, it’s inappropriate for employers to ask this any
other questions related to your family and marital status.
How to respond: You can try to deflect this question by talking about how
committed you are to your career. Or, you might explain that if you do decide to
expand your family, your work will remain a priority.
5. “What holidays do you celebrate?”
A question about what holidays you celebrate could be a sneaky way for an
interviewer to ask about your religion. That’s a big no-no.
How to respond: Don’t feel pressure to reveal information about how you practice
your faith if you don’t feel comfortable doing so. A response like, “I always make an
effort to arrange my holiday plans and celebrations around my work schedule,”
could address any concerns about your availability without revealing too much
information about your specific religious practices.
6. “Do you go to church?”
Some interviewers won’t hesitate to ask about how and where you worship. Unless
you are applying for a job at a church or other faith-based organization, which are
allowed to make hiring decisions based on religion, you shouldn’t have to answer
this illegal job interview question.
How to respond: “I attend services regularly” might allow you to deflect this
question without getting into specifics about your faith. Alternatively, you could
politely say that you prefer to avoid discussing religion at work. Employers can’t
refuse to hire you because you don’t share their religious beliefs or practice a faith
they don’t believe in.
7. “When did you graduate from high school?”
Other than verifying you’re not a minor, your age should be irrelevant in the hiring
decision. Most interviewers know that they should avoid asking how old you are
since it opens them up to charges of age discrimination. Nonetheless, they may ask
questions like the one above that will give them a rough idea of your birth date.
How to respond: If you’re not willing to reveal how old you are, a vague response
and a bit of humor may suffice. If you’re obviously older, a response of “Too long
ago!” can deflect the question without revealing your exact age. Younger workers
might say something like, “Not that long ago, but I’ve been working hard ever
since.”
8. “Have you ever been arrested?”
It may surprise you, but employers aren’t allowed to consider past arrests in hiring
decisions. In some states, like New Jersey, they’re not even allowed to ask about
convictions during the initial screening process (though they can ask you about this
information later on).
How to respond: If you’ve never been arrested, just answer this question truthfully.
If you do have an arrest record but no convictions, consider saying something like,
“I’ve never been convicted of a crime” or, “Nothing in my past would affect my
ability to do this job.” People who have been convicted of a crime can contact an exoffender advocacy group like New York’s Fortune Society for advice on navigating
the job search process.
9. “How often do you call in sick?”
Questions about your health status, including how often you need to call in sick, are
verboten. However, employers can ask questions that relate to your ability to
perform specific job duties (such as lifting boxes of a certain weight).
How to respond: Don’t feel you need to disclose information about any health issues
in the interview. Instead, try a simple statement like, “I try to limit how frequently
I call in sick and only miss work when it can’t be avoided.”
10. “Have you ever used drugs?”
Employers aren’t supposed to ask about drug use in general. That’s because you
might feel compelled to reveal information about legitimate prescription drugs you
take. Job interview questions about past illegal drug use are also forbidden. An
employer may ask if you are currently using illegal drugs, however.
How to respond: “I don’t currently use illegal drugs,” should address any employer
concerns about your current drug use without getting into the specifics of any past
illegal drug use.
11. “What are your childcare arrangements?”
Employers may ask people with young kids – especially women – about their
childcare arrangements. An interviewer naturally may want to know you’re not
going to show up late every day or miss work because of an unreliable babysitter.
Still, that doesn’t make this prying question OK.
How to respond: You don’t have to explain your day care arrangements to an
interviewer, Workplace Fairness noted. However, “as a practical matter if you really
want the position you are applying for, you may want to answer the interviewer’s
questions. In that case, try to look past the sexist nature of the questions and look
to see what the employer is really worried about – i.e.: possible work conflicts.”
12. “How do you feel about unions?”
Quizzing an interviewee about whether they’re pro- or anti-union is an unfair labor
practice, Workplace Fairness explained. Anti-union employers aren’t permitted to
weed out unionized or pro-union workers during the hiring process.
How to respond: One option is to be diplomatic and avoid specifics about your
personal experience or labor affiliation during a job interview. What if you’re a
union member and answer this question honestly, and are then denied the job? In
that situation, the employer might be violating the National Labor Relations Act
and you could have a legal case.
13. Will you take a lie detector test?
Chances are your interviewer isn’t going to ask you take a polygraph during an
interview. But on the off chance it does happen, you should know they are likely
breaking the law. Unless you’re applying for a job at a security firm or
pharmaceutical manufacturer, it’s illegal under federal law for private employers to
require polygraph tests. The same rules don’t apply to government agencies though.
And people who apply for jobs in law enforcement typically undergo a lie detector
test.
How to respond: In the unlikely event an interviewer wants you take a lie detector
test, you should decline, unless you’re looking for work in one of the few fields where
this practice is legal. You can also file a complaint with the Department of Labor.
14. I see you’re in the National Guard. Do you expect to deploy anytime soon?
If you’re serving in the National Guard or the Reserves, an interviewer might
wonder whether your military commitments will require you to be absent from
work. Yet they can’t use the possibility that you’ll be called to duty as an excuse not
to hire you. This and other forms of discrimination against members of the military
and veterans are illegal.
How to respond: You can make a point to reassure your employer that you’ve never
encountered problems balancing your military service with your professional career.
15. When do you expect to retire?
If you’re an older applicant, it might worry an interviewer that you don’t plan to
stick around for very long. They might ask about your retirement plans to get a
sense of whether they’ll need to be looking for your replacement in a year or two,
but questions of this nature can lead to charges of age discrimination.
How to respond: Whether you’re hoping to retire in the next couple of years or
anticipate working for a decade or more, don’t feel obligated to disclose your specific
plans during the interview. Instead, you can say you love your work, this new
opportunity excites you, and you have no plans to retire in the near future.
16. I can’t believe the crazy stuff Trump’s doing. Can you?
The 2016 presidential election was one of the most contentious in recent memory,
and smart interviewers would be wise to steer clear of any mention of it (or politics
in general) when screening candidates. Still, politics might come up, especially in
the chit-chat phase of the interview. Though questions about your political
affiliation aren’t strictly illegal (unless you’re applying for a federal job), the Society
for Human Resource Management advises employers to avoid the topic because it
can lead to charges of discrimination. In some states, employers can’t discriminate
against you based on your political activities.
How to respond: Unless you’re interviewing for a job at a explicitly political
organization, a noncommittal response might serve you best here, even if you and
your interviewer seem to be on the same page politically. Something, such as, “I try
not to let what’s going on in Washington distract me too much from my work,” or
even just a polite, neutral nod can get the conversation back on safe ground.